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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
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| Posted: 28 July 2021 at 8:48am | IP Logged | 1
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Not to stray too far of topic, but beautiful as the Enterprise is, it’s not a very practical design for a combat vessel. If I was in command of an attacking ship I might be inclined to concentrate my fire on that slender neck between the Primary and Secondary hulls!
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Andrew Bitner
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 01 June 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 7526
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| Posted: 28 July 2021 at 9:06am | IP Logged | 2
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It's elegant and pretty... but Defiant is a better design for a combat ship, out of Starfleet's many designs. That neck is definitely a weak spot, as are the stems connecting to the nacelles. Maybe Starfleet depends too heavily on its shields rather than on solid ship design.
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Brian Miller
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 28 July 2004
Location: United States
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| Posted: 28 July 2021 at 9:23am | IP Logged | 3
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But the Enterprise wasn’t supposed to be a combat vessel, was it? I
thought its function was as a science/exploration type ship. Am I
misremembering?
Edited by Brian Miller on 28 July 2021 at 10:36am
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
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| Posted: 28 July 2021 at 9:37am | IP Logged | 4
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Sort of. Remember, in “Metamorphosis” McCoy found it necessary to remind Kirk he was “also trained to be a diplomat,” while in “Amok Time” Star Fleet is sending a flock of ships to a planet as “a show of solidarity and strength” as a warning to the Klingons. Plus, Constitution class ships are pretty heavily armed for “exploration”. Imagine Jacques Cousteau’s Calypso fitted out with cannon and torpedoes!
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Steven Queen
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 28 February 2020
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| Posted: 28 July 2021 at 9:49am | IP Logged | 5
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I got the impression that the saucer-section was intended to be distanced from the dangerous warp drives. Remember that was the Nuclear Age---with all its hopes, fears, and misgivings.
Edited by Steven Queen on 28 July 2021 at 9:49am
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Andrew Bitner
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 01 June 2004
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| Posted: 28 July 2021 at 10:09am | IP Logged | 6
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The Constitution class was designed--at least in part--for exploration of "strange new worlds," and was equipped for combat on that basis. It was (IIRC) the most powerful starship of the fleet at that time.As noted, the design is elegant but it is not a practical one for a ship that is likely to be in battle. Also, the saucer of the NCC-1707 *is* able to separate from the rest but the show never demonstrated that as the effects were too expensive. (Which raises the question of whether the six-foot model has that capability--next time I go by the Air & Space Museum, maybe I'll look to see if there are seams where it could be detached for filming.)
Edited by Andrew Bitner on 28 July 2021 at 10:10am
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Andrew Bitner
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 01 June 2004
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| Posted: 28 July 2021 at 10:27am | IP Logged | 7
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That said, the long and skinny neck of the Klingon ships is also a weak spot. The Romulan ships don't seem to have any comparable "shoot me here" points on them, I don't think...
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John Northey
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 09 June 2020
Location: Canada
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| Posted: 28 July 2021 at 11:54am | IP Logged | 8
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Beautiful as the designs were for Star Trek, they were very impractical and hopefully no one ever tries to make them real with future space travel. The Shi'ar ship is far more practical with the near ball shape and likely command near the middle.
Must admit a bit of surprise as JB always seems to have these things planned out - I half expected he'd have a drawing of each ship with details at home to make it easier to do action sequences inside the ship for consistency. More work upfront but I would guess a time saver later. Like many here I loved Dave Cockrum's work and miss his work now. From Legion (read first when I was small child at a barbers) to Futurians (a shame that didn't take off).
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Jean Sterling Ajouissance
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 04 March 2021
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Posts: 108
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| Posted: 28 July 2021 at 12:27pm | IP Logged | 9
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If the Shi'ar let their hair (feathers) grow, would they look like Avia?
I'm assuming that the rounded-helmet-sculpted-fitting style they all sport is a neatly trimmed 'haircut', similar to how most Vulcans sport the Surak look.
@JB -- have you ever drawn a fully plumaged, naturally coiffed-in-the-raw Shi'ar? Just wondering how much peacocking would present itself.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
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| Posted: 28 July 2021 at 12:38pm | IP Logged | 10
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Where do those feathers stop and start. I had Dr Grey make a reference to naked Lilandra being covered in down, but how much is there?I don’t think the Shi’ar necessarily engage in plume-scaping. Like birds in the wild, their feathers have evolved to specific configurations, some of which probably served a purpose in days gone by.
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Rebecca Jansen
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 February 2018
Location: Canada
Posts: 4635
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| Posted: 28 July 2021 at 12:40pm | IP Logged | 11
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OT: The Futurians might've done very well, the original 'graphic novel' had more than one printing, but the little company that published the regular comic was not well run or experienced, and it also got into some legal trouble for using the old Thunder Agents. Dave Cockrum went with them for a regular comic title because they offered him more upfront than Marvel/Epic would... a similar mistake a lot of musicals acts make. I'd have loved lots more of Futurians myself, he could've done it quarterly or bi-monthly and hopefully made a living income, and there was even one supporting character's fate left hanging. Maybe we were lucky to get the fourth originally unpublished issue at all however late.
Mention of the Shi'ar having feathers reminds me that I've see some inkers doing Gladiator's mohawk less as hair as I imagined it being and more like some piece of headgear.
Now I'll have that John Denver 'Calypso' song in my head all day! :^D
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
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| Posted: 28 July 2021 at 12:52pm | IP Logged | 12
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The Futurians had much in common with a project I’d developed in my fan days, including someone from the future coming back to possess an individual in present day. Since Dave and I had first met at Marvel, years after I was doodling around with my idea, and he had the Futurians already well developed, this discovery led us to wonder which earlier source had been our common inspiration.
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