Spoilers Starship Design in Star Trek: Picard

[C.E. Evans]

I've always thought the flight suits from Enterprise looked rather comfortable AND looked good on screen.

It may have been Anthony Montgomery who said in an old interview that he couldn't wait to take his ENT uniform off between takes. They may have looked good on screen, but comfortable they were not, especially after a few hours on the set.

That's really nice. Probably needs a tiny bit of tweaking as concepts often do but it's a nice ship.

Those warp nacelles may look great in the picture, but the support pylons probably will snap off in a heartbeat the moment the ship goes to warp--if not while still in the construction dock.

 

[137th Gebirg]

I've always thought the flight suits from Enterprise looked rather comfortable AND looked good on screen.

I’ve found that things which appear utilitarian also seem to look relatively good on-screen and generally comfortable. Things that are only about looking good (all form, no function) are uncomfortable as hell. Probably an extension of that whole B.S. “Fashion is Pain” philosophy.

 

[valkyrie013]

As a person who wore coveralls, and the ocasional flight suit, Those things are supremely comfortable. But you can get a size to small and it be tight on you.
But I agree, you want your actors to look good, but there going to be in these things for 8-12 hours a day, they need to be somewhat comfortable. If your going to tailor your uniform where it looks good when your standing, give them another uniform for when they mostly sit, or have alot of ups and downs. Or just do alot of the Picard Maneuver.

You can add some stretchy areas where they give if you sit, and sinch up if your standing, best of both worlds.

 

[TimeIsAPredator]

Those warp nacelles may look great in the picture, but the support pylons probably will snap off in a heartbeat the moment the ship goes to warp--if not while still in the construction dock.

The buzzards look too much like the deflector and the nacelles are a bit pointy but as a concept design it works.

 

[HotRod]

Probably needs a tiny bit of tweaking as concepts often do but it's a nice ship.

Oh, it definitely needs a little tweaking, mostly in the Nacelles. But overall, I love the look of it. Everything about it just screams "Enterprise".

Those warp nacelles may look great in the picture, but the support pylons probably will snap off in a heartbeat the moment the ship goes to warp--if not while still in the construction dock.

This is Star Trek, since when have skinny pylons mattered? Warp Nacelles don't propel the ship using Newtonian principles. Plus, with structural integrity field, skinny pylons shouldn't be a problem.

Plus, if we're looking at this with a sense of design lineage, we know Starfleet goes with the "skinny look" with the Enterprise-J. This could just be a step in that direction.

 

[David cgc]

It may have been Anthony Montgomery who said in an old interview that he couldn't wait to take his ENT uniform off between takes. They may have looked good on screen, but comfortable they were not, especially after a few hours on the set.

In behind-the-scenes photos and videos, I remember the cast many times had the jumpsuits zipped open and the sleeves tied around their waist.

Though I guess it was less often than I thought, because I can't find any pictures like that now.

 

[C.E. Evans]

This is Star Trek, since when have skinny pylons mattered? Warp Nacelles don't propel the ship using Newtonian principles.

But they are subject to subspace stress or torque while at warp and can cause a ship to lose a nacelle at high speeds. That was something the crew of Voyager had to contend with while attempting to reach Warp 10 with a shuttlecraft.

"It's the pylon again. Every time we get close to crossing the threshold, the subspace torque rips a nacelle off the shuttle."
--B'Elanna Torres

Plus, with structural integrity field, skinny pylons shouldn't be a problem.

They are when the nacelles are more than the pylons can really handle. A structural integrity field can keep a heavy starship from collapsing under its own weight while performing high speed maneuvers or while within a gravity well, but they have their limits.

Plus, if we're looking at this with a sense of design lineage, we know Starfleet goes with the "skinny look" with the Enterprise-J. This could just be a step in that direction.

The thing about the Enterprise-J is that she really could only have been built with 26th-Century technology (at least according to original designer Doug Drexler). The ship would not be welded together, but more grown using materials and construction techniques that don't yet exist in the late 24th-Century or early 25th-Century.

 

[valkyrie013]

Well, there are always a maximum stress point where something breaks. Some time you can add power for structural Integrity to help, but even then, you can reach a certain point where it rips off.

 

[Tuskin38]

the TNG cast of Picard season 3 loved their costumes, saying it's the most comfortable they've been in Star Trek.

 

[137th Gebirg]

Proof that something can be comfortable for the wearers and still look damn good on-screen. I suspect we'll probably see these variants on STO within the next 4-6 months.

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

But they are subject to subspace stress or torque while at warp and can cause a ship to lose a nacelle at high speeds. That was something the crew of Voyager had to contend with while attempting to reach Warp 10 with a shuttlecraft.

"It's the pylon again. Every time we get close to crossing the threshold, the subspace torque rips a nacelle off the shuttle."
--B'Elanna Torres

Well, when you're on the road to "Infinite Speed", no matter how small of a Subspace Stress that gets imparted on the Warp Nacelles that translates to Normal Space Stress, when you scale that small value to "Infinity", it'll eventually create a large enough force with enough amplification since Warp 10 is supposed to be so fast that you can be anywhere you want instantaenously. Obviously it's a difficult problem to solve.

