Hello all. I've been lurking on this board constantly for at least 3 years now, and I thought it might actually bite the bullet and register. Why haven't I done this before, you ask? Well, when you have a 2 1/2 year old son, you tend to be very busy.
Anyway, I thought I'd begin by showing off one of my ships. I figure it's a contemporary to the NX-01, but I can't decide if it came before or after. The entire aft end is one big sublight engine similar to the ones on the NX-01. (EDIT: changed picture to a link) pretos1.jpg I may get around to doing a top view eventually, but like I said, it's tough to find personal time. Oh, and I did this in CorelDRAW 8.
B.J.
[ July 15, 2002, 07:25: Message edited by: BJ_O ]
Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
the ship works.. i could definitely see it as a pre-NX-01 starfleet ship.. i theorize they mustve had some sort of exploration/patrol boats before Enterprise, even if all they did before Enterprise was go to Alpha Centauri and back... it would explain why they called it a 'Fleet' for a decade before they built the long-range interstellar NX-01, assuming they just had a fleet of really slow spaceships for defense and peeking arounf the local stars' corners
Posted by Dat (Member # 302) on :
I'll be kind to you since you've at least been lurking for a while and should know most of the rules and customs, so change that image to just a link so it doesn't screw up the layout of the thread. Many people here use a smaller screen resolution than you do.
Posted by Topher (Member # 71) on :
But why? Everyone should be surfing at 1280x1024 or better for optimum viewing!
*ducks*
Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
actually, i dont consider it to be too serious in Designs Artwork and Creativity to post large images. I dont mind as much as i did when there was that kid putting wallpapers up in General Trek
Posted by Dat (Member # 302) on :
I'm fine at 1024x768. It's nice and big enough for me. I'm just surprised that 1280x1024 doesn't proportionately scale down to 1024x768.
Anyway the ship itself is great. It seems post-Enterprise and pre-TOS. It seems like it's on it's way to being like the Daedalus and the Connie class and starting to move away from the NX class (even if only briefly as the saucer would eventually dominate). The impulse engine looks much like a modern-age rocket engine, which I like, giving it a retro look to it. I don't recall any Starfleet ship ever having any split V-shape pylons, but it looks like a good feature.
Posted by BJ_O (Member # 858) on :
Thanks for all the comments so far! I just went ahead and changed the picture to a link.
Captain Mike: Yeah, I figure that there was some sort of fleet, at least to find out what was on the surface of Pluto or whatnot.
Dat: It does look like a rocket engine to some degree, much more than the later impulse engines, which I think was the point when they were designing the NX-01. As for the split pylons, that was just something that I did in my doodle that looked good, so I went with it!
B.J.
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
Hmm... I definitely like the design! It's sort of a cross between the NX-01 and the Daedalus. I'm inclined to say that it's a pre-ENT ship that's something like a Warp 3-capable "patrol" cruiser, or maybe part of Earth's token "defense fleet" that the Vulcans patronizingly let them have.
My only real question (and this is more general, not specifically related to your design) is just how and why did the dual hull design come into use? Why did they decide that a saucer was a good idea? They seem like rather "strange" designs to just develop for the heck of it, especially when you've only been in the galaxy for 100 years or so. I'd have thought that early ships would be much more solid-looking, more like the SS Valiant or Friendship One. It's a bit of a leap to go from that to the NX-01.
Posted by Edipissed Wrecks (Member # 510) on :
quote:CaptainMike: actually, i dont consider it to be too serious in Designs Artwork and Creativity to post large images. I dont mind as much as i did when there was that kid putting wallpapers up in General Trek
are you talking about my desktop thread in the officers lounge? if you are, then you can bite my ass. and i think i'm older than you, kid. Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
I'm talking about koy'peled Oy'tio (if that is his real name...!)
what the fuck do i care if the image has a purpose? i wanted to post my desktop full size too. if i'd meant the frickin' officer's lounge, i woulda said so.
the kid, boy'sped Outta'here, used to post 1024 wallpapers of random starship beauty shots as accompaniment to copying an article about science and technology into General Trek. But hey, if thats what it means to be a writer...
