22nd Century Starship Pt. 03
More work on the pylons. In fact, this will probably be all I do with them, modeling wise. For the top, I tried to duplicate John’s line pattern as best I could. It’s all done using the pylon’s existing geometry, so there are a few differences. For the bottom, I just did what I felt like. 
22nd Century Starship Pt. 02A
I noticed (and so did someone at Scifi-Meshes) that the pylons didn’t have enough girth. Also, while I was initially pleased with them, I didn’t quite like the shape. so, I redid them and their connectors.
22nd Century Starship Pt. 02
Work continues on the ship. I mostly finished the nacelles. Though, after seeing the “blank” spot I have in front of the pylon connector, I think I need to add a greeble or something there. Also, I started on the pylons. Those went well, better than I’d hoped they would. Of course, I still have to detail them, but getting the shape right was the majority of the work on those. There are a couple tiny issues, but I’ll fix them later.
Close up on the pylon: (yes, I see the mesh errors.)
RCS thruster:
22nd Century Starship Pt. 01
Work continues on the nacelle. I was hoping to be completely done with it today so that I could move on to the pylon tomorrow, but that didn’t happen. I had to redo a couple things and I also spent some time fooling around with materials for the glowing bits. But, I only have a few more things to add on the nacelle. All I can think of right now that I still need to add are the RCS thrusters and navigation lights, neither of which should take that long.
It’s something….
It’s either a warp nacelle or a lightsaber, you make the call. 
No, seriously, it’s one of the ships in this image:
As you can see from the text on the image, it’s a John Eaves design. As I’m sure a lot of people know, he designed several Starfleet ships for the Enterprise Season Two finale, The Expanse, and two were chosen. The one on the right was one of the ships used and, as many people probably know, I built that ship a few years ago. (it was called Intrepid on screen in the Season Three episode Twilight) In fact, I think an image of it circulates on the header from time to time. One of these days, I’m going to build that ship again in Lightwave, but not right now.
I decided the other day that I wanted to do something in the Enterprise-era, so I started looking through my references folder for NX-era stuff (which is, of course in a sub-folder. ) I was looking through images for inspiration when I came across that image, so I decided to do the ship on the left, which is a great design (in my opinion) but was never used on screen. As I’m sure a lot of people are aware, concept artists submit X amount of drawings, the powers-that-be pick what they like and they either ask for alterations or approve one on the spot. Fortunately, among other things, John likes to post his concept art from the various shows and movies he’s worked on, including Enterprise, on his blog, which I follow. So, I’ve saved various things he’s posted over the years to use as inspiration later. For this particular ship, later became now.
For the overall design, the ship will be pretty much as John has it drawn. I see no reason to change it because I really like the design, that’s why I’m building it. Though, of course, I’ll be doing more Enterprise-esque details so that it fits in with the other ships from the series. Fortunately, Enterprise was a bit of a Renaissance series, in that warp drive had been invented less than a century earlier and Earth was designing newer engines and ships, trying to push the technology forward. So, unlike the later (or earlier, depending on your point of view) shows and movies, no two ships really have the same details. Indeed, even the warp nacelle designs vary slightly from ship to ship. So, this leaves me a bit of leeway with the design.
I started with the nacelle because it’s easy to use for scale. I did a quick check using my fingers as calipers and the nacelles on both ships are the same size, or at least close enough. So, I loaded up the orthos I have for the Intrepid at the scale I figured out when I built that ship and used that to get the nacelle the proper size. Obviously, there’s much more to do on the nacelle before I can even start on the pylons, but I wanted to show my progress thus far. I would like to have been farther along before showing progress, but I’m still learning the software and much of what I’m doing I’m figuring out as I go. Though, as a proof of concept model, it’s going great. I never could have gotten the side cut-out or the part that goes inside and wraps around the hull to come out that smoothly in TrueSpace. Indeed, my Intrepid has some mesh errors in that area. Also, I figured out a great way to do the hull paneling using mutlishift and smooth shift, which took some trial and error to figure out (I used a sphere for testing.) But, it worked great. Also, I kept making mistakes earlier and had to keep going back and redoing stuff, so that didn’t help my progress. But, all in all, it’s going well. 
