test content
What is the Arc Client?
Install Arc

The woes of ship scaling.

lordrezeonlordrezeon Member Posts: 399 Arc User
I was recently watching some youtube videos that have showed off the official scales for some Discovery and Kelvinverse ships compared to other ships from previous shows and it leaves the TOS-Enterprise looking very out of place in the modernized fleet 23rd century fleet.

In TOS we were led to believe that the Enterprise represented the cream of the crop for the era. During ST3 when the Excelsior was introduced they made a big deal about how much bigger it was than the Enterprise, indicating that this was supposed to represent a major technological leap.

Now in Discovery and Kelvinverse-movies, most ships in the fleet are in the Excelsior to Galaxy class size ranges, which leaves the TOS-Enterprise as being kind of a runt in comparison. That being said however, the scale of the TOS Enterprise has always been a little odd for its mission profile.

People have always touted the size of the Enterprise as being similar to an aircraft carrier, generally glossing over all the negative space in the design and citing only its overall length. If you ignore the nacelles (which aren't habitable space) the ships loses almost a third of its length. Going by just the saucer the ship's habitable space isn't that much bigger than the DS9 Defiant. Which really doesn't fit with being a deep space explorer intended to operate on its own for five years at a time.


So that leaves me with the question, are the larger ships shown in Discovery to big or is the TOS-Enterprise simply to small?

Comments

  • rattler2rattler2 Member Posts: 57,969 Community Moderator
    The TOS Enterprise is an old workhorse. When she's said to be the "cream of the crop" it doesn't mean cutting edge. She's a plum assignment. Assignment to a Constitution Class was viewed as a fast track to promotions because of how desirable said assignments were.
    db80k0m-89201ed8-eadb-45d3-830f-bb2f0d4c0fe7.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2ExOGQ4ZWM2LTUyZjQtNDdiMS05YTI1LTVlYmZkYmJkOGM3N1wvZGI4MGswbS04OTIwMWVkOC1lYWRiLTQ1ZDMtODMwZi1iYjJmMGQ0YzBmZTcucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.8G-Pg35Qi8qxiKLjAofaKRH6fmNH3qAAEI628gW0eXc
    I can't take it anymore! Could everyone just chill out for two seconds before something CRAZY happens again?!
    The nut who actually ground out many packs. The resident forum voice of reason (I HAZ FORUM REP! YAY!)
  • camclcamcl Member Posts: 7 Arc User
    Its a little of both? The TOS Enterprise is actually too small to properly fit all of the interior sets inside it. The commonly accepted length of the TOS 1701 is 289meters, but in reality it should probably be closer to 330 meters in size so that the shuttlebay fits and the bridge isn't twisted to the side off centerline.

    Discovery nipped this in the bud and scaled to the 1701 to something like 450 meters, which offers a bit more fudge factor, and also matches the interior scale of the Defiant's interior diagram seen in "In a Mirror Darkly".
Sign In or Register to comment.