Romulan Bird of Prey, Where Art Thou?

[WarpFactorZ]

A thread in the Discovery forum discussing the Klingon-Romulan alliance and shared ship technology got me thinking. Why is it the Romulan BoP from Balance of Terror was never used again? Next to the Constitution class, the general design of the BoP has become the most used template for Starfleet ships (e.g. Miranda class, and also pretty much every one in Discovery is of that ilk). There was even an AMT model produced in the 70s. But then it disappeared. Recycling Klingon ships / FX in The Enterprise Incident was on par with reusing the STVI Klingon BoP destruction in Generations.

Surely someone knows the answer to this mystery!

 

[UssGlenn]

Well I know the model was lost/destroyed, so no more FX shots could be made. I'm sure someone who knows the whole story will chime in.

 

[Tenacity]

Why is it the Romulan BoP from Balance of Terror was never used again?

The new FX in the retread of The Enterprise Incident replaced one of the D7's with a Romulan warbird.

 

[Phaser Two]

The new FX in the retread of The Enterprise Incident replaced one of the D7's with a Romulan warbird.

And thank goodness. One of their best changes.

 

[Kor]

I do like that particular aspect of the Enterprise Incident remaster, as well as the painted bird designs on the battle cruisers.

Kor

 

[Shawnster]

BoP was in "The Deadly Years" but that was reuse of footage from "Balance of Terror."

Still, it made an appearance.

 

[Phaser Two]

That reminds me of Spock's ridiculous line "Intelligence reports Romulans using Klingon designs," as though he just received that report from faraway Starfleet, or was holding it back for dramatic effect. Probably would have been good to let everyone on the bridge know that information before the encounter.

 

[Maurice]

That reminds me of Spock's ridiculous line "Intelligence reports Romulans using Klingon designs," as though he just received that report from faraway Starfleet, or was holding it back for dramatic effect. Probably would have been good to let everyone on the bridge know that information before the encounter.

This is why you are not a TV writer, my friend. There's drama in "that's a Klingon ship!"

 

[Marsden]

I'm sorry I'm bad at sourcing things, I remember reading Wah Chang, sorry if I misspelled his name, built the model but he wasn't in the union which meant he couldn't be paid for his work, so he took it home and destroyed it with a sledgehammer. That's a really sad story on many levels. He also contributed other props and the production had to pass them off as "off the shelf"? that last part I'm not as clear on remembering, but he had a lot of talent and didn't get any credit for it.

 

[Maurice]

Yeah, apparently he could not get into the union. There was one site which claimed he smashed it, but only one, and I don't recall it citing a source for that assertion/rumor.

 

[Push The Button]

That reminds me of Spock's ridiculous line "Intelligence reports Romulans using Klingon designs," as though he just received that report from faraway Starfleet, or was holding it back for dramatic effect. Probably would have been good to let everyone on the bridge know that information before the encounter.

The Chinese either bought or copied a lot of Soviet-era military hardware, so there was a real-world precedent.

 

[David cgc]

The Chinese either bought or copied a lot of Soviet-era military hardware, so there was a real-world precedent.

And there were trimmed lines from "Balance of Terror" where the Starfleet crew suspected the Bird of Prey was based on stolen Federation designs (hence the similar-looking pseudo-saucer and nacelles), to give Styles more reason to think there could be a spy aboard.

 

[Lance]

The Bird of Prey from STIII onwards was originally conceived as a Romulan ship, although the connection was not made explicit in the finished movie and obviously the ship was subsequently canonized as a Klingon vessel. A shame really, as the bird like design right down to painted underwings absolutely matches Romulans better than Klingons.

 

[Phaser Two]

The Chinese either bought or copied a lot of Soviet-era military hardware, so there was a real-world precedent.

It's not that. It's the fact that everyone is stunned about it, and THEN Spock delivers the crucial information, which he (aka the writers) was/were holding back for dramatic effect. It's dumb.

 

[scotpens]

. . . There was even an AMT model produced in the 70s.

Which is horrendously inaccurate. The more recent Polar Lights BOP kit, though smaller, at least gets the shapes and proportions right.

 

[WarpFactorZ]

And there were trimmed lines from "Balance of Terror" where the Starfleet crew suspected the Bird of Prey was based on stolen Federation designs (hence the similar-looking pseudo-saucer and nacelles), to give Styles more reason to think there could be a spy aboard.

That's interesting, because it suggests there were Miranda-type ships around during TOS. Obviously the Romulans had the plans upside down.

 

[Phaser Two]

That's interesting, because it suggests there were Miranda-type ships around during TOS. Obviously the Romulans had the plans upside down.

Didn't Star Fleet Battles have a ship that was vaguely Miranda-looking, but TOS era?

 

[Marsden]

Didn't Star Fleet Battles have a ship that was vaguely Miranda-looking, but TOS era?

The had a New Light Cruiser, which had a saucer with two warp engines on top but fairly close together in back rather than out to the sides like most designs. Similar to taking the Enterprises saucer and sticking to warp engines to where the impulse section is. I'll see if I can find a link.
http://www.starfleetgames.com/feder...?p=51230&sid=3401a9e8abb1c6bd37ee2239ab214d05

BTW, when Interplay adapted the board game to a computer game they used all movie era models and used the Miranda in it's place.

 

[Phaser Two]

The had a New Light Cruiser, which had a saucer with two warp engines on top but fairly close together in back rather than out to the sides like most designs. Similar to taking the Enterprises saucer and sticking to warp engines to where the impulse section is. I'll see if I can find a link.
http://www.starfleetgames.com/feder...?p=51230&sid=3401a9e8abb1c6bd37ee2239ab214d05

BTW, when Interplay adapted the board game to a computer game they used all movie era models and used the Miranda in it's place.

Awesome. Thank you!

 

[Tenacity]

or was holding it back for dramatic effect

Or was simply telling Scotty something the engineer didn't know.

It's dumb.

The line made sense.