50s Daedalus Pt. 04
The nacelles are finished. I want them to look like a lot like old rockets, so I didn’t want to overdo the details. So, to that end, I added some running lights and a few other bits to finish them off. The rear running lights are based off of some car taillights from the ’50s.
The only details that I added that aren’t necessarily “retro” are the 8 holes just forward of the end caps. Those are RCS thrusters. As most people who know the history of space flight know, prior to the flights of the X-15 and other “near space” craft, there were no such things as RCS thrusters. In fact, that was one of the points of the X-15 test flights, to test maneuvering in space. Prior to the invention of RCS thrusters and the test flights of the X-15 and other craft, nobody knew how you maneuvered in space. In fact, a lot of retro science fiction rockets and other space craft didn’t address this issue. They usually just put some kind of wings or tail fins on them, I guess assuming that flight dynamics in space would be the same and that you’d use some kind of aileron and rudder system, which of course doesn’t work without air. So, prior to 1959, when the X-15 test flights started, nobody really knew how to do this. The, sometime in the 1960s or so, such thrusters started appearing on science fiction space craft. Even though I’m doing my ship in retro style, I still had to add the thrusters because, realistically, you’re not maneuvering in space without them.
Up next are the nacelle pylons. The temporary ones are just ugly and don’t look anything like what’s in my head. Then I’ll move on to the engineering section, finish that and then finish the sphere.
50s Daedalus Pt. 03
It’s been a busy couple of days and tomorrow is looking to be another one. But, I’ve managed to find a few times here and there to pick at the nacelles and get some stuff done. I cut in the lines (and, yes, they will be staying.) They’re only half an inch thick, so they shouldn’t be too bad. I’ll do some of the same width on the engineering and sphere sections also. And, I have the bussard collectors mostly done. I spent some time earlier making a bunch of stuff that won’t really be seen, but that’s how it goes. I also spent way too much time trying to figure out how to get the glows to activate in Lightwave before I finally just Googled it. Of course, I found the information I needed quite easily after I did.
Anywho, this is what I have so far. There’s not much more to be done on the nacelles.
50s Daedalus Pt. 02
Apparently, it’s the fourth anniversary of the blog today. Who knew? I certainly didn’t until WordPress let me know. So, in honor of that occasion, free beer and pizza for those who brought their own.
OK, onto more serious matters. I spent way too much time on the damn fins today. In fact, that’s all I did for several hours. But, that kind of time is worth it to get that look you want. My first fins were too small, so I started over. I sketched out the shape with the pen tool, then beveled it out to get the width. However, to get it to run along the nacelle took some hand work. Then came the sub patching, which revealed some errors that had to be fixed. So, I fixed those and here’s what we have. Though, I have to say that I never would have been able to do these in TrueSpace. To my knowledge, it has nothing like sub patching. So, I’m definitely glad I made the switch to Lightwave, it has so many more great tools to help me get the job done.
Since that took most of my modeling energy, I decided to start on the textures and at least make a color map for the nacelles. I want people to have an idea of exactly the type of look I’m going for. So, I opened up Inkscape and started drawing. I wanted to do a blend of 60s Starfleet and retro and I think I got that accomplished. The rest of the hull will be similarly patterned, so you see what the final colors will be (dark red and eggshell white.) Also, I found a cool free handwriting font for the name, because a lot of old planes and rockets had hand painted names on them. The chrome will of course be staying chrome because retro stuff should have chrome. Really, lots of things that don’t have chrome should have chrome, but that may just be my opinion.
I’m currently torn between grid lines and no grid lines. However, I’ll probably do them if for no other reason that real space ships aren’t poured into molds. They do have hull section separation lines, so I’ll likely be doing those as well.
