Oberth Class – the missing link between Enterprise and Reliant

Discussion in 'Trek Tech' started by Robert Comsol, Aug 10, 2013.

  1. Reverend

    Reverend Admiral Admiral

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    I can understand why people complained about the idea of the Excelsior replacing the old Connie design. For one thing fans ALWAYS complain about change. Always. Without fail. Even if the thing being changed is something they complained about when it turned up in the first place. Secondly, it's just not a very consistent or carefully thought out design and like the Oberth, the details are somewhat wanting.

    I mean Probert spent WAY more time and thought into designing the refit (and later, the E-D) than whomever it was at ILM responsible for the Excelsior & the Grissom. Not that I'm criticizing the quality mind. They're all quality builds and the sleek, low detail aesthetic was most likely mandated, but they just felt like a little too much of a departure from the look of the Enterprise & the Reliant IMO.
     
  2. Robert Comsol

    Robert Comsol Commodore Commodore

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    :lol:

    Or the proposal of new perspectives that do not fit treknological assumptions that the majority of fans have somewhat agreed upon and/or remained undisputed over an extended period of time . :rolleyes:

    Bob
     
  3. Praetor

    Praetor Vice Admiral Admiral

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    To paraphase the Borg:

    "We are the fans. Lower your pens and surrender your scripts. Your literary and Treknological assertions will be rejected by our own. Your productions will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile."

    ;)
     
  4. B.J.

    B.J. Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Hate to go off on yet another tangent, but....

    You have a source for this, or any other info? This is the first time I've seen anything new on that particular ship in years. The last time I saw it discussed was back on the Flare board, where it was undecided whether it was a ship or part of spacedock, and had basically become Topic Verbotten (like the length of the Defiant).
     
  5. Dukhat

    Dukhat Admiral Admiral

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    You are overly-dramatizing things. ILM had always complained about filming the TMP Enterprise model. It was large and unwieldy, and very hard to get good camera angles for it. That was the main reason why the Excelsior model was designed and built: It was eventually supposed to become Kirk's new command after the 1701 was destroyed in STIII, and it was a much easier model to shoot.

    See above.

    While there was some fan resentment toward the Excelsior, I seriously doubt that had anything to do with the Enterprise-A being another Connie. By that time the idea of the Excelsior being Kirk's new ship was dropped, so they basically just resorted to using what they had for a five-second ending scene: the TMP Enterprise.

    TrekBBS member Maurice had the opportunity to discuss this with Bill George, who stated that he thought the ship was a study model for the Merchantman. No, it's not clear-cut proof, but this info did come from a reputable source.
     
  6. Maurice

    Maurice Snagglepussed Admiral

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    ILM never thought the film was a prequel.

    They were asked to come up with possible designs for the Excelsior and they sketched out concepts. Bill George built some of them and when he had free time was told to come up with one of his own, which he did. The models were presented to Nimoy and he said "that one" of Bill's concept.

    The Excelsior has fins and stuff because Bill "thought they would look cool" not because they were intended to be retro or anything like that.

    I got all this from Bill one day at his house.

    That is all.
     
  7. Robert Comsol

    Robert Comsol Commodore Commodore

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    Would be interesting to learn which of the two illustrated here.

    The "duck" on the top or what appears to be a revised study of it at the bottom.
    Possibly the "duck" looked too retro to Nimoy/Bennett/Winter, but they agreed to the basic design and asked for a revised study.

    Bob
     
  8. Dukhat

    Dukhat Admiral Admiral

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    Obviously, Nimoy chose the one that looks exactly like the finished product.
     
  9. Maurice

    Maurice Snagglepussed Admiral

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    I'm fairly certain it was the "duck". Thee other is much too close to the final to have been the original study model.

    Bill tells me that he still has an original study model for the BOP. One day I'll make him dig it out so I can get some photos.
     
  10. Praetor

    Praetor Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I stumbled across some photos, apparently of the Grissom model, that I hadn't seen before. They were on John Eaves' blog.

    Check 'em out.

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    Note the airlock on the side of the pod, and the odd red thing on the top within the pylon.

    I seem to recall that there was another model besides the original and the wrecked Vico (which it obviously isn't) so I'm not sure which it would be, or even if that other model exists.

    By registry, she seems to be the Pegasus.
     
  11. blssdwlf

    blssdwlf Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Nice find. If that is the airlock then it could be matched up to the Enterprise for scaling purposes.

    Edit: NM, here's a comparison :)

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Sep 2, 2013
  12. Robert Comsol

    Robert Comsol Commodore Commodore

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    Great find! Shouldn't that help us to finally nail down the size for the Oberth Class TNG variation?!

