This just makes me miss old Trek even more. Just the fact that you can see a clear design lineage across the generations of ships. Just look at the top shot of the Galaxy, Intrepid, Nova, and Sovereign classes side by side. You can see the trend for more streamlined hull shapes going from the Galaxy to the Intrepid but it still has nacelles that place it in the Galaxy era. Then it goes to the Nova class that still have the basic Intrepid look but moving towards a more elongated look which then translates nicely into the Sovereign. It adds history and a sense of reality to the show that you just don't get in current Trek.
Love this little science vessel that can fight. Rhode Island refit just perfect and the fact it’s the defiants platform when the defiant frame was being designed
Kinda strange that they didn't compare it to its predecessor the Oberth. I would like to see a side by side of the two to compare their overall sizes and design features.
in regards to science vessels, the nova is a definite step up from the oberth class, especially since it's not, unlike the oberth class, made out of a explodium/detonite alloy
I really wish they would have drawn out Equinox's introduction to Voyager for a couple episodes (beyond the 2 parter) to change up the shows pacing a bit before revealing its crews dark secret leading to its demise.
+Viran Victus Actually, it would be pretty small compared with the NX as well. The NX is saucer (diameter) wise almost as big as the Conny. It just misses the secondary hull and the curves to bulk it out more to the Conny.
@@Tuning3434 I see what you are saying. It also misses the girth and length on the nacelles as well for overall space, but I was looking more at length / width which you are right. Never realized how comparatively massive the NX is. So I looked back and saw the video comparing it to the Akira which its almost the same size as that ship too. So yeah this would be smaller than the NX. I think as a rough estimate about 1/3rd or possibly even 1/4th smaller. but that is eyeball measurement of course. Thanks for the good info to compare to. Pretty much covered what I was looking for.
I love this starship. I have to agree with Captain Foley, it does feel like it should have been bigger. Commander Cockings, I have said it before and I will say it again, your rendering is so detailed and love how you always compare ship sizes so you can get a real feel of just how large or small some starships are. As always, please continue making it so 🖖
Hey you two. According to trek lore, Nova class started out as the Defiant Pathfinder a torpedo gunship. One of two anti borg ship designs. Defiant was the winner and this was reclassified as Nova class and most torpedo tubes removed and advanced sensor pallets installed. Equinox wouldn’t have survived as long as she had if she weren’t extremely tough.
There are blueprints of the original Nova on the internet. The Impulse engines are on the second deck so the top shuttle bay ia actually the impulse engines. The cargo bay is next , and then the shuttle bay with lower shuttle bay storage. It's like a large luxury yacht with just 8 decks.
It makes sense that the Equinox looks aggressive, it was an early design for the Defiant that they repurposed as a short range explorer for Voyager but it initially was meant to be a compact warship.
I haven't seen this two-part episode in over a decade, but for some reason I remember the Equinox being larger than what is represented in this video. I thought it was closer to 2/3 the size of Voyager than under half the size. Shocking the Defiant is actually bigger.
A lot of that width and length wise looking at the comparison will come from the larger warp components along with their armour, most of the rear is impulse engines and large forward torpedo storage. The Defiant is shorter though and internally smaller as the equinox has more decks even if some of those decks are smaller due to the shape of the ship.
I really like the smaller ships in trek i hope in the future of trek there will be more small mission specific for example where are starfleet border patrol ships or small transport ships
The Nova class had high warp (9.8 plus) nacelles but used a more economical reactor. This had the effect of reducing wear and tear on the warp coils. I recall an episode where Voyager had to remove all of her warp coils for cooling (Nightingale)
When you consider that the crew compliment is 78, that is a dangerously small crew for long term independent operations: Consider Assuming a three shift rotation with a captain, XO, and two officers of the watch to cover beta and delta shifts that leaves you with just 25 crew for each watch rotation With 8 decks that comes down to an average of only three crew on duty per deck. That’s not enough people for 24 hour continuous operations
There was a side conversion that really fascinated me; the implication that nacelle size somehow meant improved warp power. I don't think that is the case. I think an argument can be made that, given the necessity of exotic matter in the nacelles, the longer the nacelles the less stress on any one given component of the nacelle. If you are constantly going back and forth from a starbase, you have a more opportunities to refurbish the nacelles, so you don't need to worry about stresses due to long term high warp speeds. And I think there is a good argument for a small ship; you don't need as much maintenance crew the further you go into the history of Star Trek.
