If you could re-imagine the TOS Romulan Bird of Prey...

[Johnnymuffintop]

With all this updating we seem to be doing to the TOS designs, not only because of the new movie but ever since Enterprise came out, I was wondering who out there had their own ideas for a Romulan Bird of Prey redesign.

Would yours be more like that of Enterprise? Or perhaps a simplified version of the TNG Warbirds?

3D models, drawings, etc, please post.

I've got a sketch that I did last night, shame I don't have a scanner... Now if I could only find some darn working AA batteries to take a picture of it.

 

[Venardhi]

I'd increase the detail on her a bit, and in doing so make her a bit more like the other romulan ships in style. The one big change I'd probably make is a better looking bird on her underside.

 

[Captain Robert April]

Design-wise, I don't think I'd do much, if anything.

Capability-wise, though, I'd insist on low warp capability, or some sort of FTL ability, stated on screen, to avoid the question of how a race with only sublight capability could wage an interstellar war.

 

[Wingsley]

I'm generally satisfied with the design and would not be inclined to change it, but if I were to change it, I'd take the saucer influence out of the front section. I'd make it more like a huge flying wing (like the B-2 bomber?), maybe with a tubular central fuselage to provide more interior volume. I might also insist of different nacelles, possibly incorporated directly into the wings.

I would want it to look more alien and more substantially removed from Earth/Federation technology, but I would not go as far as the TNG-era Warbird.

As I recall, the Romulan BoP was a fairly small vessel, possibly the same size or smaller than FJ's Saladin/Hermes. Am I right on that?

 

[judexavier]

With all this updating we seem to be doing to the TOS designs, not only because of the new movie but ever since Enterprise came out, I was wondering who out there had their own ideas for a Romulan Bird of Prey redesign.

Would yours be more like that of Enterprise? Or perhaps a simplified version of the TNG Warbirds?

3D models, drawings, etc, please post.

I've got a sketch that I did last night, shame I don't have a scanner... Now if I could only find some darn working AA batteries to take a picture of it.

Steal batteries out of the remote!

 

[MarianLH]

As I recall, the Romulan BoP was a fairly small vessel, possibly the same size or smaller than FJ's Saladin/Hermes. Am I right on that?

Nothing is explicitly established onscreen, but the interior set looked mighty cramped. Star Trek novels and the 1979 deck plans have generally assumed a small ship.

I've read somewhere that the saucer-shape and other similarities to the Enterprise were deliberate, as part of an espionage subplot that was later dropped.


Marian

 

[HRHTheKING]

Replace the white/bird livery with Romulan green

 

[Blip]

I'd consider drawing more influences from the Vulcan school of design so as to suggest a comon heritage, including one of those (annular?) warp drive rings rather than nacelles that look incredibly similar to those of the 1701.

I may even go so far as to base it on one of the Vulcan "space needle" ships from Ent, but with an ovoid warp ring that flares out to connect outboard weapons/impulse/sensor pods (take your pick) as a precursor to the TNG-era ships. I'd also include a Klingon BOP or D'deridex-esque "beak" hull protruding from the bow. Of course, hull colours would be in D'deridex green; featuring a black or dark green warbird design (see Atolm's take on things for inspiration there).

 

[ancient]

Man, I have some pretty good sketches of a TOS era bop. But no scanner at the moment.

Basically: make the pylons larger and more wing-like.

 

[USS Jack Riley]

Design-wise, I don't think I'd do much, if anything.

Capability-wise, though, I'd insist on low warp capability, or some sort of FTL ability, stated on screen, to avoid the question of how a race with only sublight capability could wage an interstellar war.

I always thought it would be intersting if it were a sub-light ship with limited range, but that docked to a mother ship for transport in the same way that the Captain's Yacht descends from the Enterprise. This way, ALL of the energy produced by the matter/antimatter reactor (or whatever type of energy source the Romulans use) goes to the 2 big new advancements - the plasma weapon and the cloaking device, which can't be used at the same time due to the energy drain (thus negating the need for warp drive on a small vessel). Heck even a warp sled might do the trick and would link Vulcan and Romulan designs (they had to come from the same design at some point given their united heritage didn't they?).

IOW, this is a proof of concept ship designed to prove the cloaking device works against Federation technology (which it does, although the Romulans don't know the extent as a result of the final result of the battle) and the destructive power of the plasma weapon (proved by the destruction of the various asteroid bases). I can see the Romulans sending out a suicide mission like that to let the Federation know it is still around and not to try anything, while still giving the Federation a feeling like they can overcome the technology, and therefore don't need to go to war immediately to defend against an imminent Romulan attack.

