Defiant essential measurements?

[SicOne]

How long and wide is the nose module of Defiant, and how far does it project under the forward section of the hull? How long are the warp nacelles, and how far do THEY project under, and over, the hull? How long and wide is the aftmost section of the hull, where the impulse engines are?

I am planning to build a Lego version of Defiant, and with these measurements, I can be more accurate in my design. Certain things might need to be altered, but I'll do my best. Please state whether you're using the 120m or 174m length if you pass answers along. Thanks, folks.

 

[Boris Skrbic]

You'll need to search for accurate orthos, drawn up by fans who have taken the time to match them to the three-foot miniature. Then you'll need to make your measurements. The intended size is relevant only if you're going for a particular scale; most episodes support Doug Drexler's four-deck layout.

 

[Albertese]

This link may come in handy.

http://www.modelermagic.com/?p=9903

--Alex

 

[Robert Comsol]

Were these four cylinder "thingies" port and starboard considered to be escape pods?

And despite the great closeups I still can't figure out how the Defiant docked with DS9.

Bob

 

[Timo]

The cylinders were not among the objects ejected in the Valiant or Defiant evacuations. Supposedly, these blue-glowing things are engine components akin to the blue domes of ENT and TOS movie era as well as some TNG era vessels - possibly devices involved in the manipulation of subspace fields (warp fields at least tend to glow blue, and never mind backstage doubletalk on the subject).

The original, 50m Defiant had three ejectables: the bow (which contained the bridge), and the cheek modules that in the later, larger interpretation of the ship are just cowlings for torpedo launchers. The Defiant as seen had all the ejectables hidden under blowaway panels, as befits a ship that supposedly carries hull armor.

As for the docking issue, the MSDs could be liberally interpreted to establish twin tubes at the bow module, on the deck that coincides with the bow kink - that is, on the first deck that has a ceiling against the outer hull. From the outside, we see two brown rectangles on the upper hull of the bow, which we could interpret as structures akin to the flip-up headlights of a sports car, each revealing a docking tube (putatively doubled up for boarding action against the Borg, or whatever).

Timo Saloniemi

 

[DavidGutierrez]

I've always been impressed by this piece of work:
http://www.cydonia6.com/

And, I find this resource particularly helpful:
http://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/lcars/blueprints-main2.php

 

[varek]

Check out Advanced Starship Design Bureau details for the Defiant at:

http://techspecs.startrek.acalltoduty.com/defiant.html

 

[varek]

Although Robert Siwiak (http://techspecs.acalltoduty.com/defiant.html) saysThe DS9 Tech Manual lists the Defiant at 170.68 meters in length, he says all the evidence indicates that the ship should be around 120 meters in length.

However, the Advanced Starship Design Bureau says that the Defiant has 4 decks and carries a crew of 40 officers and crewmembers. To me, a longer ship would be more conducive to accommodating all those people and weapons systems it carries.

 

[Timo]

Plus there is spoken and visual evidence that Deck Five is of habitable height - we see that one in "To the Death"! So the four-deck layout should not be given all that much credit. By adopting a size of 170m+, we can accommodate Deck Five and even the Deck Six mentioned in an onsceen (if blurry) Okudagram describing turbolift destinations. Although six is a bit much, and we could say Deck Six is the starboard counterpart to Deck Five at the bifurcated lower part of the ship.

Size comparisons with nearby starships might be handwaved by pointing out that the ship is equipped with a cloak. The similarly cloaking-capable Klingon ships often seem to be of an odd size, so quite possibly size distortion is a side effect of cloaks!

Size comparisons with DS9 are fruitless as the station's size is unknown, and ships docking with it vary greatly in size, too (a Nebula docking in a lower pylon suddenly becomes only half the size of a Galaxy docking in an upper pylon, say). On the other hand, there's at least one solid comparison point: the ability of the ship to launch the "Type 10" shuttlepod from the round opening at the bottom. That craft is really tiny judging by the interior shots from its one and only appearance in "The Sound of Her Voice", but nevertheless requires the 170m rather than 120m ship to fit in.

So much for recapping the old arguments. The blueprints referred to above give the actually relevant data, that of relative dimensions. Whether it's perfectly accurate or not shapewise, I'm not sure, but at least the Cydonia set does seem to match the photos pretty well.

Timo Saloniemi