DS9 Questions!

[Admiral Jean-Luc Picard]

I have questions about the show as it's been a while since I watched. I figure, why not start a generic question thread? Anyway, here goes.
#1 DS9 was always a physical model and only appeared as a CGI model in the final shot of the final episode. Is that right?
#2 Were there multiple scale models of the station or just the big one?
#3 TNG and VOY had a lot of episodes where the ship was destroyed numerous times over. Time travel, parallel universe, holodeck, it was all a dream, Q fantasy, something. I seem to remember DS9 only did this trope exactly once. Naturally, it's an O'Brien-must-suffer episode. I think this was S2? Was this the only time DS9 did this fun trope?
#4 The station housed 3 runabouts but had six landing bays, is that right? I remember counting six landing pads on the inner ring a while back.
#5 Outside DS9, the station pops up twice on TNG, in the VOY premiere, and once or twice on Lower Decks. Are there other appearances?
#6 How would you describe the setting of the show? DS9 or DS9 and the Defiant? No right or wrong answer, just curious.
#7 Big battles of DS9: was it just the S4 premiere and the S5 finale? I can't think of any other episode son par with these two.
#8 When DS9's pylon was blown to bits in that one episode, was that the only time we ever saw actual exterior damage beyond pyrotechnics in space? How did they do this given it was a model and not CGI?
#9 Runabouts: tiny starships, not super shuttles, is that right? Was there ever a behind-the-scenes reason for why we never saw past the cockpit except for that one TNG episode?

That's all for now. Feel free to bring your own random questions!

 

[somebuddyX]

#4 DS9 started with three runabouts but has had 4 at least once. In "By Inferno's Light":
O'BRIEN [OC]: Runabout Yukon, prepare for departure. Runabouts Rio Grande and Volga stand by.
And then there's the runabout that Worf and Garak took to the Gamma Quadrant.
But yes, I think there were six landing pads.
I like to think that any runabouts on DS9 in "Call to Arms" got sent to Bajor with the civilians and then got brought back after "Sacrifice of Angels"

 

[Tosk]

1. Yes.
2. Mostly yes, but I believe the shot in Visionary was smaller scale. And some station close-ups are oversized. And there's even a matte painting close-up in season one.
4. There are six visible landing pads but there's also a seventh one in dialogue.
6. DS9.
9. They just never felt the need to outlay the cost to show more?

 

[Admiral Jean-Luc Picard]

2. Mostly yes, but I believe the shot in Visionary was smaller scale. And some station close-ups are oversized. And there's even a matte painting close-up in season one.

Really? That's kind'a cool that they had large pieces of DS9 for close up shots.

9. They just never felt the need to outlay the cost to show more?

Well, they already had the rear section (with the aft windows) from TNG's "Timescape" just before the S6 finale. DS9 could have used this set for 6 of 7 seasons as the back compartment of the Runabout, but they never did. Ah well, at least we got to see it on screen once so we know what those windows in the back represent - a small crew lounge!

EDIT:

 

[Tosk]

Ah well, at least we got to see it on screen once so we know what those windows in the back represent - a small crew lounge!

For that specific Runabout at least. We don't know how the various ones on DS9 were configured.

 

[Admiral Jean-Luc Picard]

For that specific Runabout at least. We don't know how the various ones on DS9 were configured.

I mean, they all had the same cockpit with minor changes like an extra console or transporter pad placement. Presumably, they all had relatively the same layout more or less.

 

[Tosk]

I mean, they all had the same cockpit with minor changes like an extra console or transporter pad placement. Presumably, they all had relatively the same layout more or less.

The design intent was for Runabouts to be modular, so sections could be easily switched out for mission requirements. I could easily imagine the three assigned to DS9 in the first three seasons being kitted out for maximum occupancy for station evacuations.

 

[Admiral Jean-Luc Picard]

The design intent was for Runabouts to be modular, so sections could be easily switched out for mission requirements. I could easily imagine the three assigned to DS9 in the first three seasons being kitted out for maximum occupancy for station evacuations.

Been a while since I watched the show, but was this from the show itself, or one of those tech. manual books? Wasn't the cockpit supposed to be able to function as an escape pod should the ship's hull or warp core be compromised?

