Topic: Welcome to the Mothball Graveyard!! (Image Heavy)

[Rogue NineCH]

Awhile back I decided I had to put the old ships back on my site, but I didn't just want to put them up without having a special place just for them.  Then I came up with the Mothball Graveyard, which is something I cooked up when I had waaayyy too much time on my hands. 

I started thinking about exactly where the Federation would put ships that were to be mothballed.  I couldn't find any specific mention anywhere in SFB or SFC that addressed this question, maybe there is and I just missed it, anyway I made up my own explanation.  Obviously they would be docked to some sort of base, can't just leave them hanging in space, the Orion Pirates would have a field day.  Now having old ships just taking up space at the capital starbase would be inconvenient to say the least.  So the Feds would need a system that had no planets or moons from which pirates could stage an operation without devoting alot of resources to the raid, this would decrease the likelihood of their attempting one.  Having the Pirates at such a great disadvantage right at the start would make Starfleet Security's job much easier.  Then I figured they would use some decommissioned bases as the anchor for these ships.  That's where WZ's OSF Stardock came in very handy, by the way, thank you again WZ for letting me use it.  So after some kitbashing and texture modifications, I present the Mothball Graveyard!!! 

This little project was actually alot of fun, removing all the illumination textures, and trying to make the ships look dark like they have seen better days, I had alot of fun doing it.  I have to say I think I came up with a interesting way of displaying my archives at least, and I do want to thank all those allowed me to kitbash and/or host theiir stuff.  This is my way of saying thank you to you guys for your permission and your help when I asked for it.  Well enough of my ponitifcating, on to the pics....

Here we have the Entrance shot of all five Stardocks...


A shot of Stardock 01, you can see the Kirov, the Bismarck, and the New Jersey resting peacefully...


Here you can see Stardock 04 which houses the Shangri-La, Oriskany, Loknar and several others...


Here you can see the San Jose, Atlanta, and the Larson among the ships....


Here you can see the TMP versions of the Loknar and Larson as well as my old Wilkerson Variants...


Another shot of the Shangri-La, Oriskany, Larson, and Loknar...


A shot of the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-A...


A shot of the TMP Version of the Larson...


Here is a shot of the Remora at Stardock 03, all of her seven variants are here as well...


There is a shot of S33K100's Excellent Kyiv Class....


A close up shot of the Shangri-La...


One of the Reliant Kitbashes I did, the USS Renown...


Here is one of Wolfsglen's ships, the TOS Loknar...


Another of S33K100's ships, the USS Cyrenica...


Close up of the USS Kirov, part of my biggest kitbash project at the time...


Lastly we have Rick Knox's postitively ancient model of the USS Larson...

[ModelsPlease]

Great concept indeed. In the MOD I'm working on I used a WW II throwback idea and have my mothball yards very similar to the way the Navy would dock their ships ala Pearl Harbor prior to Dec 7, 1941. For each race I tried a different scenarion including the pirates with a group of ships just floating in space in different stages of being stripped for parts. I feel for your endeavor. Many hours of removing lightmaps and dis-assembling models to reflect my ideas.

+1 Karma for you man !!!!
-MP

[J. Carney]

That's probably the most unique, least considered and MOST necessary Federation facilities that could be created. I really like the concept ad the execution. Excellent job on the ships- the work that went into getting them ready for that must have been painstaking. EXCELLENT WORK on a real 'unsung hero' type of model!

Just one thing here, though...

The Enterprise-A, upon decomissioning, was put into Earth orbit as a museum ship, a la the Alabama, North Carolina, Missouri and Intrepid which are preserved in various ports here in the US today.

[ModelsPlease]

The Enterprise-A, upon decomissioning, was put into Earth orbit as a museum ship, a la the Alabama, North Carolina, Missouri and Intrepid which are preserved in various ports here in the US today.

You just gave me a great idea for more in-game eye candy  (cracks Knuckles)

-MP

[Dizzy]

Well, I'd always imagined a mothball fleet to be laid out in the cheapest fashion... like those old airfoce jets lined up in the desert or like sailboats at a marina.

What you have done looks more like a cool space station... Nice... but I cant see such a large facility dedicated to mothballed ships. Its too big/pretty.

[Rogue NineCH]

i know this is strange but where is the link to get the whole model with all of the bases and ships in one go as a whole insread of getting each separate ship (cant seem to find the link if there is one i just see ship releases)

Hmm, I never thought you guys would want the bases as they are.  I made them strictly so I could get the screenshots.  Fortunately I am a pack rat, and I kept those models on my hard drive.  I'll look at them this week and see  about getting them online for download.

Now as for the ships themselves, well now I do want to make clear that I did the ships like that purely for cosmetic effect.  I don't have the "darkened" textures in the individual ship downloads.  If I put the bases online then you can get the "darkened" textures from there and use them on the individual ships if you chose to.   However those babies are HUGE, about 50MB each roughly and when I put them ingame it nearly brought my computer to its knees.  I have an older computer, so it might not be a problem for those of you who have more up to date PCs.

