Topic: New ship found in the F/Files this week. "Sphinx" workpod
Gerard Gillan
Ex-Member
posted
The Star Trek Fact Files this week pushed out this new design of a Workpod. I have created a page at my Web site, with all the information and pictures of this new craft.
All I can say is where in Trek has this ship been hiding. To see more click the link below. I would like your views on this ... See what the fans thank .. Over to you .....
posted
The Sphinx pod was a design sketch for the Work Bee (I think), but it was too curvy for production, so it was never built. Sternbach used it in the TNGTM, and this CGI model was built by Mojo for his book "Unseen Frontier". But since that book has been cancelled by Pocketbooks, his CGI models pop up in all sorts of magazines (the Centaur model for example).
The Sphinx pod isn't canon, but something that was 'supposed to be there' all along.
posted
Damn. Shame that this never made its way into TNG for real. As much as I like the workbee, there's room for another utility ship.
The Sphinx was designed during the first season of TNG by Andrew Probert, about the same time he designed the Type 7, hence the similar lines. (Someone else named it Sphinx, though, based on its obvious appearance.) I wonder what an actual physical model would've looked like...
Registered: May 2002
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quote:Originally posted by Mark Nguyen: One word: Hopper.
Mark
Apparently Probert did supply Mojo with a design for the Hopper, based on the same look as the Sphinx. Only time will tell whether or not a mesh was made before Unseen Frontiers went the way of the Dodo.
posted
Of course, if the information is spread across more than seven magazine issues, you're paying more. And, even then, those seven magazines probably wouldn't contain as much as the book would.
Registered: Mar 1999
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quote:Originally posted by Mark Nguyen: One word: Hopper.
Mark
Apparently Probert did supply Mojo with a design for the Hopper, based on the same look as the Sphinx. Only time will tell whether or not a mesh was made before Unseen Frontiers went the way of the Dodo.
That's pretty much what I meant...
BTW, Mojo confirms that this model is indeed his work and not Ed's, based on the stuff Probert gave him for UF. Presumably, with suitable modifications (like a camper attachemnt on the back for troops and stuff), this model would be used to represent the hopper for scenes he planned to composite with new live-action material he wanted to shoot.
posted
The reason why it's in the Fact Files is because they are not a primary publication but take all the technical information from the Encyclopedia, the TNGTM and the DS9TM which are regarded as canon (the CGI, of course, is new).
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
Bernd: although these books are, as you say, regarded as canonical by some people, they really are not canonical according to Ron D. Moore, John Ordover, and the startrek.com website.
The TNGTM, DS9TM and the Encyclopedia are official books based on the writers' technical guides, the show, and other production information. They hold the status of publications such as DS9 Series Bible Season One, Voyager Technical Guide 1.0, TNG Technical Guide Season 3, or anything Rick Sternbach or Mike Okuda post online or say to the writers.
Still, because they're based on writers' guides and continue to function as such following their publication, they must be regarded higher than other official books. However, just as anything from a series bible can be ignored, so can this information.
quote:I'll say it again, there must be a way we can save this book!?! I do NOT want to see Mojo's work got to waste in some rediculous rags.
I'll second and third that. It was the only book this year I was looking forward to more than the Star Charts one.
I'd rather buy 1 50-dollar complete book than a couple dozen 5-dollar magazines.
-------------------- "The best defense is not a good offense. The best defense is a terrifyingly accurate and devastatingly powerful offense, with multiply-overlapping kill zones and time-on-target artillery strikes." -- Laurence, Archangel of the Sword
Registered: Mar 1999
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quote:Originally posted by Boris: However, just as anything from a series bible can be ignored, so can this information.
Well sure, it can. But, as a general rule of thumb, it isn't. When you really get down to it, TPTB can ignore just about anything they want. But, it doesn't seem to be an issue with these books. Writer's bibles, etc, are generally written in such a format that they lay out only the most basic principles of the show, so that writers will be free to expand on characters and concepts. But they are for the most part adhered to. That's the whole point. And these tech books merely clarify what is already established or intended in the show. There's a few extras thrown in, but nothing that breaches the limits of what can be followed by the show. I'd say that the shows have adhered to these books more closely than they've adhered to TOS...
-------------------- The flaws we find most objectionable in others are often those we recognize in ourselves.
Registered: Jun 2001
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