posted
The Neck: If the neck is lowered to be flush with the top of the secondary hull, then either the primary hull is lowered (interfering with the nav deflector) or the neck hits the primary hull below the equator, which looks a bit weak.
The Nacelles: I'm still messing with them. But I think that SRB-style ribbing would be out of scale.
Impulse thrusters: They'll probably be on the curved rear part of the "thorax" someplace so that the ship will still have them if the M/AM reactor in the "abdomen" is ejected.
Shuttle bays. I still haven't decided the final location. Possibly at the end of the neck, someplace on the thorax (where one is now), or on the primary hull. The ship is big enough to have more than one shuttlebay.
NCX:I haven't decided whether this ship will be in service or just experimental, so I put on something halfway between "NCC" and "NX."
-------------------- When you're in the Sol system, come visit the Starfleet Museum
Registered: Oct 1999
| IP: Logged
Daniel Butler
I'm a Singapore where is my boat
Member # 1689
posted
lol How many people have now bitched about the neck? Perhaps *some*thing should be done about it
As a failed missile carrier, this is looking very nice. Not something we'd see in service, which is of course the point.
Registered: Jul 2005
| IP: Logged
posted
If it is a missile carrier than I know why it is a failed design: all missiles are forward facing. So your ship would need to have a greater distance to the target if it isn't facing it. If it is designed by war hungry admirals they would want a greater firing range.
About the neck (again): While I think the connection to the secondary hull has the correct size it is too small at the connection to the primary hull. You could give it some structural detail which should look as if it was added later in order to prevent the primary from breaking off the rest of the ship.
My suggestions: * instead of three tubes per side all on one deck in one direction have them spread over three decks with different directions (for example 10�, 25�, 40� off the centre line). * lower the primary hull so that the current centre line is same height as secondary hull, in order to allow the deflector free sight again, raise the lower part by giving it another curvature.
quote:Originally posted by Masao: The Neck: If the neck is lowered to be flush with the top of the secondary hull, then either the primary hull is lowered (interfering with the nav deflector) or the neck hits the primary hull below the equator, which looks a bit weak.
The Nacelles: I'm still messing with them. But I think that SRB-style ribbing would be out of scale.
Impulse thrusters: They'll probably be on the curved rear part of the "thorax" someplace so that the ship will still have them if the M/AM reactor in the "abdomen" is ejected.
Shuttle bays. I still haven't decided the final location. Possibly at the end of the neck, someplace on the thorax (where one is now), or on the primary hull. The ship is big enough to have more than one shuttlebay.
NCX:I haven't decided whether this ship will be in service or just experimental, so I put on something halfway between "NCC" and "NX."
I think Sternbach used "NXP-" for the Defiant-Class pathfinder vessel, which is what this sounds like. More a concept vehicle than a shakedown prototype; the Spruce Goose of the late 22nd Century.
I wonder if the Shuttlebay could go on the aft face of the primary hull, just above the neck? Perhaps with flanking P/S cargobays.
As for the impulse engines, what if you stuck them at the tail end of the neck? It has good clearance and is near enough to the centre of mass, though the machinery may make access through the neck a little tricky.
I agree the nacelles could use a little something to convey the idea that this thing is way more overpowered. Perhaps a bulge down the length of the midsection, maybe even a scooped out cooling grill, the ancestor of the features on the inside of the connie's nacelles or indeed the refit nacelle grill.
[EDIT] Sort of like this. ...vaguely. Perhaps add the SRB style ribbing to that, linking to two bulges together, then you have yourself an over designed cooling system.
posted
Ooh, I like the idea of having super-hot nacelles that need extra cooling equipment on them. Yet another instance of pushing "old" technology a little to far instead of innovating new technology.
I'm a little puzzled, though, considering that Starfleet (or rather, the UESN) clearly would've had plenty of experience with the designs of much bigger ships. So what would be the problem that caused this ship to fail?
...Well, the answer just occurred to me as I was typing this. The designers were trying to slim things down, to cram a warship the size of Conqueror into a hull half its volume. (I whipped up my own comparison to see the ship next to some of its beefier predecessors.) Anyway, though the technology was basically sound, the equipment had to run too close to full capacity to be completely effective and safe.
