posted
So, rather than looking at these small and/or blurry screencaps, I decided to go buy the TV Guide issue for myself. Nice little poster. My comments follow.
(1) Before I get to nitpicky details, I have to say that the ship is really sharp. I like it, whether it's period-appropriate or not. Nice lines, good proportions, and a great color scheme, like a shiny pewter with gold accents.
(2) The ship is indeed NX-01, an Earth Starfleet ship. The number and name are the only real marking on the hull, and they're done in the good ol' TOS hull font.
(3) The more I see the Enterprise, the less she looks like an Akira. Maybe it's when you have a nice big image and can see that the nacelle pylons definitely sweep upward. There is really only one similarity between the two: the catamaran-style hull. After that, the similarities end.
(4) According to Berman, she has a complement of 70-80 people.
(5) Judging by the (circular) portholes on the primary hull, I believe she has five decks through to the saucer rim... however, there are clearly some portholes on the ceiling of at least deck two, so it makes things a little tricky. The saucer edge is apparently an "inverted" angle, like the Excelsior, rather than like the TOS ship.
(6) TOS-style golden dish on the front, even including the little prong in the middle. The dish makes a little notch in the front of the hull, creating another superficial Akira similarity. Oh, and the saucer is circular, though with the dish and whatever greebles at the rear, it's not a complete circle.
(7) Approximately where film-era phasers would be, port and starboard, there appear to be hatches, almost like shuttle doors. Sine the scale is unclear, they may be two small for shuttles and used as EVA hatches.
(8) The black strips on the sides are TOS pilot-style markings, with running lights in the middle. Another nice continuity touch.
(9) The nacelles have those "handrail" intercooler assemblies, as on the TOS ship. The bussards are basically like rounded versions of those on the Enterprise-E, only a nice dark red instead of almost pinkish. Oh, and the aft end rounds out, it's not two-pronged as some images would suggest.
(10) The "rollbar pod" is probably not a weapons pod on the Enterprise, though its function is unknown. There is a blue light on top that sorta resembles the impulse deflection crystal of the film era, but it's pretty small. Could be an outboard reactor.
(11) The details on the rear saucer, outboard from the catamaran-hull, are presumably the impulse engines. They are pretty nondescript, featureless and gray... but they are proportionally larger than those of later ships, which makes sense.
(12) I'm really curious as to what the lower half is going to look like. It probably won't be similar to the Akira, if only because of the golden dish at the front. The ship is really not very "smooth" overall, so I can't picture the curvyness down there, either. I'm thinking basically a flattened version of the bottom of the TOS ship's primary hull, but that's speculation.
(13) Wild guess at the Enterprise's length, based on portholes and the bridge: 500', about half of the TOS ship.
That's all I have to say about it for now. Too bad I haven't bought a new scanner...
-=Ryan McReynolds=-
[ July 09, 2001: Message edited by: Ryan McReynolds ]
-------------------- "I was surprised by the matter-of-factness of Kafka's narration, and the subtle humor present as a result." (Sizer 2005)
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posted
I'm not quite certain that's the TOS hull font. The letters look a little more spaced out and thicker with hard edges. I think the TOS hull font is more rounded at the corners and a bit thinner. I could be wrong since I haven't watched TOS in a while. [Note: Why the heck am I commenting on hull fonts? I need to get my medication checked]
One thing that I do like: by this picture, there are no banners or pendants on the hull. It seems that the only markings on the hull are the name, registry, and piloting lines on the edges of the saucer. Kinda neat.
posted
And some quicky supplementary comments, if I may:
The bussard-to-nacelle-body transition is very Phoenixy.
I'm thinking landing pads for those two hatches on the saucer. The markings on them suggests as much. But in the traditional Akira-shuttlebay location there also appear to be doors, so *shrug*
The impulse engines appear to me to have a real rocket nozzle look to them...
Nacelle angle is quite steep... Probably greater than 45. That ought to put them way the hell away from being Akira-ish.
Looking closely at the bridge module, is that a turboshaft to port?
My first thought on the blue light in the middle of the pod was also deflection crystal when I saw the previous scan from the article body, but now I'm leaning away from it. It does make sense to stick the warp core way-the-hell back there but like you said it's a bit small.
Judging by the gold sensor dish up front, they get satellite. There's a little bit of blue light above it.... perhaps a nav deflector stacked on top of it?
Nothing that looks immediately like a weapons emplacement on the thing, but who knows.
-------------------- "I was surprised by the matter-of-factness of Kafka's narration, and the subtle humor present as a result." (Sizer 2005)
posted
Okay, two more things from me. I was noticing the lack of any weapons points as well. Maybe they're on the underside of the saucer? That'd be in keeping with the weapons effects from The Original Series. Also, I'm wondering if those two bays on the port and starboard sides of the saucers may not be shuttle bays. They look so small that I'm thinking maybe airlocks? Or smaller cargo holds? Those doors could be big enough for an early workbee to back a few cargo modules into it.
