To end the debate on which design the Ambassador class Excalibur is...it is the Mark II. Here's proof. Notice the registry number. It's 26517.
------------------ 7 alarm clock: "Do not touch me." Dilbert: "Then how do I turn you off?" 7: "Believe me, I am plenty turned off."
[This message has been edited by PopMaze (edited June 20, 2000).]
[This message has been edited by PopMaze (edited June 20, 2000).]
Posted by Timo (Member # 245) on :
Then again, perhaps the transformation was made in stages? As in, first there is the E-C. Then "Redemption" calls for multiple ships, and the model department decides to upgrade the slightly damaged old E-C model to be more presentable, and labels the saucer correctly for USS Excalibur - but the project isn't finished in time, so footage of the E-C is used instead (except for the brief customized shot of Picard's fleet sailing out at the end of part one). And then the model is finally completely refurbished to be the Zhukov, but the labeling is not yet completely changed before this photo is taken...
I'm not convinced we ever saw the Excalibur in "Mark 2" specs in the episode - not until I get a DVD zoom scan on that "sailing out" scene...
Timo Saloniemi
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 138) on :
Maybe I'm missing something, but what's so important about the registry? Nearly all the Ambassador-class ships begin with 26, except for the Ambassador, Enterprise-C, and Horatio which start with 10.
------------------ Sisko: "We run alright, run right at them." Smiley: "Ah, Pattern Suicide." Federation Starship Datalink - New and improved Starship Database!
[This message has been edited by Hobbes (edited June 20, 2000).]
Posted by Dat (Member # 302) on :
I was emphasizing that it ended with 17 and not 10 as many pics of the Mark II Ambassador show (the Yamaguchi). When I first saw the pic, I first though Yamaguchu, but then I saw the reg and realized it was Excalibur. I didn't want people to be confused thinking it was the Yamaguchi.
------------------ 7 alarm clock: "Do not touch me." Dilbert: "Then how do I turn you off?" 7: "Believe me, I am plenty turned off."
Posted by Mikey T (Member # 144) on :
It's funny, but the Mark 2 nacelles remind me of the picture I've seen in the Art of Star Trek book, the picture of a prototype Enterprise-D.
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James Bond- "I'm sure that they are very well rounded..."
The World is Not Enough
Posted by Timo (Member # 245) on :
I'm 99% sure that when Sternbach designed the E-C, he intended it to look as much like that old Probert design as possible. It's just that the modelmakers got it wrong - they forgot to add the ventral phaser and torpedo tubes, for one thing, and probably also forgot to model the ramscoops correctly. They improved what they could for the next appearance of this ship.
I guess Sternbach wanted the secondary hull stern shaped differently, but there may have been confusion with multiple "editions" of blueprints, and the modelmakers only got it right on the second try. They still forgot the ventral phaser and the torps...
In any case, it would be nice if the Excalibur really was a Mark II ship, since it has a 26000 range registry like all the other Mark IIs. We can probably forget about the fuzzy E-C stock footage in "Redemption" if we really try...
Timo Saloniemi
Posted by Aethelwer (Member # 36) on :
The Yamaguchi was 26510, but had the 26517 number and even the Excalibur name in some places.
------------------ June is National Accordion Awareness Month. "And as we all know, 454 Okudagrams equals an Okudapound." - Rick Sternbach
Posted by Fabrux (Member # 71) on :
Welcome back, Frank!
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Posted by Alpha Centauri (Member # 338) on :
I saw Michael T speakin of a prototype E-D from The Art of Star Trek. Can anyone scan that for me? Please?
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