DS9 Kitbashes

[NCC-1701-B]

I have just noticed something. All of the ds9 kitbashes seem to have really unrealistic paintjobs. whats with all of the blue and bronze parts? The paint job is really badly done aswell, i know they are supposed to look worn down, but these dont look very good:

here is the link:
http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/articles/ds9tm.htm

Discuss!

 

[Michael]

Did they think we wouldent notice these poorly made kitbash models?

You actually did notice them? Because I can honestly say that I only know of these kitbashes because I saw them on the internet. Is there any episode to which you can point where a kitbash is visible?

 

[NCC-1701-B]

Not all of them i admit, but in various battle scenes. all i really wanted to know is whats with the blue and bronze colour schemes?

 

[Timo]

One wouldn't see much of the paint job if the models were brightly lit for their "beauty passes". Note how in several models, the windows have been done in fluorescent paint rather than through the application of internal lights: the lighting passes on these models would have been different from those used on the regular models.

I rather like all of these designs, although I would have liked to see more modern nacelles on the Elkins, and a bit more work on the glue job so that the ship wouldn't appear so bent... It's nice to see the "Excelsior generation" and the "Intrepid generation" fleshed out a bit, the former with four new designs, the latter with two.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[NCC-1701-B]

oh, didnt realise about the hotlink thing, i will link to the page instead, stoopid me

I also like to see variants of ship classes, but the excelsior version with the top saucer from the ent-b stuck directly to the top saucer of the excelsior looks wrong to me!

 

[The_Beef]

I like the drawing of that 3-nacelled Excelsior better than the actual model, the stuck-together saucers look hideous on the model but I do like the idea of a ship like that having a thicker saucer section. When that's essentially all the ship is, I feel like it needs to be bulked up a bit. That's why I like the assessment that the Centaur may be basically a picket ship that's actually smaller than a Miranda, it also explains why the Miranda is still in use. An Excelsior saucer with warp nacelles just doesn't really seem very versatile. Of course, I actually like small picket ships, so . . . yeah.

 

[Jono]

^ At first I didn't like it but after I followed their link to a model someone built I saw the ship at more angles and it looks pretty good.

http://msfm.seryan.com/stephen_l/ussaquarius.htm

 

[Timo]

That fan model was done before we had photos of the butt end of the original, so it misses out on the giant round impulse engine things. If we acknowledge those, it probably makes sense to interpret the E-B saucer boxes as something other than impulse engines. They'd make for pretty good shuttlebays, now wouldn't they?

Also, I'd like to see that ship oriented the other way 'round, with the third nacelle at the bottom. The original model is symmetric, and actually has its Starfleet arrowheads stenciled on "upside down", supporting the third-nacelle-down interpretation.

Now remove the third nacelle and you get a pretty decent-looking ship (say, the Excelsior family equivalent to those light cruisers of Starfleet Battles fame)... Perhaps the third engine is an optional extra? A torpedo pod might go in its place in other variants of this ship type. No other feature on the ship would seem to be applicable as a forward-firing torpedo launcher, after all.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Gepard]

All of the ds9 kitbashes seem to have really unrealistic paintjobs. whats with all of the blue and bronze parts? The paint job is really badly done aswell,

According to this comment on Doug Drexler's blog, the exaggerated paint was to help the ships "read" as tiny blobs on screen, rather like theatrical makeup. Essentially, they were playing to the back of the house.

 

[Michael]

I think the Centaur is a pretty neat looking design. Exploring that one more would have been very cool.

 

[NCC-1701-B]

yeah, i like the centaur design, but the tri nacelle one could have been done a bit better!

 

[JRS]

I think the kitbashes look good on screen
Some of them arent the best looking desing wise, particulary off screen, (and true, the colours are bit odd) but at least we got to see some new ships.

 

[Praetor]

^ At first I didn't like it but after I followed their link to a model someone built I saw the ship at more angles and it looks pretty good.

http://msfm.seryan.com/stephen_l/ussaquarius.htm

Is Scorpio class from anything? I'd so wanted to call that Medusa class.

And if it's the Excelsior version of a Constellation, who's to say it doesn't need lots of extra impulse engines?

I think the Centaur is a pretty neat looking design. Exploring that one more would have been very cool.

Me too. I like to think it's the non-canon Mediterranean class.

 

[miraclefan]

I HATE kitbashes with apassion! they just don't look right, even when there in the BACKGROUND! some ''are'' good, but the vast majority are just ugly!

 

[Michael]

I think the Centaur is a pretty neat looking design. Exploring that one more would have been very cool.

Me too. I like to think it's the non-canon Mediterranean class.

Yeah, I can see the similarities, if that's the ship class you're talking about. But I think the Centaur looks more streamlined and elegant. And I somehow think Centaur is a pretty good name for it. Don't ask me why, I just think it is ...

 

[Jono]

I think the Centaur is a pretty neat looking design. Exploring that one more would have been very cool.

Me too. I like to think it's the non-canon Mediterranean class.

Yeah, I can see the similarities, if that's the ship class you're talking about. But I think the Centaur looks more streamlined and elegant. And I somehow think Centaur is a pretty good name for it. Don't ask me why, I just think it is ...

The Mediterranean class was only mentioned in the Star Trek Encyclopaedia and has never appeared in canon. I'd guess that that image is a fan creation.

 

[Praetor]

Me too. I like to think it's the non-canon Mediterranean class.

Yeah, I can see the similarities, if that's the ship class you're talking about. But I think the Centaur looks more streamlined and elegant. And I somehow think Centaur is a pretty good name for it. Don't ask me why, I just think it is ...

The Mediterranean class was only mentioned in the Star Trek Encyclopaedia and has never appeared in canon. I'd guess that that image is a fan creation.

It is indeed... The Centaur is more elegant to me too. I think the Centaur is to Excelsior what Miranda is to Constitution... although no doubt in smaller numbers. The similarity to the fan-created Mediterranean makes it all the more easy for the 'real' one to take its place, IMO.

I'd be very happy to be able to fit most of those kitbashes to those names from the Encyclopedia... not sure that it's very feasible, though. I would quite like to make a table of the ships from the 'pedia, then compare it to the canon info from Memory Alpha and then try to reconcile that with the kitbashes...

 

[nx1701g]

Me too. I like to think it's the non-canon Mediterranean class.

Yeah, I can see the similarities, if that's the ship class you're talking about. But I think the Centaur looks more streamlined and elegant. And I somehow think Centaur is a pretty good name for it. Don't ask me why, I just think it is ...

The Mediterranean class was only mentioned in the Star Trek Encyclopaedia and has never appeared in canon. I'd guess that that image is a fan creation.

I believe that the class name was present on the Starship Operations screen in the Conference Room.

 

[Praetor]

Really? It's not on this one, but others are. I'd like to assume as much 'speculative info' from the Encyclopedia as canon as possible, except where we know better.

I wonder what other names might have appeared on displays...

 

[PKTrekGirl]

I don't even know what a 'kitbash' is.

But anyway, I really LOVE your avatar, NCC-1701. One of the more creative DS9 avatars I've seen in a while.