Third Time's a Charm: The Other Starship

This weekend saw some new and very exciting concept art hit the internet.

Coming in the form of designs for the USS Franklin,  we now know there will be another Starfleet vessel making an appearance in Beyond along with the USS Enterprise. The poster above is being sent to those fans who donated to the Omaze charity fundraiser that ran alongside the making of the movie last year.

I first caught sight of this new design on Trekcore where they suggested a number of points surrounding the ship; that it will be seen early on in the movie following the destruction of the Enterprise and that we've also seen a fair bit of the Franklin in the first trailer. In fact Spock is wearing a Franklin jacket!

So this could make the Franklin the base of operations for the remaining crew who escaped and could well be the ship we've seen Sophia Boutella and Chris Pine climbing out of in behind the scenes stills. Of course they could be climbing out of the wrecked Enterprise saucer but this is all conjecture until later this year.

The arrival of the Franklin marks the third movie in a row where we've seen the introduction of a Federation starship besides the Enterprise and if it follows suit set by the Kelvin and the Vengeance it won't be in one piece come the end titles. So what does this new concept image tell us about the ship itself? 

One thing we do know is that this isn't quite the final version as indicated by The Official Starship Collection's Ben Robinson in a tweet on Saturday. Now that would indicate that Ben has seen the finished article (of course) and that collectors of the series should be expecting to see it in the run of specials.

Google Images

I'd suggest that the pennants will be altered since the ones on this image are more in line with the Prime Universe movies than the JJ-verse. The most noticable thing here though is that huge light source at the front of the saucer which would seem to be the viewscreen and gives an idea that this is a ship much smaller than both the USS Enterprise and the Kelvin. The edge of the saucer only has a single layer of portholes too and we know that the Enterprise has two decks at that point.

It also has the JJ-verse trademark blue bussard collectors and some odd orange lining detail along the warp engine struts. Those collectors do appear to have the "fan" style workings akin to those on the original NCC-1701. Saying that, the rear of the engines have a very familiar curve to them which fans might recognise from the Enterprise of The Original Series - nice touch there. 

That front part of the engine even has a resemblance to the front end of the movie Enterprise secondary hull (but I'm no doubt reading far too much into this picture). The hull surface is pretty different too with the saucer dipping and then raising to the edge plus some sort of crazy hull panelling fanning out to the curve. Certainly not something we've seen before even in the Prime Universe.

Google Images

But what period of Starfleet history is this supposed to represent? From the ramshackle nature of it's interior seen in the trailer and the grey exterior it does seem that the USS Franklin will be an older ship. Perhaps not as old as the Kelvin since the engines look to have evolved from that era but definitely with a few miles on the clock. Also of note and a reason for conjecture over her age is the fact that there is no registry number visible. Maybe that's because it hadn't been decided when this image was created or was it left off on purpose? OK, Vengeance didn't have a registry but that was for other reasons!

The great thing is that the Franklin is different again to the aging single engined Kelvin and the stealthy, angular design of the brutal Vengeance. How the ship appears on the screen may well be different to this image although I don't foresee too many changes if this is something they are sending out to charitable fans. It does add another dimension to the film in the possibility that the Franklin will be playing a larger role in Beyond than the Enterprise but with the fact the latter may well meet its maker early on that's not saying a lot.

So this makes the third ship we know will be in the movie alongside the Enterprise and those alien raider-type vessels glimpsed in the trailer hunting Spock and McCoy. Hopefully we're going to get some more! If nothing else the reboots have given us some interesting spacial additions to the franchise. I love the stealth elements and design of the Vengeance and now the Franklin is very much harking to the Prime origins of Star Trek and that would be in keeping with what we've been hearing from Simon Pegg about this movie respecting its past a lot more than the previous two.

Just to finish off - we saw the behind the scenes video from Entertainment Tonight a week or so ago. We got to see a bit more on the retro uniform styling, a bit of aging on the bridge - but was I the only one who wonders if Sulu's daughter is called Demora...?

Do you like the new starship design? Is it in keeping with the franchise?

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Degrees Kelvin: The Fifth Starships Collection Special

Still keeping to the JJ-verse, the latest special brings the aging USS Kelvin to fans shelving units.