I don't agree with Foley that the Nova Class should have taken the place of the Defiant. Yeah it looks tough if it was bigger. But the Defiant looks more like a warship. Solid and strong.
I think of the Nova like the Oberth, basically a mobile data collection/observation platform rather than the science lab exploration type vessel. I think with the size of it they might also have a patrol version for starbase security or reconnaissance. Aren't the impulse the strips along the backside flanks of the saucer area? I think of them like slit versions of the Sovereign impulse in close to the same location. That deflector is amazingly different than any of the other game versions I've seen. This is great to be able to look at it.
I rather like this concept of a 'sensor suite' ship as opposed to 'dedicated science ship'. That DOES seem to be what the Oberth is designed principally for--a space ship version of a 'Geo-Physical scanner'. It explains the Oberth's use on the Genesis planet as a scanner. Obviously the Oberth can DO science for its data collection capacity--but isn't some all purpose complex of science labs. Similar concepts can be applied to the Nova, explaining why it wouldn't come equipped with a holo-deck or big science in big labs. Especially as it can also fight in a way the Oberth never could.
This actually reminds me somewhat of the Arleigh Burke guided missile destroyers: small but capable, stocky yet graceful. I actually like it better than the voyaging spoon.
Yeah I love the Rhode Island version. Be cool to see this scaled at 221m (Sternbach's intended size) vs the 171m Defiant along with the Intrepid, I know the model scaling is different from the intended figures.
Excellent job with the renders - especially the scale comparisons. I know you were keeping it to the same general era, but given this is considered a replacement for the Oberth, it would have been nice to have that ship included.
You want to "dreadnought" this ship? Increase the size (significantly), have 4 quantum torpedo launchers, all type-9+(for space use only) phaser arrays, add lots of armor, add a large impulse engines(Galaxy class), armor the nacelles alot(no matter the size of the ship, they are still big targets, & primary targets too), & for Spock's sake, hide the bridge(also a primary target)!!! This also applies to "dreadnought"ing any spaceship!!!
I thought I read somewhere that the Nova was the original design that Starfleet had to fight the Borg but they changed their mind. Then they decided to go with the Defiant class. That it was loaded with weapons but they took it out for science instead.
Oh! The upper and lower sensor arrays are GREEN. There is NO WAY this was not a call-back to the old AMT U.S.S. Enterprise models. They were always inexplicably transparent green. If you grew up building the AMT kits, something like this jumps right out at you.
I've thought that they should have used a version of this for the upper part of the Prometheus. Rather than a giant saucer with a tiny nacelle, just have it be a small but powerful scout ship, and the middle section would take the majority of the saucer (well, spade) during the MVAM mode.
I do think it should be bigger! Closer to Intrepid in size, but not exactly the same size! & having a 1/2 room holo-research room does sound like something every science ship should have!
I could have sworn in the episode they said the Equinox had holodecks but they had been destroyed. And the Nova is actually longer, albeit shorter in height, than the Oberth.
18:10 Placing your main engines near your center of mass, or at least in line with it, is actually quite important in space, otherwise you’ll produce a torque, causing the ship to turn. Of course, I assume Star Trek has technobabble explanations for why that doesn’t happen, but it’s a major consideration for hard sci-fi universes
Agree 100% Love the aggressive look. I always thought this class with its advanced sensors should act as anti-cloak vessel much like WW2 destroyers anti-sub role. It should be a match for a Bird of Prey and could flush out larger enemy vessels for larger Starfleet vessels.
