[WIP] Dawnstar Class Heavy Cruiser

[Majestic]

A design by Dennis, originally modelled by Redragon and released in early 2004, with numerious enhancements and re-textures done over the years one recently by our very own Jetfreak, I decided a complete revamp was on order.

With the original mesh standing at 2483 poly's I have ripped the model apart like a hungry person rips apart a roast chicken, I have re-welded the ship, re-built certain parts, removed unwanted and unneeded poly's. The Dawnstar in my MS3D folder now sits at 2090 poly's. I plan to do a new texture for her when I hear back on Aad Moerman on a few tips about his Federation textures.

But I'll let you choose whether you like the original or my re-vamp one.

Spoiler: Dawnstar

Spoiler: Dawnstar

Spoiler: Dawnstar

Spoiler: Dawnstar

Bear in mind the nacelles still need to be worked on, which is what I am currently working on. I plan to keep much of the original style there, but update them to a more modern design.

I have always viewed the Dawnstar as a ship that fits between the Ambassador and Galaxy, something designed to replace the Galaxy that fell short but was perfect to replace the old workhorse Ambassador class.

 

[Jetfreak]

A very timely showcase Maj. And good to know that you'll be using your own touch of artistic license. So she's a 2350-2360 era configuration then?

 

[Majestic]

A very timely showcase Maj. And good to know that you'll be using your own touch of artistic license. So she's a 2350-2360 era configuration then?

I am aiming more towards a 2380 configuration as she'll have Sovereign elements in her like the Impulse engines and the black thing on the saucer that you had on your re-textured version. I still need to do the impulse engines, or I might just include them on the texture instead.

 

[Terra_Inc]

Whow, looks great. The Dawnstar is an awesome design and your model is one of the better versions. I'll wait until it's complete before stating that it's my favourite, but it looks veeery promising.

 

[CptBenSisko]

Ditto here as well...I have the Dawnstar in my game as a heavy cruiser, but I too will wait until i see how you have it textured before I decided..

 

[Starfox1701]

A little history of dawnstar is that the design dates to the early days of TNG production. The ship was designed by Andrew Probert for a guest star ship of the week but was replaced in that role by the Excelcior, Meranda, and Obreth models that were already built for earlier movies as a mater of cost. Rich Stienbach used it as the basis for the Ammbassador shooting model done for yesterdays Enterprise as well. Dawnstar is not the only mesh design born from the earlier work. Wicked Zombie has 2 meshes. USS Titan and USS Mnemosyne; both Mnemosyne Class. I belevie the Achilles did a lowpoly version of the ship up aon A2FF as the Titan Class.

http://www.demonrenegadestudios.com/downloads/fed/mnemosyne_nx_angle1.jpg
http://www.demonrenegadestudios.com/downloads/fed/mnemosyne_nx_angle2.jpg
http://www.demonrenegadestudios.com/downloads/fed/mnemosyne_nx_angle3.jpg
http://www.demonrenegadestudios.com/downloads/fed/mnemosyne_nx_angle4.jpg
http://www.demonrenegadestudios.com/downloads/fed/mnemosyne_angle1.jpg
http://www.demonrenegadestudios.com/downloads/fed/mnemosyne_angle2.jpg
http://www.demonrenegadestudios.com/downloads/fed/mnemosyne_angle3.jpg
http://www.demonrenegadestudios.com/downloads/fed/mnemosyne_angle4.jpg

 

[Majestic]

The Mnemosyne is going to be part of the base for my Legacy class, that will appear in Midway and Armada 2. Along with some of Madkiofish's work.

Basically in the 2380's there was a huge update of the Federation fleet, the few remaining Ambassadors (we are taking less than 12 ships) got a total refit no new vessels were constructed, the Galaxy class got a total major overhaul and refit bringin it up to Sovereign tech standards, a new Excelsior design was produced (basically Jetfreak's Archangel class) due to a refit being too costly and there was no suitable substitute in service, the Dawnstar was produced to replace the Ambassador and the Legacy was was produced to supplement and eventually replace the Galaxy class.

That's my history for the 2380's onwards, the Midway universe.

 

[Lord_Trekie]

Legacy Class? Is this the usually referred to Legacy Class? Or a diff one of your design?

 

[Majestic]

No I don't like that design, the Legacy class I am making is of my own design, inspired by works by other modellers and designers. A replacement class to the Galaxy class deep space explorers.

This Legacy class, is the ship that will appear in my Midway fan fiction captained by Captain Maxwell Syf.

