weathering

[candle_86]

Ok this has bugged me from a technical standpoint, why do people apply weathering effects to a starship. Even at impulse speeds the deflector is being used or micro fractures would appear in the hull as atoms hit it at the speed the ship goes. So no particles ever hit the ship. So if inside the deflector its a perfect Vacume how would the paint weather? To Weather means the hull must contact the elements around it. Also while radiation would affect it, it would also be a universial weathering just about. Besides the Connie Refit we never saw one sign weathering was applied in canon and even there its barley noticable. ITs a nice effect but it doesnt make sense.

[Senator]

You know how some people buy distressed jeans?
Well, it is a little known fact that some Captains use a transporter-replicator combo, to beam paint molecules in place around the hull in order to make their ship look "weathered".

[candle_86]

lol so some captains are into style. On another note I dont get buying pre wornout jeans, I prefer them to be in perfect order because ill wear them out myself

[CyAn1d3]

You know how some people buy distressed jeans?
Well, it is a little known fact that some Captains use a transporter-replicator combo, to beam paint molecules in place around the hull in order to make their ship look "weathered".

hahahahahhahahahaa.. cookie

[Armondikov]

Combat, ad hoc repairs, impacts to large for the deflector, several years of exposure with the deflector at low power, radiation. Space is far from empty, it's jam packed with enough narrativium to do practically anything to a starship.

[King Class Scout]

I've only seen a couple ships that have defineite weathering to the paint.  one of them is the TE Daedalus, the ISS essex.  the other is stresspuppy's connie.  wiley would plug his YOH voyager, and almost every ship from a "true millitary" standpoint (B5, stargate verse) is automatically weathered, as are borg units, because appearance is't necessary.

[candle_86]

well weathering its canon, and even on low power the deflector must stop the smallest atom at even .3 light speed your going fast enough for it to poke holes in the hull. Combat if the energy passed the shields would sear the hull black in that spot. Even voayger in year of hell never devoloped weathering the few spots of hull she had left with paint on it visable like the UFP logo showed zero weathering. Also except for the Connie original config no other ships have painted hulls. And the connie with weathering affects is not canon, it was added in 92, watch the show there are no visable grid lines nor weathering. Sorry i like to nitpick, and this has bothered me, when I see it

[King Class Scout]

there's a trope out there to that effect.  I'm just glad there isn't TOO much when their IS.  it has to do with people being overzealous when it comes to "brown is real".  the new Galactica was a big offender in this catagory, because girt and grime=hardcore blood, guts, and violence nowadays.  a little worn, yes, but not to the point that it looks like the ship's been lived in for a couple centuries straight by the Homeless.

your right about the paint, though.  it's even close enough to qualify as cannon.  according to one of the books, the original ships were sprayed with a light grey thermacoat.  the paint on the A was left off to save several tons of weight (and probably several million credits of pay to dockworkers).  people apparently so liked the appearance of the bare alloy, they left it that way (thus why TMP ships have visible Aztecing).

[candle_86]

yea but TOS ships shouldnt. My original tiber didnt have any, but I showed it to a handful of people via msn who told me it looked like a cartoon ship, no aztec no grid lines, but i got told it was a cartoon

[King Class Scout]

that's cause people expect a "photo realistic" look to EVERYTHING, nowadays.

[CyAn1d3]

that's cause people expect a "photo realistic" look to EVERYTHING, nowadays.

welcome to the dilution that ps3 and xbox 360 has created.

[Armondikov]

that's cause people expect a "photo realistic" look to EVERYTHING, nowadays.

welcome to the dilution that ps3 and xbox 360 has created.

Huzzah for technology!

Greebles and decals originally came about for two reasons: 1) to convey scale and size, as a smooth and plain surface could be any size at all, and we mostly associate it with something small and 2) because of errors in making physical models, the details could be glued over otherwise distracting and telling mold lines to remove them. I've seen very few graphics artists who can create a realistic look and convey scale without such features.

[candle_86]

scale can be done with windows and the bridge on a starship

[ACES_HIGH]

scale can be done with windows and the bridge on a starship

that's not necessarily true.  Take the JJ Enterprise.  The intended scale on that is completely inconsistent with the size of the bridge and windows.

[Kirk]

You can't really pull off scale with a bridge when you have no idea what the interior looks like. As for windows, those little white squares could be any size, until you add interior details to them (for example, adding screencaps/ renders of interiors from that type of ship.)

[Armondikov]

scale can be done with windows and the bridge on a starship

And windows are a form of greeble. And as Kirk said, these could be any size if you just have glowing white squares. And of course, if you're dealing with something like a 40K Mars Class or Battle Barge, then it's far too big for you to effectively show windows.

[candle_86]

well windows shouldnt be bigger than a deck. The bridge should also be 1 deck. Bridge module could be 2-3. But thats where your windows come into play. This is how i look at it. Top row of windows to next row of windows, there is 2 decks. and then mesaure to the lip at the top of the mesh where they first start. Now you have a general height. For each section. So I look at windows = decks like anyone should. If there are 50 rows of windows the ship is 50 decks. This is based on the fact in trek we never see double rowed windows on any ship. So each row of windows must equal a deck. So ive figured out height. Now we know a bridge is rather large compared to other spaces on a ship. So if the bridge module is small the ship must be large, ect. I base all my size estimates on those to facts. And the people that got the specs for the JJ Prise did it the same way. Thats how we know the ship is bigger than an excelscior but smaller than an ambassador

[Phaser]

And the connie with weathering affects is not canon, it was added in 92, watch the show there are no visable grid lines nor weathering. Sorry i like to nitpick, and this has bothered me, when I see it

While you're correct that the '92 repaint was way over the top, the original paint job did in fact have weathering applied.  While the effects of the day washed out most of the details, there are photos which clearly show the weathering.  Plus, excluding the bridge module, the top of the saucer has never been refurbished, and it does have weathering effects painted on.

Also, the ship did have grid lines scribed in pencil on the dorsal hull.  I'm still up in the air as to weather the rest of the ship had such lines (though I lean towards it not having them).

Attached are a couple examples.  In the first picture, you can clearly see the penciled in grid lines and weathering effects on the saucer (you can also see the different between the refurbished and original paint jobs if you compare the saucer to either the bridge module or the neck and secondary hull).  In the second picture, you can clearly see weathering applied to the area around the bussard collector.  There is also weathering near the base of the neck, the front of the secondary hull, the front of the nacelle pylons, and at the base of the nacelle pylons.

[candle_86]

well considering matt jefferies ordered it in a flat grey im more inclinded to think the weathering is from storage and on the scene its from the camera. That studio model would fade and weather over time because its in an atmosphere, but a real starship wouldn't weather.

[Maxloef]

Candle...your avatar is scary....