I would think a small ship would benefit more from having holodeck than a larger one. They could use one holodeck for all the rooms that are only used at certain times of day. For example a gym in the morning then a meeting room for the night shift to hand over to the day shift. A dining area at mid-day then a training simulation to prepare for an away mission in the afternoon. Save a lot of space.
Holosuites in DS9 were much smaller at least when it came to internal space vs the Holodecks on the Galaxy and Intrepid ships. You have to wonder whether converting some space for use as a holosuite may have been a part of the Rhode Island version 2? Crew R&R aside a full 3D environment would have been beneficial for scientific research like Samuel said but also for crew training especially in the need for combat drills or running mission training for specific tasks which need o be practiced.
@Trekyards: Actually, placement of your engines mattes a lot in space. Your center of thrust needs to be in line with your center of mass. Otherwise the spacecraft will just spin out.
i was able to pick up the fleet version when i used to play startrek online, i used it with a tactical officer, and with my crew and gear setup i was able to (at the time) was able to take on the large tanky klingon battle ships, my crew used to love pvp and gaffed at the fact that i took this tiny ship and was able to use pinpoint accuracy, draining skills, deactivating sub systems, then using tac officer abilities. it definitely kept people off guard. now i have to relearn how to play, its changed so much since then. also in STO this body style shows both middle and upper opening in the back are impulse engines, i have no idea if thats the designers intention though also, i thought the equinox bridge was a redress of the voyager bridge wasnt it?
The Nova is made to replace the oberth which is a short range so it being the same size as the Intrepid does not make sense which is why I love the class design
Holodecks are for recreation... not necessary for short-term science ship. Having holo-emitters is a different story if you have to create something holographically/3d wise.
To me the size of the Nova makes perfect sense. She was clearly designed to replace the practically ancient Oberth Class and having a ship of roughly the same size also designed for short term scientific missions makes perfect sense.
Actually if you really watch it and pause it you can see that brick piece at the top of the spine is the impulse engine. It is light up a bit. I have always like the Nova class too although I prefer the Rhode Island variant.
I looked though the episode and did not see that, can you give a timecode to the shot you see it? An impulse engine should not be easy to miss...and this one was missing as far as i could see.
Always felt it was a bit dinky, but as an Oberth replacement (75% less explodium!) the sizing is just right. I'd forgotten about the notch at the front, so the Nova is a spork, in the grand book of Starships as spoons. I'm still not a fan of blended primary and secondary hulls in the Sovereign style. Voyager is about as much of a blend as I care for, and I'd still move the saucer up one deck. And longer nacelles would kill the look. Voyager's (and the Galaxy's) are the right length, the Sovereign's are too long. I will say I love the location of the forward torpedo launchers. Every ship should have those, just behind a panel. Regarding the exposed greeblies, I still can't warm up to the idea. I doubt the sensor pallets would need to run all the time, so an iris or sliding hatch to protect them from physical damage makes more sense. Funny thing, at the scale shown @2:45 the runabout should actually fit in Voyagers Shuttle Bay, which means her own shuttles should have no problem. The depth of the bay of course is still an issue, but whatever. And Grissom's shields were down, dang it. It should have taken at least 3 shots to blow her up.
The Nova-Class was a short-range Science vessel. Its size makes sense. As it was never meant for something like...oh being thrown out into the Deta Quadrant. Plus not every ship should be a warship or needs to be bigger to be more effective. After all. Jem'hadar proved small ships can take down a Galaxy-Class...by swarming and one ship literally ramming it. Yet small ship swarm tactics do work. And I see the Nova-Class being more a small gunboat for dealing with those small fighters for the bigger ships. If having to be put into a military role. We have to keep in mind. Starfleet is not a military organization. They are Science and Exploration organization. At least that is what Starfleet tells the Federation. Yet we all know. They are a military. First and the last line of defense for the Federation
Its all down to matter/antimatter engine design. The Intrepid had a powerful core, the Nova probably had a earlier generation/less powerful core as its design didnt require it.
