Ever see a ship and say "WTF...."

[Neoshade]

Have anyone of you ever seen a ship that made you go WTF? for me, the yeager class dose it. like really.... combine a maquis fighter and a intrepid class, and you get the yeager class.

i also dont like alot of the 4 and 3 nacelle ships, they look like they dont fit. i love the standard 2 nacelle design. it also looks like alot of the newer ships take after the streamline intrepid class. i wish they would stay consistent when designing ships, would make the series that much more enjoyable.

 

[Jono]

In that case the Defiant would have pretty much ruined seasons 3 to 7 for you then.

Off the top of my head I can't readily name any ship what made me thing WTF. Personally, I like the variety. I think it would have been more boring aesthetically if all ships were round saucer + neck + cylindrical engineering hull + two upward sloping pylons port and starboard with nacelles.

The only minor issue I have with ships in Trek is the reuse of the models for alien vessels. It would make the universe a touch more pretty if all the different aliens had unique ships...however, that would cost a crap load of money and time in real life so I understand why they didn't bother for some one off alien vessels there were unlikely to ever appear again.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

On the whole I love the Trek universe spacecraft. There's a very nice balance between unspoken rules that render the universe consistant (even-numbered warp nacelles typically mounted away from the main hull, etc) and variety. It is a shame, as Jono notes, that models had to be reused so often, because on the whole a good job is done across all the series in establishing consistant design lineages for each nation and race. Overall it's a good use of a core design (this is what a ship in this universe has/looks like/works) reinterpreted for many different species. I much prefer the ships of Trek to the rather bland ships of franchies like Star Wars (to throw one out there). I have only one major complaint - why are they all constructed in the horizontal, never the verticle? I suppose that could tie into the "unspoken rules" concept - easier to craft a warp field that way, etc, but it always bugs me slightly. It's nice to see that Babylon Five, for example, established several ship designs oriented in the verticle.

 

[toughlittleship]

I don't know why they just couldn't have used the unmodified Voyager model anyway.

 

[Thor Damar]

Don't the Cardassians have a different warp design than most other powers since their nacelles seem to be swept forward and closer to the main hull, which creates a smaller more effective FTL field?

I actually like some of the SW designs in particular the Star Destroyer is a fantastic example of an iconic vessel. (although the bridge is a wee bit exposed...)

 

[Deranged Nasat]

Don't the Cardassians have a different warp design than most other powers since their nacelles seem to be swept forward and closer to the main hull, which creates a smaller more effective FTL field?

Good point; they're one of the examples that deviate a bit further from the "base design" than usual, but it's still the familiar "twin glowing nacelles, one mounted on each side of the hull" business. Then there's the Vulcan's mounting it in a big ring, which is one of the furthest "branchings" or (also from Enterprise) the Axanar, who seem to mount their warp engines at the very rear in a way not disimiliar to impulse engines. It's great the variety they manage to introduce while also keeping a sense of consistancy.

Oh, and I think the Cardassian design is to strengthen the structural integrity field by making the ship more compact - how they compensate for increased radiation exposure or the like I don't remember...

I actually like some of the SW designs in particular the Star Destroyer is a fantastic example of an iconic vessel. (although the bridge is a wee bit exposed...)

Oh, there's no doubting the awesomeness of the Imperial Star Destroyer. But I never liked the overall ship aesthetic in Star Wars.

 

[Thor Damar]

I think that the Cardassian base design for the Galor type warcraft follows the basic design ethic of a paranoid expansionist military dictatorship, low center of mass to prevent easy targeting, smaller more workman like constructions and of course an intimidating profile. (although your mileage many indeed vary on this)

Considering that most bipedal senitant species in the ST galaxy are descended from a single ancient race, could it be that there is a shared subconscious reflex towards a shared ship conflagration. (tis a very silly idea)

 

[Dukhat]

The only minor issue I have with ships in Trek is the reuse of the models for alien vessels. It would make the universe a touch more pretty if all the different aliens had unique ships...however, that would cost a crap load of money and time in real life so I understand why they didn't bother for some one off alien vessels there were unlikely to ever appear again.

This is something that I felt was a major issue, and one that really got on my nerves with Star Trek, for exactly the same reasons you described. The re-use of ships-of-the-week, in many cases without any modifications, made ST look cheap and unrealistic at times. And before the excuse is waved that the budget couldn't accomodate new models, I just have to say that Classic Doctor Who, which had a shoestring budget, never re-used a single spacecraft model in the 25 years it was on television, with the exception of Nerva Beacon, which in the two episodes it was featured in, was meant to represent the same station, only at two different points in time.