Anywho, more tomorrow (or when I get it done. )
50s Daedalus Pt. 01
I was looking at a couple Daedalus Class projects on Scifi-Meshes the other day where a couple people are updating the ship to make it look more modern. While looking at one by Dan Uyeno (AKA Madkoifish) I had an interesting thought. Instead of making the ship look more modern, why not make it look less modern? I personally love retro Sci-Fi stuff, especially those old rocket ships. So, I started retooling the ship to look more like those old rockets. Also influential in my design are 1950s automobile designs, I freakin’ love cars from the 50s. Also, yes, there was a drawing circulating a while back of the Enterprise where someone had done it 50s retro style. There were even a couple great 3D models made from it and posted on Scifi-Meshes. That too is an influence here. So, this is where I am so far:
There’s still much to be done, but this is where I am after a few days working on it. I would be further along, but I recorded the latest episode of Defiance and some 1950s Richard Carlson Sci-Fi movies to my DVR, so I’ve been also watching that stuff. I already watched It Came From Outer Space, which I hadn’t seen in years, and The Magnetic Monster, which I’d never seen. I still have Riders to the Stars to watch, which I’ll probably do here in a bit. Watching classic Sci-Fi films gets me even more in the mood for retro Sci-Fi, so this is actually a good thing. 
About the ship: Yes, it will be red. (if you don’t like it, come to terms with it) Or, at least, partially red. I plan to do some textures with a more exciting hull pattern, but the material settings are similar to what will be on the final ship. Also, ignore the nacelle pylons, those are just place holders until I build the actual pylons. Also, I may do some more work on the connector between the sphere and the secondary hull, to blend it into those structures a bit more. Anywho, more to come.
Preparing for Departure
This is a little something I’ve been working on for quite some time now. It was originally part of a project that it now appears won’t be happening, so here it is.
Dirty Ships Done Dirt Cheap
(don’t even ask me why I’m misquoting AC/DC for the title, it’s friggin’ late and I’m tired )
I did some texture work on my Constellation-class mesh I finished a while back. To me, this ship has always been the Millennium Falcon of Star Trek. It’s old, it’s dirty, it’s ugly. Plus, it’s all saucer and engines and it’s got miscellaneous stuff glued all over it. And, the first time we saw it, it had been through the wringer. So, when Greg Jein built the studio model, he really weathered it a lot. He also added scorch marks and whatnot because it had been in a battle, but I didn’t do that. I just made mine good and grungy, like the ship should be. To me, that’s how this class should always look. Originally, I did “clean” textures, mostly to get it done and ready for a project I was working on. Well, I haven’t heard back on said project (don’t ask about it, because I won’t answer) and I saved the clean textures anyway, so I set about giving the ship a more “used” look. I had lots of high rez textures, too many in fact. My CGI software wouldn’t render them all, so I had to scale them down a bit, but they’re still pretty high rez. Anywho, here she is in all her dirty glory in some “beauty” shots.
Constellation Class V3.0 Pt 13
I finished the Constellation class (for now.) I gave the ship a clean look, like it’s a Constellation class from back in the day when that class was new. You have to figure these ships were probably used a lot, along with the Excelsior class, as a replacement for the Constitution class. That’s probably why they’re in such bad shape in the 2360s.
For colors, I duplicated the actual model colors as much as possible. The hull is an off-white color, not really white but certainly not yellow-tan, like the ready room model was. I can’t fathom why some people actually think the big ship was yellow when it clearly wasn’t on screen, just the small one was. So, I went with an eggshell white. It looks very close to my reference images (at least, some of them. ) The blue-green color was a bit more difficult. It really varies from lighting. So, I picked a picture I liked and used it to get something close. I fiddled around with the color picker in Gimp and got about what I was going for and then tweaked it. I did a paintbrush swipe over the model and it looked good, so I ran with it. I did the same for the yellow. The red is pretty basic bright red, so that was a lot easier. Those are pretty much the colors for the ship, it’s pretty basic.
Note: I hate having nacelles like this have a constant glow. So, as somebody is no doubt going to point out that they glowed on the show, I feel I should address that. Yes, I know they glowed on the show. However, that looks wrong to me. These are a modified version of the same type of nacelles that the TMP Enterprise and Reliant had (Rick Sternbach used 2 Enterprise refit model kits to make the ready room model and Greg Jein made similar parts for the big model.) In the movies (including First Contact) and on TNG and DS9, when the Reliant studio model was used, this type of nacelle didn’t glow. The only time they did was on this model and on the CGI Miranda class ships used in the battle sequences on DS9. However, I don’t like it. So, even though it’s “canon,” I won’t do it.
