starship aesthetics

posted on February 27th, 2014, 4:45 pm

I ran into a cool article speculating the use of the golden ratio and Fibonacci spirals in the design of the Constitution class. The article goes into the Klingon D7 class also.

Maybe it's old news to you guys, but I found it an interesting read.

http://www.robotjackalope.com/?p=205

posted on February 27th, 2014, 6:38 pm

Wow, that is really awesome. Wish I would have known about the Phi ratio when designing my own starships.

Thanks for sharing.

posted on February 28th, 2014, 1:04 am

I forgot where I read it but apparently Fed starships look better when the saucer section is the same length as the nacelles. This might explain why a lot of people weren't to keen on the Galaxy class. It looks like a fat lady in a cart being pushed by a couple of midgets. Meanwhile the Constitution class (refit) is still probably my favorite Enterprise design to date. I like the Sovereign more than the Galaxy but there is just something about it that bugs the hell out of me. I think it has to do with those fucking God awful nacelles.

posted on February 28th, 2014, 2:04 am

I also think that ships look better when their saucer is rounder, rather than later oval shapes. Compare the Excelsior, Ambassador and the later Akira with the Galaxy, Sovereign or Nebula. The Sovereign only really works because it has it's saucer the "other" way round, but it still looks weird from certain angles.

Mind you I love odd designs like the Yamato, Missouri, Ulysses etc. (and the Lexington is sort of a TMP Sovereign. Very nice!)

[Jinseta Yensei]

posted on March 1st, 2014, 1:31 am

Last edited by Jinseta Yensei on March 1st, 2014, 7:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Incredible math work.

I had to learn to love the Constitution, and I appreciate the movie refit more than the original. The original had so many flat surfaces that it looked like a flying box.

The Galaxy by far is the ugliest. I ignored most of her flaws as it gave the feel of a flying fortress. The nacelles, however, are unforgivable. The more I see media from that era, the more I think there was a trend amongst designers to slip inappropriate jokes past directors, producers, and censorship. Also the deflector looked like a mouth that matched the ship's appetite.

I hated the Excelsior even more. Only the Oberth is uglier. Few freelance designs are as bad. The nacelles are too long and the saucer too small. For reasons beyond me, the Excelsior to me is a reference to an awkward time when the Starfleet engineering corps was high on something and 'experimenting'.

Ambassador and Sovereign are my favs. My best description of Ent B, C, and D, would be the design team having a conversation like this: 'Let's fix the Excelsior.' 'Ambassador's perfect, run with it.' 'Ambassador's not broken, buuuuuuut, we need a new ship, sooooo, we'll spin the bottle and whatever comes up, we'll use Richard's idea for the nacelles.'

The Sovereign's ample nacelles does it for me. They're like a couple of lamBorghini behind a yacht. The saucer looks a bit fat at certain angles, but I quickly forget looking at appropriately modest deflector. It'll be hard to hit a look like that again.

A lot of people have called the Excalibur the next Enterprise. It doesn't look bad save for the stupid flat area on top.... makes me think of a helicopter pad. Also the ship is reeeeaally bulky. I like the Soulwolf, but it's a little over the top. Really, my favorite has been the Teutoberg and Descent. Descent looks like a nice advancement without looking like a Sovereign ripoff.

Teutoberg is an truly intimidating warship. I'd probably take it more seriously if a few scouts couldn't destroy it

posted on March 1st, 2014, 3:41 pm

The Galaxy by far is the ugliest. I think everyone would agree.

Don't use the second part after stating an opinion, especially an appearance-based one. I, and many of its fans, would disagree.

posted on March 1st, 2014, 7:50 pm

Apologies for going a bit too far. It is just an opinion...

posted on March 3rd, 2014, 6:15 am

Incredible math work.

I had to learn to love the Constitution, and I appreciate the movie refit more than the original. The original had so many flat surfaces that it looked like a flying box.

The Galaxy by far is the ugliest. I ignored most of her flaws as it gave the feel of a flying fortress. The nacelles, however, are unforgivable. The more I see media from that era, the more I think there was a trend amongst designers to slip inappropriate jokes past directors, producers, and censorship. Also the deflector looked like a mouth that matched the ship's appetite.

I hated the Excelsior even more. Only the Oberth is uglier. Few freelance designs are as bad. The nacelles are too long and the saucer too small. For reasons beyond me, the Excelsior to me is a reference to an awkward time when the Starfleet engineering corps was high on something and 'experimenting'.

Ambassador and Sovereign are my favs. My best description of Ent B, C, and D, would be the design team having a conversation like this: 'Let's fix the Excelsior.' 'Ambassador's perfect, run with it.' 'Ambassador's not broken, buuuuuuut, we need a new ship, sooooo, we'll spin the bottle and whatever comes up, we'll use Richard's idea for the nacelles.'

The Sovereign's ample nacelles does it for me. They're like a couple of lamBorghini behind a yacht. The saucer looks a bit fat at certain angles, but I quickly forget looking at appropriately modest deflector. It'll be hard to hit a look like that again.

A lot of people have called the Excalibur the next Enterprise. It doesn't look bad save for the stupid flat area on top.... makes me think of a helicopter pad. Also the ship is reeeeaally bulky. I like the Soulwolf, but it's a little over the top. Really, my favorite has been the Teutoberg and Descent. Descent looks like a nice advancement without looking like a Sovereign ripoff.

Teutoberg is an truly intimidating warship. I'd probably take it more seriously if a few scouts couldn't destroy it

The Teutoberg is my favority Fed ship design of all time. I fell in love with that model to the point that I sometime call it instead of the Descent even though it sucks balls.

I HATE the Excalibur. Even the Descent is a better design than the Excalibu which just looks like a fat Sovereign with a compulsive eating disorder. The nacelle thingies that go straight out instead of a upwards or downwards angle also look weird.