I don't know why they just couldn't have used the unmodified Voyager model anyway.

It was a kitbshed model meant to be seen only in the far background, and not meant to be taken seriously.

 

[Timo]

We could always argue that most of the aliens have been doing starflight for a lot longer than humans, and at least some are likely to have given up development of their own indigenous starships because the folks next door are already selling a design that has a spotless track record for the past 430 years.

That doesn't explain why some upstarts from the Gamma Quadrant would be using the same designs as ancient Alphans, but it does explain why allied aliens would share a warship design (cooperation) - or why aliens hostile towards each other would do so (theft, war trophies, industrial espionage).

I rather like the proliferation of those Imperial Star Destroyer kitbashes that have mostly appeared in the hands of Talarians, but have also been popular among two-bit DS9 villains who probably cannot afford better. The spreading of the freighter we originally IDd as Talarian in "Heart of Glory", as well as that of its variants, is also fairly logical. Bernd Schneider's site tracks a number of other such proliferation stories, some of which make perfect sense while others are cases of pure WTF...

FWIW, I think the Yeager is a beautiful design that would do well as a hero ship or first-rank guest ship in a TNG era show. And I see no problems with the builder using a generic boxy shape and a pair of wings for the aft hull; it's the easiest design in the world to scale up or down, and we already know it has been scaled at least once, for the two different types of Maquis ship. Why should the builder of those Maquis ships be banned from producing hulls for Starfleet?

Timo Saloniemi

 

[F. King Daniel]

Have anyone of you ever seen a ship that made you go WTF? for me, the yeager class dose it. like really.... combine a maquis fighter and a intrepid class, and you get the yeager class.

i also dont like alot of the 4 and 3 nacelle ships, they look like they dont fit. i love the standard 2 nacelle design. it also looks like alot of the newer ships take after the streamline intrepid class. i wish they would stay consistent when designing ships, would make the series that much more enjoyable.

I liked them. Variety = good.

 

[Dukhat]

We could always argue that most of the aliens have been doing starflight for a lot longer than humans, and at least some are likely to have given up development of their own indigenous starships because the folks next door are already selling a design that has a spotless track record for the past 430 years.

Sure, we could come up with an in-universe explanation as to why ships look the same. I'm not debating that. I'm saying that regardless of the explanation, it still makes ST look cheap.

However, I do understand that there's a time factor involved besides just the budget. That's why the same ship got re-used no less than three times in the remastered version of TOS, never mind the original version.

 

[Saito S]

I actually like some of the SW designs in particular the Star Destroyer is a fantastic example of an iconic vessel. (although the bridge is a wee bit exposed...)

Just a bit. (Not that Trek bridges aren't.)

Don't the Cardassians have a different warp design than most other powers since their nacelles seem to be swept forward and closer to the main hull, which creates a smaller more effective FTL field?

Good point; they're one of the examples that deviate a bit further from the "base design" than usual, but it's still the familiar "twin glowing nacelles, one mounted on each side of the hull" business.
Oh, and I think the Cardassian design is to strengthen the structural integrity field by making the ship more compact - how they compensate for increased radiation exposure or the like I don't remember...

There was no canon explanation, of course, since no one wrote in any dialog touching on pulled-in vs. suspended nacelles. I seem to recall the tech manual saying that the efficiency (or lack thereof, compared to suspended nacelles) of the warp field was one of the disadvantages of the pulled-in design. Still, I'll have to check when I'm home; I can't remember what it said with any certainty, and now I'm curious... Not that tech manuals are definitive authorities by any stretch, but they can at least provide a place to start speculating.

Oh, there's no doubting the awesomeness of the Imperial Star Destroyer. But I never liked the overall ship aesthetic in Star Wars.

I always thought the SD was pretty good, but not great. It certainly has the intimidation factor (which, in-universe, is kind of the whole idea), but simply in terms of my personal sense of starship aesthetics, it actually never did that much for me. I thought some of the Mon Cal cruisers were pretty nice looking, though.

I think that the Cardassian base design for the Galor type warcraft follows the basic design ethic of a paranoid expansionist military dictatorship, low center of mass to prevent easy targeting, smaller more workman like constructions and of course an intimidating profile. (although your mileage many indeed vary on this)

It makes sense for the Cardassians; especially if one of the downsides IS a less efficient warp field, it fits for them to trade that for a ship that is more rugged and durable. Actually, that seems to be a thing with Cardassian ships in general. Technologically, they are pretty unimpressive, and their offensive capabilities don't seem to match up to most of the other major powers. On the other hand, they can take a freaking pounding. Kind of the opposite of Klingon ships, really.