Up first, lighting tests. I find these boring, but some people actually like them. So, since I had to render them anyway, here they are:
And some 1080p beauty shots:
That will do it for this build (for now.) Eventually, I’ll do some grimy textures, but I really need to move on to something else. No, I don’t mean I’m tired of working on this, I mean I literally have something else I need to build.
Constellation Class V3.0 Pt 12
This should do it as far as modeling. I think I got pretty much everything that’s on the studio model. Up next is textures and then lights.
A note on the by door numbers: Yes, the studio model had those, you can clearly see the one on the forward bay in the SD DVD version of The Battle. (you can also see blurry white marks on the side doors) However, the numbering sytem is odd. Looking at HD screen caps from TrekCore, I’ve pretty much figured out what they are. After examining some screen caps, this is what I came up with:
1: Starboard, Aft (right, back)
2: Starboard, Mid (right)
3: Starboard, Fore (right, front)
4: Fore (front) note: this one is clearly visible, even in the SD version of the episode
5: Port, Fore (left, front)
6: Port, Mid (left)
7: Port, Aft (left, back)
1, 2 and 3 are all pretty blurry but, by taking the screen caps into Gimp and improving the quality as much I can, those can pretty much be confirmed. 5 and 6 are too blurry, but that’s an educated guess. 4 and 7 can be clearly seen (7 can only be seen in the HD version.)
Changes on my version: OK, firstly, that numbering system is supid. This model was built in a hurry, so somebody probably just numbered them clockwise, starting with the back left (when viewing the model from below.) However, in TNG, the main shuttlebay was the largest bay, the one in the saucer section. On this model, that’s the forward bay. Also, that bay would be easier to land in due to it being oriented along the ship’s axis. So, why would it be number 4? That doesn’t make sense, so I chagned it to 1. I numbered the starboard bays from fore to aft, 2, 3 and 4. That makes sense to me. That also allowed me to leave the port bay numbers as-is. Another thing about the bays; I see no reason for a ship of this size to have 7 shuttlebays. I figure 2 and 5 are probably mainentance craft bays. 4 and 7 are probably cargo bays. That’s what I’m running with.
Another note: The bay door numbers are gone on the model in its current state. Either somebody realized they were numbered stupidly and removed the numbers or they came off. The doors are ribbed and it’s a pain to put decals on ribbed surfaces and they can come off more easily than on non-ribbed surfaces. I’ve seen other Trek models where they decals are coming off of smooth and curved surfaces, so its reasonable to think they simply came off.
Constellation Class V3.0 Pt 11
To illustrate my earlier point about the references for the section between the impulse engines, this is all I had to work with:
You can kind of make out shapes, but not much else. And, since that piece is missing in all of my reference photos, I just grabbed some stuff from other parts of the ship and put it there. The “logical” additions are the phasers and torpedo launchers. I figure the ship has to have aft coverage. Unless that piece really did have those, (it’s hard to say) the ship had no rear weaponry, which isn’t smart.
BTW, anybody who thinks you can prove me “wrong” on that part, you’re free to try. Though, unless you’re in possession of the actual piece that went there, or you had something to do with the actual filming model, you only get that screen capture I posted as a reference to make your case. Nobody else’s CGI models will be accepted as “evidence,” because they’re guessing at least as much as I am. (Yes, I love Tobias Richter’s work but he used the same references I’m using. I know this because I sent him my reference photos for the ship. ) Also, the ready room model doesn’t count because that’s not the model I’m building.
Anyway, that should do it for the aft end of the ship. Not much left to do now before I can begin textuing.
Constellation Class V3.0 Pt 10
After more than a month of not even wanting to do CGI, I’ve decided it’s time to finish a model. This one is very near to completion, so I’m finishing it this week.
The impulse engines were the first on my list to do today. For my previous builds of this ship, I had no good references as to the details on these, so I incorrectly modeled them like the ones on the TMP Enterprise. However, I now know this is wrong because I have very good references for both sides. I have correctly modeled them now (or at least it’s close enough.) Since I have pics of both engines, I know they’re mirror images of each other, so the starboard engine is a mirror of this one (port.)
