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I WAS IN THE FUTURE, IT WAS TOO LATE TO RSVP
Member # 709
posted
There's a big difference between your 'ship thats designed on a series premiere budget' and a ship designed on an 'in between seasons budget'
A helluva lotta work and money went into designing E-D, VGR and DS9 because they had about a year of mean time to work it out, and a huge amount of capital intended to get the series on its feet. In between seasons, you are probably designing on a fraction of that budget and with much less time. You can still get design excellence, but it varies in individual cases. Some other 'mid-series' design adjustments include the Jefferies-tube sets, VGR Astrometrics, Ten-Forward & the Nebula-class. While the Nebula is an impressive design, not much was determined about its technicality because it was a kitbash. Even a better example is the Olympic. it was figured out between episodes with no real purpose in mind to any of its details/structure.. although the Defiant probably had more of a design process and got more attention, it definitely did not get the full blueprints treatment a-la the work on the E-D and VGR.
I still think its a great model.. just wish we knew how long it was.
[ November 29, 2001: Message edited by: CaptainMike ]
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Shik
Starship database: completed; History of Starfleet: done; website: probably never
Member # 343
posted
quote:Originally posted by mrneutron: Take the Klingon Attack Cruiser, rip off its nacelles, turn it around and paint it yellow and you have the Cardassian Galor.
Someone actually did this at Starship Modeler for the Dominion War Contest.
quote:Originally posted by CaptainMike: Even a better example is the Olympic. it was figured out between episodes with no real purpose in mind to any of its details/structure.
Uh....NO. The model that became the Olympic-class was built by Bill George in his garage in his own spare time. Y'know, like the replacement Y-wing that they used from "Empire" onward, which turned out to be far superior to the original, mind you.
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posted
They are there but seem to be a special type of engine that continues the hull shape (unlike the Galaxy class).
Check out the Nebula reference pictures at Starship Modeler located here. Be sure to check out this picture and this picture. Look at the darker areas where the engines would be on the Galaxy class.
And yes, you can see these "covert" engines on both the physical model and the CGI model.
capped
I WAS IN THE FUTURE, IT WAS TOO LATE TO RSVP
Member # 709
posted
Yes, I'm familiar with the origin of the Olympic-class!.. i said
quote: although the Defiant probably had more of a design process
But the track record for ships with outstanding technical specifications that were designed during the run of a show isnt that great, as opposed to the extreme detail present in such main ships as the 1701-refit, the 1701-D, VGR, Danube & DS9 station.
The Olympic, the Constellation, the Nebula, the Delta Flyer, the Yeager (*shivers*) all suffered from the fact that, rather than having been designed when the designers had plenty of time sitting on their asses, they were made in between seasons or when the designers were probably juggling lots of projects (or designed as experiments and then pressed into use as more of a focus. The Nebula started out just like George's Olympic, as a 'test-model' by Miarecki.. and shortly thereafter it found itself a main backup ship. The Defiant shares many of these problems.. impulse vents, weapons ports, windows, all kind of in disarray.
I mean, have you read how much thought went into just designing the E-D's windows? and how many stages DS9s shape went through. (This raises another issue altogether.. how come, when these well thought out designs were passed on to the regular series, many of their purposes became skewed. Aeroshuttles what? Variable warp geometry who? Curved docking pylons why?)
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Ace: I've got a clearer picture of the stern on page 147 of "ST:TNG - The Continuing Mission." The items arrowed in on the pod support strut are just hull detailing; no exhaust ports of any kind.
As for the structures on the saucer, I don't know. I'm assuming you're talking about the vent-like outlets on either side. They don't look much like impulse engines to me. For one thing, there's the size factor; they don't look all that much bigger than a Galaxy-class thruster quad. Does anyone have a good screencap of the stern of a Nebula in flight, to see if there's any type of glow that would indicate presence of the engines?
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capped
I WAS IN THE FUTURE, IT WAS TOO LATE TO RSVP
Member # 709
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According to SotSF v2, Akyazis can go warp 16.. on the old scale.. (like the 1701 went warp 14 on the old scale).. of course on the new scale, warp 16 would be something like 9.5.. seems unlikely
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The most likely reason is that the Nebula CGI mesh was made from the Galaxy class CGI and so they simply made the engines into the hull lines.
Anyway, unlike the physical model, these engines cannot be just part of the hull pattern because they go around the rim of the saucer to the underside as seen in "Message in a Bottle."
posted
Ace: Thanks for the images. I see what you mean about the lines on the CGI mesh. However, those weren't the structures I was talking about on the physical model. I wish I could do a scan of the book image, but I can't. The ones I was referring to are closer towards the centerline, and they are only on the underside of the saucer, beneath the inset between the upper and lower halves.
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