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quote:Originally posted by The_Tom: I'm thinking landing pads for those two hatches on the saucer. The markings on them suggests as much. But in the traditional Akira-shuttlebay location there also appear to be doors, so *shrug*
I'm not sure about landing pads, though the markings do look that way. They seem to be doors, and it's hard for doors to open with something sitting on them.
quote: Nacelle angle is quite steep... Probably greater than 45. That ought to put them way the hell away from being Akira-ish.
Indeed. Actually, isn't there a FASA ship with a similar nacelle arrangement?
quote: Looking closely at the bridge module, is that a turboshaft to port?
First thing that came to mind.
-=Ryan McReynolds=-
[ July 09, 2001: Message edited by: Ryan McReynolds ]
posted
I wasn't sure, but now I agree that the nacelles bend upward. At least! Otherwise he kept even tiny details like those strange hatches in the pylons (which are really exactly the same).
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And as for the saucer doors, I was thinking they could work a bit like the DS9 runabout pads, except the pad would pop up again to fill in the hole when the shuttle had landed and taxiied off it into the bowels of the ship.
[ July 09, 2001: Message edited by: The_Tom ]
-------------------- "I was surprised by the matter-of-factness of Kafka's narration, and the subtle humor present as a result." (Sizer 2005)
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quote:Originally posted by Bernd: Otherwise he kept even tiny details like those strange hatches in the pylons (which are really exactly the same).
Other than those hatches, I see no "tiny details" that Eaves took from the Akira. I maintain that the only similarity between the two ships is the fact that they both have a catamaran hull. All other common features are common to many Starfleet vessels. For that matter, even the catamaran is not very Akira-esque. Where the Akira has gently curved, flowing lines on the booms, the Enterprise has what looks like two cylindrical shapes, almost like two missiles embedded in the primary hull. Notice how, after pinching inward a little, the lines are all straight. Compare to the Akira.
The similarities are no greater than between, say, Voyager and the Enterprise-A, two ships also seperated by a century. Consider: Voyager and the Enterprise-A have similar arrangements, with a primary hull, a secondary hull, and two nacelles. The Akira class and the Enterprise have similar arrangements in the top view only, with a primary hull, catamaran setup, a pod, and two nacelles. In the side view, they are dramatically different.
Some other blatant differences between the Enterprise and the Akira class (not counting hull plates and cosmetics):
The Akira has an elliptical prmary hull. The Enterprise's is circular.
The Akira's pylons connect to her warp nacelles at the aft end. The Enterprise's connect at the forward end.
The rollbar pods are completely different in relative size and shape.
The Akira's deflector is on the lower primary hull in a bulge. The Enterprise's is at the front of the ship, and it's TOS-styled.
The Akira has fifteen-plus visible torpedo tubes. The Enterprise has no identifiable weaponry.
What this comes down to is, I'm not saying that John Eaves didn't copy the Akira. He did. What I'm saying is that every other titular starship has copied the TOS Enterprise to the same extent, and nobody complained. It seemed perfectly acceptable to have essentially the same shape every time, with proportions and details changed. Supporting starships did the same thing, as with the Daedalus/Olympic classes, and the Miranda/Nebula classes. Now, along comes Enterprise, with an Akira-like arrangement, and everyone reacts differntly. Why is it suddently no longer acceptable for there to be a familial lineage between starships of differnt eras? Especially when one considers the glaring differences between the two, like the nacelle orientation...
I submit that most of the same objections would be made by the parties involved regardless of how the ship ended up looking. If it was cylindrical, people would say John upsized the Phoenix. If it was TOS-ish, people would say he copied the TOS Enterprise without regressing it enough. The fact that the ship superficially resembles, from one angle, a formerly "new" design only makes those objections more vehement.
-=Ryan McReynolds=-
[ July 09, 2001: Message edited by: Ryan McReynolds ]
posted
I drew up THIS sketch of what the side view of the Enterprise may be.
-------------------- "Lotta people go through life doing things badly. Racing's important to men who do it well. When you're racing, it's life. Anything that happens before or after is just waiting."
-Steve McQueen as Michael Delaney, LeMans
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This is the Loknar Class starship, designed by FASA I believe. It just happens to bear a bit of a resemblence to the side view I drew.
I personally think the new Enterprise looks more akin to the Akyazi then the Loknar though...
[ July 09, 2001: Message edited by: The359 ]
-------------------- "Lotta people go through life doing things badly. Racing's important to men who do it well. When you're racing, it's life. Anything that happens before or after is just waiting."
-Steve McQueen as Michael Delaney, LeMans
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posted
All the details on this ship makes the original TOS enterprise looks like a cheap model{which is what it was]
They probably would have been better off if they stuck to looking like the constitution or daedeulus class...or even the botany bay---hey its the right era.
But, whatever i'm going into the new series having already cleared my mind of everything from TOS---just pretend TOS never happened and you be fine integrating this new show.
There's a little bit of blue light above it.... perhaps a nav deflector stacked on top of it?
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