Up next is a vent-looking thing directly in front of the engines and then the stuff in between. Unfortunately, the in between part was removable for wiring access and was missing when all of my good reference pictures were taken. So, that area is a blank to me. All I have is a so-so screen cap I made from my DVD from Peak Performance. It shows shapes but nothing more. So, guesswork will apply, as always. That may change with the Blu-Ray release of season 2, when I may be able to get higher resolution shots from that episode.
After that, all that is left are a few details on the sides and bottom and then textures and lights.
Daedalus-Class Reboot Pt. 02
NBTrekie (a fellow CG Artist) did a version of this ship a few years ago and Aethernaut provided him with a few additional references, which he passed on to me.
I put the nacelle end cap bit to use and redid those.
I got it as close as I could to the drawing without rebuilding the whole thing. But, it’s a lot closer to what Aethernaut had, so I’m happy with it. As it is, I had to redo the internal stuff.
After doing that, I was all set to start on some grid lines when I realized that it would be a good idea to do the cut for the navigational deflector first. And, while I was at it, I did the deflector itself. It’s a pretty basic TOS-style deflector. The schematic called for a plain deflector like the NX had, but I added the “ridges” to the inside like the 1701 had. I’m happy with how it came out.
I opted for not a whole lot of detail inside the housing because the deflector is partly recessed and will cover up most anything inside there anyway.
Daedalus-Class Reboot Pt. 01
I’ve been wanting to do a Daedalus-class ship from Star Trek for a while now. Originally, I’d planned on doing the design commonly referred to as “Daedalus-Class,” the USS Horizon from Sisko’s office. Though, the only canon Daedalus-class ship is the USS Essex and it was never seen on screen. Anywho, I got the idea to do this model (again) after Steve Neill restored the original Horizon and did a customer build of his self-molded kit a while back. I’d done one years ago, but it went kaput in a hard drive failure. Unfortunately, what kept me from doing the DS9 model was a lack of decent references. All I have are a few pictures not showing the entire model, both from when it was labeled “Essex” for the ST Chronology and when it was labeled “Horizon” for DS9. Other than that, I have incorrect fan schematics and a render sheet of Doug Drexler’s model he made for the ST New Voyages episode In Harm’s Way. Unfortunately, the renders on that sheet are all perspective views, rather than true top, side, etc. orthographic renders, so using them was possible but the perspective might have thrown things off. That was a real setback, because Doug did a really lovely model based off of the original desktop model (an advantage to working at Paramount ) and I was going to use those until I was prepping them and I noticed the perspective issue.
So, there I was ready to do a Daedalus-class but I had so-so references. However, then I was looking at an article by Bernd Schneider on his site (Ex Astris Scientia) regarding the Daedalus-class and I found a fan-made reboot design by Christopher Freeman, AKA Aehternaut. I’d seen the design years ago on Scifi-Meshes, but I had forgotten about it.
This design is a more modern take on the Daedalus-class that takes the show Enterprise and Doug Drexler’s NX-01 into account. I like it, so I decided to model it. As you can see, the schematics are a 3-view, which gives me plenty to go by but also leaves some room for interpretation and throwing in my own things. Also, I will be changing a few things. One notable change is having the blue stuff on the warp engines only on the inside. This change is to go more with Doug’s more recent “Season 4″ NX refit, where he added a secondary hull and “capped” the outer warp blue stuff. (among other things) To see pics of that, check out his blog (Drex Files) in the links section to the right and search for “NX-01.” Also, Steve Neill’s blog and Ex Astris Scientia can be found there if you want to check out the builds and article I referenced or just go see some good stuff.
Anywho, I’ve been picking at this for a few days and this is where I am:
Up next is probably some grid lines. I’ve been avoiding them but they need to be done.
Constellation Class V3.0 Pt 9
More stuff, some of it from yesterday, some from today. I simplified some of this stuff because to do this tiny stuff at full detail would be a waste and would just drive up the ship’s polygon count. As you can see, a lot of it is so small that it’s hard to make out anyway, so low detail stuff will suffice.
