TASPirates of Orion

Discussion in 'Trek Tech' started by Lieut. Arex, Sep 4, 2014.

  1. Lieut. Arex

    Lieut. Arex Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Has anyone ever been able to make sense out of the Orion ship's design?
     
  2. Dukhat

    Dukhat Admiral Admiral

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    Pics would help.
     
  3. Avro Arrow

    Avro Arrow Vice Admiral Moderator

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  4. Ithekro

    Ithekro Vice Admiral Admiral

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    It was some new type the Enterprise had never encountered before. It must have been large enough to carry a lot of cargo while maintaining speed. A privateer for Orion rather than pirates. But only if they have specific targets, as Orion isn't at war with anyone based on there strict neutrality, yet repeated attacks of ships and interest in certain Federation interests.
     
  5. Timo

    Timo Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    All those angular tentacles remind me very much of certain other pirate vessels of Trek - namely, the one from "Gambit" and its reuse in "Vortex". I'd argue it's the same manufacturer/designer, and also that the tentacles are good for piracy somehow.

    http://tng.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/s7/7x04/gambitpartone181.jpg
    http://ds9.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/1x12/vortex281.jpg

    I could see this as the big sister of Baran's or the Miradorn's ships, with more hold space for loot (those big boxes around the waist - great for quick loading directly from the crippled victim ship floating nearby), but with the same layout of torpedo armament in the forward middle "maw", death rays in the inner tentacles, and possibly grapples and cutters in the outer tentacles.

    Heck, even the big Ferengi marauder has this tentacle thing going on, with "claws" at the tips of the forward-arching main body. Mechanical grappling may well be a good piracy tactic in Trek.

    Timo Saloniemi
     
  6. F. King Daniel

    F. King Daniel Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    What's to make sense of? It's kind of a standard alien ship design, with wings and pointy bits (even though the execution is different, the elements resemble the pirate ship from "Gambit") and a cool red paint job. I thought it was one of TAS' best ship designs, and was very disappointed when ENT cooked up yet another generic green ship for it's Orions.
     
  7. Timo

    Timo Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    That's consistent, though: in TAS, the Orions would want to fly a ship that does not reveal they are Orions.

    Timo Saloniemi
     
  8. T'Girl

    T'Girl Vice Admiral Admiral

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    [​IMG]

    Let's see.

    The wings (as with the Klingon BOP) contain the warp drive.
    The yellow triangle on the centerline is the deflector.

    The two arms below are docking clamps to hold a victim's ship against the Orion's lower docking port.

    The two "pods" below the wings are energy weapons. It would have weapons more powerful than a merchantman's, the idea would be to intimidate and disable, not destroy.

    :devil:
     
  9. CorporalCaptain

    CorporalCaptain Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    The oval thing between the "front mandibles" looks like a deflector or sensor dish.
     
  10. Albertese

    Albertese Commodore Commodore

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    Agreed. Even jives with the oval dishes sported in later shows, starting with the E-D.

    The Yellow triangle, I suppose, is probably just neat paint, but if you want to tag it with technobabble, perhaps it's some sort of extra passive sensor array to operate without giving away position, like how the Orion ships in SFB have those flat hexagonal passive arrays on their wings.

    Also, the ship is quite a bit bigger than Enterprise, so I imagine they have no problem finding cargo space.

    --Alex
     
  11. shapeshifter

    shapeshifter Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    In case it isn't as obvious as it seems to me to be, it reminds me of a dragon.

    The extended 'wing tips' probably enable atmospheric entry.
     
  12. publiusr

    publiusr Admiral Admiral

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  13. Masao

    Masao Commodore Commodore

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    I tried drawing up this ship a few years ago. The attempt nearly drove me insane. The ship is basically a 2-D graphic that was designed to look good only from the front. Here's as far as I got. A 3-D modeler might have a better chance at success (i.e., getting all the views to line up and matching the onscreen appearance), but I think he'd end up with a weird-looking ship.

    [​IMG]
     
  14. Albertese

    Albertese Commodore Commodore

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    Interesting... I think it should be longer... front-to-back. Also, I think the lower claws should be angled forward rather than hang straight down.

    --Alex
     
  15. Masao

    Masao Commodore Commodore

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    Yeah, I agree.
    Probably, but those are just place-holders anyway.

    If any one can do better, please, be my guest! I'm through with this ship.
     
  16. Timo

    Timo Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    From the perspective shot facing the hero ship, I actually get the impression of a very long vessel: the upper "rails" on the wings are already as long as the Enterprise nacelles (and perhaps serve the same function), and the first set of "cheek containers" extends as far back as the aft tips of those "rails". Aft of this follows the large tail with the lozenge cross section.

    Basically, what we might have here is the Batris with some bat-wings on top of the very bow, and some droop on the cheeks.

    Timo Saloniemi
     
  17. 137th Gebirg

    137th Gebirg Admiral Premium Member

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    Hmmm...I might give it a shot. It's a cool design (at least from the front). You gave it a good try, Masao. I agree that it was likely never intended to be realized in 3D form. There was the other picture of this ship facing off against the Enterprise that showed it canted slightly - not quite a 3/4 view, but it gives a few extra visual cues.
     
  18. drt

    drt Commodore Commodore

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    I think it's supposed to look like a beetle (insect not VW :D ).
     
  19. publiusr

    publiusr Admiral Admiral

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    I'd like to see that Warp 36 ship from Counter Clock fleshed out.