Delivered in its larger "specials" box and foam packaged, the Kelvin is a lot better than I expected. We had been privy to some crisp images from Ben Robinson during the production process but to actually see her is something else.

Well, once it arrived that is because for some reason subscribers had to wait for it to arrive with their issue 58 and 59 deliveries while shop-buying collectors could buy it over a week before.

So to this larger model and the first thing that struck me was that Eaglemoss have weathered the hull - something we just don't see enough of in this series but very applicable to what is supposed to be an old starship.

OK, closer look time so out of the box and onto her stand. It's a rear-saucer fit which is fairly central to the point of gravity so no chance of a planet-fall unless you're an unstable hand with a duster. The clear clip fit into the base is pretty decent too - much better than the Defiant which finally arrived this week. In that case I had to shave a few milimetres off the front of the post to get it into the base. With the Kelvin it's a straight slot-in, no issues and she does display well.

Approximately the same length as the JJ-verse Enterprise, the Kelvin has a lot more detail and looks a lot more complete than the flagship. Yes, the Enterprise was a newer ship but there was a lot of finishing detail missing from that second special which let it down. Here we have the aztec pattern on the hull along with that exemplary weathering effect which lifts the whole model and makes it appear to be as old as it was intended. She's certainly not clean and Eaglemoss have gone to a decent bit of trouble to work in the dirt and grime collected over years of service. Emblazoned on the panelling is the ship's registry in two places - the rear slightly off-centred due to the location of the attached secondary hull and more blatantly the name and number right across the front of the hull. The lines are pretty crisp and does go against the "worn" effect of the rest of the ship. In fact the registry on the magazine cover even has some weathering applied.

The saucer itself is top side metal and bottom plastic. Fairly sturdy all-round and pleasing to see that the detail carries over both surfaces. One thing though - there's missing striping and windows around that saucer edge and a conspicuous lack of RCS thrusters too which is odd seeing as they are included on much smaller ships from the regular issues. The registry too is edged in blue rather than the red which we saw in the movie. Definitely something odd going on here. I also spotted one on Facebook with a terrible join between the two sections and while mine is nowhere near as awful there's still a tiny bit of the plastic section which doesn't sit flush with the upper hull. Not a bit grumble but you do notice it!

The central bridge unit looks pretty basic against the rest of the upper hull with a yellowed out viewscreen and top "blip". The top of the saucer does also bear the huge ship name and registry which must be the biggest in Star Trek history hands down. As to actual surface detail it's sparce to say the least with only a few hatches and phaser emplacements both on the top and bottom. That underside does have a central sensor dome which, in maybe the same respect as the bridge, does seem like it was added, hurriedly, later.

To the secondary hull attached to the top of the saucer and still carrying the aztec paint scheme. They're also managed to add in a couple of red-edged docking ports, windows and more of that dirty weathering. The join between the two halves is fairly evident but on mine the fit is spot on, Perhaps the issue here is more with the limited detail on the deflector dish which is translucent all-blue and does look a bit out of place against the rest of the "aged" Kelvin. The shuttlebay at the rear of the engineering hull does appear to be a separate piece. While not sectioned out it does stand out from the rest of the structure effectively.

Finally there's the single warp engine slung on the underside of the saucer. Longer than the engineering section, it's capped with a clear plastic bussard collector marked out with a yellow and grey cap. Now looking to the magazine this doesn't look anything like the "real" thing so why this scheme was chosen was a mystery to me. At the rear the exhaust point is tipped with another blue plastic piece recessed into the nacelle. I'm not sure it looks quite right but since it's buried inside the nacelle housing you don't see it that clearly. It's also imprinted with a large ship registry which has been crisply applied to either side of the housing. It's actually larger than  we've seen on previous Starfleet vessels and unusually in the middle of the nacelle rather than being at the end. 

The magazine has a few more pages this time but is split into just two sections; ship profile and design. The former takes a mere three paragraphs which allows the remaining pages to be dedicated to the look of the Kelvin. Brilliant choice to do so too because we cover everything to do with its evolution and also its significance at being the first starship to be seen in the rebooted universe. Problem is that the images in these pages show just how limited the model is in terms of its detailing and aging. I suppose we have to understand that there are boundaries to what can be achieved given the retail price. 

