Choose One: Matt Jefferies or Wah Chang?
- Thread starter Albertese
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That really doesn't say much for the design or its designer. It means all he really did was restage elements from Jefferies' original design and paint a bird on it. Jefferies used one design concept to form the basic designs of two ships and used details to make them look alien compared to each other.
If what others have mentioned is true, the BOP is supposed to look similar to the Enterprise because it's a stolen Starfleet design. They may have not have had time to redo the ship when that element was dropped.
^^ It's also possible that during the war there was wreckage floating around and the Romulans might have gotten hold of some Earth ship debris wherein they studied what they found and tried reverse engineering some of it. In that light it could still be essentially a Romulan design with Earth ideas incorporated into it. Also sometimes two different design teams can conceivably arrive at similar solutions.
The original plans for the series phaser are available and they are signed by MJ. His handwriting is all over the page and the style reeks of his work. (it's a good reek.)
HA! I love the Buran. For so many reasons.
--Alex
Maybe the reason we don't see any RBOPs beyond the TOS era is that the hangers they were being kept in collapsed on them all, too?
So, perhaps the BoP was a stolen version of a TOS Miranda design. The Romulans held the plans upside down, though, which is why the nacelles point the wrong way.
So why does the ENT R-BoP considered to look more advanced? Isn't that just artistic style rather than capabilities?
To demonstrate, look at the cars in the 1950s and the prototype futuristic cars of that era. Now look at a typical car from the early 2000s. If you knew nothing about how a car worked, which would seem the more advanced to you? You'd probably assume the larger car that has more style to it was more advanced than the jelly bean shaped compact car.
To demonstrate, look at the cars in the 1950s and the prototype futuristic cars of that era. Now look at a typical car from the early 2000s. If you knew nothing about how a car worked, which would seem the more advanced to you? You'd probably assume the larger car that has more style to it was more advanced than the jelly bean shaped compact car.
Actually, the differences between the D-7 and the Enterprise do tell us some important things about the differences between the two cultures.
To start off, the Enterprise is big. Much bigger than the D-7 Her large saucer section contains relatively spacious quarters, multiple labs, recreation facilities, etc. This emphasizes both the multi-faceted mission of Federation starships as well as a significant concern for the health and welfare of the the ship's crew.
Furthering this concern is the placement of the warp nacelles at the end of relatively small area pylons. This puts the powerful warp coils further away from the inhabited Engineering hull (though somewhat closer to the saucer), and allows them to be quickly and easily jettisoned if needed.
Contrast that with the arrangement of the D-7. A small "command pod" that contains the most important command and control functions and likely the "officer's country". This is at the end of a long, easily sealed off boom, which makes locking out interior radiation leaks (and the occasional mutinous crew) fairly simple, as it is a natural "choke point".
The larger secondary hull, which clearly contains the bulk of the living and working spaces, is mated directly to the warp nacelles. Most of the crew is thus at increased risk if there is a nacelle/warp coil malfunction. The attachment points are more robust and simpler, indicating an emphasis on sturdiness in the structural sense, as well as the tactical benefits of not having a long, thin, exposed joining structure vulnerable to weapons fire if the shields fail.
Essentially it comes down to the generally egalitarian, peaceful person-focused Federaton vs the more warlike, rank/class/caste conscious and more paranoid Klingons.
Indeed, if you look to the secondary products from the 70s and into the 80s (books, rpgs, etc) you will see that those differences were well understood by the tie in creators, and expanded upon. John Ford's The Final Reflection is the seminal Klingon work of the period and reflects all those themes.
To start off, the Enterprise is big. Much bigger than the D-7 Her large saucer section contains relatively spacious quarters, multiple labs, recreation facilities, etc. This emphasizes both the multi-faceted mission of Federation starships as well as a significant concern for the health and welfare of the the ship's crew.
Furthering this concern is the placement of the warp nacelles at the end of relatively small area pylons. This puts the powerful warp coils further away from the inhabited Engineering hull (though somewhat closer to the saucer), and allows them to be quickly and easily jettisoned if needed.
Contrast that with the arrangement of the D-7. A small "command pod" that contains the most important command and control functions and likely the "officer's country". This is at the end of a long, easily sealed off boom, which makes locking out interior radiation leaks (and the occasional mutinous crew) fairly simple, as it is a natural "choke point".
The larger secondary hull, which clearly contains the bulk of the living and working spaces, is mated directly to the warp nacelles. Most of the crew is thus at increased risk if there is a nacelle/warp coil malfunction. The attachment points are more robust and simpler, indicating an emphasis on sturdiness in the structural sense, as well as the tactical benefits of not having a long, thin, exposed joining structure vulnerable to weapons fire if the shields fail.
Essentially it comes down to the generally egalitarian, peaceful person-focused Federaton vs the more warlike, rank/class/caste conscious and more paranoid Klingons.
Indeed, if you look to the secondary products from the 70s and into the 80s (books, rpgs, etc) you will see that those differences were well understood by the tie in creators, and expanded upon. John Ford's The Final Reflection is the seminal Klingon work of the period and reflects all those themes.
That is an excellent point, and I cannot thunk of many fans who--decades ago--did not think the BoP just as easily could have been a Starfleet vessel. In universe, we can just write it off the way we do shared and/or stolen military tech / ship design in the real world: it happens, but the "copy" has a feel all its own. The bird decal goes some way in establishing that.
OP: Jefferies. Change history (where he's not involved) and that innovative, timeless look of ST does not exist. At the time, who else could have contributed so much to the believable, functional look of a fictional universe? Perhaps the talents who worked on 2001?
Howdy All. Thank you for letting me join the fun. Matt Jefferies is my choice all the way.
Stephen Poe (Whitfield) relayed this story to me about the RBOP design and then the KBC from TOS while he was writing his book on the series. He said that things were really heating up at AMT since the introduction of the Enterprise model. They wanted a new ship ASAP. AMT looked at the RBOP design and thought it to similar and not as marketable as the Enterprise. He told me that he worked closely with Matt Jefferies to create a Klingon ship for an upcoming episode. We ended up with the KBC from their collaboration. At least this is the story from the marketing perspective.
Stephen Poe (Whitfield) relayed this story to me about the RBOP design and then the KBC from TOS while he was writing his book on the series. He said that things were really heating up at AMT since the introduction of the Enterprise model. They wanted a new ship ASAP. AMT looked at the RBOP design and thought it to similar and not as marketable as the Enterprise. He told me that he worked closely with Matt Jefferies to create a Klingon ship for an upcoming episode. We ended up with the KBC from their collaboration. At least this is the story from the marketing perspective.
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