Enterprise Era Starship Thread

[Dukhat]

I always liked that idea. Shame it kinda got nixed by Enterprise showing an earlier BOP. In my head canon, the Romulans still managed to copy Starfleet Warp Engine technology.

Actually, the original idea was that the Romulan ship would be a reuse of the Enterprise's saucer (hence being limited to 'simple impulse.') That was the idea behind mentioning that the Romulans 'stole our designs.' So the ship would have had no nacelles at all. But then Wah Chang built his model (and was never paid for it, IIRC), and the mention of stolen designs was dropped.

 

[HotRod]

Always kinda liked this non-canon design from the Enterprise era.

I've always loved smaller, Destroyer-like ships, abd this certainly fits that bill.

 

[Markonian]

Always kinda liked this non-canon design from the Enterprise era.

I've always loved smaller, Destroyer-like ships, abd this certainly fits that bill.

In that case, you might like the Minuteman class from Star Trek: Legacy.
It also has that "ENT-era compact Daedalus" look to it.

 

[HotRod]

In that case, you might like the Minuteman class from Star Trek: Legacy.
It also has that "ENT-era compact Daedalus" look to it.

Yeah, I like it as well. I'm definitely a sucker for small ships.

 

[HotRod]

Another sketch of a possible NX-01...

Thinking back to this old sketch... I brought it up in the old Warp Seven Beauties thread, but it feels worth mentioning here that I do think this design could work as the next evolutionary step after the NX refit.

It'd be a post Romulan War / Early Federation Top of the Line Explorer. Built when designers were freed from the necessity of utilitarian designs needed for the war, and combining the best of the founding members technology. A definitive Warp Seven Beauty.

It also slots in rather nicely between the the NX Class and the SNW depiction of the Constitution Class. Helps that both are John Eaves designs.

 

[Markonian]

That's a beautiful ship and great pictures of it! Somebody should get that into a SOTL calendar.

 

[publiusr]

Similar

John Eaves concept for the NX-01 with a twist

I found the picture of this ship years ago. Just getting around to giving it a go. I have several nacelles for this model. Right now doing the TNG style.

forums.scifi-meshes.com

 

[Riley]

If only Berman and Co. had "stolen" a different design than the Akira, one that actually looked like a predecessor to that design but with a TOS aesthetic that could have been tweaked to fit a century earlier. If only such a ship existed...hmm.

 

[Takeru]

If only Berman and Co. had "stolen" a different design than the Akira, one that actually looked like a predecessor to that design but with a TOS aesthetic that could have been tweaked to fit a century earlier. If only such a ship existed...hmm.

I don't get this complaint about them using the Akira class as the basis for the design. There was nothing wrong with that and the NX class actually looks like it came before the Connie. The TOS aesthetic was never going to be used because Enterprise wasn't made in the 60s, TMP didn't even use the TOS aesthetic in the 70s.

 

[Saul]

If only Berman and Co. had "stolen" a different design than the Akira, one that actually looked like a predecessor to that design but with a TOS aesthetic that could have been tweaked to fit a century earlier. If only such a ship existed...hmm.

I love this design so much.

I don't get this complaint about them using the Akira class as the basis for the design. There was nothing wrong with that and the NX class actually looks like it came before the Connie. The TOS aesthetic was never going to be used because Enterprise wasn't made in the 60s, TMP didn't even use the TOS aesthetic in the 70s.

And most importantly, Enterprise was set 100 years before TOS, so why would it look like TOS? As I mentioned, I had my issues with the design early on but over the years grew to like it. The original plan was actually to use the Akira design 100% with no changes. We were lucky.

 

[Riley]

I don't get this complaint about them using the Akira class as the basis for the design. There was nothing wrong with that and the NX class actually looks like it came before the Connie. The TOS aesthetic was never going to be used because Enterprise wasn't made in the 60s, TMP didn't even use the TOS aesthetic in the 70s.

The problem is that they didn't change the design enough so that it fit the era it's supposed to exist in. The Loknar (and several others) were much closer and could have been modified to look like a ship from a century before TOS. At no time did I suggest it should look exactly like a TOS era ship.

 

[HotRod]

If only Berman and Co. had "stolen" a different design than the Akira, one that actually looked like a predecessor to that design but with a TOS aesthetic that could have been tweaked to fit a century earlier. If only such a ship existed...hmm.

Meh. I find that design rather uninspired and dull. This opposed to the the NX-01, which I think is one of the best designed and best looking ship in the franchise l.

The TOS aesthetic was never going to be used because Enterprise wasn't made in the 60s

This.

The original plan was actually to use the Akira design 100% with no changes.

I know that's been repeated multiple times, but I refuse to believe it's not a little exaggerated. I'm no cheerleader for Berman and Braga, but I don't think they're that stupid.

The problem is that they didn't change the design enough so that it fit the era it's supposed to exist in.

