posted
In the latest Magazine, in the Next Issue part, there's a beatyshot of the U.S.S. Centaur. But it's in CGI!
And it doesn't look anything like the model. It's made up of the standard Excelsior parts, with the addition of a Miranda pod and only the four 'towers' so far as greeblies are concerned.
The question of course is where this model comes from. Was it just created for the Magazine? Or was it used on the series? The Centaur looked like a physical model in the show. That would mean that someone did this CGI just for the Mag. Have they ever done that before!?
I'll try to have scan of it this evening or tomorrow.
posted
Interesting. It could be Eric Peterson's, he did a Centaur some while ago, and as I recall it was quite different from the physical model we got to see recently. It did look more like an Excelsior variant....
Hang on...yes I've got a picture of it. Can you do a scan from the mag and I'll do a comparison.
-------------------- "To the Enterprise and the Stargazer. Old girlfriends we'll never meet again." - Scotty
Hmmm.. Taking another look (I enlarged the picture a bit), it DOES look like it has the correct structures. At least I see the 'forward shuttlebay', and the greeblies behind the bridge.
I had the same suspicions that it might be some of Mojo's work.
posted
It's possible that this might be a "cleaned-up" version of the actual model, although in contrast to Harry's observation, I can't see a forward shuttlebay.
Still, I'm going to be prepared for an absolute bullshit-filled article about the model. Really, these days I wonder if the Magazine writers have ever heard of the internet before. I seem to find more reliable info there than in their magazine.
-------------------- "A film made in 2008 isn't going to look like a TV series from 1966 if it wants to make any money. As long as the characters act the same way, and the spirit of the story remains the same then it's "real" Star Trek. Everything else is window dressing." -StCoop
Registered: Jun 2000
| IP: Logged
posted
I definatly see the forward shuttlebay. It doesn't appear to be as raised up as it is on the physical model. And that is definatly a "beauty" shot
-------------------- "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."
-Steve McQueen as Michael Delaney, LeMans
Registered: Mar 1999
| IP: Logged
posted
Nope, not forward shuttlebay. That's the registry number!
And dang, after seeing the horror that was the original filming model a few months ago, that pic looks BEAUTIFUL! I'm now totally convinced that the Centaur type was not a kitbash by Starfleet, but rather a "Miranda-ized" Excelsior that was designed concurrent with the production of the standard Excelsior ships. (Not necessarily dating back to 2285... could've been designed in 2315 or so as a candidate to succeed the Miranda, or something.)
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
Registered: Nov 2000
| IP: Logged
posted
I think I see it, but I'm not sure. If it is then it's a little smaller and flatter than I remember it. Perhaps we should do a comparison with the original model?
posted
I think it's a real class too. I don't see why it shouldn't be.
-------------------- "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."
-Steve McQueen as Michael Delaney, LeMans
Registered: Mar 1999
| IP: Logged
I think it should be an actual class of ship as well. Heck, it could probably fill one of tose never-seen-but-mentioned ship classes. It would be a nice candidate for the Apollo IMHO (though I know there are plenty of good speculative designs for that class out there).
Either way, it's a nice ship.
-------------------- "Time is short. And so is my temper."
Registered: Apr 2002
| IP: Logged
It is a good candidate for an unseen class, although I've always thought Renaissance-class suited it better, what with a 4xxxx range reg being consistant with a bunch of known Excelsiors.
posted
Damn, I think I can see the bay now, too. Maybe. But I'm hoping that I'm just seeing things, because I really don't like having that ugly bump to mar the sleek, smooth saucer.
I'm certain that it's a "real" class, too. Unlike the butt-ugly kits-bashes (love that term, Mark!) like the Yeager and the Elkins, the Centaur is fairly consistent, and uses major components from only one type of ship -- Excelsior. (Yeah, there's the Miranda roll bar, but that's a fairly simple piece, and could conceivably be a custom part, even if it's shaped very much like the roll bar. The important parts are the saucer and nacelles.)
Hmm... that image isn't of the highest quality, but it looks like the bridge module might be the normal Excelsior-sized dome. That would also make me happy, as a ship as tiny as Bernd suggested (based on the Miranda kit bridge pod on the physical model) would not seem to fit with such a smoothly angled saucer. There'd be a lot of wasted space, IMO.
Besides, it doesn't make sense to duplicate the ENTIRE saucer perfectly, and then scale it down for a light cruiser. I know there've been a few cases, like the Klingon Bird-of-Prey, but... oh, damn. I forgot about the Wolf 359 kitbashes, where they combined the 1/1400 bridge modules with the 1/2500 saucers. Nuts.
Here's a theory -- maybe the crew of the Centaur retrofitted their ship with all those greeblies for whatever purpose. Those golden things on the nacelle pylons could be extra shield/power generators, and the large bridge dome could be an armor shell to protect the command center (the actual bridge being the normal-sized Excelsior dome).
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
Registered: Nov 2000
| IP: Logged
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Printer-friendly view of this topic