Just my $0.02 worth.

 

[Captain Robert April]

So, something like that hyperdrive ring that Obi-wan's fighter docks with in "Revenge of the Sith"?

 

[USS Jack Riley]

So, something like that hyperdrive ring that Obi-wan's fighter docks with in "Revenge of the Sith"?

That could work. It would certainly meet the similar design philosophy of the Romulans and the Vulcans. I like it better than my idea, which was the Vulcan warp sled from TMP.

The other option I mentioned could be part of a larger fleet of BOPs. The one in Balance of Terror would be just for the BOP, but I could easily see one large mother ship with 3 - 5 BOPs attached as a squadron ready to wreak havoc on the Federation or the Romulan's Klingon "allies."

 

[EmperorKalan]

So, something like that hyperdrive ring that Obi-wan's fighter docks with in "Revenge of the Sith"?

That could work. It would certainly meet the similar design philosophy of the Romulans and the Vulcans. I like it better than my idea, which was the Vulcan warp sled from TMP.

The other option I mentioned could be part of a larger fleet of BOPs. The one in Balance of Terror would be just for the BOP, but I could easily see one large mother ship with 3 - 5 BOPs attached as a squadron ready to wreak havoc on the Federation or the Romulan's Klingon "allies."

Just as a point of reference, the novel Final Frontier (the one with Robert April, not the movie novelization) had just such "swarmbirds" operating off a warp-capable tender.

 

[Praetor]

Man, I have some pretty good sketches of a TOS era bop. But no scanner at the moment.

Basically: make the pylons larger and more wing-like.

So kinda like the 2150s BOP from 'Enterprise'?

 

[ancient]

Maybe, but without those blade nacelles. And the saucer is smaller in relation to the rest of the body, rather than the saucer actually being the body.

And the wings are like four times longer than the diameter of the saucer apiece.

 

[CuttingEdge100]

I'd probably give the BoP a speed of Warp 4.5 to 5 for cruise with 5-6 for dash. It would be a huge advance but the Enterprise would be able to out-run her as Captain Kirk said it could.

CuttingEdge100

 

[USS Jack Riley]

The other option I mentioned could be part of a larger fleet of BOPs. The one in Balance of Terror would be just for the BOP, but I could easily see one large mother ship with 3 - 5 BOPs attached as a squadron ready to wreak havoc on the Federation or the Romulan's Klingon "allies."

Just as a point of reference, the novel Final Frontier (the one with Robert April, not the movie novelization) had just such "swarmbirds" operating off a warp-capable tender.

Naturally. I have a great brainstorm and someone beats me to it.

I never read the book, but now I have a reason to.

 

[Captain Robert April]

Personally, I've never really cared for Diane Carey's depiction of April. A cardigan-wearing professor isn't exactly the type I go for when it comes to commanding the biggest class of starship in the fleet. More like a cross between Pike and Kirk, with a bit of grizzled old veteran mixed in for flavor.

I also liked the idea put forth in one of the DC Star Trek annuals that Pike was April's first officer.

 

[captcalhoun]

green, more alien looking nacelles, more beaky prow. kinda like the ENT ones, but with a beaky prow.

 

[Cary L. Brown]

With all this updating we seem to be doing to the TOS designs, not only because of the new movie but ever since Enterprise came out, I was wondering who out there had their own ideas for a Romulan Bird of Prey redesign.

Would yours be more like that of Enterprise? Or perhaps a simplified version of the TNG Warbirds?

3D models, drawings, etc, please post.

I've got a sketch that I did last night, shame I don't have a scanner... Now if I could only find some darn working AA batteries to take a picture of it.

I hated what they did to the design in "Enterprise." They kept the "basic shape" from TOS (which wasn't easily recognizable to Kirk and Co. at the time) but used the colors and other conceits from TNG (green paint and green lights and curvy-swirly shapes)

The TOS BOP was actually a great design... it looks like a naval vessel. If you've ever looked at Mike McMaster's blueprints, in particular, I think you'd be amazed at just how "real" it seems to be while being 100% in compliance with Wah Chang's original design.

The only minor change I might make to how McMaster rendered the ship (if I were starting off fresh) would be to make the landing gear more practical (and probably a bit more prominent when viewed in the "in-flight" situation).

EDIT: Oh, and it's obvious that the ship has FTL propulsion (you can't fight an interstellar war without it) so I'd implement, once and for all, my solution of "Subspace-assisted impulse as an FTL propulsion system."