Starship Sketches
Here are several of my first starship sketches from a time before I learned to work with CAD software. Some of them are rather embarrassing. But please keep in mind that I was young and needed the money. ;-)
Enterprise refit, 1st attempt
ca.
1986 This is my first attempt to draw the refitted Enterprise
- at least the oldest one that I could find. Since I had only a video of
the Star Trek movies, the drawing is accordingly inaccurate.
Enterprise refit, 2nd attempt
1991 When I bought the Enterprise model kit, I had the instruction sheet as a
much better reference for a drawing - including some of the errors of
the AMT model like the too small deflector dome.
Enterprise-D
1989 This Enterprise-D is the first computer drawing of a starship I ever
made. It was done on DOS with Dr. Halo, a crude pixel editor (compared
to which even Paintbrush looks professional).
Enterprise-D alternate design
1989 I sketched up this alternative design for the Enterprise-D, as I was not
content with its look at first. Today I know this was because the ship
was mostly shown from the fore/ventral perspective, which is about the
only angle from which it doesn't look excellent. The Galaxy is now my
favorite design.
Übership
1989 Well, this is embarrassing. Some sort of an über-ship, supposed to be more
powerful than the Galaxy. If you look closely, you will see that I modified the
neck with correction fluid. Also note the TOS-like nacelles, which I used
because I thought of the gleaming Galaxy nacelles as an exception.
Bombay class
ca.
1990 This ship (Bombay class) is clearly better thought out.
Without knowing much about 24th century vessels besides the Galaxy (it
was only the second season of TNG in Germany), I tried to develop a
distinctive look. Much of this design was later incorporated into other
ships like the Buenos Aires class.
Pre-TOS ship
ca.
1990 This is my first attempt to develop a pre-TOS look. I
was quite fond of Matt Jefferies's idea to hide mechanical parts behind
hull panels. But it was difficult to come up with a look different from
the good old Constitution, as indicated by the many erased shapes that
are still faintly visible.
Interior design
ca.
1991 I always wanted to design more small ships or runabouts,
but soon noticed that it would be useful to come up with a plausible
internal structure too. Since I never thought I was good with that, I
didn't pursue that goal any longer.
Starfleet fighter
ca.
1992 Here is the design of a Starfleet fighter. Like many
other fans, I wondered why Starfleet would solely rely on large
starships. The design is from a time before I saw the runabout, which
established a more "complex" look of small vessels.
Boreth class
1996 This is the first sketch of the Klingon Boreth
class. It is one of the few finalized designs that I still conceived
on paper. Almost everything else since 1994 was directly drawn in
Micrografx Designer.
Renaissance class
1999 When I conceived a Renaissance-class
design for the ASDB, I mused
whether this design couldn't be updated. But this never got beyond the
pencil&paper stage.
Unnamed ship
2000 Whenever I sketch up something today, I always try to match a side view
and a top view. Here is something drawn on waste paper. Note the
wrinkles in the paper, as they are visible on the left nacelle in the
top view.