3DSciFi

This is an idea I've been playing around with for the past few hours. Obviously, there's much to do, but it's a start. I'm designing as I go, so some bits have gone the way of the delete button and had to be rebuilt.



Basically, it's a post TNG-era frigate. My original idea was an escort, like the Defiant is, but with more of this type of design. However, I decided to make it a bit bigger (it's still not large by TNG standards) and make it a frigate, as a frigate can have more uses than simply escorting stuff. But, a frigate is still, by definition, a warship. My idea is that this is a defensive ship. It could be assigned to a fleet, a starbase or even a planet for defense. It could potentially perform other assignments, but only in a limited capacity. Most of the ship's resources will be used for the engines, defensive systems and weapons. It's not likely to have much in the way of science labs. Obviously, it could collect scan data and take that back to a starbase for analysis, but it couldn't do the analysis itself. In fact, it can't do much of anything on its own for any length of time, but it's not designed to be on its own. If it were in a situation like what happened with Voyager, it would fare about as well as the Equinox did. My theory is that with the Dominon War, the constant Borg threat and the collapse of the Romulan Star Empire, the call for ships with more firepower would be higher than in the relatively peaceful days of TNG.

And I've already changed something. Upon looking at it, I wasn't fond of how I'd done the upper saucer. One of the disadvantages to designing is a you go is that you think it looks OK, until you get a better look at it. Anyway, it's a small change but I like how it flows better.

Old:



New:



Sometimes less complex is better.

Nice work, Chris!  Very cool!

I love that you have a back story and a relative size for the ship in mind.  Well done!

this is both the horror and joy of working on original universe stuff, the delete key becomes your friend in the end .
you have the added constraints or guides of trying to fit a universe with well know shape and design language.
LOL i realize everything wrote is  kind the old glass is 1/2 full , or 1/2 empty bit .

I can say this , there is nothing more rewarding than pulling off a original work.

quite often i would be guilty of the meme , opening blender deleting the default cube , staring at the screen and just shutting it down .

Looks good man .

Thanks Eric. I never start a design without having a size in mind. It helps me with my proportions, since I don't sketch stuff in 2D first. For example, with a TNG era ship and an oval saucer, at 200m long, I want the saucer to be about 100m long. The nacelles are probably going to be about that long too, or a bit longer. (I hate stubby nacelles) I'll just have to decide if I want to have the nacelles overlap the saucer slightly or if I want to make the ship slightly longer. 200m is just a starting point. I think I went 100m wide too, so I may make the ship slightly longer. Deciding a purpose for the ship also helps me design it. For something like a frigate, I want a ship that looks fast and maneuverable since, historically, frigates are warships built for speed and maneuverability.

Thanks Scott. I can never seem to find a direction for original universe stuff. I guess I'm just not that original.

this is why i have deleted many default cubes and ended there .

I now try and use abstract source shapes and such to get outlines. photo bashing 2d pics to make outlines helps too .

When I actually used Blender, I always deleted the cube and saved my startup file so it wouldn't still be there.

I got the lower secondary hull and nacelles started. Now it's just a matter of adding the bridge module and then getting into the details.

I got the basics of the bridge module in. It's similar to ones I've done in the past. It channels some Enterprise refit, Excelsior and Voyager love. This also gives the ship a spine.





And, speaking of spines, mine is requesting that I take a break from working on this and watch the latest episode of Picard, and maybe play some Doom 64 on the XBOX One. OK, my spine isn't really requesting Picard or Doom, but that's what's about to happen. 😉

looking cool man .

// i think deleting the default cube is ... comforting for me somehow. Sort of , " hey friend I'm not an Autodesk/3dMax product " 

Thanks bro.

I've used a handful of different programs, none of which are Autodesk products, and Blender is the only one that I've used that starts with a cube.

Nice progress, and I love the Enterprise in the background!

Cool ship! It looks good from every angle, nice lines

Thanks a lot, guys.

Quote from: scifieric on Mar 21, 2020, 03:36 pmI love the Enterprise in the background!

It's the same background I used when I made my most recent Enterprise. I was going to do something else, but then I just used that one again.

Great looking ship Chris.