Raven MSD

[Praetor]

Here's the MSD of the Hansens's Raven created by LCARS 24 and myself for inclusion in the next release of LCARS 24 for nitpicks and suggestions. It's based pretty much directly off of the on-screen MSD as best we could interpret it, but is not intended to be a direct recreation. The label placement is pretty much extrapolation and guessing, since those labels were not really visible on screen. We also added an outline to show warp nacelle placement.

First references:





And the final product:

 

[Bill Morris]

The reference fanmade cutaway is Adge's Flash version. The labels become legible when zoomed up to maximum. Here it is on his site:

http://www.lcars.org.uk/lcars_a7.htm

 

[Praetor]

I meant the labels on the original. Thanks for linking to Adge.

 

[SicOne]

Looks good!

 

[C.E. Evans]

That is just awesome, and I'm not saying that just because I really like that ship to begin with.

But how do the crew get from deck to deck? By turbolift, stairs, or ladders?

 

[Praetor]

For whatever reason, the original MSD didn't have visible turbolifts. The bridge set also didn't have them. We might assume they have them and aren't important enough to be shown on the MSD and also aren't accessed directly from the bridge, as with the similar-sized Defiant.

 

[Crazy Eddie]

Why would a ship this small need a turbolift? It's only, what, a hundred feet from the bridge to the engine room? Is it really worth it to cram a five-meter turboshaft into the hull just to save the crew forty seconds on a trip from the bridge to the shuttlebay?

 

[Praetor]

Eh, I'd tend to agree. It's possible that it doesn't have one. The Defiant definitely does, though.

 

[Crazy Eddie]

MSD notwithstanding, Defiant is stated in dialog as having at least six decks. I tend to think the ship is significantly bigger than she appears to be, probably closer in size to the Miranda class (despite two really bad MSDs that are clearly inaccurate).

 

[Bill Morris]

I'm going to try that transparent-nacelle trick with the Saber class. Wish me luck.

 

[JNG]

MSD notwithstanding, Defiant is stated in dialog as having at least six decks. I tend to think the ship is significantly bigger than she appears to be, probably closer in size to the Miranda class (despite two really bad MSDs that are clearly inaccurate).

I've heard of a Deck 5; when did they mention a Deck 6? I prefer the 170m Defiant myself, but proponents of the 120m version claim a little Deck 5 could fit on the bottom somewhere (or choose to ignore the 3 separate references to it).

 

[Praetor]

There's a turbolift chart that was part of set dressing that mentions deck six.

I used to be in the 'Defiant must be bigger' camp but since the producers couldn't decide what size they want it at first (flip-flopping between the tiny two-deck ship and the big six-deck ship until finally settling on the four-deck ship) I think we're best off just sticking to the size and arrangement that was finally nailed down and disregarding and retconning the rest.

 

[JNG]

^Well, they did finally "nail down" 170m in the DS9 TM but accompanied by an internal arrangement that wasn't consistent with it, so it stays a bit up in the air A rare incidence of agreement with David Stipes.

Captain's Chair (which I really like but can't get to run in Leopard) gives a six-decker as well.

Back to the Raven, I like this design a lot and wish we saw more ships in this size range with these sorts of capabilities, as I bet there are a lot of them out there pushing the boundaries of explored space. Do you think it would be categorized as a Scout or a Surveyor?

 

[Praetor]

^Well, they did finally "nail down" 170m in the DS9 TM but accompanied by an internal arrangement that wasn't consistent with it, so it stays a bit up in the air A rare incidence of agreement with David Stipes.

Maybe someone should convince Doug Drexler to redo it?

Back to the Raven, I like this design a lot and wish we saw more ships in this size range with these sorts of capabilities, as I bet there are a lot of them out there pushing the boundaries of explored space. Do you think it would be categorized as a Scout or a Surveyor?

Me too. I would consider it a Surveyor more than a Scout. In my mind a Scout would just do that - take basic readings and move on, where a Surveyor would probably hang around longer and do more in-depth readings one sector at a time. I imagine they are probably in the same family though, and this difference would really be a minor one.

 

[Crazy Eddie]

^Well, they did finally "nail down" 170m in the DS9 TM but accompanied by an internal arrangement that wasn't consistent with it, so it stays a bit up in the air A rare incidence of agreement with David Stipes.

Maybe someone should convince Doug Drexler to redo it?

Maybe someone should do it themselves? I've got half a mind to make my own Defiant MSD based on a six-deck configuration if I could just find twelve hours to kill.

 

[Praetor]

I did, once, more to match the outside than the 170m figure:


I also drew the deck plans. I didn't ever take it past the hand-drawn stage. I get bored quickly.

Looking at it now, there are a few things I would probably change.

 

[Bill Morris]

When Dax said there was a plasma leak on deck 5 in DS9: Rejoined, it was probably supposed to be "deck 2, section 5," a blown line not corrected or an editing error, possibly a script error. In the next scene she went to deck 2, section 5. In DS9: One Little Ship, for example, it was "deck 2, section 5."

 

[Praetor]

This is just one of those things where the producers hadn't decided, reference mistakes were made before the size was pinned down, and we're best to just go with what the 'final' size is supposed to be and ignore anything to the contrary.

The Enterprise-A's deck 78, anyone?

 

[JNG]

When Dax said there was a plasma leak on deck 5 in DS9: Rejoined, it was probably supposed to be "deck 2, section 5," a blown line not corrected or an editing error, possibly a script error. In the next scene she went to deck 2, section 5. In DS9: One Little Ship, for example, it was "deck 2, section 5."

Deck 5 is in the script. It's where she notes a hull breach. Where they go after that is to the plasma leak in Engineering rather than to the site of the breach.

 

[Timo]

Also, Deck 5 is again mentioned in "To the Death" as a turbolift designation; apparently, it is the deck where the Jem'Hadar "guests" are accommodated, not a partial-height crawlspace or anything.

Deck 6 is not a dialogue entity. Yet it is present in the Okudagram that describes the turbolift network and is sometimes glimpsed (gladly off-focus) on the back of the turbolift. It might well be but a crawlspace, as it features only support machinery such as landing gear, antimatter pods, waste management, and part of the lifepods. It does also house the ship's brig, but perhaps the Seldonis Conventions on Humanoidie Treatment of Prisoners don't preclude lie-down cells?

One might argue that the Raven (an Aerie class surveyor/colonizer in the computer games) is a civilian design that does not feature turbolifts because it doesn't need them, whereas the Defiant has to have turbolifts for some Starfleet-specific reason. Perhaps the turbolift network can interface with starbase networks, just as is suggested for the E-D? Or perhaps lifts are necessary for some sort of evacuation procedure? Or for moving ordnance or other supplies around?

Timo Saloniemi