This should do it for top side main hull details. I just have a few greebles to add to the sides and bottom and then the impulse engines and whatever is in between them. Unfortunately, there was a wiring and mounting port back there and, in all of the pictures I have of the ship, that part is missing and there are wires sticking out. All I have showing that area is a screenshot from Peak Performance. So, as always, I’ll be making something up.
Also, here’s a shot of the robot on the underside because Dean (aka freak/freak89) asked to see it. Like the stuff on the top side, it’s a bit simplified to save on polygons because it’s rarely seen and, when it is, it’s hard to make out anyway.
Constellation Class V3.0 Pt 8
I added these big bumpy things, whatever the hell they’re supposed to be. One of them has a thing that looks like a BFG on it, but Trek doesn’t have BFGs, so I don’t know what it is either. (don’t bother speculating, only two people might know what it’s supposed to be and unless your name is Rick Sternbach or Andrew Probert, they’re not you) I didn’t redo the gun thing. I remember that being a pain in the ass before and it looks fine now, so I’m keeping it. I also added the robot to the bottom (yes, it’s a robot) just forward of those things. Again, this isn’t a new part, but I did have to adjust it slightly. I have really good references for that thing but I never really did it in full detail because you usually don’t see it that well, which is why it’s where it is. I see no reason to change that, so I kept it as it was on the v2 model.
That’s it for me for now, it’s rapidly approaching 3 AM here.
For those who are curious: 314.2 meters long, 173.3 meters wide, 82.24 meters tall. That’s what I got and it shouldn’t change. Bernd Schneider has it at 310 meters long, but it’s hard to say if he’s scaling it off of that wretchedly wrong side view from the Star Trek Encyclopedia. (it’s based on the ready room model and still not correct)
Constellation Class V3.0 Pt 7
More stuff. Mostly new, but a few greebles are transferred over from the old mesh. One thing this ship has in short supply is external hatches. I guess that’s because it was built in a hurry and nobody bothered to add them later. As I said in an earlier post, I added docking ports to the vertical pylons on the v2 mesh. I’ll probably also add some to the main hull, I just have to decide where they go. Aside from those, I also added some crew hatches to the top of the saucer. These are the same type of hatches seen on the Connie refit, the type that Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Decker used to exit the ship and go into V’ger towards the end of TMP. So, even though those aren’t on the studio model, I added them because they’re a common sense addition. (you have to be able to exit the ship when necessary)
Constellation Class V3.0 Pt 6
More crap. Most of it is new. The only exceptions are the light/sensor dome thing on the bottom and the frame for the forward shuttle doors, those are from the v2 mesh. (no, the frame is not on the studio model, I did that because I think it looks better and it helps to have the frame when I have the bay in there)
Constellation Class V3.0 Pt. 5
OK, as anybody who does art knows, inspiration can be fickle. Some days, you’re in the mood to do one thing, other days you’re not. I’ve been trying to talk myself into getting back into learning Lightwave for a while now, but the motivation just isn’t there. (no, it has nothing to do with the minor setback I had with the Enterprise engineering hull) I’ll get back to it at some point. After all, Lightwave isn’t going anywhere. It will still be there when I want to get back into it.
However, I have found that I’m in the mood to work on my v3 Constellation-class mesh. Though, to tell the truth, I may was well call this version 2.5, because I’ve started adding some bits from my v2 mesh. Why would I do this? Because there’s no point in building nearly identical bits. The vertical pylons are a great example. For my v1 mesh, they were a mess. For v2, I had great pictures and I got them as close as I’m going to get them. Rebuilding them would be a waste of time, so I’m not doing it. The only really “not accurate” parts are the greebles at the bottom, that’s the only part I’m still not sure about. That’s a best guess. I also added some details that aren’t on the original, like the torpedo launchers and a docking port to the port side for the top and the starboard side for the bottom (because it’s flipped. ) Anywho, aside from those, I also added some of the Macross greebles that are as accurate as I can make them from the last mesh.
