Ambassador Class

[Villain]

Question: Just how many slices are in that saucer?

[Shadowknight1]

Hmmm...very nice.   Here's a question.  Since you're doing the Ent-C, will you be doing a clean version and a beat-all-to-hell version?

[DJ Curtis]

Question: Just how many slices are in that saucer?

108 around the rim and phaser, but many fewer on the actual "face" of the saucer.  I'll show you a wireframe later once I get some poly reduction done.

As to the version I'm doing, as I stated, I'm doing the Ent C for now.  She will be clean.

[vipergb34]

I hope we get to see a DJ version of this ship too.

[Nebula]

uh of what ship??

[Dalek]

uh of what ship??

This one. I think he means one of his future refit versions, like the Pegasus variant.

[Nebula]

oh IC

[DJ Curtis]

Right now I'm sort of leaning that way.  The way I see it is that the Ambassador class is a big investment.  Like the Excelsior Class, Starfleet isn't going to just do away with them because the Galaxy Class came along.  By my way of thinking, once Starfleet had a sufficient run of Galaxy Class starships constructed and flying around, the Ambassadors probably would have been pulled in for a major refit.  I might go that route.

[limey BSc.]

Right now I'm sort of leaning that way.  The way I see it is that the Ambassador class is a big investment.  Like the Excelsior Class, Starfleet isn't going to just do away with them because the Galaxy Class came along.  By my way of thinking, once Starfleet had a sufficient run of Galaxy Class starships constructed and flying around, the Ambassadors probably would have been pulled in for a major refit.  I might go that route.

I'm not so sure myself. I mean, we rarely saw other Ambies on screen. Only 3 episodes on TNG and one of DS9, and never in overly important roles. That suggests (to me at least) that Starfleet never really widely deployed them.

Or perhaps that the production crew found it cheaper to use other thing

[Billz]

Any chance of seeing Andrew Probert's concept Ambassador if you are doing a pack?

I did ask on the last 2 pages but they both ended up quite close to the bottom of their pages so you may have missed the original question.

[DJ Curtis]

No.  It's an almost entirely different ship, plus Wiley has already begun taking care of that ship anyway.

[deadthunder2_0]

Wow great job, you are doing great. as i said- we need more options

[Billz]

No.  It's an almost entirely different ship, plus Wiley has already begun taking care of that ship anyway.

Fair enough. Looks great so far.

[Nihilus]

Right now I'm sort of leaning that way.  The way I see it is that the Ambassador class is a big investment.  Like the Excelsior Class, Starfleet isn't going to just do away with them because the Galaxy Class came along.  By my way of thinking, once Starfleet had a sufficient run of Galaxy Class starships constructed and flying around, the Ambassadors probably would have been pulled in for a major refit.  I might go that route.

I'm not so sure myself. I mean, we rarely saw other Ambies on screen. Only 3 episodes on TNG and one of DS9, and never in overly important roles. That suggests (to me at least) that Starfleet never really widely deployed them.

Or perhaps that the production crew found it cheaper to use other thing

I'd say they were cheap.  The same reason we didn't see any Refit Excelsiors during any of the battles, even though they made note in a previous episode that the USS Lakota was upgraded with more powerful phasers and quantum torpedoes.  We didn't get to see any Sovereign class ships either, even though that would have been SWEET.

So I don't see any reason why we can't get an upgraded Ambassador Class.  If you think about it, Starfleet lost quite a few ships during the war.  It would make sense that they take older vessels and give them an upgrade to make up for their losses, while more modern ships are still being constructed.

