Flare Sci-Fi Forums: LEGO Defiant

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Posted by ScottKey on :

OK people. Here's how it goes. I've got this wild idea to make the USS Defiant scale to the Lego minifigure. Yall probably think I'm crazy right about now, and rightfully so. This project will eventually cost several thousand dollars and will take years upon years. I've been stocking up on the Legos for a while now, but I've still got nowhere near the amount I'm going to need. Here's the plan so far. It will be built in modules so that it can be taken apart if need be. Each module will have several decks whereas they come apart similar to the fashion of Lego's Millenium Falcon. The model will eventually be about 16 feet long and about 12 feet wide. I believe it will also be about 2 and a half feet high.
Now here's the tricky part. Where do I build such a large model? The idea to use my garage has surfaced on numerous occassions. The only problem with this idea is that it is currently a mess, and I'd have to clean it, which could conceivably take a very long time. Hey, I never said i was the cleanest guy out there, just the laziest. Once the garage is completely clean, I feel I can really get to work. Right now, all I've really been able to do is do some rough mock up models that have actually turned out pretty good.

I believe each minifig would be 6 feet tall. I'm not sure if I did get the dimensions of the ship correct. It was just a guess based on some measurements I took a while back.
One great idea I recently had for turbolifts was to incorporate the lagre circular pieces from Lego's Droid Escape set. I was never quite sure how I was going to make the turbolifts, but now I've got an idea where I can start from.

Also, I have created the Defiant's bridge before, however due to a slight accident, it was destroyed. That's really not that big of a deal though, because now I can do it again and incorporate a lot of new ideas into it.

Anyways, if any of yall have any ideas that I might incorporate into this undertaking, feel free to respond. I know I can use all the encouragement and advice I can get on this project.

What I really want to know is if anyone has any tips on how I might be able to bild some areas of the ship. I just want to keep my options open and get as much input on this so that it can be the best that it possibly can be.

Scott

Posted by seanr (Member # 277) on :

What's a minifig?? Got any pics of the mockups to show us?

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http://www.webolutionary.com
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Posted by Dukhat (Member # 341) on :

I believe he is referring to the 1-1/2 inch little men that come with Lego vehicles, and that if those men were scaled up to six feet, he'd be able to figure out how big his Defiant would have to be.

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Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :

Lego people are 42mm tall (I just now measured one myself). Therefore, a 560' Defiant would end up 3.92m long (12'10").

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8164 7644 8724 6991+360 8164 8724 6541 8164 7239

Posted by ScottKey on :

This is why I plan on building this thing in my garage. And no, I currently have no pictures. However, I will once I can find a camera.

Posted by Aethelwer (Member # 36) on :

I AM DEFIANT LENGTH GOD

FEAR MY WRATH

THE DEFIANT IS 120M LONG

THAT'S AROUND 400 FEET

BUT, HEY, IT'S YOUR MODEL

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Posted by seanr (Member # 277) on :

First off, here are a cuple problems with the 120M lenth. The first of those is that the damn canon cutaway is wrong. Lok at the windows on the underside of he ship, there are clearly two decks there. Whoever did that okudagram ought to be slapped. Look at this pics:

Furthur evidence that you can't even trust canon references:
http://www.maximumdefiant.com/multi/visual/stfc.html

According to the pics on that page, the Defiant must only be one deck tall. Star Trek has gotten very sloppy lately.

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Sean Robertson
[email protected]

http://www.webolutionary.com
http://www.mania-online.com
3D Gladiator Premier Forums Member

"Great is the glory for the strife is hard"
- Wordsworth

"Why must I be surrounded by frickin' idiots?"
- Dr Evil

Posted by First of Two (Member # 16) on :

... unless the ship was designed by one of those funky new-age architects that put windows on the tops and bottoms of rooms...

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Posted by ScottKey on :

Wait, isn't the Defiant supposed to have 4 decks? Also, aren't the measurements 170.68 x 134.11 x 30.1 meters?

Posted by Mark Nguyen (Member # 469) on :

[smacks head]

Oh no, here we go AGAIN...

Mark

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"Why build one, when you can build two at twice the price?"

- Carl Sagan, "Contact"

Posted by ScottKey on :

Hey, I'm just following the DS9 Tech Manual. Also, it's my model that I'm going to make, so I can make the measurements whatever I damn well please.

So we really don't need an arguement now on the ship specs.

[This message has been edited by ScottKey (edited December 27, 2000).]

Posted by Aethelwer (Member # 36) on :

*SCREAMS IN AGONY AND PAIN*

Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :

Besides, since when are those windows?

Oh, and also, from the last time this came up here:

Q: I must know; how long IS the Defiant?

A: 171 meters, per the DS9 Technical Manual. 120 meters per Frank. Which is correct? That depends on your point of view, as well as your proximity to Frank. (Essentially, the Defiant was often shown to be 120 meters long by the Visual Effects crew, but it is officially 171 meters based on other data.)