 

[Tosk]

Been a while since I watched the show, but was this from the show itself, or one of those tech. manual books?

Behind the scenes.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

#9 Does there need to be an explanation? I would argue the reasons are obvious. It was not a standing set, the pieces figuring into other sets. The show already took up more permanent space than the other series. The interior wasn't interesting, and there was something to be gaines by being vague about what it was like. The cockpit area was small and cramped, perfect for enhancing the tension between characters, but still optimized for filming. If they wanted to show people living their lives, they already had the perfect set: the Promenade.

 

[Admiral Jean-Luc Picard]

#9 Does there need to be an explanation? I would argue the reasons are obvious. It was not a standing set, the pieces figuring into other sets. The show already took up more permanent space than the other series. The interior wasn't interesting, and there was something to be gaines by being vague about what it was like. The cockpit area was small and cramped, perfect for enhancing the tension between characters, but still optimized for filming. If they wanted to show people living their lives, they already had the perfect set: the Promenade.

They build a set for a TNG episode. Why not use it on DS9?

 

[Bad Thoughts]

They build a set for a TNG episode. Why not use it on DS9?

Read again: it was not a standing set! It was pieces that had to be put together.

 

[Admiral Jean-Luc Picard]

Read again: it was not a standing set! It was pieces that had to be put together.

They couldn't use it as a knock-down and rebuild set as needed?

 

[Bad Thoughts]

They couldn't use it as a knock-down and rebuild set as needed?

Sets take space. There were already standing sets for the Promenade, Ops, the conference room, crew quarters, Planet Hell, the often reused Enterprise-A set, the Nebula cockpit, and eventually, the Defiant bridge and engineering room. And there were the Voyager sets as well, many of which were redresses of Enterprise-D sets (the Voyager bridge was built on the foundations of the Galaxy bridge). Pieces may be used for other scenes. Every time you reassemble a set, it must be re-wired and re-lit. That requires planning and additional time. It might also require additional blocking. The show already shot more than 16 hours every day. Any smart producer--and yes, ISB was a smart producer-knew to reuse standing sets as much as possible, changing the decoration if possible to suggest a new locale. There was nothing special about the back end of the Nebula, and no one found any justification for revisiting it.

 

[somebuddyX]

I understand completely about the runabout rear set, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed we never saw it on DS9. Every time someone walked off into the rear I was like man, come on.

 

[Admiral Jean-Luc Picard]

Sets take space. There were already standing sets for the Promenade, Ops, the conference room, crew quarters, Planet Hell, the often reused Enterprise-A set, the Nebula cockpit, and eventually, the Defiant bridge and engineering room. And there were the Voyager sets as well, many of which were redresses of Enterprise-D sets (the Voyager bridge was built on the foundations of the Galaxy bridge). Pieces may be used for other scenes. Every time you reassemble a set, it must be re-wired and re-lit. That requires planning and additional time. It might also require additional blocking. The show already shot more than 16 hours every day. Any smart producer--and yes, ISB was a smart producer-knew to reuse standing sets as much as possible, changing the decoration if possible to suggest a new locale. There was nothing special about the back end of the Nebula, and no one found any justification for revisiting it.

Nebula - did you mean Runabout? I get your point. Keep in mind, I'm specifically talking about 1993. TNG's "Timescape" is right before the S6 finale which corresponds with DS9 ending it's 1st season. The Defiant wasn't a thing yet nor was Voyager. They couldn't have used the set for a DS9 S2 episdoe?

 

[Tosk]

They either had no desire to show it or if they did it was outweighed by the effort involved.

We do see the rear section one time in DS9, in The Visitor. But it's a very small slice of it in a close-up of Jake.

 

[kkt]

The writers probably didn't want to pin themselves down about what was back there until they had to. What if they show bunks for six, and then a few episodes later they need to carry a dozen people on a week-long trip somewhere?

 

[Admiral Jean-Luc Picard]

The writers probably didn't want to pin themselves down about what was back there until they had to. What if they show bunks for six, and then a few episodes later they need to carry a dozen people on a week-long trip somewhere?

But they already did show us in TNG's "Timescape" at the end of S6 / end of DS9 S1.

 

[Sketcher]

Maybe there's a Discovery-sized turbolift funhouse back there.