UFOP Ares class Battleship concept work....

[Aeries]

I *love* how the lines seem to smooth downward from the top of the saucer to the back of the secondary hull. It really reminds me of the Luna Class USS Titan, only smoother and more streamlined. I love it! The bottom of the saucer still needs some work IMO and the secondary hull is still a bit longer than most, but that might even be an issue with the saucer; most ships with a secondary hull that size would have a larger saucer section i'd think...

good work so far, buddy!

[Raven Night]

Thanks for all your input guys.

The saucer is actually its own fully functional ship, including warp nacelles. It is a bit small, but Marine Corps saucers tend to be smaller because they carry less personnel...no families. I went with an overall bulky shape to denote its heavy on armor and light on beauty...but she cant be too ugly hehe.

I'm working on a few ways to shorten the hull a bit...it deforms if I do it too much, the length is tied in with the shape unfortunately.

One thing I will note is that I shortened the rear even more and brought the deflector out a bit. Also, I could center the bridge and torp module a bit better in the saucer....but then that would get away from the "cab forward" design I shoot for in Marine Corps ships. Ill see what I can do with her.

[DJ Curtis]

lol.  cab forward.  Chrysler LH series.  1993. 

i wouldn't shorten the hull too much.  it makes it distinct.

[Raven Night]

That verdict works for me DJ ;)

I have to admit, I like the odd shape. But you were right, it was TOO long before. I think its about right now.

The "cab forward" thing is really just to make the ships look more aggressive, but my excuse is to say that a forward bridge is easier to protect with shielding...so generally speaking, like on modern military ships the bridge is rarely the top deck.

I think I figured out what might make it look stretched to most...the position of the bridge in relation to the tail.

On most fed ships the bridge is right in the middle, so the tail tends to be X long. Since I design most of my ships with bridges that are closer to the fore bow of the ship, and on this one especially with the blunted saucer, the distance to the tail is much longer...hence the flow is thrown off.

If you look at a side by side, you can see that the engineering hull is actually about the same length as the Sov...if you ignore the far forward bridge.




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[JimmyB76]

i think it looks great!

[andyp]

It really reminds me of the Luna Class USS Titan, only smoother and more streamlined.The bottom of the saucer still needs some work and the secondary hull is still a bit longer than most

i agree with all of this except for the part about the secondary hull.

it really does look like an off shoot of the titan, maybe you could go off of that, maybe give it like a sensor pod or weapons pod, not necessarily with a roll bar like with titan, but maybe a neck?

and with the lower saucer you could take cues from the sovy, cause i feel like there should be like some parts raised.

but i think making this design more like a ship around the titan era would make it better... :mrgreen:

[Starforce2]

What..raven going conventional?

Those cannons actualy look more like the ronin or maybe another ship I've seen, but good either way. Nice to have something with some bite. Texture tiger teeth from old ww2 p51's for the cannons.

[Raven Night]

Hehe. Sounds like a winner.

There is actually a raised part on the bottom of the saucer section, it was just hard to see in one of the renders. Ill post some close-ups later so you guys can see it...but the sep saucer hull is still being worked on, so the shape is tentative.

I also forgot to mention that this is actually a 4 nacelle ship...two of the nacelles are hidden in the saucer section, port and starboard. They are usually not active when the saucer is docked, but can be brought on line in case of failure of the standard nacelles...and can also operate with the others to increase speed. Without both nacelle sets active the ship is substantially slower at warp than a Sov, running a top speed of only warp 8.5. She is built like a tank, so she flies like one.

Maneuverability suffers as well compared to a Sov, but in weapons, shield strength, armor, power availability, cargo space and survivability she is head and shoulders above the former. This was part of the Advanced Starship Design Project (ASDP), of which the Defiant, Prometheus, Sovereign and Akira were brethren....as well as my Scorpion and the Infinity of course.

You know me...love the backhistory.

[MarkyD]

You know that top view gave me an idea..

more sovvy styled necelles sat slightly further forward, would make it look less drawn out without having to rebuild major areas, and I think sovvy shaped necelles would look much nicer as the overall shape is nice curvy and flowing with sharp lines. Im not saying use sovvy necelles, but in that design ethic..

Forgive my editing, im in work and had to use paint  :shock:

[Raven Night]

Ok, I reshaped the nacelles a bit, tried to keep them from looking too "Sov", and moved them forward. What do you think.




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[FarShot]

I don't know...  The pylon connection just doesn't seem right.

If I may be so bold to make a suggestion, I'd put a torpedo launcher under each nacelle, which connects back to the pylon.  That way the pylon looks a bit more balanced, while you get to keep that warship look.

[MarkyD]

Definately mate.. I think it works much better, again its just my opinion, but for giving it a shot **cookie**  8)

Good job

[szekeres2008]

Lovely ship :shock: I like it!

[JimmyB76]

oooh that is nice!! 
awesome Raven!

[Dawg81]

how bout instead of torp tubes why not house a phaser cannon instead they would get energy directly from the warp reaction system thus they would be more powerful compared to using torps

[FourChan]

This ships looking hot, I have a feeling that within the next couple months there's going to be some great ships being released for BC.

[yanlou]

lovin the ship raven, very agressive, 
iv always liked fed designs with bridges further foward and i think it really works with this ship
cookie coming your way i think 

[Raven Night]

Thanks guys. Its really thanks to DJ that it is starting to look relatively acceptable...his work has given me design cues to follow that I can run with finally.

Just messing around, I decided to do one version with a Sov-like saucer. It works on some levels, but doesnt on others I think. I dont know, I think it is less unique this way, but not a stretch since it was designed at the same time as the Sov, just never finished.

Tell me what you think...I could still do a few more edits or versions.




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[Aeries]

Smoothing groups, please? Hehe. Looks pretty cool, I say!

[FourChan]

I like the small aspects of mixing some Sovvy aspects like the look of the front of the nacelles and stuff and adding the whole DJ-Fleet Elements to it.