posted
I guess I never noticed another Centaur type other than the one that attacked the bug. Which ep?
And I guess loath is a strong word. I mean fun is fun. Some of the stuff I've seen is good and creative, but as an illustrator and designer, I prefer to see completely original ship designs that perhaps resemble ships of a specific era. I love alot of the things you'll see at scifi-art.com and the links from there.
Didn't mean to offend anybody. And, no, I actually like the Cenatur and the Shelley. The Yeager is borderline since it's so obviously a Peregrine butt stuck on the end. I thought the Centaur was a clever use of the Excelsior saucer and was a different enough type of ship to be cool.
For all those battle scenes at the end of the series though, wouldn't it have been cool to see some brand new ships instead of reused footage. REUSED FOOTAGE IN THE SERIES FINALE??? I guess that's another thread though.
posted
Yep, the USS Centaur was the best of those "kitbash" ships. I'd be surprised if that Centaur-type ship in the other ep was given a different name or rego. We might as well assume it was the USS Centaur again.
------------------ "Forgive me if I don't share your euphoria!" (Weyoun to Dukat, Tears of the Prophets) Dax's Ships of STAR TREK
posted
Didn't we see a three-ship formation of Centaur-ish ships in at least two filler shots during the "War Argh"? I remember seeing these flying to the lower left of SB 375, far in the background, and wondering whether they could be Mirandas, but the nacelles seemed far too long and widely separated... There was also another type of filler which featured a formation of Mirandas, but those were closer to the station.
Also, perhaps the Centaur was built concurrently with the early Excelsiors, and all her sisters are more than seventy years old by now? Perhaps the bulges and greeblings under her hull are an indication of life-extending refits, which are becoming less and less viable? The design might not be as long-lived as the Excelsior if the smaller internal volume translates to less space for system upgrades. Thus, the scarsity of appearances.
posted
I like the idea that the Centaur is a real class. Actually, all DS9TM kitbashes (if we have to accept their existence) must be classes, since it is not logical to put together parts of different ships, no matter what the motivation is.
However, I wonder why the Centaur could be identified so easily in "A Time to Stand". Because it is the only ship of this kind? Other possibilities: Maybe the hull number was readable, or there were hints in the Jem'Hadar database. I don't think that anything from Starfleet was on board, otherwise they could have communicated with the Centaur on a secret channel without the Jemmies noticing it.
------------------ "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
A few weeks ago, I looked through all the episodes from "A Time to Stand" to SoA, and the lone ship in "Behind the Lines" was the only Centaur-type one.
------------------ Frank's Home Page "Okay, what's an MSD?" - Rick Sternbach
posted
Timo and Bernd: It is possible the USS Centaur is the last/only ship of that class in existance. That would explain why it was so easy to identify, and also why we haven't seen the design as any other ship (conclusively, anyway).
------------------ "Forgive me if I don't share your euphoria!" (Weyoun to Dukat, Tears of the Prophets) Dax's Ships of STAR TREK
posted
Dax: This is exactly what I tried to suggest (although I like the idea of a class much more), I only forgot to mention it. It seems I have to get accustomed to come directly to the point before I miss it.
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
What about the Amargosa Observatory and the wormhole relay station? Both are the same, only the wormhole relay station is a scaled down version of Amargosa.
This statement is regarding the possiblity of scaling parts to fit something else.
------------------ 7 of 9 alarm clock: "Wake up. Resistance is futile." Dilbert: "I wonder if I could ever date a woman like Jeri Ryan." 7 of 9 alarm clock: "That too is futile." Federation Starship Datalink - Now with a pop-up on every page...damn you Tripod!
[This message has been edited by Hobbes (edited November 04, 1999).]
posted
I like the idea of scaling design elements fine. It makes sense that they would use technology that has been proven and scale it to fit other ship classes. The point is though, that they were designed that way, not mixed and matched from other ships.
Hobbes: In the case of the Amargosa/wormhole relay, the similarity must be a coincidence. The usual fan explanation for scaled components (which usually doesn't apply) is that the larger and the smaller version have similar performance, the larger version has only more power. This excuse is not possible for the Amargosa/wormhole relay. The first is a scientific station, built to accomodate humans with their labs and equipment. The second is a satellite, small enough to be carried aboard a starship. There is virtually nothing that these two things have in common, except that they both use some kind of subspace antennas, and these could look similar, but not the same.
------------------ "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
Speaking of scaling- I've just seen "Tacking into the Wind" (excellent episode). Anyway, is it just me or was the Hideki-class "shuttle" a fraction of the size of the Hideki-class "fighters" in "Call to Arms"? Makes me think of the Kazon raider/shuttle paradox.
------------------ "Forgive me if I don't share your euphoria!" (Weyoun to Dukat, Tears of the Prophets) Dax's Ships of STAR TREK
[This message has been edited by Dax (edited November 13, 1999).]
posted
I haven't seen the episode, but I will carefully watch it. Unfortunately, to the producers the ships and shuttles are nothing but plot vehicles, and a sufficient number of ships of different sizes cannot be built. Ideally, each civilization should be given at least for distinct ship sizes: 1. a shuttle 2. a small vessel of around 100m 3. a larger one of 300m 4. a huge one of 1000m
------------------ "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
Personally, I hate bad kitbashing (Curry / Shelley, Centaur, Yeager). The general shape of those ships are good but the fact that parts of other ships are obviously patched together makes those ship very ugly. I prefer to think of kitbash as having the same shape but a lot better detailing. For exemple, I absolutely refuse to accept that a Maquis raider's hull as been enlarge by a factor of 10 and welded to and Intrepid saucer instead of a custom engineering hull that vaguely looks like the former.
I'm not really against scaling parts, as long as they are not completely identical. Take the Galaxy and New-Orleans warp engines : they look about the same, but the New-Orleans is longer is respect to the Galaxy's and has two extra "holes" on the top. Also, some parts are more acceptable when scaled than others in my opinion. Sovereign and Nova nacelles are very similar but are still different and both look cool. However, if I were to see a scaled down Constitution engine, I don't think I would accept it. I know it's only a matter of taste, but that's how I feel.
------------------ -If you ask me, I think continuity is highly overrated... *Brannon Braga*
-Give me Good Trek or give me Death! *Me*
-Where were you when the brains were handed out? *Sonic the Hedgehog*
[This message has been edited by TerraZ (edited November 12, 1999).]
That was just my way of agreeing with what you wrote.
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