 

[Majestic]

A early nacelle test for the Dawnstar.

I am not happy with the nacelle at the moment, especially in the bussard area. Plus I really need to lower it's poly count. The nacelle alone stands at 592 poly's.

Spoiler: Dawnstar

Spoiler: Dawnstar

Spoiler: Dawnstar

Spoiler: Dawnstar

Spoiler: Dawnstar

 

[Jetfreak]

If quality is an issue, then go for it man. Seriously loving the shapes.

 

[CABAL]

Personally, I like the shape of the nacelles. If you don't like the bussards, though, how about some cowling on the top and bottom? It might make them look more 'modern.'

 

[Majestic]

I can certainly get the nacelles down in poly size, but I don't plan to reduce the poly count until I have the nacelles to a point where I am happy with them, so basically after I finish modelling them.

I like the shape of the nacelles as well, I think I need to do some more tweaking with the bussards, perhaps some more poly's will improve the look and feel of them.

 

[Majestic]

I have done some more work on the nacelle, ad reduced it's poly count. It now stands at 522 poly's.

Spoiler: Nacelle

Spoiler: Nacelle

Spoiler: Nacelle

I am liking this one much more now, and is close to the final version, just a few very minor tweaks left. I'll look into trying to remove some more poly's from the model and re-model the bridge to make up for the additional poly's the the new nacelles bring to the model. It's a little disappointing as I was hoping for a 2500 count to go in tune with the original model.

 

[Terra_Inc]

I have done some more work on the nacelle, ad reduced it's poly count. It now stands at 522 poly's.

Spoiler: Nacelle

Spoiler: Nacelle

Spoiler: Nacelle

I am liking this one much more now, and is close to the final version, just a few very minor tweaks left. I'll look into trying to remove some more poly's from the model and re-model the bridge to make up for the additional poly's the the new nacelles bring to the model. It's a little disappointing as I was hoping for a 2500 count to go in tune with the original model.

May I suggest something? Be careful with the neck, the original model had a gap there (visible from above, IIRC). Would be a shame, it's an awesome model.

 

[Majestic]

May I suggest something? Be careful with the neck, the original model had a gap there (visible from above, IIRC). Would be a shame, it's an awesome model.

That was one of the things I fixed, I sealed up the gap and moved the neck down more. I also sealed up the gap in the back of the saucer. You'll probably would never see it in-game but in MS3D you can. My first aim with all my projects to do with revamping other people's models is to fix them up mesh wise. So many models, especially ones that are 5 years or older often have mesh errors or are welded incorrectly, that or the exportion process stuffs it up. Either way I always try to release quality stuff and low poly too so they perform well in game. Quality and Performance is my aim.

Anyway all the errors I have found in the Dawnstar I have fixed.

 

[Terra_Inc]

That was one of the things I fixed, I sealed up the gap and moved the neck down more. I also sealed up the gap in the back of the saucer. You'll probably would never see it in-game but in MS3D you can.

That's good to hear. It's always disappointing when you have a model you really like and then you look at it in Storm3D and realize there's this big gaping hole somewhere in the model.

My first aim with all my projects to do with revamping other people's models is to fix them up mesh wise. So many models, especially ones that are 5 years or older often have mesh errors or are welded incorrectly, that or the exportion process stuffs it up.

So true. I've done a lot of what some call 'file trawling' on A2Files and other A2 sites. There are many otherwise excellent models, sometimes even with interesting textures, that have these mesh errors. I guess that the early modders didn't think as much about quality as we do today. We're spoiled by people like Achilles, Aad Moerman, k_Merse and others (including you ) who have been making awesome, flawless models and detailed textures for years.

 

[Majestic]

I feel the same, mesh errors really can put a damper on a model.

We're spoiled by people like Achilles, Aad Moerman, k_Merse and others (including you ) who have been making awesome, flawless models and detailed textures for years.

Oh I don't think I'm in that group, I haven't been making models all that long. And more often than not, I enhance stock models or other modellers models to bring the quality up a bit more.

Well on other news the Dawnstar has her new nacelles and all up she now stands at 2810 Poly's. I am going to see if there is anywhere else that I can lower her poly count before I admit defeat/mesh work complete.

The Bridge is over 200 poly's alone and after deleting the sensor dome I can loose 100 poly's there. I feel the sensor dome (on the bottom of the saucer) is from a bygone era, the Constitution (and refit), Excelsior and Ambassador classes had them, but the Galaxy, Intrepid, Sovereign etc don't. Considering this Dawnstar is from the late 2370's to early 2380's I feel there is no harm in removing it and texturing in it's place a captain's yacht instead.

