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Published: 2015-04-29 14:29:05 +0000 UTC; Views: 8484; Favourites: 91; Downloads: 141
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I think I'd uploaded this earlier and took it down, but it's now clear to me it's a valuable piece of Traveller history to have in circulation - and not because it was my very first cover assignment
Β It was the first time a K'Kree starship had been rendered. My design was based on the parameters described in the GDW "K'Kree" alien book. The ship is a huge saucer, with the command "cabin" at the front, and an access ramp at the back. The interior, gravitationally stabilized, is a large, grassy, open space, allowing the family/herd to mingle and maintain group contact. I have no idea where the original of this went. Maybe into the collection of Tom Peters or Bryan Gibson? It was pen and ink with shading film, printed in single spot color. I think this was done in late '86. For some "making of..." notes, go here:
Β
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Comments: 34
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I would have said I have the original...but I can't think where it would be, so maybe not.
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I don't ever comment really but forget Traveller history or posterity or alien spaceships. How about youΒ keep it up because you worked hard on it and its a damn fine piece of artwork and you're probably entitled (dangerous word, I know). By any standard. And a cover no less? Late '86? So refreshing to see a truly talented artist who (like me) at least remembers when Ronald Reagan was president. And Saturday Night Live was worth watching. You get the point. Anyway, great stuff!
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Glad you enjoy it, Scott! I'm sure more of my "vintage" work will trickle out over time. It's actually sort of fun for me to revisit some these things and critically analyze the foundation I built for my art to sit upon.
And I remember getting milk delivered to the milk box, every other morning and when "cable TV" meant that you got the three networks and PBS clearly, without using your antenna
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Β Β So that is where the motherships from the TV series V, got their inspiration.Β Niece.Β Oh BTW great design.
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Yes... I invented the flying saucer!!!!!
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Β Β The best thing are the essayist to do.Β
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Wow! An artifact of the era...
Bet you fell into a hole of nostalgia eh? Recounting those days and such...
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It was a special request and I knew where the issue was, so I didn't wade into TOO deep a nostalgia mire
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Of course I could be really evil and say that it's the Jupiter 2 coming in for a fuel stop. But, I won't...Β Β
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That brings back memories of trying to do deck plans with border tape for paste-ups circa 1981! It was hell... but we were young and didn't know any better. The first thing I thought of when I saw MacDraw on a Mac in 1984 was "God I'd have killed to have that three years ago!"Β
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Yeah, the days of manual paste up just seem so.... sloppily "analog", looking back
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None of our ships had any curves at all in them until we discovered bendable border tape!
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Eh? You'll have to type a lil' louder, sonny. My eyes can hear like they used to.....
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Yep... Ain't the spring chickens we used to be....
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WOOT! Hooray for classic Traveller history
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>yfw the whole disconnectable saucer thing in Star Trek TNG was supposed to be a regular function of the Galaxy Class, with the saucers detaching and achievingΒ soft landings at sprawling planetside spaceports, then ascending and clamping back onto the Engineering Hull for warp flight, as a matter of standard operation.
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I'd never heard that landing the saucer was supposed to be a routine function. I always understood it to be an emergency measure, as it was in the TOS era?
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Sorry, a bit of a mishmash of Trek development trivia. Ralph McQuarrie's Enterprise from Planet of the Titans (which looks tremendously similar to Enterprise-D) was the first starship intended to have the saucer regularly detach and achieve controlled landings and re-launches as I described earlier.Β This ideaΒ was carried into the TNG series: it was intended to have the saucer detach more often than it did, but the SFX for the sequence was too expensive for a TV series budget to produce more than just a couple of times, soΒ it became a very rare, extreme-emergency maneuver instead of a workaday deployment.
The drawing in this submission reminded me of the concept art for that version of Enterprise, hence my seizure of Star Trek nerdism.
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Well, the thing is, I freakin' love flying saucers. Whilst I get they were the product of a miscommunication 'n' all, they're just too awesome. the C-57, the main bit of Enterprise, Klaatu's lil' jalopy, the Thing's not-at-all-compensating galaxy hopper with a dodgy parking sensor, love 'em all.
Been working on a fifty episode summary for a hypothetical relaunch of The Invaders and at least 40% of the motivation for that is the saucers.
So what i am saying is, it's always a pleasure to see a good saucer well done.
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