Romulan Bird of Prey (A1)

posted on March 14th, 2013, 12:06 am

At Major Payne’s suggestion, I generated a lower poly version of the classic Bird of Prey from a higher poly model I had created to learn 3D Max. This release includes two versions: one with animation and one without. The animated version simulates swirling gases inside a transparent nacelle dome. Hopefully, you’ll find one or both to your liking and find a place for them in your collection.

Attachments

Romulan BOP A1.rar

(1.87 MiB) Downloaded 656 times

posted on March 14th, 2013, 1:46 am

Will it also work in A2 like some A1 mods? If it will, it might make a great replacement for the one I currently have especially with this having animation with gases inside the nacelle dome.

posted on March 14th, 2013, 3:20 pm

the birth on the bottom looks fine, the rest......!?!

posted on March 14th, 2013, 3:22 pm

sorry...the bird

posted on March 14th, 2013, 4:01 pm

The TOS version of the BoP looks like something the Romulans stole from Starfleet...

posted on March 14th, 2013, 5:44 pm

@Tyler: What do you mean by:

The TOS version of the BoP looks like something the Romulans stole from Starfleet.

It looks like a Romulan design, especially since it follows in the same line as the Romular Bird of Prey shown in the Star Trek Enterprise episode "Minefield".

http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Minefield_(episode)


Given that design of the Romulan Bird of Prey, the TOS BoP seems like a logical next step in the design pattern of the ship.

posted on March 14th, 2013, 5:57 pm

@Tyler: What do you mean by:

The TOS version of the BoP looks like something the Romulans stole from Starfleet.

the design in ENT: Minefield was made IRL after the TOS bop.

tyler means exactly what he said. the design of the TOS bop shares some key points in common with starfleet. almost perfectly cylindrical nacelles, a "saucer" which is almost circular. the front of the TOS bop looks like the saucer of the TOS enterprise. also hull colour was similar.

posted on March 14th, 2013, 6:51 pm

@Myles: Just because Star Trek Enterprise is a prequel series is why it was made after the TOS BoP. Chronological in timeline order of how the Star Trek Timeline progresses, the ENT BoP comes first then the TOS BoP, so logical the design order goes ENT BoP to the TOS BoP, and if you look very closely they match in how they are shape with some minor differences.

A possible key reason why the nacelle cylinders and curvature of the TOS BoP's forward section looking like a Constitution-class starship is actually simple in taking a look at how the Romulans operate... Spys. They can easily have spys inside Starfleet and the Federation that got their hands on some design specs, except many starships in Starfleet in the TOS timeline had the same type of nacelles (see the Daedalus-class for example).

****

Gven a statement by Scotty in the TOS episode "Balance of Terror": "Their power is simple impulse" would make it illogical for a TOS BoP to have warp nacelles if it couldn't go to warp. So the change in nacelle design from the ENT BoP to the TOS BoP and Federation ships of that time could mean that the TOS BoP had at least a Warp 7 engine capability (Star Trek Enterprise novel The Romulan War: To Brave The Storm. - [had about 7 Warp 7 prototypes of the ENT style BoP]). Either way, the Romulans needed warp or they could never have waged an interstellar war against Earth and its allies (The Coalition of Planets) prior to 2161 (and after that war in 2161, the United Federation of Planets was founded).

http://www.shipschematics.net/startrek/federation_data.php?filter=TOS
http://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/lcars/romulan-bird-of-prey.php
http://www.stogeek.com/wiki/Romulan_Bird_of_Prey
http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Romulan_Bird-of-Prey_(23rd_century)

To sumerize my post:
The Romulans' warp nacelles on the TOS BoP can very easily be like those on TOS Federation starships because of Romulan spys getting their hands on the plans and smuggling them back to Romulus where they were incorporated in the new designs for the BoP to bring it up to date to "at least Federation standards" .