I will work on getting those bases online, and I'll let you guys know when I do.

[J. Carney]

Well, I'd always imagined a mothball fleet to be laid out in the cheapest fashion... like those old airfoce jets lined up in the desert or like sailboats at a marina.

Only one problem there...

How you gonna keep those ships in place? I know an object at rest tends to stay at rest... but not everything in the universe is at rest, and eventually some of it's gonna bump one of those ships.

[Rogue NineCH]

Well, I'd always imagined a mothball fleet to be laid out in the cheapest fashion... like those old airfoce jets lined up in the desert or like sailboats at a marina.

What you have done looks more like a cool space station... Nice... but I cant see such a large facility dedicated to mothballed ships. Its too big/pretty.

Big/pretty is what I was going for, and you also have to figure that the Orion Pirates are notorious for towing away derelict vessels.  So you would want a base that has defenses enough to be able to thwart such an attempt.  Also you would need a security fleet to watch over them.  It only makes sense to have them stationed there close.  Also to conserve money, Starfleet would have modified the interior to conserve power and maintenance costs.  

[Rogue NineCH]

That's probably the most unique, least considered and MOST necessary Federation facilities that could be created. I really like the concept ad the execution. Excellent job on the ships- the work that went into getting them ready for that must have been painstaking. EXCELLENT WORK on a real 'unsung hero' type of model!

Just one thing here, though...

The Enterprise-A, upon decomissioning, was put into Earth orbit as a museum ship, a la the Alabama, North Carolina, Missouri and Intrepid which are preserved in various ports here in the US today.

Well my site isn't known for staying true to Trek Canon History, so chalk it up to creative license.

[S33K100]

Awesome Rogue, this is a totally sic idea, I love it. And I'm not just saying that cause there're some of my oldies in there (nice to see theyre having a comfortable retirement though ).

P.S. If you want to really make the Connie look shut-down WZ put black 'powered down' versions of all the big lit up textures in his latest connie like some of the bigger windows and the impulse engines, deflector, that dish thingy on the impulse unit. Not saying you should use them or anything I just really think they'd add to the effect of that ship.

[Starforce2]

Well, I'd always imagined a mothball fleet to be laid out in the cheapest fashion... like those old airfoce jets lined up in the desert or like sailboats at a marina.

What you have done looks more like a cool space station... Nice... but I cant see such a large facility dedicated to mothballed ships. Its too big/pretty.

agreed...why build such an expensive base for 8 old ships  each? granted internally they could house shuttles and aux  craft, unless  these bases are chopships  of  a sort where each ship is docked all all useable supplies, air, wauter, cargo,  shuttles  and spare parts are removed before they are lined up as such? A  recycling facility of  sorts. However,  none the less, the bases and ships u got there look nice, regardless  if they actualy make sense.

[J. Carney]

Well, I'd always imagined a mothball fleet to be laid out in the cheapest fashion... like those old airfoce jets lined up in the desert or like sailboats at a marina.

What you have done looks more like a cool space station... Nice... but I cant see such a large facility dedicated to mothballed ships. Its too big/pretty.

agreed...why build such an expensive base for 8 old ships  each? granted internally they could house shuttles and aux  craft, unless  these bases are chopships  of  a sort where each ship is docked all all useable supplies, air, wauter, cargo,  shuttles  and spare parts are removed before they are lined up as such? A  recycling facility of  sorts. However,  none the less, the bases and ships u got there look nice, regardless  if they actualy make sense.

Imagine that it's not for 8 ships each.

This base could accomidate far more than just 8 ships, simply place tractor emitters between each ship like mooring lines in a shipyard. Suddenly, you can put a dozen ships per arm... a whole fleet on each facility.

This would be a central docking facility in the middle of the type of bonyard you guys are envisioning, with it;s reactors powering all the tractor beams needed to hold the ships in question in place.

[CaptainTombs]

Love the idea, in ST itself they usually just leave them around a deserted planets orbit

[Rogue NineCH]

Awesome Rogue, this is a totally sic idea, I love it. And I'm not just saying that cause there're some of my oldies in there (nice to see theyre having a comfortable retirement though ).

P.S. If you want to really make the Connie look shut-down WZ put black 'powered down' versions of all the big lit up textures in his latest connie like some of the bigger windows and the impulse engines, deflector, that dish thingy on the impulse unit. Not saying you should use them or anything I just really think they'd add to the effect of that ship.

I'll check those out, see if the effect is worth doing.  Thanks for the suggestion.

[Rogue NineCH]

Well, I'd always imagined a mothball fleet to be laid out in the cheapest fashion... like those old airfoce jets lined up in the desert or like sailboats at a marina.