    Nevertheless and especially due to the bottom view, the warp coil baffle plates - or whatever you may want to call these - look still rather archaic to me.

    Bob
     
  13. austen_pierce

    austen_pierce Captain Captain

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    Are we 100% sold on a linear progression of registry numbers? Is there room in canon for parallelism? The 600 series could have been reserved for the Oberth line. With no evidence to support that class prior to TSFS, the bridge design (another set reuse) means it doesn't go back much farther than TMP.

    I just don't see Oberth as a bridge between Connie and Miranda. Oberth always looked and behaved like a science vessel, not a heavy cruiser. Reliant is a heavy cruiser, a match for Enterprise or at least a general purpose frigate.
     
  14. Robert Comsol

    Robert Comsol Commodore Commodore

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    I am sold because this is what the creator of the Enterprise envisioned and because it holds up rather well up to a point in the late 23rd Century where the system was altered.

    Having seen the Enterprise refitted in TMP with the probability that the Miranda Class underwent the same kind of refit procedure, I don't see why the Oberth Class could not have been refitted with the latest bridge module etc.

    Never mind, since you couldn't "morph" the Oberth into the Enterprise without growing a dorsal, I've adjusted and limited my speculation for the Oberth to be a design on the road to the Miranda Class.

    My essential idea was that the Oberth Class had been downgraded to a science vessel by the time of ST III, no longer competing with the starships of the mid- and late 23rd Century.

    Bob
     
  15. Dukhat

    Dukhat Admiral Admiral

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    We have no idea what that hole is supposed to be. It could be an airlock, or it could be where a mounting rod goes for filming. It should in no way be any sort of evidence about the size of the ship, which I don't believe for one second was "upscaled" for TNG like the Klingon BoP was.

    My personal belief, based on what I see (and I also do not believe in the linearity and/or chronological progression of registry numbers, nor do I believe that Matt Jefferies' registry scheme was followed by anyone other than Matt Jefferies), is that the Grissom was a new ship, contemporary to the Excelsior. There's no reason whatsoever to assume that it's any older than it has to be, especially with its later appearances 75 years later in TNG.
     
  16. Robert Comsol

    Robert Comsol Commodore Commodore

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    What "hole"? This is obviously an added on decal while the mounting rod is on the port side.

    It has the established TMP and post-TMP characteristics of an airlock and/or docking ring and there is no reason to assume otherwise or to second-guess its use as an indicator of in-universe size (the TNG Enterprise had the same sized kind of airlocks and docking rings).

    The original VFX model (Grissom) had an overall length of 120 meters according to its creators. That it was "upscaled" for TNG is the logical conclusion of cross-sections established during TNG.
    But even if we approached the size in the Thermian way, than this would be at least proof it was "downscaled".

    If that's still your personal belief that's fine. If it is not, then we may just go straight back to the beginning of this thread where I provided plenty of reasons. :)

    Bob
     
  17. blssdwlf

    blssdwlf Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    NM. The Grissom in that pick does look smaller than the upscaled version. It's the BOP of the Federation :)
     
  18. F. King Daniel

    F. King Daniel Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    If that's the location of the airlock, then the Tsiolkovsky's internal layout must be the most bizarre in Starfleet:p
     
  19. Praetor

    Praetor Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Well, it makes sense if you have to take an airlock from the main section down the secondary hull, or if crappy access from one to another makes it advantageous to have direct access there.

    I seem to recall the Cochrane (I think) that delivered Bashir and Dax to DS9 docking at a pylon, but I can't remember how that lined up. (Considering they didn't exactly get the D's docking right either, we're probably just as well to ignore it.)

    I'm a little suspicious that the docking port decal was just lifted off the decal sheetof a NCC-1701 refit model kit and later added. If we look at this screencap from the original version of "The Naked Now" it doesn't appear to be present.
     
  20. Robert Comsol

    Robert Comsol Commodore Commodore

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    Well, according to the registry of the VFX model in "The Naked Now" this is still the ST IV model with little alterations and more to come. The great pictures you provided reveal the ship to be the USS Pegasus, the final state of the VFX model. Therefore the docking port decal had been applied there at some point in time before.

    Hmm...if this is really just taken from the decal sheet of the movie Enterprise, how seriously could or should we take it?

    And I'm still very, very confused where this airlock could possibly be. Given the unobstructed view into open space the Pegasus' location proposal would be the only one feasible (maybe more thought went into it than we assume?).

    Of course, this would make this the secondary bridge for the star-drive crew - when the saucer is on a mission of its own. :p

    Bob