Says who? Up to that point we'd never seen that era before. Who's to say what thar era was supposed to look like?

 

[Dukhat]

I know that's been repeated multiple times, but I refuse to believe it's not a little exaggerated. I'm no cheerleader for Berman and Braga, but I don't think they're that stupid.

That information came directly from Doug Drexler, who posted it on his now-defunct blog DrexFiles. It’s not exaggerated; it’s the truth. The only thing I don’t know for sure is if it was actually Berman who wanted this. It might have been a UPN executive for all we know.

 

[Takeru]

The problem is that they didn't change the design enough so that it fit the era it's supposed to exist in. The Loknar (and several others) were much closer and could have been modified to look like a ship from a century before TOS. At no time did I suggest it should look exactly like a TOS era ship.

Then why did you post ship that has the same configuration as the NX class just with TOS era styling? Enterprise was made in the 2000s, it was always going to have way more texture, surface detail etc.

And who says what's the right look for a fictional era in Star Trek that was never seen before anyway? If you don't like how the Enterprise looks that's fine, totally valid opinion but just say that, don't act like it's an objective statement about the look of the era.

That information came directly from Doug Drexler, who posted it on his now-defunct blog DrexFiles. It’s not exaggerated; it’s the truth. The only thing I don’t know for sure is if it was actually Berman who wanted this. It might have been a UPN executive for all we know.

Doug Drexler saying it is not proof that it actually happened, it's possible that he misremembered. And even if "Just use this!" was uttered while pointing at the Akira class why can't that be shorthand for "Base the design on this!".

Remember when Harve Bennett approved the Reliant design which had the nacelles on top upside down? Nobody calls him an idiot who wants an upside down ship because of that, they simply redesigned the Reliant with the nacelles underneath the saucer and the weapon's pod on top.
So why the uncharitable read about someone wanting the Akira design for Enterprise? Why can't that also be seen as a guideline for the designers instead of "Literally use this, do not make any changes!"

And of course that massive changes were in fact made to the Akira design and it going through is proof that "use this" was not a decision made by someone in charge.

 

[Dukhat]

Then why did you post ship that has the same configuration as the NX class just with TOS era styling? Enterprise was made in the 2000s, it was always going to have way more texture, surface detail etc.

And who says what's the right look for a fictional era in Star Trek that was never seen before anyway? If you don't like how the Enterprise looks that's fine, totally valid opinion but just say that, don't act like it's an objective statement about the look of the era.



Doug Drexler saying it is not proof that it actually happened, it's possible that he misremembered. And even if "Just use this!" was uttered while pointing at the Akira class why can't that be shorthand for "Base the design on this!".

Remember when Harve Bennett approved the Reliant design which had the nacelles on top upside down? Nobody calls him an idiot who wants an upside down ship because of that, they simply redesigned the Reliant with the nacelles underneath the saucer and the weapon's pod on top.
So why the uncharitable read about someone wanting the Akira design for Enterprise? Why can't that also be seen as a guideline for the designers instead of "Literally use this, do not make any changes!"

And of course that massive changes were in fact made to the Akira design and it going through is proof that "use this" was not a decision made by someone in charge.

Doug Drexler designed the NX-01. He specifically stated that ‘they’ (either Berman, UPN, or some other producer) wanted the Akira class from FC, completely unaltered, as the NX-01. He had to convince them to let him tweak the design to make it look more primitive, the finished product of which was what we got in the show, and why the NX-01 looks so much like the Akira. Drexler wasn’t misremembering anything.

 

[Saul]

And the same thing happened with the D4 design. "They" went with the K't'inga-class thinking nobody would care.

Doug Drexler saying it is not proof that it actually happened, it's possible that he misremembered. And even if "Just use this!" was uttered while pointing at the Akira class why can't that be shorthand for "Base the design on this!".

Why believe what anyone says?

↑
That's shorthand for "i like donuts"

 

[Dukhat]

And the same thing happened with the D4 design. "They" went with the K't'inga-class thinking nobody would care.

Actually, the opposite happened. John Eaves designed a more primitive Klingon ship, but Berman didn’t like it because it didn’t have enough lights or some nonsense, so they reused a K’tinga model originally made for DS9…an incredibly dumb decision.

 

[Saul]

Actually, the opposite happened. John Eaves designed a more primitive Klingon ship, but Berman didn’t like it because it didn’t have enough lights or some nonsense, so they reused a K’tinga model originally made for DS9…an incredibly dumb decision.

John designed it, they didn't want it. They built the model for free over a weekend to avoid them using the K’tinga. They said "not enough windows".

 

[Snowdrop82]

I much prefer the less uniform and more utilitarian Starships. This is probably ironic from a Star Trek fan but the Federation has too much of the same shapes.

 

[knightgrace]

Variations of the same designs for different groups. One design for exploration, another for cargo, still another for police actions. Each with its own purposes.