What you have done looks more like a cool space station... Nice... but I cant see such a large facility dedicated to mothballed ships. Its too big/pretty.

agreed...why build such an expensive base for 8 old ships each? granted internally they could house shuttles and aux craft, unless these bases are chopships of a sort where each ship is docked all all useable supplies, air, wauter, cargo, shuttles and spare parts are removed before they are lined up as such? A recycling facility of sorts. However, none the less, the bases and ships u got there look nice, regardless if they actually make sense.

Maybe I didn't explain that part thoroughly enough, but what I was thinking the Federation would do is use old, outdated bases that have outlived their usefulness.  Since it happens all the times with ships, why not bases as well?  Starfleet would strip it down to the bare essentials, and then move into position.  In the old FASA Federation Ship Recognition Manual, it talks about the Alamo Class Outpost capable of being moved with Several Samson Class Tugs.  IT stands to reason that there were ships in the SFB universe that had the same capability.

Like I said in an earlier post, chalk it up to creative license.  I picked that base since it was the easiest to modify, and I always envisioned "customers" who were interested in the old ships flying around in the now decommissioned Hermes class scout, which Rogue Industries used for sightseeing/ferrying VIPs purposes.  The Hermes would have been refitted to "open up" the interior of the ship to to resemble a first class luxury starliner.  Extra larger viewing ports would have been installed as well for tourists to see the ships, and for those interested in buying there would be a few of those "Travel Pods" for a closer inspection of the vessel.

That's pretty much how I envision this would work.

[Scottish Andy]

This is a truly awesome idea, I really like it. I love the concept of organizing the surplus/mothball depots to counter Pirate activty. Imagine a recently decommissioned Excelsior class being nicked by pirates? The havoc they could cause to merchant shipping...

Rogue, if you don't mind I'd love to use this concept in one of my future stories. Would it be okay if I were to do so, or do you want to patent the concept? I could name the Depot after you... 

Anyway, I tink that the bases themselves are too big. I recently played them in a game, and they are just too big for a Base Station in Classic/TMP-Era Trek. I'm using them as actual Federation Space Colonies, where there are no habitable planets in system or close to an econimically viable area or area of natural beauty.

[Rogue NineCH]

This is a truly awesome idea, I really like it. I love the concept of organizing the surplus/mothball depots to counter Pirate activty. Imagine a recently decommissioned Excelsior class being nicked by pirates? The havoc they could cause to merchant shipping...

Rogue, if you don't mind I'd love to use this concept in one of my future stories. Would it be okay if I were to do so, or do you want to patent the concept? I could name the Depot after you...

Anyway, I tink that the bases themselves are too big. I recently played them in a game, and they are just too big for a Base Station in Classic/TMP-Era Trek. I'm using them as actual Federation Space Colonies, where there are no habitable planets in system or close to an econimically viable area or area of natural beauty.

I'll tell you what, just credit me for the concept and we'll call it a day.  I'll leave the name up to you, the one thing I was hoping to accomplish with the Mothball Graveyard, was to give people a unique and hopefully interesting way to go through my archives.  So far it appears that people like the idea, and I am glad.

[Starforce2]

Perhaps you  could decorate one base for the starfleet museum? Place  some really old ships  at it's docks.

[Rogue NineCH]

First, I wanted to let you guys know that I will be putting the bases themselves up for download, but I'll let you know when.  It takes a little time to put 250+ MB on my site.

Second I know some of you have commented on the size and the practicality of the bases and I have a better way to explain it than coming up with explanations that would make sense in Star Trek,  I call it the real world explanation.

I could have resized them down but when I did that, it just didn't look anything like what I imagined this place would be.  I always imagined this HUGE facility that these once great ships were docked to, resting their warp cores in peace.  Now as you have noticed I have five of them, well the main reason I did this was because I was using a base that was a sizable number of polys, then I was adding ships to it, increasing that poly count considerably.  Now I haven't taken the time to add the numbers up, but most of them  were at least 2000 polys or more.  Now I had forty ships to add to this archive, and you can all see the problem I had.  Try adding forty ships to a single base in 3DSMax, and see how your long before your computer screams "I GIVE UP!!" Now assuming I could get my hands on a computer that could accomplish that task, that left me with the game itself.  The game engine just can't take that kind of detailed model.  I never even considered attempting it, because it just wouldn't work.  So I had to use eight ships per Stardock,  but like I said earlier it just didn't look right when I sized them down.  Would it have made things easier? Yes, but my imagination won out and I did it the way I intended.  

I actually did all of this during the summer, when I was on disability and had way too much time on my hands.  Sitting around watching TV and playing my Xbox was cool for the first two weeks, then I got bored.  That's when I started this project, but I went back to work and I never had the time to upload it until this weekend.

So that is essentially my reasoning behind why I did it that way, big and pretty won out over practical and makes sense.  Besides what better way to show my appreciation for all of the modelers who have done so much for this community and made every one of the ships I have kitbashed possible, by proudly displaying the fruits of their efforts on an obnoxiously big Stardock?

[Rogue NineCH]

Perhaps you could decorate one base for the starfleet museum? Place some really old ships at it's docks.

That's a great idea, what ships did you have in mind?