Yes indeed! It has some very obscure information in it, extremely fun to read.
Come visit me someday Bernd, you can check it out. (I'm not too far away from Dusseldorf.... I believe you live there?)

Anyway thanks all for voting, it seems the upgraded version got a lot more votes than a subtle refit. I'm very happy with that result, but it needs some justification. In the novel timeline, where I want to create this for, we dont have a whole lot of time for a refit. About 4 months. This entire "issue" is outside the scope of the novel, but I like to think about it anyway.

I have mentioned in the past that I believe Starfleet, on the edge of the 25th century, has to find other methods of ship construction as the currently used method is becoming obsolete.

Because of the short timeframe and the drastic changes some new tech is needed.

Very quick outline of my idea:
I would convert a Baryon Array into a matter to energy to matter replication unit.

1. ship is being docked at the array;
2. stripping of interior items and unstable elements;
3. release of air within the ship;
4. ship molecular pattern is scanned; (Takes about a week from front to back.)
5. new ship design pattern (on file) is compared/overlayed with molecular pattern of scanned ship. (Rather extreme computing, I think another week with an EPIC cluster of Computer cores.)
6. Reconstruction process begins: very narrow beam starts energizing the ship (once again front to back) and rematerializes everything that isnt an exact match of material in the overlay. (takes about 4 days in case of an intrepid.)


7. Elements that can't be materialized will be placed manually, with the usual buzzing of workbees etc.
8. Ship is repressurized and the interior will be constructed.

Pro:
Fast reconstruction with very little chance of mistakes.
Con:
Extreme amount of computing involved.
Ship and array have to be fully shielded during the process.
Power useage is off the scale compared to traditional (but slower) construction. Requires the dock/array to have 2 m/am reactors (Galaxy sized) that will probably have burned there crystals after 1 ship. Very expensive. Voyager might have been the first (and only) full size ship to undergo this procedure.

Will write this out soon. more to come! Sleeptime!

Excellent!!!!!
I so need to 3D at least one Atolm design in my life!

I know it would kind of screw the free floating look, but I'm wondering what would happen if you would add a smaller pylon at the end ende of the saucer. That might need extension of the warp shell casing, at least if you would like to derive the angle of the pylon in front of it. Perhaps a variant that has 2 torpedo pods on the side of that second pylon. (To sort of justify it.)

However I do have a serious case of refit syndrome these days, it might affect my posts.

Keep up to good work!

No need to learn the local languague! Most around here speak Dutch, English and German. (Jawohl!) Let me know when you want to visit!

Btw I added a poll concerning Voyager on my blog, thanks in advantage for taking a look and for a vote! http://mark-rademaker.blogspot.com/

Thanks Xero, we are not quite there yet, but it will happen! We are currently moving into the Ferengi part of things.


I will make it so!

I'm entirely rethinking how the 2 parts are joined together. At the moment it wants to be both a technical mechanical ship and a flowing curvy ship. That would be the result of a last minute change to make the ship more curvy.
I'm for a minute throwing the short (in universe) refit timeframe out of the window. The Enterprise A did not keep a single curve the same as the TOS version, the same will happen to Voyager. The shape is simply not up to 2012 standards, also I have to admit that my time for new ships is limited, so I have to combine my current "design" idea's and apply them onto Voyager. It however means a drastic departure from what I had in mind so far. For some this might be too much change, for me it would be what the TMP Enterprise was over the TOS Enterprise. Also Quantum Slipstream hull optimization will give me some creative room. 

Btw I just got this in the mail to aid in the process:

Yeah that comes close. I would derive their design from the current impulse drives though, so they add some consistency. Cool cool!

As a redundant set? I know this might be too much, but there is some method to the madness. If pylons get damaged, like in the Destiny trilogy, it's always good to have a secondary set. The crew size in the novels is decreased from 300 to 180 out of my head. That space might become available for  reactors. These impulse drives would be very small though. I'm thinking saucer edge "Kitt scanner" look and feel.

Today I tested a solution for an annoying Voyager part: the pylon and how it flows out of the engineering hull. In a physical model the pylon can be stuck in the hull, the edges can be filled/sanded and it's pretty much ready.  (I noticed The Revel modelkit is cheating on this part btw, cant blame them though!)

Anyway: I have been thinking about this all week. Bit technical: http://twitpic.com/8c1qc3/full
I think I can use that solution all around, getting a smooth transition between hull and pylon platform.

zzzz sleep!

That Titan mesh looks rather nice! I think Valkyrie013 is doing a fine job with it.
Ive always wondered: in retrospect, would you change parts of the design?