The magazine's coverage of the design is extensive in both its narrative and the images we're given are superb, illustrating every step of the creative process, even back to when the Kelvin was the Iowa. Interesting point here that the shuttlebay, the underside sensor dome and the bussard collector get special attention and by default shows that Eaglemoss didn't quite get these three key features spot on. 

The magazine also explores the destruction of the Kelvin in that fantastic opening sequence. The way in which ILM performed the gradual degradation of the cruiser as she took fire from the Narada introduced them to a new process and gave viewers one of the most memorable scenes in the movie and one that promised so much from the reimagining of the franchise.

The Kelvin special is one that we've been titillated with for some time. The ship itself isn't quite accurate and in terms of quality against the other four specials I'd say it's comfortably better than the JJ-Enterprise but not quite up to the D-4, Vengeance or Deep Space Nine. The scale does mean it can be presented with more detail but those blips do mean it doesn't quite hit the mark for me although it's still a nice ship if a little plain - which definitely isn't helped with all those missing saucer details at the least.

Google Images

The next special is likely/rumoured to be the NX-01 refit that was never actually seen on screen but was designed for that "what if" scenario. Looking forward to that since the original NX-01 is still one of the best models - if not the best - of the entire series and has held that esteemed crown since issue four.

Fan of the USS Kelvin special or was it less than spectacular?

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Hot Wheels and Secrets of 1701

Now here's some things you might not know about...

Just as a nice little additional tease, have you been onto areyouthe1701.com and /harrison? If you do then there's a hidden file just waiting to be found - a secret Starfleet file linking Admiral Marcus to the rogue Starfleet agent. Here are both the pages from the PDF if you fancy a read rather than a click through. I'm just wondering how long this has been hidden on the site - days, weeks?!

Here's a thought - when we first heard about the viral site through a hidden link in one of the trailers, we had no idea what it was for. Since then fans have been sending in photos and videos with the opportunity to win exclusive Star Trek Into Darkness goodies and tickets to IMAX performances as well as being given exclusive first viewings of featurettes, posters and even videos. For the full picture of the "history" of the site, take a click on the Are You The 1701? label at the bottom.

As a second little gem and while I was searching out pictures for the imminent novelisation review of Star Trek Into Darkness I literally stumbled over these images of some of Hot Wheels releases for the end of the year. The news that they would be slotting in new models of the USS Excelsior and the USS Kelvin is fairly "old" news but then they've given us a little extra fan love with the announcement of two more ships. I'll let you scroll down to find out which ones they are...

USS Kelvin

USS Excelsior

The Excelsior is one popular model at the moment with both Hot Wheels and Diamond Select producing their own versions of the ship from Star Trek VI although I think someone's missing a trick by not sticking NX-2000 on one of the hulls and going a bit further on the retro scale. The Kelvin is a decent reproduction in miniature scale and I'd choose this one over the Kre-O chunk anyway  Even a good effort on the display stands don't you think? However, what about these two.....

Klingon D-4 Bird of Prey

USS Vengeance

Apologies for the logo embossing as these are not easy pics to come by! The D-4 gives a much better representation of the ships we saw on Qo'noS (no comment on the Kre-O versions) and you can see the typical Klingon design pattern here with the dropped wings and bird-like posture. Whether the colouring is accurate is a question because that's not how I remember it in the film although we didn't see that solid an image. With the Vengeance though we get a much clearer idea of her lines and that incredibly unique cut-out primary hull that's not been seen on a Federation starship before. Her engines are much higher than the Enterprise and wider too. I would've liked to get a shot of the bow but I'll keep looking. 

Apparently they were scouted on Entertainment Earth however I've taken a look and they're not there. If you spot them, drop a note on here and we'll take a look. Hopefully they'll be available for pre-order soon. Likelihood is that they'll only be available in the US too which always makes me a little sad for us UK fans, 

Images of Hot Wheels ships from trekcollective.com
Screenshots from SKoST

Game On!

It's all happening at the moment isn't it? Posters, trailers, stills, rumours and now the announcement that Star Trek The Video Game will launch on April 23rd 2013. 

For those who can't wait that long to be a part of the experience, pre-ordering commenced on Friday 21st December 2012.