So with the sensor dome removed it comes down to 2710 poly's and if I have shave half the poly's out of the bridge I could get it down to 2600ish poly's. I would be happy with that poly count considering the original model was close to 2500 poly's. So an addition 100 poly's is a good exchange for the additional detail of the nacelles and overall of the model itself. Boy there was a lot of unnecessary poly's in the model. She was well due for an overhaul.

 

[Majestic]

Okay I decided not to remodel the bridge, it was 174 poly's and I thought that I wouldn't do any better than that. So I have left it as is and the entire ship stands at 2690 poly's. I think that is rather good and I am happy with that.

Now the texturing process, yuck. I started doing them and they turned out horrid. So I am thinking of re-starting it. I really want to texture this version and release it. I feel it would look outstanding next to Aad Moerman's Galaxy.

Here are some pictures of the final ship.

Spoiler: Dawnstar

Spoiler: Dawnstar

Spoiler: Dawnstar

Spoiler: Dawnstar

I borrowed the Galaxy nacelle texture parts from Aad Moerman's Galaxy, I think they look great on her.

 

[Jetfreak]

A promising start mate, but now comes the real hard part. Will certainly be tedious work to add in those little details. 0_o

The removal of the archaic sensor dome is also a pretty neat idea. Why not a torp launcher to replace it?

Oh, and another question? Will you add registries sometime later?

 

[CptBenSisko]

She looks good mate...can't wait to replace my existing Dawnstar with this beauty...I'd start using the Jetfreak's textures as a base and build off of those...not simple recolors..but more of a template...I assume you didn't alter any of the mapping other than the engines and possibly the bridge correct?

 

[Majestic]

A promising start mate, but now comes the real hard part. Will certainly be tedious work to add in those little details. 0_o

The removal of the archaic sensor dome is also a pretty neat idea. Why not a torp launcher to replace it?

Oh, and another question? Will you add registries sometime later?

I am thinking of doing the textures in such a way that registries can easily be done using a template. What I mean by this would be easiest shown by an attachment.



So basically there would be several sods, each with the registry area mapped to a slightly different area of the texture to correspond to a different registry area. I would do this for both the top and bottom of the saucer. It would also allow people to edit the registry's to suit their own needs. There would also be the blank version for the fleet Dawnstar.

She looks good mate...can't wait to replace my existing Dawnstar with this beauty...I'd start using the Jetfreak's textures as a base and build off of those...not simple recolors..but more of a template...I assume you didn't alter any of the mapping other than the engines and possibly the bridge correct?

Well the mapping isn't a problem to me, as you could see with such models as by PRP BSG models and the recently release Midway class. It's creating them, adding the details, getting them to look well not plain and dull which will be the trick to me.

I haven't changed the mapping co-ordinates, but due to the massive amount of poly reduction such areas as the saucer and engineering hull will need remapping anyway.

Ultimately I want the textures to match Aad Moerman's Galaxy, as my plan is to include her in my custom install and that is 100% Aad Moerman's Models.

 

[Jetfreak]

Ah, taking a leaf from BC and Legacy models I see. Makes it much easier to edit the regs that way. Brilliant.

I can say that like your work on the incursion, the choice of color scheme for the main hull gets my approval. It looks a lot like the set for the Midway.

 

[Terra_Inc]

Well the mapping isn't a problem to me, as you could see with such models as by PRP BSG models and the recently release Midway class. It's creating them, adding the details, getting them to look well not plain and dull which will be the trick to me.

I haven't changed the mapping co-ordinates, but due to the massive amount of poly reduction such areas as the saucer and engineering hull will need remapping anyway.

Ultimately I want the textures to match Aad Moerman's Galaxy, as my plan is to include her in my custom install and that is 100% Aad Moerman's Models.

I've got no idea what you're talking about, but it sounds great!
Srsly, the model looks awesome. Can't wait to see it textured.

 

[Majestic]

Ah, taking a leaf from BC and Legacy models I see. Makes it much easier to edit the regs that way. Brilliant.

I can say that like your work on the incursion, the choice of color scheme for the main hull gets my approval. It looks a lot like the set for the Midway.

Thanks, however I wasn't too fond of them, hence why I haven't continued with them. I am hoping I can get the Dawnstar textures done right, then I can go back to the Incursion and re-do it's textures.

I wanted to do the registry in that way mainly because I wanted to have several hero ships for her, plus I know ISS_Enterprise_D is doing the MSFC Fleet Shot project and a couple of Dawnstar's are in the request list.

