Some have questioned exactly why I made the nacelles so big when they appear to be so small onscreen. My answer to that is that the proportions of the entire schematic were based directly off of a top down view taken directly from the show, being as this was the clearest plan view available I decided to stick with it. If you want a Treknical explanation, then you could simply say that most of the bulk in the warp nacelles are to do with the buoyancy equipment.
posted
1. Should the slash between 1701 and the 5 be so long? 2. Also, I think the grey strip across the nose fades to far into the white on the top view. Actually, the shading on the strip should be in steps as it travels across each of the flat panels of the hull. Instead, you have it whiting out as it were following a curve. 3. The hull/wing panels are also shaded front to back. 4. The landing gear should be darker, since its completely under the wings (and in shadow). 5. I'd also shade the bottom panels darker.
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posted
It's a pennant of my own design, it's meant to be the first use of the delta before TMP. I developed it for the Dreadnaught and decided to give it a test run on the Aquashuttle. It seams reasonable enough to say that starfleet could have started phasing in the delta during the late 2260s, after all we didn't see any new starfleet vessels until the Excelsior in the 2280s.
quote:Originally posted by Masao: 1. Should the slash between 1701 and the 5 be so long? 2. Also, I think the grey strip across the nose fades to far into the white on the top view. Actually, the shading on the strip should be in steps as it travels across each of the flat panels of the hull. Instead, you have it whiting out as it were following a curve. 3. The hull/wing panels are also shaded front to back. 4. The landing gear should be darker, since its completely under the wings (and in shadow). 5. I'd also shade the bottom panels darker.
1. Probably not but I was using the USAF font and the slash is a little on the dodgy side. in the future I intend to use "Fleet old School" instead.
2. Thats meant to be some kind of reflective strip that can be seen in murky waters, the only way I know of to show light reflection is to wash it out to white. You're right about steping the gradiant, it's something I'll have to remember the next time I don something similar.
3. I'm not used to colouring such a flat design so I decided to try and have the light source very low and to the front to keep things looking as white as possible.
4. The light is bouncing off the ground onto the shiney foot pads.
posted
I realize that there is little material to go by, but there's one major aspect of the aquahuttle that could be clarified if somebody had access to the actual episode.
Take a look at the leftmost picture on the upper row, and the second-leftmost one on the lower row, on this page from Curt Danhauser's site. Do we see the underside of the shuttle here?
It is quite possible that the shuttle has a "second cabin" under its belly, with windows similar to the top ones. This would make perfect sense for a submersible, or for a surface-skimmer. The lower windows would be accessed through floor hatches on the main cabin. The necessary airlock for the craft could also be located down there.
The lower cabin naturally wouldn't show up in top or side views, only the fwd, aft and bottom views.
posted
It looks to me like the top protrusion (with the cockpit windows) is simply mirrored for the bottom. Which might make sense, actually...
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posted
I did consider this while drawing up the schematic but I found that there really wasn't enough room for decks on the Aquashuttle unless I scaled it up. Given that it's already big as far as shuttles go I decided to give the underside a boat-like box shape instead of mirroring the cabin. However, if I were to draw a ventral view I would incorperate some portholes on the lower surface around the airlock.
posted
I didn't want to imply we'de be talking a full-height deck, either. After all, the best way to utilize the lower windows would be with your tummy firmly against a mattress of some sort. That's how many of today's submersibles are operated, too (either they have the pilot sitting up and the manipulator operator lying down, or then even the pilot is lying down as in the Cousteaus' diving saucer or Deep Flight).
The reason I think there could be this "mirrored cabin" down there is that the two pics show a window arrangement distinct from the one on the top cabin. As you may note, the "lower cabin" black windows wrap around all the way to the very stern of the craft, unlike the upper windows... Could be a simple mistake, but could be an indication of a distinct "observation hold" down there.
I've always envisioned the aquashuttle as having more than two modes of operation. It can fly in space (and probably at warp, with those nacelles), so it can be deployed; it can fly in an atmosphere, so it can reach the area of interest; it can economically skim on water using the surface effect (hence, the drooping sides and the underbelly cavity); it can settle down a little deeper and swim like a boat (and the boatlike lower cabin gives a bit more stability); and it can dive, either by applying propulsive power, or by flooding ballast tanks. In short, it's a veritable Calypso all on its own. No wonder it has to be so big.
What would be the method of underwater propulsion? Magnetic fields, shoving water past the ship either internally or externally? Rocket engines? Ducted turbines? Your views don't make the propulsion system explicit - no propellers in evidence.
quote:Originally posted by Timo: I didn't want to imply we'de be talking a full-height deck, either. After all, the best way to utilize the lower windows would be with your tummy firmly against a mattress of some sort. That's how many of today's submersibles are operated, too (either they have the pilot sitting up and the manipulator operator lying down, or then even the pilot is lying down as in the Cousteaus' diving saucer or Deep Flight).
The reason I think there could be this "mirrored cabin" down there is that the two pics show a window arrangement distinct from the one on the top cabin. As you may note, the "lower cabin" black windows wrap around all the way to the very stern of the craft, unlike the upper windows... Could be a simple mistake, but could be an indication of a distinct "observation hold" down there.
I've always envisioned the aquashuttle as having more than two modes of operation. It can fly in space (and probably at warp, with those nacelles), so it can be deployed; it can fly in an atmosphere, so it can reach the area of interest; it can economically skim on water using the surface effect (hence, the drooping sides and the underbelly cavity); it can settle down a little deeper and swim like a boat (and the boatlike lower cabin gives a bit more stability); and it can dive, either by applying propulsive power, or by flooding ballast tanks. In short, it's a veritable Calypso all on its own. No wonder it has to be so big.
What would be the method of underwater propulsion? Magnetic fields, shoving water past the ship either internally or externally? Rocket engines? Ducted turbines? Your views don't make the propulsion system explicit - no propellers in evidence.
Timo Saloniemi
It could be a mirrored window strip or it could be a join line, perhaps the lower hull can detach to become a dingy, more likely it's an error on the animator's part. The bottom line with this is that a 23rd century submersible would depend largely on sensors on deep dives since visibility would be very poor even with flood lights and that such a window would be useless.
As for propulsion I thought I'd make those two smaller circles on the back standard impulse drives that can seal themselves closed while in the water and that larger central circle could be the exhaust for some kind of magnetic caterpillar drive ala Red October, with the intakes up the front. Antigravs on the underside could keep the craft above water while in skimmer mode with the impulse engines providing the thrust.
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