I'm pretty glad that reactions so far have been mild, nobody screamed fanboy! (YET )

Jimi: close indeed, I guess I had the basic problems covered, after all they are easy to identify.

Data007: As for moving the torpedo launchers: (not to mention the sensor block, small docking door, and various bits and pieces around there) I probably place them on the rear structure, within the platform that flows into the hinge/pylon.

I started with the engineering section yesterday, I have at least 3 parts in this area that will be a challenge.
 

Thanks guys!

I'm kind of glad that almost all of the suggestions mentioned are also present on my conceptual mesh.
(I mangled the original to a point where I got this sideview: http://twitpic.com/8bhz4i/full)

Exceptions: pylons, they are swept a bit more forward, I can't really let them go up or down much. Up: the Bussard will get behind the saucer. Down: the balance will be entirely off.
The landing gear, I'm not a fan of it, but it has to stay on.

Time to get a basic shape out. It will be a challenge.

Great, got that covered!

I'm rather new here, or well actually have been away so long that I will introduce myself again: Clawhammer, 31 years old, parttime starship designer.

I'm currently working on a refit of Voyager, it's that ship with coffee filled gel packs. It would be really cool if I could get some opinions: If you could change 2 things on Voyager what would those be?
The Novel (Where this version will be featured in) gives me enough freedom for drastic changes. I do have pinned down a general direction that I will follow, it's not drastic, but it does change the appearance.

Also this will be my build up thread, I really missed that part.

http://www.ewe-squad.com/voypublic/stage1.jpg <This is where it starts, the original CGI model of Voyager, really still ok, 15 years old and ported from 1 software package to another.

This mesh is not useable to apply the changes to, so I'm starting from scratch. In fact this mesh is rather wobbly from low rake angles, it was a scan from the physical filming model, might have copied or emphasized some surface imperfection. We want a smooth hull as we go QSD with it.

Thanks guys! Hope to stick around for some time now!

Bruce,

Would you mind if I would explore that destroyer shape some more?
I think it could also do well as small, late 24th century, science ship.

Cool stuff!

Cool

I would drop the command saucer, my trek eye said directly that the front shape was the new "saucer". This makes it look rather "uber" Maybe a very small spherical element would fit there.

Oh and I love that dry dock feature. I agree that 3 of them would be too much. Let other ships that dont need extensive repairs dock on the sides of the "long straight neck". 

Hey, dusting off myself this time. Where have I been lately! Anyway:

Great shape! Love it, still think it should not be larger then 2 KM but ah well.
I think this ship would be perfect as planetary emergency support. By very large catastrophes it could handle coordination, support etc, all from a central location.

If it comes to large parts like the deflector, I think its best to array it. In this case I would scale down the deflector and array 6 of them in a circle, with 1 special controller version in the center. I think it would be more effecient then 1 large one, and it also would give the viewer a sense of scale. (I think.. lol)

Anyway more of it PLEASE!

Excellent indeed!

Without a doubt your best model yet. 

Thanks!

Jimi: Using the ringship for Enterprise might have been limiting for the writers because it's not so big. Also looking at the franchise, people want a saucer and a pair of nacelles

Stoo: When I started on it I thought I would be finished in 1 week: 2 circles, a stick and a capsule on the front.. I then decided that what it lacks in aesthetics should be fixed in the detailing. So calling this convincing would mean I did the right job! 

Thanks guys!


Bernd: Thanks! The blueprints I worked from had not much details in it. I knew it would be strange to keep the ship entirely flat.
I tried adding my own ideas and details to kind of update the ship to 2010. A lot of help came from Andrew Probert, who is really a master if it comes to platework, logical reasoning and tiny tiny details.

Necro post:

The final is now up on Drexfiles:

http://drexfiles.wordpress.com/2010/05/23/let-the-countdown-begin-2011-sotl-%e2%80%93-sneak-peek-02-mark-rademaker/

Ok! Thanks for the information, I will see if I can fix that!

Ok ok, argh I will refine it some more! 
P.s. Mariner, somehow I believe you created the previous logo. Am I correct?

Yes certainly! I'm thinking about a wallpaper... Also wanted people to know that relay station 47 is still in the image somewhere.

Thanks guys for C&C

Btw, if you are wondering how far the background is going, I uploaded a screenshot where it's shown at the largest resolution, before it goes to tiling.
www.ewe-squad.com/scnlargest.jpg

Thanks! It will probably change a tiny bit, but I need to chat with Mak about it first. 

Yep, it was 2:30 in the night, to avoid a saturday with a headache I had to go. (I'm feeling very rested atm, so I'm going back to work on it.)