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Posted by Mark Nguyen (Member # 469) on :

I swore I'd never get involved in this, but...

In "Sacrifice of Angels", the Defiant is shown flying in darned close proximity to a couple of Miranda-class ships. You can see there that the Defiant is about as long as a Miranda is wide. Since the Miranda shares the same saucer width as the Constitution refit, it also shares its width: 170 meters.

I'm sticking with that. And I live in Canada, far, far away from most of you guys.

Mark

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"Why build one, when you can build two at twice the price?"

- Carl Sagan, "Contact"

Posted by ScottKey on :

Wow, look at what I started. Besides, the longer it is, the more rooms I get to add in my creation. I think it's time to get back to some concept building. Peace.

Posted by Timo (Member # 245) on :

Well, if it is size that matters, why not go straight for the Miranda?

She's about as big as the supposed 170m Defiant, just with bigger and farther-out nacelles. And she's got ten decks or so to play with... The circular shape is a pain, though.

I'd probably go for Voyager. With the landing legs, one wouldn't even need a stand (one would need lots of ballast in the nacelles, though). If the Defiant is a million bricks, the Voyager might be five million...

Timo Saloniemi

Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :

Do you know - everything would work out just FINE if those WERE windows... that WAS an airlock at the front where the deflector dish is - and that the bridge actually MATCHED the bridge-y looking shape on the top of the ship... then the impulse engines would fit perfectly in those little pyramidal shapes at the aft of the ship also...

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Posted by Fabrux (Member # 71) on :

Mark: Whereabouts in Canada do you live? I hail from New Brunswick.

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Posted by Aethelwer (Member # 36) on :

Bah!
http://frankg.dgne.com/sfsd/defiantlength/soa1.jpg

Measure it. At most the Defiant is ~140m.

Posted by Mark Nguyen (Member # 469) on :

Fabrux: I hail from the frozen wastelands of Calgary, Alberta. Got five $&%$#@*#!!! inches of wet snow dumped on me yesterday. Nearly killed myself shoveling the driveway. Vented said frustration on passing kids with snowballs.

Frank: Yes, I've read your arguments towards the 120m length. I guess I just like my ships big.

Mark

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"Why build one, when you can build two at twice the price?"

- Carl Sagan, "Contact"

Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :

Explain this one away, saucer freaks...

If the Miranda uses the same circular saucer shap as the refit Constitution...& the Connie saucer is 141.7 meters abeam....

THEN HOW IN THE HIGH HOLY NAME OF KAJA DO YOU GET A 170-METER LENGTH?!?

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[This message has been edited by Shik (edited December 28, 2000).]

Posted by ScottKey on :

OK, so it's 120m, that's fine by me. Another question now; are there any blueprints out there other than in the DS9 Tech Manual?

Posted by Mark Nguyen (Member # 469) on :

There was this really nifty cutaway drawing done in the early stages of the Defiant's design, which placed the bridge in the nose section, and some sort of crew/troop compartments where the torpedo launchers ended up. I've seen it on the net a few times, but not recently...

Mark

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"Why build one, when you can build two at twice the price?"

- Carl Sagan, "Contact"

Posted by seanr (Member # 277) on :

Frank, I think your own picture disproves your theory:

Notice the sahdow from the Miranda class ship's starboard nacelle on the Defiant's port nacelle. The Defiant is behind the Miranda class ship. It is close, though, you can even see the shadow from the Miranda's saucer on the bow of the Defiant. Correct that for perspective and rotation, and you wind up with a defiant slightly LONGER than the diameter of the saucer. A length aroun 160/170 meters is not impossible, and certainly more likely than 120, if you go by the evidence on the ship itself.

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Sean Robertson
[email protected]

http://www.webolutionary.com
http://www.mania-online.com
3D Gladiator Premier Forums Member

"Great is the glory for the strife is hard"
- Wordsworth

"Why must I be surrounded by frickin' idiots?"
- Dr Evil

Posted by Aethelwer (Member # 36) on :

How are you correcting "for perspective and rotation"?

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Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :

Well, you can do it in your mind... its not that hard - to get a rough idea when all you're doing is comparing the length of the Deffie to the diameter of the Mir's saucer...

Also, yeah - we have that picture - but what about other pictures?

I think now that the Deffie is longer than 120 but shorter than 170m

I think we should just totally ignore the entire DS9 Tech Manual - too many inconsistancies...

Andrew

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"This is cooling, faster than I can..." Tori Amos "Cooling"

Posted by Malnurtured Snay (Member # 411) on :

I like the blueprints in the TM, actually. With a ship as small as the Defiant, it's nice they were able to provide such detailed plans.

Yo, Vod, any word yet? Any pictures? We're dying to know, man!!!!

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Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :

Frank: In that picture, the length of the Defiant is almost exactly the same as the diameter of the closer Miranda's saucer. Therefore, since the Def. is actually farther away, it has to be bigger than the diameter of the Mir.'s saucer.

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