Visually... the Galor-class does look tough to some degree, but it also looks like a shrimp to me, reducing some of its potential intimidation factor.

This is something that I felt was a major issue, and one that really got on my nerves with Star Trek, for exactly the same reasons you described. The re-use of ships-of-the-week, in many cases without any modifications, made ST look cheap and unrealistic at times. And before the excuse is waved that the budget couldn't accomodate new models, I just have to say that Classic Doctor Who, which had a shoestring budget, never re-used a single spacecraft model in the 25 years it was on television, with the exception of Nerva Beacon, which in the two episodes it was featured in, was meant to represent the same station, only at two different points in time.

I agree that it would have been very nice to see a greater variety of "alien of the week" designs. However, with regard to budget and the comparison to Dr. Who, don't forget that a show on a limited budget must pick and choose where to spend ever precious dollar (or whatever unit of currency). More unique designs showing up might have meant crappier something-else.

I don't know why they just couldn't have used the unmodified Voyager model anyway.

It was a kitbshed model meant to be seen only in the far background, and not meant to be taken seriously.

Yeah, it was never seen up close. The DS9 tech manual kind of made it worse all around, by showing it in detail, and explaining it in-universe as a kitbash (and of course, it wasn't the only such ship). Never liked that.

As for the original question, a ship that made me go "WTF", I have only one thing to say: Freedom class.
http://www.trekmania.net/the_fleet/utopia/others/freedom.htm

 

[F. King Daniel]

The Freedom class was just a TNG remake of Franz Joseph's Destroyer/Scout from his old Star Trek Technical Manual.

 

[RyuRoots]

I don't know why they just couldn't have used the unmodified Voyager model anyway.

What's weird is that considering Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges, they obviously could just use Intrepids.

And whatever it's based on, I always thought the Freedom-class was horrendously laughable as well. Looks more like a frying pan than a ship.

 

[Neoshade]

In that case the Defiant would have pretty much ruined seasons 3 to 7 for you then.

Off the top of my head I can't readily name any ship what made me thing WTF. Personally, I like the variety. I think it would have been more boring aesthetically if all ships were round saucer + neck + cylindrical engineering hull + two upward sloping pylons port and starboard with nacelles.

The only minor issue I have with ships in Trek is the reuse of the models for alien vessels. It would make the universe a touch more pretty if all the different aliens had unique ships...however, that would cost a crap load of money and time in real life so I understand why they didn't bother for some one off alien vessels there were unlikely to ever appear again.

i LOVE the defiant. its got the red and blue glow, its got orange phasers. its primary quad disruptor setup is a little.... lame. wish they used quad multi firing phasers. short phaser bursts. but none the less, its very starfleet. and for those random same alien ships, they just used generic non-military starships. generic layouts for a mass production ship available to all races.

the, honda civics of ships if you will. thats what i convinced my self.

 

[Jono]

Just thought of one that made me go WTF? It was the three nacelle Excelsior kitbash from the DS9TM that didn't appear on the show...I thought it was u-g-l-y, it aint got no alibi.

However, after seeing a model someone put together my view changed a bit. Here is the link. I think the ship looks not too bad in the bottom too pics.

 

[Rom's Sehlat]

When I first saw the Defiant, I was a little taken aback. Where were the cylindrical warp nacelles? Where on earth would you put cargo or a bridge or shuttlebays? But I soon learned its purpose: beat the crap out of anything in front of it. It was so bogged down with weaponry, when it returns from combat its mass is a third of what it used to be (hyperbole). It begins a battle at warp 4.3 and comes out at warp 7.2. (Yes, yes, I know they don't fight too much at warp. I'm exaggerating to make my point.) Its inertial dampeners start out screaming with energy consumption and end up with a beautiful, purring hum from the lightened load.

It has an extremely low profile for a ship for any race in the quadrant. It would be hard to hit it when its coming right at you. A smaller target means less chance of hitting it when its dodging.

 

[Timo]

...Which makes one wonder why Dax claimed she recognized the Defiant as a Federation design on first sight in "The Search". What was Federation-like about her?

(If Dax was just reading the ship's transponder, why couldn't she read her name and registry from the signal?)

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Jono]

Don't Federation ship's have a telltale power signature or whatever it was that the Defiant tricked the OWP into blowing up their powerplant with? Given Dax was monitoring its power levels that might be what she was basing her comment on.

 

[Timo]

Makes sense.

Timo Saloniemi