[ July 15, 2002, 09:30: Message edited by: CaptainMike ]
Posted by Ed BWC (Member # 818) on :
Koy'pled Oy'tios real name is Clayton Holmes. (Damn that MSN Messenger...)
Posted by Vogon Poet (Member # 393) on :
Who names their child Clayton Holmes? Christ, no wonder Americans are so fucked up. . .
Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
I'd be more worried about people who names themselves 'koy'peled Oy'tio'.. there, i said it..!
Posted by BJ_O (Member # 858) on :
ACK! My first thread and already I've been hijacked!
Anyway, I've done a top view now, so here it is: What do you think? Is it missing anything that would give it that extra "oomph?"
BTW, thanks to Bernd for those 2D tutorials on his Ex Astris Scientia website. I could draw just about any shape I wanted before, but I couldn't make them look good (i.e. fills, blends, etc.). His tutorial made me realize a few new tricks I could use!
B.J.
Posted by Matrix (Member # 376) on :
What's that nozzle thingie on the aft part of the secondary hull? A rocket? Some pre-impulse engine?
Posted by Topher (Member # 71) on :
quote:Originally posted by BJ_O: The entire aft end is one big sublight engine similar to the ones on the NX-01.
Posted by Bernd (Member # 6) on :
I like it. In particular the shape of the main hull is a nice idea. I would have made the engineering hull a bit smaller or flatter, and added a few clumsy details to it.
BTW, the ship has almost exactly the same drawing style as my designs, even the bitmap conversion artifacts are the same. You don't happen to use Micrografx Designer?
Posted by BJ_O (Member # 858) on :
Thanks, Bernd. No, I don't use Designer (but I do have a copy for some reason). I did this in CorelDRAW 8. I'm not entirely sure exactly what artifacts you're referring to, but I did save the jpg with a larger compression ratio to keep the file size down. I still use a modem, so smaller files are better for me.
As for the drawing style, like I said earlier, I did get a lot of ideas from your website!
B.J.
Posted by BJ_O (Member # 858) on :
Just a minor extra. I've always liked having real world references to show just how big things are, so I did this quick size comparison chart. I determined that this thing is about 107 meters long using "standard" 3.5 meter deck heights. As for the Sodor name, my son is really into Thomas the Tank Engine now, so it's the _other_ big thing stuck in my head right now. Posted by Siegfried (Member # 29) on :
I like that design, BJ_O. I don't think I've ever seen or thought of a semisphere primary hull, but that looks really nice with the secondary hull. The ship looks really good. I especially like what you did with the nacelle pylons. Those don't look like something that could easily be taken out in a battle. Excellent work.
Posted by Matrix (Member # 376) on :
The only thing that bothers me about the deisgn is the shape of the forward part of the secondary hull where the 'neck' and the secondary hull meets.
Posted by The Red Admiral (Member # 602) on :
This is indeed good work BJ_O, I like this design a lot, and it fits nicely into its supposed time period. There's certainly a number of things with this ship which aren't common with fan designs, so kudos..
Posted by Prismatic EdipisReks (Member # 510) on :
i like it a lot. great work! in my mind, it is post nx. maybe the first trans warp 6 earth cruiser...?
Posted by Bernd (Member # 6) on :
With the "artifacts", I referred to the not quite perfect anti-aliasing (of slanted or curved lines). It's really a minor point that I only noticed because I tried in vain to get rid of that effect in Designer. But as far as I know, in Corel Draw it will get better if you increase the line width or if you export at a larger ppi factor and reduce the size afterwards.
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
Very impressive work, especially for a beginner and it's a truly original design to boot! I can defiantly see Bernd's influence in this
I would suggest that you include a shuttle bay in there somewhere, perhaps a drop bay at the bottom of the secondary hull?
Posted by BJ_O (Member # 858) on :
quote:Originally posted by Reverend: I would suggest that you include a shuttle bay in there somewhere, perhaps a drop bay at the bottom of the secondary hull?
That's exactly where I thought I'd put one if I go back and update this!
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