Is there an official class for the Kelvin yet?
- Thread starter Commodore_Rook
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If you go by the interpretation proposed in the movie, the Kelvin was the same size as it was in the original TOS timeline. Not that we would know this, since we never SAW the Kelvin in TOS.
Here's a thought: starships are generally thought to come in "classes" but they also seem to come in different design styles. Partly this is due to the modeling process, but it consistently reflects size and mass of vessels. For instance: Reliant, Stargazer, Constellation, Exeter, Defiant were all similar (if not identical) to the Enterprise in terms of size and mass. Excelsior was considerably larger; various Excelsior kitbashes exist that are also similar in size and mass. The Galaxy Class is larger still, and its sister class the Nebula is again of a similar size and mass.
I'd be willing to bet that the Kelvin is part of a design style we never got to see during the three seasons in TOS, much like the Sovereign Class is undoubtedly part of a design style we never got to see in either voyager or DS9. I would also suspect that even larger designs predate the NuEnterprise by several decades at least; the Vulcans had considerably larger vessels less than a hundred years earlier.
Here's a thought: starships are generally thought to come in "classes" but they also seem to come in different design styles. Partly this is due to the modeling process, but it consistently reflects size and mass of vessels. For instance: Reliant, Stargazer, Constellation, Exeter, Defiant were all similar (if not identical) to the Enterprise in terms of size and mass. Excelsior was considerably larger; various Excelsior kitbashes exist that are also similar in size and mass. The Galaxy Class is larger still, and its sister class the Nebula is again of a similar size and mass.
I'd be willing to bet that the Kelvin is part of a design style we never got to see during the three seasons in TOS, much like the Sovereign Class is undoubtedly part of a design style we never got to see in either voyager or DS9. I would also suspect that even larger designs predate the NuEnterprise by several decades at least; the Vulcans had considerably larger vessels less than a hundred years earlier.
Not to mention the USS Excelsior in the same movie - which, based on window rows and the bridge module seems to have been designed much larger (~700m) than the 450ish meters it's listed as in the various manuals.
Or even the large Planet of the Titans Star Destroyer-style Enterprise prototype seen briefly in the background of the dock wouldn't fit if we took the Enterprise/door comparison literally.
Or even the large Planet of the Titans Star Destroyer-style Enterprise prototype seen briefly in the background of the dock wouldn't fit if we took the Enterprise/door comparison literally.
Here's a size comparison of the 289m TOS Enterprise and the 457m USS Kelvin:
The engineering hull on the Kelvin is the same diameter as the TOS Enterprise, the saucer is twice the diameter with the same two decks at the rim. The ridge on the topside of the Kelvin saucer matches the TOS saucer size.
The engineering hull on the Kelvin is the same diameter as the TOS Enterprise, the saucer is twice the diameter with the same two decks at the rim. The ridge on the topside of the Kelvin saucer matches the TOS saucer size.
I think the issue here is that you had ideas from different camps that weren't ever reconciled. There's evidence to support both the idea of the larger and smaller size. I wouldn't be surprised if the decision to make them larger wasn't done late in development.
As for the class, personally I see the Kelvin as a re-envisioned Saladin, but that's just my interpretation. In the JJ verse, we're not likely to get the hard answers we're accustomed to.
As for the class, personally I see the Kelvin as a re-envisioned Saladin, but that's just my interpretation. In the JJ verse, we're not likely to get the hard answers we're accustomed to.
I would. Lots of people have claimed without a lot of hard evidence (mostly hearsay and rumors) that the ENTERPRISE was scaled up late in the production process. There's even less evidence--in fact, none whatsoever--that anything similar happened with Kelvin. It's a long step from Church's concept art to the final design, such that the only thing the two have in common is the same basic shape (in fact they do not even have the same name).
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