OMG! Design the next USS ENTERPRISE (Offical Contest)

[Fuzzy Modem]

More:

Holts


Gardner


Brooks


Wyman


Tourangeau

[sloweye]

Some nice ones there, but also some so far from Enterprise, nice designs but just not her.

Good luck, you should do well.

[pyan]

Kastner's looks remarkably similar to a fatter Excelsior class to me...


Kastner.



Excelsior.

[sloweye]

There are a few i've noticed that are very close to other classes. a couple of Intrepids there too.
Enterprise is an instatution now, you cant stray to far from her size and shape without loseing her all together.

Wyman's looks like some kind of Klingon hybred, and Tourangeau's looks like a cross between federation/ferengi/Cardasian.

[Fuzzy Modem]

It's pretty difficult to come up with something that hasn't been done before, yet is still unquestionably the "Enterprise" at a glance, from all orthos and in thumbnail.

Ideally the viewer should recognize the Enterprise first, and then identify the differences. Additionally those differences must indicate an understanding of the design lineage, but should play out in an unexpected and interesting way.

On top of those difficulties, one must strive to create something both attractive and believable.

Not a lightweight undertaking.

[sloweye]

Indeed, i take my hat off to you

[Fuzzy Modem]

In retrospect I feel that I've done well, but there are things I would do differently given another chance.

The engineering section looks a bit clunky, the deflector dish is very vanilla, and it’s cavity ought to angle upwards to match the curvature of the neck (like the Enterprise-D). Moving away from a consolidated primary and secondary hull was risky, but in combining the nacelle struts with the neck, I feel I've held true to a the consolidated hull philosophy, albeit in a new direction.

Somehow despite the elongated saucer and streamlined nacelle features my design feels more at home between the Enterprise C and D, or perhaps as an alternative to the E. I've failed to create a new branch off the same limb.

Part of this is an attempt to re-create the hull texture of TMP Enterprise. Namely subtle differences in hull plating specularity. That style is my personal favorite, but was abandoned in TNG and beyond. Cryptic will of course be creating their own texture set(s) however, so I felt comfortable emulating my favorite style for the sake of attractiveness over continuity, but this may have been unwise.

The nacelles could be a bit lower, closer to the saucer, and truer to the Enterprise's characteristic silhouette. My saucer is rather lumpy, and perhaps a little too reminiscent in shape to an egg, and my windows aren't all perfectly to scale. My deck heights are also slightly inconsistent, and at the top of the neck the deck with the airlock is actually angled up slightly, though I suppose this is okay in a... what do you call the enclosed ramp that leads from the gate to the airplane?... Googling... ah, a “jetway” or "airbridge" sort of way.

Overall, I should have come up with something a bit more streamlined and compact, with a bit more attention to the characteristics that evolved after TNG, but I’m very proud of my work, and very grateful to you for helping me develop it

I'll be uploading both my submission image and the video at 6pm Alaska time on the 14th, about 26 hours prior to the deadline. That should give me enough time to react and compensate for anything unforeseen, while still limiting the amount of exposure to potential plagiarizers, and hopefully keeping me on the "Recent" page after the contest closes.

Wish me luck!

[sloweye]

I’m very proud of my work

And so you should be, you've put a lot of time and effot in to it.

and very grateful to you for helping me develop it

You are more than welcome, its been a pleasure to watch you put it all together.

I'll be uploading both my submission image and the video at 6pm Alaska time on the 14th

Don't forget to post a link, i cant wait to see her in all her glory.

Wish me luck!

Indeed, the very best of luck to you, I'm sure you will do well with all the time you have put in.

[pyan]

Yes, best of luck, FM - can't wait to see the result of all your hard work and refinements...

[Fuzzy Modem]

I know it doesn't look like much, but this is the first attempt at printing my model with my friend's reprap.







The final product will be 5x that size, and printed in six separate parts. I'll then assemble it, putty over the extrusion contours, and paint it

More pics to follow, but I'll likely take my time with this project.

____________________

I'll also be printing out interchangeable sections of castle wall, and then little grainarys and inns and stables and towers and cathedrals and such for the inside. I'll then paint the pieces and give them away as gifts. I think swappable castle parts would be a cool little coffee table toy.

[sloweye]

Not much more i can say about that other than.... Cool, damn cool

[Fuzzy Modem]

I still need to clean a lot of excess crap off of it, but here is the final draft, full scale, highest possible quality:

[sloweye]

Thats really cool mate, I'll put my order in

[Fuzzy Modem]

Agreed.

Some more new competitors, some of them quite impressive/intimidating:


Samuelson


Inabinet


Rinaldi


Anderson

[Fuzzy Modem]

More:


Summers


Calloway


Gordon


Reynolds


Buzzard