-------------------- Lister: Don't give me the "Star Trek" crap! It's too early in the morning. - Red Dwarf "The Last Day"
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted
Never mind that, let's just whoop around for a while like a flock of Daffy Ducks.
Okay, the things look cool sitting in their bay. And the bay is nice and cozy - the first set they've actually done differently from the other Trek shows, where the bay is typically a large and mostly empty area. This bay clearly is intended to take only these two shuttles and no random alien visitors or extra Starfleet craft.
I don't see any landing gear, though. Will the props look as good when resting on uneven ground in location shots, or on the studio floor?
The decoration is familiar enough, white with red stripes and black lettering in a familiar-looking font. No yellow arrowheads anywhere, though.
No cute names, apparently. Just "Pod 1" and "Pod 2". And these seem to be lifting bodies, but are there perhaps aerodynamic surfaces in the aft part? How advanced or primitive are these things? What's the propulsion? We'd definitely need a stern view...
Goodbye to shoestring budgets. Double-convex curves all around these babies. Those "windshield" domes alone must have cost a fortune. And the bay set seems expensive as well - a real man-rated catwalk like that is more than I'm used to seeing in these plywood contraptions.
I like them very much! Especially the 'primitive' concept of launching arms. The pods look more preTOS than the ship itself, which is a good thing. Seems like they ALMOST couldn't resist putting an arrowhead on it.
So, Earth's colours (red 'n' yellow) and font were used for the Federation Starfleet? How original..
posted
Assuming that those domes are windshields, are they wide enough to seat two abrest like Archer and Tucker did in the trailer?
They seems to slope off at the end towards some sort of tail so they may have some aerodynamic surfaces there? Could they have some form of hydraulic wings? It would fit with the mid point technology thats supposed to be shown.
posted
Actually, I think that the ending of the pods are reminescent of the aft end of a standard type 9 shuttle.
-------------------- "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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posted
Except that this time, the main doors are to the sides, so the thing between the tapering sideplates aft is likely to be something else than a doorway. Probably the whole aft end tapers, not just the sideplates. And probably there are some sort of prominent rocket engines there.
(The whole tapering structure could also be an inside-out rocket engine, like the aerospike engines currently researched. But I doubt that.)
Those launching arms probably don't work for real - they don't look sturdy enough to lift the shuttle props, nor is there likely to be space underneath the set floor for lowering the shuttles. More probably, CGI will be used for the launch sequence.
Which makes one wonder. Will the pods perhaps first be raised one level up, so that one can board them from that catwalk? That would require expensive blending of CGI and live action every time it's done. More probably, the crew will somehow climb down to the visible floor level to board the craft, and then CGI will take over.
Also, how does this set fit with the Enterprise exterior, and the supposed aft-facing bay doors? Are those in fact impulse engine exhausts or something?
-------------------- Lister: Don't give me the "Star Trek" crap! It's too early in the morning. - Red Dwarf "The Last Day"
Registered: Nov 1999
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Shik
Starship database: completed; History of Starfleet: done; website: probably never
Member # 343
posted
"Open the pod bay doors please, HAL...."
-------------------- "The French have a saying: 'mise en place'—keep everything in its fucking place!"
Registered: Jun 2000
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posted
The_Tom: Great 'caps of the shuttlepods. I was wondering, any chance you might 'cap the model Archer is playing with as a child? I know we only see the nose, but I would still like to have that 'cap
-------------------- "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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posted
I'm pleasantly surprised... just goes to show, they can't get everything wrong.
-------------------- Later, J _ _ _ _ _ ___ _ _ _ _ _ The Last Person to post in the late Voyager Forum. Bashing both Voyager, Enterprise, and "The Bun" in one glorious post.
posted
Wow. I really like that set. It's a very nice departure from the usual boring design of the other four series. We may also see some elements of a mechanic's shop in this set: tool kits, diagnostic machinery, the works. If the shuttles are dropped from the floor, then there likely isn't a hanger/storage deck. So the shuttle bay will likely have to be a blending of the two.
I like the pod designs, too. I am a little curious about the landing gear, though. Is there any? Obviously not going by those pictures, but then again the shuttles may just be rested on specialized supports. I can't wait to see the pods in action.
-------------------- The philosopher's stone. Those who possess it are no longer bound by the laws of equivalent exchange in alchemy. They gain without sacrifice and create without equal exchange. We searched for it, and we found it.
posted
Well, Wes, for some reason I doubt there is anything else on the right because, as you notice, Pod 1 is on the right, and Pod 2 is on the left. Assuming they're kept in sequential order, if there was anything on the right, all we could have over there is Pod 0. And I doubt there is a Pod 0.
I don't think the ships could out the sides, I believe they are dropped out the bottom. I seem to remember that being mentioned in an interview a while back.
-------------------- "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."
posted
Methinks Eaves has taken a train trip between London and Paris
-------------------- "I was surprised by the matter-of-factness of Kafka's narration, and the subtle humor present as a result." (Sizer 2005)
Registered: Mar 1999
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