(All other similarities can easily be related to production costs or one key word: "money". Maybe there wasn't enough money allowed to make a differentiated TOS BoP model that was a different color and full configuration as the TOS Enterprise. Plus technological restraints from the production time of TOS to ENT can just as easily played a part in how the ships are alike and different. Then again, I'm just thinking outside the box with alittle logic.)

posted on March 14th, 2013, 7:44 pm

@Myles: Just because Star Trek Enterprise is a prequel series is why it was made after the TOS BoP. Chronological in timeline order of how the Star Trek Timeline progresses, the ENT BoP comes first then the TOS BoP, so logical the design order goes ENT BoP to the TOS BoP, and if you look very closely they match in how they are shape with some minor differences

The "logical design" is done in a vfx studio, in real life. the TOS bop was designed by vfx first, then the ENT bop was designed to look like something that inspired it.

the TOS enterprise "inspired" the TOS bop, which then "inspired" the ENT bop. and yes this is down to the show being made in the 60s. as for a show explanation, espionage is as plausible an explanation as i've ever seen. as for the whole "no warp" thing, TOS was far from perfect. there's plenty of things that don't make sense.

posted on March 14th, 2013, 8:22 pm

Will it also work in A2 like some A1 mods? If it will, it might make a great replacement for the one I currently have especially with this having animation with gases inside the nacelle dome.

I think it will work fine. You'll just need to make the appropriate odf, build button and the like. I will be releasing an A2 version as well. Hopefully within a week.

posted on March 14th, 2013, 8:28 pm

Maybe I'll do Altom's Bird of Prey design as my next project.

Attachments

Romulan%20TMP%20Bird-of-Prey%2002concept.jpg (63.39 KiB) Viewed 2435 times

Romulan%20TMP%20Bird-of-Prey%2001Concept.jpg (131.03 KiB) Viewed 2435 times

Romulan%20TMP%20Bird-of-Prey%2000concept.jpg (84.05 KiB) Viewed 2435 times

posted on March 14th, 2013, 11:40 pm

It's obviously "non-canon", but the Starfleet Museum website is an absolutely brilliant resource, and it's written in a real-world, gritty style I love. It's like a "Janes' Guide to Starships". Loads of backstory too. Anyway I digress.

At said website, the similarity between Federation warp nacelles and those employed on the Romulan Bird of Prey is said to result from Romulan spies infiltrating Starfleet and then reverse engineering the technology. Remember, no-one had viewscreens in the Earth-Romulan War. No-one (except the Vulcans) knew what Romulans looked like. So, if most Starfleet personnel saw a slightly odd looking Vulcan, no-one would think anything of it. Even Vulcans would keep quiet, as it was a major embarrassment to have an offshoot of their race be the Federation's nemesis. (Remember Balance of Terror? Everyone was surprised when they saw the Romulan commander and he looked like Spock, and Spock kept schtum about it up till that point)

So, anyways, not canon I know, but it's a beautifully tidy piece of fan deduction. Also somewhat explains the saucer shape; apparently it's one of the best shapes for "cutting" through subspace cleanly. This wouldn't take too long to discover, the same way as now all aircraft are built on pretty much the same principles even if the builders are in different countries and have never ever communicated. Hence the saucer shape of Federation primary hulls, the curvature of Romulan designs, the rounded "bulb" and semi-circular "hood" of Klingon designs (which are known to be a tad more primitive than Federation ones; they do favour strength over performance etc. If it works, why change it?)

Again, nice little piece of plausible explanation there.

posted on March 15th, 2013, 1:21 am

Looks like a cool next project Pepperman

posted on March 15th, 2013, 1:37 am

@SquireJames: I haven't really gone to the Starfleet Museum website much and I haven't read everything there, so its nice to know that my Romulan Spying on the Federation and taking plans for technology is also used by others.

I like the theory though and I wouldn't have stated it if I didn't think it was plausible.

I did use The Starfleet Museum as a source for my STA2_Generational Mod but other than one mod based on it ("The Romulan War Mod": http://armada2.filefront.com/file/Romulan_War_Mod_Demo;31931 which was just a demo and seems that it was never completed).

I've never found any ships for that era, barely enough to balance the other races to the Federation [aka: the Klingons and Romulans need more ENT & TOS Era units to be balanced]. I'm always looking for more units for the Klingons if those era actually.

posted on March 15th, 2013, 4:20 pm

Is there something you're trying to prove by hijacking someone elses thread? You seem to like doing it.