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Steam235 wrote:No aztec painting on this one. instead I've accented the grid lines, and added a very subtle "rust ring" I really didn't see any pictures of the ship that showed any aztec pattern.
This "rust ring" is fairly new to me. Is this an artifact of the filming model or is there some real world (sci-fi real world) explanation for this?
While we're at it, I never did quite get the whole aztec-ing thing. Is that supposed to be the result of the original ship construction where individual hull panels had slightly different colors? I would doubt that quality control in the future would have that issue. I don't really see this effect on modern-day ships. Is is due to repair work (where the original panels faded/got discolored over time)? If so, it seems that it would be more patchy than uniform. Or is it simply a visual thing to make the ship more interesting/appear larger?
According to Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise, prior to the Refit all Starfleet ships were "painted" with a gray thermocoat to protect the ship. The "in the white" look of the Enterprise was liked so much that Starfleet decided to discontinue application of the thermocoat. It had the added benefit of reducing the overall tonnage of the ships by several hundred metric tons.
I'm at work, and trying to remember this off the top of my head, so I might not have it quite right. It's been a while since I read the book, but it's one of those wonky things that kinda stuck in my mind.
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The rust ring is a predominately TOS feature but I thought it might help add a bit of interest to the ship as I was not going to aztec it.
Aztecing. In a production sense it was added to give the ship scale, and make it stand out. I think part of it was that the crew took over the production that had been making a TV scale model, and they had to something to show they were making a movie scale ship.
my head canon is that it's a series of interlocking panels, out of 3-4 materials, some materials are for strengh some are for heat resistance, some are to absorb or reflect radiation. and they are interlocked so that materials that expand and contract against each other at different rates are held tight.
Lore also has it that the model makers wanted to add detail reminiscent of tiles because they heard that the space shuttle would have tiles on its exterior. It was an attempt to introduce a real world concept to the filming model. Of course, we know that the space shuttle tile is very, very different from the Aztec tiles put on the model.
RogueWolf wrote:I've sacrificed many dozens (maybe even hundreds) of gummy bears to the dark modeling gods to grant me my wish... but I fear my offerings only amuse them, not appease them.
I'm torn about battle damage. All the Constellations we've seen have been battle damaged derelicts. I tried doing a battle damage test yesterday, just a small stencil cut into some sand paper(it seemed stiff enough). A very dark grey airbrushed through it at different distances.
Personally, sprayed-on battle damage without having some actual hull damage always looked kinda . . . lacking. If there's gonna be scoring on the hull, then there should be some damaged hull plates, exposed interiors, punctured areas with beams/wiring sticking out. On smaller-scale kits it looks okay. But on larger scale kits, like 1:1000 and bigger, there needs to be something other than surface scoring to make it look "realistic".
Some streaks from phaser damage, or carbon scoring are one thing. Just putting on "sprayed" areas of damage makes it look as if someone is just trying to cover up a botched paint job.
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RogueWolf wrote:I've sacrificed many dozens (maybe even hundreds) of gummy bears to the dark modeling gods to grant me my wish... but I fear my offerings only amuse them, not appease them.
Unfortunately- squeaky clean is the best bet- if no 2nd or third degree burns so to speak. If weapons were able to get past the shields, then expect some heavy damage.
There are Times, Sir, when men of good Conscience cannot blindly follow orders. You acknowledge their sentience, but ignore their personal liberties and freedoms. Order a man to hand over his child to the state? Not while I"m captain.
- J.L.Picard.