I've got no idea what you're talking about, but it sounds great!
Srsly, the model looks awesome. Can't wait to see it textured.

Thanks, I can't wait to get it textured. I was never a big fan of the design but since I've been working on her she has really grown on me. I started this project to update the model, which was in much need of and I felt she was an awesome replacement to the Ambassador class as let's face it, the Ambassador depending what and where you read was introduced in the 2320's-2330's. She's old.

Like with the nacelles I am not going to settle for anything I am not happy with.

 

[Terra_Inc]

Thanks, I can't wait to get it textured. I was never a big fan of the design but since I've been working on her she has really grown on me. I started this project to update the model, which was in much need of and I felt she was an awesome replacement to the Ambassador class as let's face it, the Ambassador depending what and where you read was introduced in the 2320's-2330's. She's old.

Like with the nacelles I am not going to settle for anything I am not happy with.

Yeah, true. I'm not sure why StarFleet kept the Excelsiors in service (provided that the supposed refits weren't just new ships). The Ambassador was much newer and it simply disappeared. Well, I do know why, but not in-universe.

Anyway, I once thought about the possibility of a Nebula-style Dawnstar. We've seen the Apollo (I think) as a Nebula equivalent for the Ambassador, so it would be fitting. I did some sketches for one - when you're done with the Dawnstar and want to give it a try, I'd drop you a copy of those. Just a suggestion, in case you're interested.

 

[Chiletrek]

Hello:
The revamped model is looking very good, and I am happy to see that you want it to match Aad Moerman's ships, because that will sure give a great fleet-wide look for the game.
Keep it up with the texturing, because I also know how tricky it may get at times.

 

[Adm_Z]

Indeed, I think those nacelles are definitely an improvement. Can't wait to see how it turns out.

 

[Majestic]

Yeah, true. I'm not sure why StarFleet kept the Excelsiors in service (provided that the supposed refits weren't just new ships). The Ambassador was much newer and it simply disappeared. Well, I do know why, but not in-universe.

I ready somewhere that simply put, the Excelsior, was readily more available and much cheaper to produce. It could fulfil many of the missions the Ambassador was usually assigned to and it was often cheaper to assign to Excelsior's than a single Ambassador to missions where the Excelsior was under-gunned. I would also believe that most of the Ambassadors were destroyed in the Cardassian Wars of the 2350's and with the Nebula and Galaxy classes starting production it was decided to limit the number of Ambassadors being built.

But we all know the real reason, with the Ambassador model and being made to appear first in Yesterday's Enterprise.

Anyway, I once thought about the possibility of a Nebula-style Dawnstar. We've seen the Apollo (I think) as a Nebula equivalent for the Ambassador, so it would be fitting. I did some sketches for one - when you're done with the Dawnstar and want to give it a try, I'd drop you a copy of those. Just a suggestion, in case you're interested.

Sure drop me a copy and I'll have a look at it. You've got my email don't you?

Hello:
The revamped model is looking very good, and I am happy to see that you want it to match Aad Moerman's ships, because that will sure give a great fleet-wide look for the game.
Keep it up with the texturing, because I also know how tricky it may get at times.

Indeed, I think those nacelles are definitely an improvement. Can't wait to see how it turns out.

Thank you both, I hope not to disappoint!

 

[Majestic]

Well today I and Katala have been busy cleaning the house for our inspection tomorrow, however this evening I did get a chance to work on the Dawnstar. I did start on saucer textures but they are horrible so I haven't progressed any further on them.

However I did get this done:

Spoiler: Dawnstar

Dawnstar Class
Classification: Heavy Cruiser
Design and Production Facility: Utopia Planita, Mars
Commissioned: 2378
Crew: 450
Decks: 40
Mass: 3,875,000 metric tonnes
Dimensions: 573m(L) x 325m(W) x 142m(H)
Armament: 13 Type XII Phaser Arrays and 2 Photon/Quantum Torpedo Tubes
Defence Systems: Auto-Modulating Metaphasic Shielding system with a Duranium/Tritanium Double hull with 60mm ablative armour and a high level structural integrity field
Propulsion: 2 Impulse Engines and one matter-antimatter warp core feeding 2 warp nacelles.
Support Capacity:

Unit Run:
NX/NCC – 78135 USS Dawnstar
NCC – 81792 USS Los Angeles
NCC – 81793 USS Antaeus
NCC – 81794 USS Rogers
NCC – 81795 USS San Diego

