Starship paint jobs?

[James Wright]

Why was the Excelsior painted different colors then those of the Enterprise?
Did the Reliant have the same paint scheme as Enterpeise? To me it looked like the painter gave Reliant a yellowish tinge.

JDW

 

[Deks]

Why was the Excelsior painted different colors then those of the Enterprise?
Did the Reliant have the same paint scheme as Enterpeise? To me it looked like the painter gave Reliant a yellowish tinge.

JDW

Actually, I think the starships outer hull is virtually the same for any starship and that coloring depends on the type of material used in hull construction.
It's more likely the paint part is involved primarily with the registry and the likes, but the Romulans and Klingons seem to utilize green color primarily ... and the Cardassians orangeish ...
It's possible that the color can be influenced with certain molecular manipulation instead of wasting tons of paint.
Federation starships enjoy grey color in majority of cased with paint jobs revolving primarily around the registry.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Hmm...I always thought it was a result of different lighting from nearby stars or other celestial bodies myself...

But it might be possible that different ships do may have slightly different hull colors or paint schemes. They all tend to vary from light blue to grey to white, though. Those may be the standard colors for Federation starships.

 

[Forbin]

The Enterprise, Reliant and Excelsior models are all painted white as a base color, then eccented with that aztec pattern and various small panels in different shades.

Go here and look around:
http://www.starshipmodeler.com/trek/movietech.htm

 

[James Wright]

I meant the model makers, even though the Reliant looked to be painted the same base white as the Enterprise, did the painter give the Reliant a yellow tinge?
In the movies the Excelsior appeared to be painted blue but in TNG & DS9 it appeared a dimmer blue, almost gray.

JDW

 

[Deks]

I meant the model makers, even though the Reliant looked to be painted the same base white as the Enterprise, did the painter give the Reliant a yellow tinge?
In the movies the Excelsior appeared to be painted blue but in TNG & DS9 it appeared a dimmer blue, almost gray.

JDW

No ... that kind of color difference is based primarily on the lighting and not the paint job since majority of familiar Federation designs feature primarily same hull color.

 

[Cary L. Brown]

Two questions... two answers.

Why were the MODELS painted differently? Because different model-makers did each one, under different circumstances, and we're lucky that they stayed as consistent as they did!

Why are the starships (in-universe) colored differently? Well, I doubt it's based upon the desire to be "stylish."

Different colors typically are either for (1) identification and warning (as in the mustard yellow "warning" areas around TMP phasers and thrusters), or (2) for mechanical purposes.

What mechanical purposes? That's all speculation, but here are a few possibilities.

1) All "paint" performs both protective and cosmetic purposes. It's very likely that a coating might enhance the thermal characteristics of the ship... allowing certain areas to function as radiator areas and others being effectively insulated against radiated energy. It might also serve to prevent radiation-based oxidation or other deteriorative effects.

2) Different colors might reflect different additives to the paint... ie, carbon fibers to increase conductivity might allow the deflector shielding to follow certain paths and flow around others.

3) Some areas might actually represent different base materials and might not be "painted" at all. For instance, entire regions might be "plain metal" and others might be ceramic/polymer composites, just for example.

 

[Forbin]

And don't forget such things as the radar-absorbant material and radar-absorbant paint used on our current military aircraft. Even as far back as the SR-71 with its RAM leading-edge panels and its "iron ball" black paint job.

Take a look at an F-22 and you'll see some pretty varied shades and reflectivities.
http://www.af.mil/photos/index.asp?galleryID=40
http://www.af.mil/shared/media/photodb/photos/050812-F-2295B-947.jpg

 

[Deks]

And don't forget such things as the radar-absorbant material and radar-absorbant paint used on our current military aircraft. Even as far back as the SR-71 with its RAM leading-edge panels and its "iron ball" black paint job.

Take a look at an F-22 and you'll see some pretty varied shades and reflectivities.
http://www.af.mil/photos/index.asp?galleryID=40
http://www.af.mil/shared/media/photodb/photos/050812-F-2295B-947.jpg

This is a moot point for any Trek culture that has FTL propulsion and sensors at their disposal.
The material of the hull might provide an effective measure of reflecting/refracting sensor scans but not the paint itself unless of course they create a paint with reflective properties, but it would be much easier for the hull material to be sensor proof (which is often associated with highly advanced cultures ... our heroes would have to use a dampening field around the hull) instead of using tons of paint.

 

[S'kai]

And don't forget such things as the radar-absorbant material and radar-absorbant paint used on our current military aircraft. Even as far back as the SR-71 with its RAM leading-edge panels and its "iron ball" black paint job.

