USS Kiaga - Perimeter Action Vessel

[Vektor]

Originally Posted by theCommander

Inquiry: this flap modification is to reduce visual glare? What about "sensor flaps", because most vessels use sensors to find other ships, not simply looking out a porthole or front window. Has this been addressed (sorry if so)?

I had an email conversation with Aridas about this just yesterday. The short version is that he is sticking with old-school interpretation of the nacelle caps as "space energy matter sinks" as defined in Franz Joseph's original Starfleet Technical Manual. This doesn't rule out the idea that they are also Bussard collectors but their main function is to warp space ahead of the ship. Aridas speculates that this is accomplished by way of a cluster of microsingularities winking in and out of existence within the nacelle dome (the Christmas light effect).

Now, my thinking is that microsingularities might indirectly produce emissions such as Cerenkov and tachyon radiation, the latter being detectable over great distances. The purpose of the baffles is to contain that radiation and thereby make the ship more stealthy; however, reflecting too much radiation back into the dome actually destabilizes the microsingularities, which is why the baffles must be opened at higher warp factors.

So it's not just a matter of containing the visible light emitted by the domes.

[Robert Harrison]

I Really like this ship... I think the hinged baffles are great... makes it look much more real... i think thats what i mean, i think the First idea for the Baffles are better... means you could compleatly enclose them and still be able to see them...

Matt

[Vektor]

And here, by popular demand, are two renderings showing the current baffle design in a sliding retraction configuration as opposed to the hinged flower petal setup:




I have to admit, I like the look of this better than I did the first time I tried it. I might have to give it some further consideration.

[ghanima]

STUNNING! love the textures and the modelling!

[Road Warrior]

I think it looks cool.... but I like the flower petal desigh as well. She's your ship, eh. The petal does look more TOS though I think. Then again since youre going for stealth they could be...purpose built or something. I dont know.

[jimi kane]

Awsome. How does the slider look closed?

[RAF-MX]

Modeling to perfection...awesome design...wow!!!!!!
Absolutamente impresionante amigo!!!!!

[Vektor]

I was playing around with some different rendering effects today and kinda went a little crazy. I started with some depth-of-field...



...and then tried some environment mapping and background compositing...





No real progress on the model itself but I did learn a few new things about photorealistic rendering. I'm also pretty pleased at how well the textures are holding up considering they're just a couple of stock, lo-res texture maps overlaid with mix maps and some specularity tweaking.

Anyway, thought they were cool and wanted to share.

[Road Warrior]

Thanks for sharing Vektor. Awesomeness.

[jimi kane]

Hahaha, awsome.