Spoilers Starship Design in Star Trek: Picard

[Dukhat]

I didn't mind ENT confirming the KBoP was specifically Klingon. I never liked the theory that it was the movie-ized version of the RBoP. The color, the head, the downward-canted wingtips all seemed distinctively Klingon-y. It looks more like a squashed and stretched D7 than a lumpier RBoP.

While I also agree that the KBoP looks more like a Klingon ship than a Romulan ship, what annoyed me was the whole bird-motif thing. It was originally established that the Romulans had the bird-motif at least as far back as the Earth-Romulan war, and continues into the late 24th century. While we all know the flip-flopping in TSFS with the BoP (and then the BoP becoming a generic Klingon ship in TNG until they built the Vor'cha), ENT then goes on to retroactively establish that the Klingons also had the bird-motif all the way back then as well, but for no real reason. The odds that two completely different alien races had the same motif for their ships is astronomical, and makes no sense.

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

They didn't develop their ships in isolation though. The Klingons could've seen the bird motif and decided it would look great on their wings. Better even. Just like how Shakespeare is superior in the original Klingon.

 

[cooleddie74]

This is a franchise where a planet naturally evolved a near-replica of Earth's Roman Empire complete with 20th century television, radio and internal combustion engine sportscars. I can deal with the Klingons also adopting a menacing predatory bird image for the hulls of some of their warships.

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

It's actually kind of weird that we don't see other designs painted on ships. Where are all the ships painted to look like space tigers or space sharks?

 

[Dukhat]

They didn't develop their ships in isolation though. The Klingons could've seen the bird motif and decided it would look great on their wings. Better even. Just like how Shakespeare is superior in the original Klingon.

And then become the hated blood-enemies of the same race with the bird-motif, and yet continue using it for their own ships?

 

[fireproof78]

This is a franchise where a planet naturally evolved a near-replica of Earth's Roman Empire complete with 20th century television, radio and internal combustion engine sportscars. I can deal with the Klingons also adopting a menacing predatory bird image for the hulls of some of their warships.

As well as human cultures own tendencies to develop similar ideas apart from direct influences. It is not unheard of on our small planet, much less with interstellar empires.

 

[cooleddie74]

I mean, the K't'inga-class battle cruisers in the TOS movies have outlines of bird feathers on their hulls. The use of predatory bird imagery predates Star Trek III and ENT showing the 22nd century Bird-of-Prey. We already had Klingon ships with that motif(if unpainted and not terribly clear to see) in 1979.

 

[Dukhat]

I mean, the K't'inga-class battle cruisers in the TOS movies have outlines of bird feathers on their hulls. The use of predatory bird imagery predates Star Trek III and ENT showing the 22nd century Bird-of-Prey. We already had Klingon ships with that motif(if unpainted and not terribly clear to see) in 1979.

By the time of TMP there was already a technology exchange between the Klingons and the Romulans, so 'bird feathers' on the K'T'inga hull could be explained away. I'm talking about the BoP shown in ENT which technically should not have anything to do with the Romulans and their ships. And to make matters worse, the Romulan ships we do see in ENT don't have any bird markings at all, contrary to what was stated in Balance of Terror.

 

[Tuskin38]

And to make matters worse, the Romulan ships we do see in ENT don't have any bird markings at all

Which is sad, because Eaves actually designed a real cool bird for it, but the higher ups had it removed because it apparently clashed with the shows design ethos.

 

[cooleddie74]

Proof even the Berman Era enforced a design ethos that didn't always make sense for the time period. DSC and Bryan Fuller weren't the first culprits.

 

[NCC-73515]

ENT did it first - Anyone remember the Akiraprise? XD

 

[fireproof78]

Proof even the Berman Era enforced a design ethos that didn't always make sense for the time period. DSC and Bryan Fuller weren't the first culprits.

And won't be the last.

 

[Dukhat]

Which is sad, because Eaves actually designed a real cool bird for it, but the higher ups had it removed because it apparently clashed with the shows design ethos.

And to make matters even worse, the drone ship that was referred to as a ‘warbird’ in dialogue was just a reuse of a VOY alien ship of the week, and that didn’t have a bird on the hull either.

ENT did it first - Anyone remember the Akiraprise? XD

Of course we do: the producers of ENT wanted the actual Akira class starship as the NX-01 but Drexler was able to refine the design to make it look more primitive. It’s one of the reasons why I’ve always hated the design (although over the years it has since grown on me a bit, especially with the addition of the secondary hull.)

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

And then become the hated blood-enemies of the same race with the bird-motif, and yet continue using it for their own ships?

Like the US and USSR were on the same side during WWII, then the USSR used reverse-engineered copies of captured US planes against us (not technically "against", but you get the idea). Alliances change and disappear all the time.

 

[cooleddie74]

The Soviet space shuttle Buran was almost an identical copy of the U.S. space shuttle design. And we hadn't even been allies for about forty years when that craft was on the drawing board inside the USSR.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

The Soviet space shuttle Buran was almost an identical copy of the U.S. space shuttle design. And we hadn't even been allies for about forty years when that craft was on the drawing board inside the USSR.

No doubt easier to steal a design than come up with it on one's own. The Buran didn't have all the same inner workings, nor did the USSR have the resources to make it a success.

As far as I'm concerned, the Klingon basic ship designs were all based on Hur'q ships, with some evolution on the part of the Klingons.

 

[cooleddie74]

The Hur'q would help explain the designs seen in DSC. Because aside from maybe three Klingon ships in Season 1 - T'Kuvma's flagship included - there's barely a hint of traditional Klingon appearance in any of those.

 

[Dukhat]

The Hur'q would help explain the designs seen in DSC. Because aside from maybe three Klingon ships in Season 1 - T'Kuvma's flagship included - there's barely a hint of traditional Klingon appearance in any of those.

And the few that did superficially resemble traditional Klingon ships were probably just a coincidence. Up close, those ships look nothing like D7s or K’T’ingas.

 

[fireproof78]

The Hur'q would help explain the designs seen in DSC. Because aside from maybe three Klingon ships in Season 1 - T'Kuvma's flagship included - there's barely a hint of traditional Klingon appearance in any of those.

I know I am the outlier here but I do appreciate the Discovery ships because I think it would take some measure of time to get to a "traditional Klingon ship." Look at the history of ship building on Earth. It's wide and varied in terms of art and design and emphasis. I have a feeling that ships like the D7/K'Tinga style would only come to be more emphasized under a united Empire or with the Warrior Caste's influence.

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

I'd be much happier with the Klingon ships in Discovery if the series didn't come between Enterprise and the Original Series. There's no rule that says that the Klingons can't radically change the design of all their ships and then change them back again afterwards, but it doesn't help my immersion when my brain keeps saying "Those are Klingons??" whenever one of their vessels appears.

At first I wondered if they were going to be ancient Klingon sleeper ships or something like that and I was curious about what the explanation was going to be. It was a bit of a disappointment when there wasn't one.