They are when the nacelles are more than the pylons can really handle. A structural integrity field can keep a heavy starship from collapsing under its own weight while performing high speed maneuvers or while within a gravity well, but they have their limits.

While the Enterprise-J's Warp Nacelle Pylons "Look Skinny", I remember when Commander Cockings of TrekYards did proper scaling and they are ABSOLUTELY HUGE when properly scaled.

Those Pylons were actually well thought out by Doug Drexler, despite all the complaints about how Skinny they were. The main issues are relative Pylon size compared to the rest of the vessel.

The thing about the Enterprise-J is that she really could only have been built with 26th-Century technology (at least according to original designer Doug Drexler). The ship would not be welded together, but more grown using materials and construction techniques that don't yet exist in the late 24th-Century or early 25th-Century.

I think it could've been built with late 24th Century or early 25th Century materials, his talk about "growing the construction materials" is something I don't fully accept on a logical level given our understanding of modern and future construction material.

 

[Saul]

I've probably mentioned this before, but I was once telling my wife about some Discovery vs Enterprise starship nerd thing and she simply responded, "Oh, I thought they were the same."

You know you gotta keep that line to use when she's talking passionately about something.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Well, when you're on the road to "Infinite Speed", no matter how small of a Subspace Stress that gets imparted on the Warp Nacelles that translates to Normal Space Stress, when you scale that small value to "Infinity", it'll eventually create a large enough force with enough amplification since Warp 10 is supposed to be so fast that you can be anywhere you want instantaenously. Obviously it's a difficult problem to solve.

I was responding to the idea warp nacelles don't utilize Newtonian principles. The main point was that starships nevertheless do experience stress forces while at warp. In this case, subspace stress, and they can be powerful enough to rip nacelles off.

The thing about the Enterprise-J is that she really could only have been built with 26th-Century technology (at least according to original designer Doug Drexler). The ship would not be welded together, but more grown using materials and construction techniques that don't yet exist in the late 24th-Century or early 25th-Century.

I think it could've been built with late 24th Century or early 25th Century materials, his talk about "growing the construction materials" is something I don't fully accept on a logical level given our understanding of modern and future construction material.

It would just be an overblown facsimile though. I'm with Drexler, I do think the Enterprise-J is solely a product of a future time. But I also don't think Starfleet currently needs a ship that big right now too. The Enterprise-G may represent a trend for more smaller ships for a while, at least for another century or so.

 

[HotRod]

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Here's a fan vid showing the Dedication class in motion. This only furthers my belief that this ship would make a wonderful Enterprise.

On the issue of the Nacelles, don't think they're much thinner then those of the Constitution class, so I'm failing to see an issue.

 

[C.E. Evans]

I think it takes advantage of being a CGI model and not an actual physical one. The problem really isn't with the width of the pylons, but their length. With those big nacelles, If the ship gets anywhere near a gravity well or experiences any kind of major physical stress, there could be a problem, even with a structural integrity field, IMO. If I was an enemy commander, the first thing I'd do is target the nacelle pylons.

It's a beautiful ship, but it needs a few protein shakes...

 

[Enterprise1701]

I'll forever remain fond of this design that came outta the design contest for the Enterprise-F. I love the retro styling of the neck and long, swept back pylons and nacelles. It looks like an Enterprise.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Here's a fan vid showing the Dedication class in motion. This only furthers my belief that this ship would make a wonderful Enterprise.

On the issue of the Nacelles, don't think they're much thinner then those of the Constitution class, so I'm failing to see an issue.

My next question was going to be what was the name of this design. Kudos for the further info!

 

[Tomalak]

I quite like that, but I’d give it a classic undercut on the fantail, and maybe a wider engineering section.

 

[Tuskin38]

Cryptic is allowed to use any design submitted into the contest if they want, I think, or maybe just the runner ups. For example the Chimera Class is based off one of the runner-up Ent-F submissions.

But I think the Chimera is the only time they've done that.

 

[Racefuel]

I see those nacelle pylons and all I can think about is Enterprise getting her legs and neck cut in Beyond

 

[Macintosh]

I think it takes advantage of being a CGI model and not an actual physical one. The problem really isn't with the width of the pylons, but their length. With those big nacelles, If the ship gets anywhere near a gravity well or experiences any kind of major physical stress, there could be a problem, even with a structural integrity field, IMO. If I was an enemy commander, the first thing I'd do is target the nacelle pylons.

It's a beautiful ship, but it needs a few protein shakes...

In another thread I recently calculated that under full impulse the newly refitted Constitution-class Enterprise was shown to be able to sustain an acceleration of somewhere between ~2,860g and ~4,660g for nearly two hours under impulse, which even at the low end is greater than the acceleration of a bullet in the barrel of a gun. Starships are not fragile. A few extra g here and there from a gravity well should not cause them a problem because their structural integrity systems and inertial dampers routinely handle way more than any planet, and most stars, can generate.