Take a look at an F-22 and you'll see some pretty varied shades and reflectivities.
http://www.af.mil/photos/index.asp?galleryID=40
http://www.af.mil/shared/media/photodb/photos/050812-F-2295B-947.jpg

It was addressed somewhere, maybe in a novel, sorry for not being able to remember the source, that the Enterprise Refit was painted this pearly white because of some special defensive properties. All the ships created during that period (at least those that conceivably needed it) including the Reliant were that color.

Presumably other technological advances either made this formulation unnecessary, or the next generation of paint happend to be grey again.

Whatever.

 

[Cary L. Brown]

This is a moot point for any Trek culture that has FTL propulsion and sensors at their disposal.

That's quite a stretch based upon something that doesn't exist in reality and thus is ENTIRELY defined by storytelling requirements.

The material of the hull might provide an effective measure of reflecting/refracting sensor scans but not the paint itself unless of course they create a paint with reflective properties, but it would be much easier for the hull material to be sensor proof (which is often associated with highly advanced cultures ... our heroes would have to use a dampening field around the hull) instead of using tons of paint.

Ummm... why would it be "easier" to do that than to use the MOST MECHANICALLY ADVANTAGEOUS material for the hull structure and then just apply the sensor dampening material, which is probably not as mechanically robust (I could go into another lecture about why certain materials are better than others again, but I'd rather not) in a thin layer over the top.

"Using tons of paint" over two trillion tons of metal is still superior to using tens of trillions of tons of less robust material in the construction of the vessel to achieve the same mechanical strength.

 

[Deks]

This is a moot point for any Trek culture that has FTL propulsion and sensors at their disposal.

That's quite a stretch based upon something that doesn't exist in reality and thus is ENTIRELY defined by storytelling requirements.

The material of the hull might provide an effective measure of reflecting/refracting sensor scans but not the paint itself unless of course they create a paint with reflective properties, but it would be much easier for the hull material to be sensor proof (which is often associated with highly advanced cultures ... our heroes would have to use a dampening field around the hull) instead of using tons of paint.

Ummm... why would it be "easier" to do that than to use the MOST MECHANICALLY ADVANTAGEOUS material for the hull structure and then just apply the sensor dampening material, which is probably not as mechanically robust (I could go into another lecture about why certain materials are better than others again, but I'd rather not) in a thin layer over the top.

"Using tons of paint" over two trillion tons of metal is still superior to using tens of trillions of tons of less robust material in the construction of the vessel to achieve the same mechanical strength.

True, but I was only making a statement regarding the fictional Trek universe because the thread itself was connected to it.


Well, why not simply construct a hull material that incorporates everything along with sensor refractive properties ?
It would be less painful in the long run to assemble as the construction process doesn't have to add another layer to the existing hull surface just to add a feature if it could have been incorporated into the hull as one of it's properties.
Essentially, it was showed on numerous occasions construction of 2 separate systems that do 2 different things, and then later on modify the existing one to incorporate the other, or create a new system that does both and more.
:-)
Such a thing has been done in the real world as well.

 

[Patrickivan]

Well, being a futuristic fictional time, perhaps they didn't use paint. The colour was infused with what ever materials they used on the ship skins. That would solve the wasted weight problem. Seems pretty simple to me really.

On top of that, it's a time when they have the ability to manipulate matter, construct colossal ships and stations, and travel across the galaxy. Why not give their ships cool or intimidating paint jobs? They aren't over done really. And if it's simple to have the colours infused into the construction materials, then the Klingons and Romulans would take advantage of that for the intimidation factor.

It's not like these ships are never seen by the naked eye, or on camera.

I think the answer is the simple one here.

 

[Forbin]

Why would Starfleet give their exploration ships intimidating paint jobs?

 

[Starlock]

Why would Starfleet give their exploration ships intimidating paint jobs?

Y'know, when I saw this thread for the first time I immediately pictured starships with flame jobs and pinstriping...

 

[Deks]

Why would Starfleet give their exploration ships intimidating paint jobs?

Y'know, when I saw this thread for the first time I immediately pictured starships with flame jobs and pinstriping...

Like the Defiant concept sketch that featured a toon shark ?

 

[Patrickivan]

Or "cool", as I said. Though I suppose Starfleet's idea of cool wouldn't include toon sharks. Pin striping? Oh yeah!

 

[Elder Knight]

Does paint work in zero gravity?

 

[MarianLH]

I imagine so. Binder doesn't need gravity. Although any spills would be three-dimensional...



Marian

 

[Patrickivan]

I hear NASA's next shuttle mission involves a Paint By Numbers experiment...