NCC – 81831 USS Tennant
NCC – 81832 USS Hartnell
NCC – 81833 USS Charon
NCC – 81834 USS Juno
NCC – 81835 USS Medusa

NCC – 81567 USS Damocles
NCC – 81568 USS Roanoake
NCC – 81569 USS Cortez
NCC – 81570 USS Agrippa
NCC – 81571 USS Vesta

NCC – 81740 USS Elanora
NCC – 81741 USS Tugun
NCC – 81742 USS Swansea
NCC – 81743 USS Adelaide
NCC – 81744 USS Belmont

NCC – 81894 USS Ohio
NCC – 81895 USS Wellington
NCC – 81896 USS Talos
NCC – 81897 USS Gettysburg
NCC – 81898 USS Terra

Class Overview:
The Dawnstar Project was originally conceived in the 2340's as a replacement for the Ambassador heavy cruiser which at the time was the premier explorer and combat vessel in Starfleet. Slightly larger than the Ambassador, the Dawnstar was to pioneer the next Generation of explorers onwards into the decades to come. However the Dawnstar lost out to the larger and more powerful Galaxy class which was based off technology being developed for the New Orleans, Cheyenne and Nebula classes. This made the Galaxy more appealing over the Dawnstar due to the ease and effectiveness not to mention the low costs of having a fleet of state of the art ships utilising the same technology and parts.

Due to this the Dawnstar remained on the drawing boards for the next thirty years, with her designers constantly tinkering and updating the design whenever they got the chance. In the early 2370's the Dawnstar Production team once again attempted to get the design approved for testing, however in 2374 war broke out with the Dominion, and with Starfleet in an arms race they didn't see the merit to produce an experimental vessel and instead opted to produce more Galaxy, Akira and Steamrunner vessels, which were already in mass production and had proven themselves countless times over the last 5-15 years.

In 2376, the Dominion war had come to an end with the Federation victorious. After the dust had settled the brass at Starfleet Command was finally able to go through the after action reports that had been piling up on their desks since the war. It was shown that despite the victory, a good 50% of the Federation fleet was made up of obsolete designs dating anywhere from the 2270's onwards. It was also reported that the majority of Federation causalities were due to the ineffectiveness of these old out-dated designs. Command decided that a new fleet overhaul, not seen since the 2270's, was in order and many older designs were ordered back to space-dock to undergo major refits. Such designs as the Galaxy and few remaining Ambassador's found themselves getting complete overhauls. However many older designs were being retired from service, most notability the Miranda and Excelsior classes along with the severely damaged Ambassador's that had not fared well during the war. While the Steamrunner was to pick up the Miranda's original role, and the upcoming Archangel class was to fulfil the Excelsior's role the Ambassador class while reviving a refit was few in number and many of that number were being retired due to the extensive damaged suffered during the war. Of the dozen or so Ambassador's that survived the war, close to half of them were too badly damaged to warrant a refit. This presented Starfleet with a problem, it was considered that a restart in production of new Ambassador class vessels could solve the issue , however with the Ambassador were coming up to it's 50 year anniversary and it was ultimately decided that the class was too old to follow through with a renewed construction contract. The Archangel was too small and lacked the diplomatic capabilities to be a successful replacement, being aimed to replace the old workhorse Excelsior class and the Galaxy was too large and expensive as was the upcoming Legacy class that was being produced to eventually replace the Galaxy. Hence a new vessel was needed.

Thinking the time was right the Dawnstar Project Team for a third and final time present the Dawnstar as a viable replace to the Ambassador class as it was initially intended. Having spent the last couple of years updating the design the Dawnstar was as up to date as the team could get her. With a few modifications to the design, including new nacelles inspired from the upcoming Legacy class, the Dawnstar was immediately approved and a working prototype was authorised. The USS Dawnstar's kneel was laid down on November 24th 2376 at Utopia Planita in orbit of the planet Mars in the Sol System. She sat there under construction for almost two years until she left space-dock to complete trials on September 11th 2378. After the successful completion of her trial run her registry was changed from NX- 78135 to NCC-78135 and handed over to Captain Margaret Shenandoah for a one year shake down cruise along the Cardassian boarder assisting in post-war aid. In 2379, a total of 24 Dawnstar class vessels were ordered by Starfleet Command with various contracts handed out to shipyards all over the Federation.

She is bigger than the Ambassador class, but need less crew to operate. She is not as big as the Galaxy however. I decided to do my own take on the Dawnstar as this Dawnstar is the one that is in my Midway Universe.