posted
I guess it's personal choice how granular you want to be. If you're going to get into differing models, well, where does it end? You get the Cage Null, the TOS Null, the DSC Null - and the SNW Null. And the FC/INS E and the Nem E. And frankly? Life's too short! All these are meant to represet the exact same ship, the differences are cosmetic rather than fundamental; it's easy however to exempt the TOS Movie/Null Refit from that, however, because there was a second, identical ship then introduced, the A. So even if you get dogmatic and say the Refit can't be included because "it's the 'same' ship as the Null," then it still stays in the list - as the A.
Here's a thought: if they were making TVH today, do you think the A would have been another Constitution-refit? It would probably be a new design instead...
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I think a lot of that would depend on how much budget they had, and if they had enough to build a new model, and possibly a new bridge set (although of course they could use it for the Saratoga and Yorktown scenes).
Shik
Starship database: completed; History of Starfleet: done; website: probably never
Member # 343
posted
I mean, it was only that way because of the nostalgia factor & the stupid-poor test audience response to the original ending of Kirk & co. being put on Excelsior.
-------------------- "The French have a saying: 'mise en place'—keep everything in its fucking place!"
Registered: Jun 2000
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posted
Or just a newly-built as-yet-I commissioned (or hastily re-named and thus re-commissioned) Excelsior-class. Though I guess there wouldn’t have been any yet, given ST4 is set about three months after ST3 - when the Excelsior was just the Great Experiment and not yet a class ship.
Ha! Imagine if the A had been a Miranda… or an Oberth!
quote:Originally posted by Lee: If you're going to get into differing models, well, where does it end? {...} All these are meant to represet the exact same ship, the differences are cosmetic rather than fundamental;
I was working on a blog post about this already, actually, after recent research on the C-type Galaxy, a.k.a. the "War Galaxy", the dark-neck one seen in "Favor the Bold" and, as I'd long ago caught here, "Image in the Sand". The post isn't done but here's some of the research, including pretty pictures:
Given that the B-type (Venture) was only ever seen represented by the four-footer with leftover AGT blisters (Blistered Bulldog?), then yeah, the Enterprise-D is always supposed to be the same despite model variations, but this need not be so for the B and C types.
(There's also the more obvious Excelsior vs. Enterprise-B differences, which (along with Picard's "B-type Warbird" line) is what long ago led me to refer to subclass variations by type designation. Of course, I started with the flared and be-boxed Enterprise-B as the "B-type Excelsior", missing at that point the fact that the NX style Excelsior and the NCC style Excelsior models had both represented later ships, suggesting both variations continued to be built. Fortunately, the variations are small enough I can use the USAF "block" terminology as a sub-type designation.)
As for cosmetics . . . given how different the cosmetics can be between certain models, and since we were talking subjective favorites based on aesthetics, I think the distinction is fine.
-------------------- . . . ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.
posted
Well, yeah, obviously there are subtypes of ship, just as there were of Supermarine Spitfires, or F-15 Eagles. And that’s fine. If someone wants to say “My favourite Trek ship is the Ambassador-class” then nobody’ll find fault with that. And if they say that but then follow up with “… but specifically the Yamaguchi variant with the lowered nacelles (due to the shorter pylons”) then that’s fine too.
But is that relevant to what we were talking about - ranking our favourite Enterprises? Does it matter if two empirically different models were used to represent the same ship (during the same time period)?
Trek has a reasonable degree of internal consistency. To an extent. Ultimately it comes down to how much you can put up with. Personally I couldn’t tell you the difference between the 4ft D and the 6ft D without looking it up. So I ignore it! Same with ship scaling which we all know is all over the shop…
To me, the six and the four are so wildly different (and not "one-off" level guest models like the two-foot) that it makes a huge difference, even if they're both meant to represent 1701-D. That they're roughly equal in representing the ship makes it notable.
(One guy literally constructed and textured an entirely new 3D CG mesh of the Galaxy for game mod use just to capture the flavor of the Bulldog better, even after an amazing Svelterprise-D existed.
posted
I was able to grab the XL Stargazer and the Lower Decks special edition USS Vancouver from Master Replicas. They just arrived a few hours ago -- both in mint condition, well packaged, although the individual boxes weren't shrink wrapped. Also, no magazines.
The Stargazer looks to be in the same scale as the Enterprise-A. The Constellation-Class is an absolute beast. Promotion photos didn't do her justice -- the saucer appears to be the appropriate depth (the regular edition seemed fairly thin), although some details (like the robot on the underside) are missing, and the bulbous projection with antenna on the underside is now on the starboard when it's on the port side of the regular edition).
The Stargazer has an absolutely beautiful aztec paintjob, and feels nice and hefty.
And then we have the Vancouver. I don't know. Feels light, but looks fine. Or looks fiiiiiiiiiine.
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I made a conscious decision to steer clear of the XLs. Wouldn’t have the room for them. Thought about maybe getting just one… but which one?
The original or the refit, well, much as I like the former, I feel like I have plenty of (smaller, granted) representations of that. The latter, it just doesn’t grab me for some reason. In fact that’s how I feel about most of the XL offerings. If I’m going to get one, I want wow factor. In the first MR drop, I spent a lot of time considering the Prometheus and the Ent-E. Ultimately it was price: I wanted a Discoprise so that’s what I got.
That said, its mid-size status displeases me a bit. Same with the Vancouver I subsequently got in the last drop. So those, I’ll probably put away for a rainy eBay.
In the end, I keep coming back to the E. It’s my favourite. I note the next drop has more of the XL in, so there’s my chance. But… the week after, the unreleased gold XL is dropping. Gold or standard Sovereign-class Enterprise? Hmm…
quote: Thought about maybe getting just one… but which one?
Why is this even a question?
Ask Gowron what you should buy. I did, for you. Here's what he said: "Think of it. Thirty years ago, no one had ever heard of Bajor or Deep Space 9. Now all our hopes rest here. Where the tides of fortune take us, no man can know."
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