Jim Phelps
watches Voyager AFTER 51030
Member # 102
posted
Larry Nemecek's TNG companion mentions that only a quarter of the craft was built as an actual set, due to the cost of realizing the compound curves of the model (which is exactly why Matt Jefferies had to scrap his curvy Galileo designs twenty years before, the crew probably thought they could manage with 25% this time). I don't recall what was shown onscreen, though, could this be related in any way?
Also, I was under the impression that there was a front door as well, because of that Velara III matte in AOST which was never used.
Boris
------------------ "Wrong again. Although we want to be scientifically accurate, we've found that selection of [Photon Energy Plasma Scientifically Inaccurate as a major Star Trek format error] usually indicates a preoccupation with science and gadgetry over people and story."
---a Writers' Test from the Original Series Writer's Guide
posted
The original design sketches for the Type 7 do point to a door that comes out of the front of the shuttle, between the sides of the cockpit window. It split, with the top part raising up and the bottom part going down to form a ramp. The cockpit controls were then meant to be on either side of the ramp. Also, this shuttle was supposed to originally be like the Galileo, and feature rows of chairs from front to back.
------------------ "Can you pull in the leviathan with a fishhook or tie down his tongue with a rope? Can you put a cord through his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook? Will he keep begging you for mercy? Will he speak to you with gentle words? Will he make an agreement with you for you to take him as your slave for life? Can you make a pet of him like a bird or put him on a leash for your girls? Will traders barter for him? Will they divide him up among the merchants? Can you fill his hide with harpoons or his head with fishing spears. If you lay a hand on him, you will remember the struggle and never do it again!" -Job 41:1 - Job 41:8
posted
The model actually used does not seem to have a provision for the bow door any more. At least the lower part of the bow shows no seams, and the interior has wall-mounted consoles in the location. In contrast, both sides of the model have the same cargo door -like structure.
It's quite likely that the Type 7 shuttle would have been built in several models, some with cargo doors and some with extended windows. Those with windows might then have been forced to have bow doors (the Velara III shuttle had the extended windows, not the cargo doors).
As for the interiors, there was no sign of the cargo door in the inside. What we usually saw was the padded "luxury" interior of the Sakharov, shuttle-01, or just the partitioned-apart cockpit for shuttle-13. The padding on the Sakharov doesn't preclude the existence of doors - these would just be rendered inoperative for the duration of the craft's mission as a VIP transport.
And the interiors seem to portray only two thirds of the whole shuttle interior - the forward cabin and the main cabin seem roughly similar in length, even though we know the windows of the forward cabin only accont for one third of the total length of the craft or less. There probably was a third compartment further aft, perhaps with a small airlock, leading to the aft door (or doorlike watchamacallit - who the hell designed a door with an *impulse engine* on it?).
ObRavenComment, to keep on topic:
The Raven apparently also carried a shuttle - the cutaway shows a type 6 at the stern. But does the exterior have a hatch there? Are there any pics of the Raven from directly aft or even aft quarter?
posted
Timo: The aft view of the Raven (Frank probably has a screencap online) shows something like a ribbed shuttlebay door which occupies the whole width of the hull.
Correct. A real studio model of the Type-7 shuttle has never been built. I have seen a screencap where the 1/1 shuttle can be seen in the shuttlebay (episode?), and it's nothing but an ugly cardboard box with a remote resemblence to the detailed and curved small model. The inaccuracy is blatant, but it's still better than the Voyager shuttles that change their class during the flight
------------------ "When diplomacy fails, there's only one alternative - violence. Force must be applied without apology. It's the Starfleet way." A somewhat different Janeway in VOY: "Living Witness" Ex Astris Scientia
posted
Well, not exactly what I had in mind, but you got the point.
------------------ "When diplomacy fails, there's only one alternative - violence. Force must be applied without apology. It's the Starfleet way." A somewhat different Janeway in VOY: "Living Witness" Ex Astris Scientia
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