Produced by Namco Bandai Games it has been announced that customers pre-ordering will receive the "Elite Officer Pack" which includes a series of tasty extras:

• Brawler Pack - Kirk's leather jacket costume and Spock in Starfleet Academy garb
• Academy Pack - Kirk and Spock in Dress Uniform plus an Academy phaser
• Kobayashi Maru Pack - Kirk and Spock in Kobayashi Maru simulator uniforms
• Stealth Pack - Kirk and Spock in stealth uniforms with a Starfleet Type IV stealth sniper rifle and extra ammunition
• Kelvin Pack - Kirk and Spock in USS Kelvin uniforms plus a USS Kelvin phaser

If you pre-order Star Trek at Amazon in the UK before April 26th 2013 you'll be eligible to receive the Elite Officer Pack. Currently the game is priced at £39.99 for XBox 360 and PS3 while PC owners can save a bit of cash and pre-order for £32.99.Ko

Pretty interesting huh?  Worth a pre-order?  Probably is if you're going to be buying it anyway. Thing is for me, I'm a bit of a film/TV tie-in skeptic.  History is not kind in these situations and I welcome you to check out Knight Rider, Dukes of Hazzard, Harry Potter, Transformers...etc etc as evidence (I'm not including non-Michael Bay Transfomers as they were fairly decent). Apparently this game has already won awards at E3 however the official game website seems devoid of any mention of awards except in relation to JJ Abrams leading me to think this may be an error on the part of startrek.com.

So let's have a look at the official trailer for the game and see if there's much we can glean from 57 seconds of action:

What is it with the JJ Abrams universe and jumping off stuff?!  In the first film it's skydiving onto Nero's drill and in the second it's Spock jumping off a building PLUS someone zooming through a spacefield.  I do hope this isn't going to be a recurring theme of the alternate Trek universe.

OK, There's Kirk and Spock as the main playable characters but the graphics really don't instill me with ANY confidence that this is going to be top-quality in line with Call of Duty, Skyrim or Grand Theft Auto V which will be out by the time it debuts. In fact it looks like a pretty standard third person shooter with possible attempts at Tomb Raider-style climbing pieces.  There's no shots aboard the Enterprise  and in fact there are only two shots of the ship within the trailer - right at the beginning and briefly at about 47 seconds in.  

There appear to be only a couple of distinctive sets here - an icy alien world, some form of space vessel (and maybe more than one). There's also a nice shot of some kind of fleet moving through a wrecked environment.

 It all looks a bit "samey" which is why I've had top rely more on the range of screen shots from the game's website.  They seem to show external space battles, scenes on the Enterprise and the characters moving through the alien worlds that are part of the game.  The only piece of dialogue within the trailer indicates that this is set after the first film at least with mention of "New Vulcan" which could also indicate that a certain Spock Prime could be included as we know this is where he ended up to live out his days. What we can confirm is that the 2009/2013 movie crew (Kirk, Spock etc) are all lending their voices to this new game.

Frankly this is even more cryptic a trailer than the one for Star Trek Into Darkness.  I would think that the ship goes to New Vulcan to sort out some kind of invasion/attack/mystery which leads to you playing as Kirk or Sock to save the Vulcans and the day from what has now (as of January 2013) been revealed as the Gorn - one of the best and most fondly remembered Trek enemies ever!

Tragically the gameplay looks pretty basic but it's a rare opportunity to actually play as the Trek characters in a modern style of game - while I won't talk about them here, my The Life of Trek series will touch on my previous experiences with Star Trek PC games over the years as I look at how the show and I have become entwined over the years.

In conclusion the trailer does give us Trek, explosions and indication of more by providing less and then forcing you take a look at the game site for some snippets of information.  At the moment it is lacking in content and the page on startrek.com was significantly better even if it was just to let us know about the preordering situation.

I will more than likely be purchasing this title as long as the build-up continues to prove that a lot of work has been done to make it look more fluid and less blocky than this brief trailer suggests. Good luck to Bandai Namco and Paramount, I hope the hype and the "awards" indicate that this is going to break the mould of tie-ins and provide us with some excellent and lengthy game-playing.  Please don't make it JUST a shooter with a bit of ledge-hanging if you're listening.  Put some thought into it so we have something more to do than point, click, run and fire. Trek fans will want a game that makes them THINK.

Overall - the jury is definitely out.