Another explanation could be that the designers were trying to cut down on the mass of the ship (which could explain the oddly-shaped secondary hull), and went with slimmed-down nacelles. Then it turned out when the ship went into testing that they were TOO slim. But it was too late to go back to the drawing board, so they just grafted on an external cooling apparatus.
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
Registered: Nov 2000
| IP: Logged
posted
A prime concern when I design Earth ships is too keep the surfaces as clean as possible. I also want to avoid any (!) hint of Series 5-inspired surface detailing. So, I want to keep the shapes fairly simple. But Rev's idea for cooling might work in a more streamlined form.
I like the neck! Kobi, I don't think the neck attachment is too small. The neck and the attachment is much thicker than Daedalus's and is at the center of the mass. I think it'll be strong enough. Non-longitudinal missile tubes might be useful, but I haven't had them on any of my other ships. For the sake of design cleanliness, I tend to avoid them.
Impulse thrusters: I'll probably put them on the "thorax" rather than the "abdomen" because the abdomen can be ejected.
Here's some ideas for the nacelles. They look a bit like the pulse jet for the V-1.
-------------------- When you're in the Sol system, come visit the Starfleet Museum
Registered: Oct 1999
| IP: Logged
posted
Either the first or the fourth. The 2nd looks like it changes shapes in sync with the hulls, and the 3rd looks like it is ready for a cartoon-esque explosion.
EDIT Actually, the first seems to change shape along with the hulls, but looks a lot better with less of a bulge, and more smooth thin length. YOu know what I'm saying?
-------------------- "Kosh, I'd like to introduce you to our Resident schmuck and his side kick Kick Me."-Ritten
"Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity". -George Carlin
Registered: Jul 2007
| IP: Logged
You don't need to say you're sorry. Aesthetics are subjective things, and like I said, I didn't know what your rationale was. Now that you've explained it, the design makes sense as it is.
posted
I like #3 best, but that's because I've always liked the Conqueror/Comet-style nacelles. They're different. But given a second choice, I'd say #1.
As for the cooling system, why not place them on the inboard side of the nacelles only, so they don't cause obstruction on the side view? This could be the first use of the intercooler system that was used on the 1701... Which, in Museum canon, also had overly-large nacelles relative to previous designs.
For the neck, I don't have a problem with the part that connects to the primary hull... I don't like the connection to the "thorax." Specifically, the way that the neck just ends and curves down makes it look unstable, like the entire forward section could fall downwards under its own weight. (That happened to me when I was trying to assemble that shitty AMT model of the Enterprise-A. I know, I know... zero-gee and all that.)
I think if you put a large, bulky impulse engine assembly there (and you know this ship's gonna need a huge impulse engine, right?) would be the perfect location. It's midline along the center of mass for the secondary hull (if you want to at least partially obey Newtonian physics), plus it provides a visual "anchor" for the aft end of the neck.
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
Registered: Nov 2000
| IP: Logged
posted
The neck might look more balanced if it extended aft to the end of the first thorax section. Ending in either an impulse drive ( hopefully one of many), or a clamshell shuttlebay. Actually, now that I think of it, the impulse engines would look better on the circumfrence of the aft side of the forward thorax. That way yhty'll still be usable if the second segment has to be seperated.
-------------------- "Kosh, I'd like to introduce you to our Resident schmuck and his side kick Kick Me."-Ritten
"Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity". -George Carlin
Registered: Jul 2007
| IP: Logged
Shik
Starship database: completed; History of Starfleet: done; website: probably never
Member # 343
posted
I like the neck, Masao. It looks dinosaur-like.
-------------------- "The French have a saying: 'mise en place'—keep everything in its fucking place!"
Registered: Jun 2000
| IP: Logged
posted
I wasn't actually thinking of the NX-01, more like a more primitive version of the 1701's inter-coolers as Dan surmised. I do like the forward bulge, but I worry that you aesthetics may be at odds with your design brief. It's hard to see something as being streamlined and "spruce goosey" at the same time. How about having the intercoolers only on the inboard face as Dan suggested with the Daedalus style cooling rings only on the aft half of the nacelle? That should give a reasonable balance between streamlined and a bit of compromising on the part of the Starfleet engineers. Ignore them, the neck is fine.
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Printer-friendly view of this topic
