It is always fun to dig thru the old aircraft images from Edwards AFB archives. This shot is Navy so it came from somewhere else but there are so man incredible aircraft that have such a strong influence on the look of many of the space craft designed for the various Star trek films and shows. For the Jem Hedar/Dominion battle cruiser, the A-4 played a major role in the overall look of the ship. This was one of the first war ships that I got to work on during the 4 years on at DS9, For DS my primary job was props and work would spill over into some fun vessel projects every once in a while. Here is the 3/4 and found some orthos that I forgot that I had drawn, HAAA! that old man memory loss is sinking in!!!!
a-4
3/4 view
orthos
Great entry John, did you draw any inspriation for the Battlecruiser from Jim Martin’s Jemmie fighter? that ship also has great lines and curves. I’m sure I am not alone when I ask that you post something for that one.
not on this one!!! Jim’s scarab design is such a brilliant piece that I steered away from coping it’s uniqueness, Jims Defiant however has been used as heavy reference with a lot of the federation ship designs!!! Jim really paved the way for some awesome alien architecture!!
Thanks for posting this John. I really love your work, and I especially enjoy anything you can show us of your work on DS9. It is my favorite of the modern Trek series’, and one that I think is sadly underrated sometimes.
I can surely see the inspiration on the side view with some elements elongated a bit and even including the ordinance in the profile.
The Skyhawk is what McCain was shot down in. Shadows of it will live on as a Jem’Hadar war ship…nice. I’ve had the opportunity to see a couple of them, at Pima A&S Museum and on the flight deck of the Intrepid in NY. Now that’s an interesting little museum.
Thanks John – ya gotta love those Jem’ Hadar ships. I seem to recall from one of your interviews on the the DS9 DVDs that you designed a few other Dominion attack ships. Would love to see them when you get a chance to head back out to the shed
Hope you had a good holiday weekend and thanks again for taking the time to post these pictures for all of us.
That is one sweet battleship.
thanks!!!!
Thanks for the battlecruiser – it’s definitely no V-ship, although I’m curious if perhaps the original CG modellers worked only with the 3/4 view and didn’t get the curves of the wings right. Just so I know where to look for more details, how far did you work it out in terms of specs or callouts?
Great images John, thanks for sharing them!
I’ve always wondered, if the large pods on the wings are the warp nacelles, what are the pods at the very top? Are they extra or auxiliary nacelles, weapons pods, or deuterium tanks maybe?
Cheers!
Howdy Mark, the wing tips pods were to be fuel/matter-anti matter,or Deuterium tanks(as you mentioned) storage for what ever there propulsion system would require, the warp engines were there two large elevated structures and impulse and piloting thrusters were the smaller structures in between the warp nacelles
When creating a new ship design, what typically comes first, the 3/4 view or the orthos? Best regards!
howdy Rich, usually it’s the 3/4 so I can see most of what is going on in one drawing!!! it’s the fastest way to get a big overview of what your trying to create.
In you Breen ship blog entry you posted a series of renderings showing the development progression for the new Breen ship. Did the Jem’ Hadar battlecruiser and battleship go through a similar progression of designs?
this one image was about it!!! I did a rough blue of what you see here,, it made a quick approval and went right to ink as seen in the first picture.
That design is a thing of beauty and the fact that you created in just one take is incredible!
Didn’t realize the Battleship was inspired by the A-4. To me it was a modification of existing Cardassian designs.
John,
I know you said the design was inspired by the A-4, but I just don’t see it. I can’t see the slightest resemblance whatsoever. Can you explain the inspiration?