Nebula vs. Galaxy

[Mark_Nguyen]

Yes and no; a VFX goof (the same kind that saw the Galaxy class starships in DS9 with their saucer-mounted impulse engines constantly lit), saw several Miranda class ships with the aft torpedo pods lit with the same glow as the impulse engines below it. What probably happened was the CG artist in charge of those shots thought the rollbar pod aft holes were impulse engines and lit them accordingly.

What this leaves is the fandom to decide whether or not they were ships modified to have extra sublight speed and maneuverability and thus have a very old design better able to keep up with more modern counterparts - the most popular theory. To devil's advocate it though, you COULD possibly say that those ships just had their aft torpedoes on hot standby as well, kinda like the TMP Klingon ships which had their tubes glowing before they fired. Who knows? Nothing was ever said in dialogue to support anyone modifying anything, after all.

Mark

 

[B.J.]

^Are you certain that it was a VFX goof, or did they intentionally do that? I'm fine with it either way.

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

No one is sure. The only thing we know is that in the finale (and not before), the CG model of SOME of the Miranda class starships had the aft torpedo launchers lit. No dialogue, nor anything in the DS9 tech manual or any novels or comics (that I know of) mention it.

http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/_...es/b/b2/Miranda_class_upgrade,_dorsal_aft.jpg

I see this as a goof. If anyone ever tracks down whoever the CG artist who animated those specific shots, we may see if they remember if they did that deliberately, or was just animating it because the aft torpedo launchers looked like impulse engines and didn't bother confirming it with an actual Trek nerd (I believe this is what happened). That person also gloweyed up the warp nacelles too, which is not consistent with most other shots of the ship, and I consider this also a goof. We're just left to find a suitable explanation that fits our own personal head-canons, and which can be presented to others as such since there is no hard evidence. And of course, this is the sort of thing we THRIVE on!

Mark

 

[blssdwlf]

Hmm. I don't think it's a VFX (animation) error. Take a look at the rear of the Reliant and compare to the impulse engine on top version in DS9.

The DS9 version's torpedo pod in the rear is divided completely in half by a rectangular hull piece which physically looks like an impulse engine. The Reliant's pod has a cylinder dome that extends back but only covers up the top rear and doesn't divide it.

The DS9 version's impulse engine on the body has the "red exhausts" only half as tall as the ones on the Reliant so they have a different impulse engine setup.

You could say the modeler goofed or changed the design but I don't think it was a goof on the part of the animator.

Anyways, the DS9 ship does have different physical features regardless of the animation fx to think of the rear of the pod as something that appears like an impulse engine, IMHO.

 

[B.J.]

I think those differences are mostly the result of creating quick-and-dirty simplified models for use in the fleet shots. But honestly, I kinda like having them a bit different - I'm all for variants! Makes the ships a lot more realistic, like ships IRL.

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

That's fair - I'm still not convinced, but I researched this today and found out a few things that I've posted in a new thread.

http://www.trekbbs.com/showthread.php?p=9275158#post9275158

Mark