scans are from ST:M
SHUTTLECRAFTMANSHIP
- Designing the Type-12 Shuttlecraft
PAGE 1This article is almost the ST:M article verbatim as I like to retain as many of the original words of the
production staff involved, in this case Rick Sternbach, senior illustrator, whose words are shown in this colour
Click any image which shows a link to see it full-size.
Toward the end of the show's second season, the producers sent the Art Department a memo asking them to design a "cool and sleek shuttle." A new shuttle had been on their wish-list for some time, but until now there had not been a compelling reason to build one. But the next episode in production, [Threshold], justified the expense. The story dealt with a specially modified shuttlecraft that could achieve warp 10, something the traditional shuttle (or indeed starship) was incapable of.
The show's resident illustrator Rick Sternbach remembers that he was particularly pleased by the project. New hardware was always welcome at my desk, so I began working up preliminary hull shapes while Richard James and the set designers, particularly John Chichester, developed the interior. I got the ball rolling on a few interior sketches, showing the producers early on how the cockpit might accommodate two seats, two seats plus a folding jumpseat, or four seats. We knew that 'cool and sleek' was going to mean long, low, and streamlined, but we also had to insure that our actors could stand up inside, so the minimum ceiling height was kept at almost six feet. If we were required to make the speedboat as sleek as, say, a Lotus or Ferrari automobile, they'd have to crouch inelegantly to enter their seats.
Preliminary design sketches.
Rick Sternbach's idea for the new shuttle was basically to stretch the shape of the older shuttle
(the Type-9), making it more aerodynamic, and to reshape the curves to being them into line
with USS Voyager. The shuttle's interior was designed by John Chichester, but Rick Sternbach did
produce a few drawings showing how the seating could be arranged. In the end, production
designer Richard James opted for a more spacious approach to the cockpit and left the rear open.
Remarkably, the new shuttle, which the art department dubbed the 'speedboat', was the first major redesign the shuttles had undergone since the first season of [TNG]. As Rick explains, until now the previous 'new shuttles' had been modifications of the same basic ship. When we began [Star Trek: Voyager] we had the TNG shuttle, which was given an improved cabin, and even one modification to the exterior, though that was seen only in a miniature for one or two episodes. True to the Star Trek phrase 'like nothing we've seen before,' the speedboat was custom build inside and out. With the exception of the sports car seats, the set construction was new. It followed Starfleet design, of course, in that it had the familiar light-up button consoles and paint scheme, brushed aluminum accents, and so forth.
Although the speedboat was a major leap forward, Rick was careful to make sure that the exterior was clearly related to these earlier shuttles. The exterior was developed in just a few days, given the form-and-function rules established for the boxy Type-6 and the shuttlepod, with new curves added from Voyager itself. The simple, undetailed hull shape is the easy part; you take a hexagonal cross-section and pull the surface lines more or less to a point in the front and a slightly blunter shape in the back where the door goes. Hull curves could still be pushed and pulled to make the shuttle recognizably new and satisfy the 'cool' requirement. The 'recipe' then says to add pylons and nacelles and sprinkle generously with the usual details. There aren't too many reasons to vary that Starflect recipe within a particular story time period, unless a directive comes down from the producers to evolve the technology ahead or add an alien flavor, as we have with Borg bits in places like astrometrics and the Delta Flyer. Like the other shuttles, the speedboat had RCS thrusters, a shield grid, phasers, nav deflector, and engine access hatches.
Rick Sternbach produced this drawing showing the inside of the shuttle without seats,
so that Richard James and the set designed could see what kind of space they had to work with.
The aft entry door differed a bit from the Type-6 shuttle door in that it split across the center, with one half lifting up and the bottom dropping down to form a ramp. At one time we considered a flexible rollup piece for the upper half, but a solid panel was easier to fabricate and move by hydraulics. We didn't need to build the outer surfaces except in CGI, and when we did need to show in live shooting that the speedboat was in the shutdebay, all we had to do was place the correct style wall outside the door opening.
The hatch at the back of the shuttlecraft was in two parts.
In Rick Sternbach's original plan the top would have rolled up,
but this proved too difficult and that idea was abandoned.
Thanks to Eos Development for the page background from the set Swags Horizontal
| TYPE 12 SHUTTLECRAFT: INDEX |
| TOP | BACK | NEXT PAGE | BRIDGE |