OK, onto the new bits. The main hull was horrible on my last mesh, it was terribly inaccurate. So, I’ve rebuilt it. I think I fixed the issue with the distance between the saucer edge and the edge of the main hull, it was too short on my last version. Also, since there are no accurate blueprints from this ship, I built the saucers using Constitution-class refit blueprints. Even though this ship is NOT A KITBASH OF THE CONNIE-REFIT, (sorry, that’s a common misconception that ticks me off) those parts are close enough to the Connie-R. I think what I have now looks pretty good. Another thing that was terribly wrong on my last version was the window layout. So, I did one of the most fun things imaginable, I laid out the windows by looking at pictures of the studio model. Believe me, this is tons of fun. (rolls eyes) Anywho, I’m sure some of the “rivet counters” will find an issue or two, but it’s close enough for me. Besides, anybody who thinks they can do better is certainly welcome to build their own ship and try to get it closer.
Now, one thing I intentionally did wrong with the windows was to realign them slightly. This makes them actually conform to a deck plan. According to Rick Sternbach, who (along with Andrew Probert) designed the ready room model and Rick also built the model, this ship has 15 decks. However, when Greg Jein built the studio model based off of the ready room model, he put 4 lines of windows on the edge of the main hull. Each line is a deck, and there’s a sizable gap in between the top two and bottom two lines. If you actually line this up, it makes that part 5 decks. Taking that into account, the decks are about 2.2-2.4 meters tall. Unfortunately, that’s not very tall. However, with the windows where they are, that’s what you get without changing the scale of the ship. (it was worse before I moved some of the window lines) When you add the rest of the ship into the mix, you do get 15 decks, assuming you don’t count the lower sensor dome or warp pylons and nacelles. So, at least it does kinda/sorta work out, though the decks are shorter than I usually like to make.
Anywho, here are the renders of the current state of the ship:
Also, the shuttlebay I made for v2 fits, though it’s 5 decks tall. However, that’s as big as it is on the original studio model. I lined it up with the deck plan, though the oversize doors and walkway don’t quite work, but bays of this size tend to not conform to deck plans anyway.
Learning Lightwave 06
OK, here’s where I am. Needless to say, there was a lot of work involved in the front end of this engineering hull. I don’t know who decided to make this part this way back in the ’60s, but it’s not the easiest thing to replicate in 3D. Next up is the equally fun shuttlebay area.
BTW, if anybody who knows Lightwave has any idea why I’m getting those smoothing errors in the rear of the booleans cut when I render and how to fix them, please let me know. Here’s a screenshot showing the area to which I’m referring:
I followed Ger’s tutorial and everything looks good to me, but what do I know?
Learning Lightwave, Pt. 05
OK, people who know me aren’t really going to be surprised by this. I’m not happy with the upper saucer curve in my Casimiro-built saucer section. I frequently watch TOS episodes before bed to wind down and this doesn’t look like what’s on screen. (the original episodes, not the “remastered” ones)
The transition from the curve to the smooth surface is much less severe. So, I needed to fix that. I also like my B-C deck teardrop shape I originally made using Sinclair’s plans better. That was easy to fix, I just made a new one off of Sinclair’s plans and moved it slightly to line up with the Casimiro plans.
The saucer was a bit more interesting. Obviously, I could just make one off of Sinclair’s plans and put it on the shp. However, Sinclair’s plans not only don’t line up with Casimiro’s plans (big surprise there) but the saucer is also smaller than on the Casimiro plans. So, it won’t work. Of course, the good thing about being an artist is that you don’t have to take what they give you. I took the upper curve from Sinclair’s plans and blended it into Casimiro’s plans. The result was a bit messy, so I took that into Inkscape and redrew it to make a nice, clean spline line.
The result is a nice, smooth curve and a saucer I can be happy with.
I know, some of you are probably wondering why I’m going to all this trouble on a ship I’m building for a tutorial. Well, simply put, it took me years and several tries to get a very close (about 99%) TOS Connie in trueSpace. I don’t want to spend that time on the ship in LW, I want to get it done in one shot. I have several years’ worth of ships to rebuild or convert in LW and probably a few new things to do, so no redoing ships that I’ve already done in LW until that’s all done.
The Engineering hull is forthcoming. I’ve just about ran out of excuses to not start work on it, though don’t expect a speedy update. There are a lot of steps, it’s likely to take a few days, and I’m not going to stop to render everything as I go.