I could see it slight scaled up to make it a frigate or Corvette class ship. Not the size of a sovereign I feel many aspects won't scale up and there would have to be many changes which i think would have lost the style and should of the design.
I prefer to go by 222m length that Rick scaled the ship too when he designed it. At the length used by the modelers and during the review, it seems sized way to small.
the larger bridge makes sense if you have all your science departments with consoles there for ease of access ,and easier to show the captain you discovered something new ETC this isnt like a Galaxy where the different science departments had to schedule time to use bridge stations ETC , there all there present on the bridge seems efficient i was never a fan of the Defiants Design if the nova was the defiant i would have been more happy with it , cuz she does look aggressive enough and maneuverable enough
I agree that it should be much larger than it is presented here, but still significantly smaller than the Intrepid, though. The size of details wouldn't make sense with it being a big ship or even a mid-sized ship. The Impulse engines could be in the struts? The struts are pretty beefy for such a small ship, so that would explain why. The idea that a holodeck really needed to be onboard for science reasons, and the ship ought to be large enough to do its jobs makes sense. Still, this is a design philosophy of 'we're doing more with less', and no families on board and reduced crew accommodations due to greatly increased danger and the need to crank out small ships very quickly. The idea of a huge bridge where multiple tactical and science stuff happens in the same room as the captain is a good and likely explanation. The aggressiveness in design makes sense in view of the Borg threat and the other military needs of this time period. Small, nimble ships that are able to swarm and avoid and hit both deftly and hard for their size was part of the same design philosophy that resulted in the Defiant. It just makes sense that there would be more small and medium sized ships needed than battle-wagons even though all types were needed. Galaxy and Nebula classes were still both powerful and new relative to the old Excelsior, Miranda and Oberth classes. Certainly, the Miranda and Oberths needed to be quickly replaced with new wonder ships.
I suppose an experimental 4 nacelle version might work it it was designed to split into two segments. I partially agree with Stuart it's a bit small considering how large Voyager's crew is (or to small perhaps) it could be say 65% of the Intrepid class mass to be more effective - I wonder how bit it would be if the auxiliary craft were size matched would it effect the size ? I think i'd prefer the Nova class to be bigger and the Saber class to be smaller though.
Im hoping someone here or trekyards mite be able to point me in the right direction. im trying to find information a star ship, its a kit bash type, its an Intrepid cross constitution class all i can find on it is "uss elkins ncc-74121" and a few pictures. if anyone know where some info it it is that would be awesome.
i am not sure, but i mean, it is a reused voyager bridge (parts of it) as the original bridge set got burnt in a studio fire.. so they had to rebuilt the voyger bridge.. part of the burnt bridge were usied as the equinox bridge.. not 100% valid, but i think i heard something like this
It’s based off of the Prometheus Bridge which was a redress of the recreated Excelsior. You can see how the wall layout is the same as the Prometheus with the arrangement of the command area rearranged. The bridge illustrations in the old Fact Files really showed the similarity’s.
I like the Nova, but I disagree with adding a third nacelle. Hell, I've always found adding a third nacelle to something to be rather ugly and never understood the obsession with it. But, to each their own, we can always a-three to dis-a-three...
I have question that does not relate at all. If they have industrial replicators why don’t they have ones the size of dry docks and just replicate a ship then add the non replicatable parts?
You keep saying it should be the size of the intrepid, the intrepid is a long range ship, the nova was supposed to be a scout ship, scout ships are not large. none of the FED scout ships are the same size as the intrepid. If it was the same size, why not just make it an intrepid class too? Why was all that time with R&D designing and testing a whole knew class when your gonna make the same ship again? For a dude who watches all the trek things in existence you haven't thought it through every much have ya? "I like ship, make it big! *bang my stick on rock*" Quick question, I haven't seen all your stuff so I don't know, what's your opinion on the Prometheus class?