It's a fan work by Alex Rozenzweig, really, modelled after "Ships of Star Fleet" and the website creating PDF documents in that format. In fact, much of the information was taken from these two sources, as well as the DS9TM, Encyclopedia, and some of our discussions. The Foundation guys, it seems, merely provided a miscellaneous CG wireframe view, as well as a nice, two-page wide model shot for each ship.
The ships are a selection of Starfleet and alien ships, including the smaller vehicles. The entries are nicely done, and as we can expect from a fan work, much more accurate than the DS9TM. Still, the specs are nothing new -- the lengths, for example, are a combination of DS9TM lengths, Ships of Star Fleet specs, Encyclopedia measurements and some of our analyses. Whoever selected them didn't always select wisely (they took Galor's 229m size from the Encyclopedia, Jem'Hadar bug's 68m from the DS9TM).
I thought Foundation would provide some new Visual Effects lengths from their charts as well as weapons specs, but their involvement doesn't seem to have extended beyond the pictures. The rest of every entry contains much the same invented information as the SOSF books (Warp factor acceleration times, engine designations etc.)
What's new is a view of an Aeroshuttle CG model, presumably built for the unused test sequence that Rick mentioned a while ago. You'll see what it looks like pretty soon. They also seem to have built a Romulan bird-of-prey model.
Overall, it's great that a fan work with its higher level of quality is released to all the "beginners" , who might have otherwise suffered from DS9TM's deceptions. We might also put it on our shelves as a tangible result of our indirect contributions.
On the other hand, little of that information is new, some of it is non-canon, and despite the huge improvement in accuracy (they actually have the Defiant at 119.5m), it could be more accurate for a fan work. The specs are heavily influenced by Ships of Star Fleet, whose view of Starfleet you may or may not agree with. It could be improved by a more careful scrutiny of our discussions, especially Bernd's articles, as well a greater involvement by Foundation in providing specs, not just images.
-------------------- "Tragedy is when I cut my finger, Comedy is when you walk into an open sewer and die."-Mel Brooks
Registered: May 1999
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There's the USS Jeff Benson, named after the famous deer killer who singly handedly brought the deer population of the Northeast U.S. into controllable levels in the early 21st Century.
And who was found slaughtered in his apartment.
A warrant still exists for the strange being known as "Omega"
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No, there are no name/registry lists because each entry is about a ship of a class (the Majestic, (Miranda), the Honshu (Nebula), the Thunderchild (Akira) ). The two-page-wide CG model views are of these ships also, though the 1701-D Enterprise view seems to be missing the name and the registry number on the underside.
Registered: Sep 2001
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Are you saying that this book is actually credited to Alex Rosenzweig and that he wrote all the text? Is the cover seen on Amazon (et al) the same? Rosenzweig's not listed on the cover.
How about the actual renders. Any good? Are schematics of all ships?
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Yeah...I mean, great for him if its true. Alex is a pretty big name in fan tech circles. But, uh, doesn't one of the actual author/artists of this book post here?
Registered: Mar 1999
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I'm very happy for Alex (but extremely envious). He used to contribute to a (paper) fanzine (the GEC's Logbook) I was involved with back in the ancient pre-wired past. I hope his hitting the big time will lead to a general improvement in official tech publications.
FYI: Here's the url of "Dockyard Review" and other publications Phelps mentioned.
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He's not listed on the title page, but I'd assume he wrote all the text, because it really is fandom-style. He's one of the four authors and has a short biography on the inside of the back page.
On the other hand, Rob Bonchune and Mojo say in the book they're fans who owned the old Starfleet Tech Manual and read Doug Drexler's fan magazine (!). I suppose, however, they had their hands full modelling the Romulan BOP and maybe the Aeroshuttle. There's also a 1701 Enterprise model there, don't know how long that took.
Actually, how about Alex and Mojo saying a word of two about this right here? Talk about pointless theorizing.
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Yeah, and the so called romulan BoP? Surely it�s the romulan shuttle seen in ds9?
-------------------- "The Starships of the Federation are the physical, tangible manifestations of Humanity´s stubborn insistence that life does indeed mean something." Spock to Leonard McCoy in "Final Frontier"
Registered: Jan 2000
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Are we gonna start scanning pictures or do I have to buy the damn book?
-------------------- "It speaks to some basic human needs: that there is a tomorrow, it's not all going to be over with a big splash and a bomb, that the human race is improving, that we have things to be proud of as humans." -Gene Roddenberry about Star Trek
Registered: May 1999
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Since Phelps said they seem to have built a Rom. BoP model, I'm guessing it is, in fact, the BoP. A model of the "Romabout" would already exist, from its very appearance in DS9.
And the shuttle Chaffee and the Aerowing shuttle "reflect the noble history of space travel"? What were they smoking, and how can I be sure never to be accidentally exposed to it?
, who might have otherwise suffered from DS9TM's deceptions. We might also put it on our shelves as a tangible result of our indirect contributions.
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