And as always, DJ's work will be jaw-droppingly gorgeous so I can't wait to see more

[deadthunder2_0]

They didn't show a sovereign because they wanted it to Movie only

[Psyco Diver]

Well as I see it The Ambies were built to replace the aging excellsior class, and to show case the new tech, I mean this is the first ship to have phaser strips and that style of warp nacelles. I mean at this point the excellsiors had to be pretty worn out with out a new ship to replace them. The were built to be bigger and handle all duties for SF. So when these ships came out, the Excelsiors were either refitted, or scrapped. I got this from when Picard mentioned the Stargazer was falling apart at the seams, doesn't speak for how advanced SF was. I figured they kept making them up till the start of the dominion war, probably haulted due to the need for smaller, easier to make combat vessels, the rest were probably refitted with type X phasers, stronger shields, and engines. I think they were used when a Galaxy or Sovergien class wasn't needed, but a diplomatic vessel with teeth was still needed

[DJ Curtis]

I'm not sure I buy into this idea that just because a new ship class comes into existence it means the one before it goes the way of the dinosaur.  I think the Excelsior is the perfect example of how a well designed ship can find a great deal of life long after being commissioned.  You gotta realize that the Excelsiors were from the 2280's and still in use for sure 90 years after that.  That's a very long run.  But consider that the modern USS Enterprise aircraft carrier CVN-65 was launched in the 1960 and is still in active service today.  That's a 50 year old ship built with 20th century technology.  I would think that in the future a starship would certainly last longer than 50 years.

Given all the resources that go into constructing a ship as massive as an Ambassador Class starship, I think Starfleet would have to find something majorly wrong with the class to think them obsolete.  Surely they are built to be upgraded in many non-visible ways.  To my way of thinking, the Ambassador class would probably get a major refit around 2380 (60 years after being first launched) for the final 20 years of it's usable life.

[Psyco Diver]

I forgot to add, we didn't see it really cause they didn't computer model it, I remember reading a long time ago they choose to use "well known" trek ships like the Galaxy, Excelsior, and Miranda to CG cause back then, CG was very expensive so they could only afford to do a couple ships. By the end of the series is when we start to see the sabre and the steam runner. Because the Amby appeared a few times, it wasn't very remembered, so didn't get thought of when they were CGing ships. Remember the Intepid class (can't remember its name) that was in DS9 appeared about the same time the started using the CG Voyager more instead of the real physical model they had.

This is most based off a article I read once years ago, and some stuff I filled in, so take it as it is


BTW I can't wait for you to finish this amby, it looks great so far, I hope through your busy life you find time not just the Ent C model, but a TNG model, and a dominion war/PDW refit. This ship is by far I want to see the most

[Morgan]

To my way of thinking, the Ambassador class would probably get a major refit around 2380 (60 years after being first launched) for the final 20 years of it's usable life.

I'd assume more around 2370-71, with the emergence of the Dominion threat (makes more sense to me), but aside from that I'd be inclined to agree with everything else you said. The previous ship class doesn't go away, cut back (or in most cases stop) production sure, but not retire.

Anyways getting back to the topic, your Ambassador is shaping up very nicely and I can't wait to see more. I'm a big fan of your Galaxy class, although with my system being a little older I keep it limited to my non-NFX 2 install, but that doesn't mean I like it any less. 

[King Class Scout]

one of the old guides pegs the Excelsior class having come off the production line for a CENTURY ,which is longer than all but a couple of automotive manufacturers have existed.  I wonder if the descendants of either Studebaker or Mercedes-Benz run the fleet yards where the excell's are assembled the excell's were just too handy. 
another good example is the old connies.  Bone's Sobieski is based on the premise that starfleet ran short of even excells and Mirandas for the War, and dug out some connie 2's and refit them to fill in the gap.  the fact is that if starfleet actually kept some connies in stock, just in case, proves how tough the mk II's were (especially after Scotty had tweaked the crap out of the design as Captian of engineering)
i agree, though, that the amby's were probably just overlooked in production.  they might have been just intended as a one-shot (or, like the actual excelsior model, too altered/damaged to bother with).  if i remember my ship history right, ambies should have got their "mark II" overhaul sometime in the fifties, if there were any left after the Klingon mess

either way, when DJ starts on a model, you know your gonna get something good looking.