Yes, I've seen the overlays of refit and TOS that show how much of a mismatch there really is there. Frankly I'd rather they hadn't done that either! Still, I find this one more jarring, probably because it's a similar mega-refit to make the ship look older, not newer. Oh, and because the TMP redesign is lovely, and this thing is a lump in my view. A retro lump at that.
Spoilers Starship Design in Star Trek: Picard
- Thread starter pst
- Start date
Yes, I've seen the overlays of refit and TOS that show how much of a mismatch there really is there. Frankly I'd rather they hadn't done that either! Still, I find this one more jarring, probably because it's a similar mega-refit to make the ship look older, not newer. Oh, and because the TMP redesign is lovely, and this thing is a lump in my view. A retro lump at that.
I think "kitbash" is selling Bill's work rather short.
Nah, there's nothing dismissive in the term. it's a widely-recognized colloquialism, (as I know you know) referring to models based partly or largely on preexisting kits and found objects. Trek has used quite a number of kitbashes on screen over the decades, sometimes as display models on set but often as full-scale spacecraft. And some of them were quite beautiful and became well-known, like the Stargazer. Most of the fleet at Wolf Whatzitznumber were kitbashes. And so on. The Phoenix in "The Wounded" is more or less a Galaxy kitbash.
Bill did quite a bit of fine custom work on the Shangri-la, which is why I described it as sophisticated and well-done. The entire secondary hull, or virtually all of it, is custom-crafted parts.
That said, there's a difference in scope between "Design the best Starfleet ship you can" and "Design the best Starfleet ship you can using mostly parts at hand." For the latter you can't do better than Bill Krause's several designs over the years; indeed, they're superior to a lot of the screen-used models I singled out above. But if one were to mistakenly assume as I did that the Titan-A was an "original" design, well, it comes across as far too derivative to be first-rate.
And, BTW, the original Shangri-la is better looking and more coherent than the TNG-ized Titan version.
Maybe in the 23rd/24th/25th century, the word "refit" has taken on a new meaning. Perhaps it means the material within a ship's hull was recycled in some kind of 3D printing / beaming process to build the new ship. It's only related loosely to the original definition through etymology. For example, I still say that I'm going to "tape" a TV show, even though what I'm actually doing is digitally storing a file to the cloud, which has nothing whatsoever to do with tape.
In the 25th century, "refit" = "kitbash" - as in "We built a whole lot of this new, but we started with some pieces of the old one."
I'm not sure why we need to dance around it, the meaning from the dialogue is fairly clear. The ship has parts of the old Titan that Riker used to command.
Fortunately it's left vague how much of it is reused, so maybe it's literally just a case of disconnecting Riker's Spotify account.
It's a new ship that has some elemental connection to the old one.
Fortunately it's left vague how much of it is reused, so maybe it's literally just a case of disconnecting Riker's Spotify account.
It's a new ship that has some elemental connection to the old one.
I've definitely seen weirder justifications.In the 25th century, "refit" = "kitbash" - as in "We built a whole lot of this new, but we started with some pieces of the old one."
No...it just means Starfleet stopped building: "Fat ones that nobody wants..."
And turn the Luna Titan, a tactical heavy cruiser.. To an exploratory with minimal weapons.
Wouldn't really call it an "Exploratory Ship", it seems that with the ramped up impulse engines the ship is now meant to almost be like a somewhat more aggressive California Class.
With the purpose being faster In-system travel between Federation Member Worlds.
From the description we've been given, it seems that the new Titan is designated as more of a second contact ship for member systems with multiple planets involved.
Captain Shaw's minimal description of what he has been doing for the last five years also seems to back that up.
Last edited:
Shaw does
Riker: "You see this hull plate? That was one of mine! This bulkhead right here too."In the 25th century, "refit" = "kitbash" - as in "We built a whole lot of this new, but we started with some pieces of the old one."
Captain Shaw doesn't strike me as the kind to be content with describing his ship as anything but the best.
Even if it's basically just used as a system jumping Federation support ship.
From what we've been shown so far, it doesn't seem to me that he is the captain of a starship that's out there 'going where no one has gone before'.
He's content to just hop around within Federation boarders doing piddly missions doled out by Star Fleet.
All the popular ones had already sold out.
That doesn't seem to be in line with the lineage of the Titan. Or the Constitution. Or the fact that this is the ship that Riker picked to steal. Er, commandeer. (Nautical term.)
Also, if the Titan is underpowered compared to, say, any Hero Ship we've ever heard of, why bother to make the adversary so vastly overpowered?
It's another stupidly written box to put our characters in that will no doubt be jettisoned as the plot demands.
Poor Intrepid class!All the popular ones had already sold out.
I doubt the Titan is underpowered.
