Star Trek thought these ship designs were so nice that they used them twice! OR THRICE!
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00:00Anyone reusing anything is of course a terrible person who should be called out immediately
00:04because, you know, like, we've never ever reused anything for any reason, ever, ever.
00:12Ahem.
00:13Basically what we're saying is that sometimes reusing stuff just makes perfect sense.
00:17Now, you don't want to like, be all up in somebody's face about it.
00:21So with that in mind, I'm Sean Ferrick for Trek Culture and here are 10 times Star Trek
00:26reused ships and hoped you wouldn't notice.
00:29Number 10.
00:30Romulan Scout Ship Science Vessel Nerada
00:33The Romulan Scout Ship was designed by Rick Sternbach, debuting in the Defector.
00:36The design was based on Andrew Probert's earlier Dideradex-class warbird, echoing the green
00:42colour scheme, wingspan and forward module.
00:44This initial design was more obviously a small support vessel, evidenced by cockpit windows
00:49at the front.
00:50The next phase would then introduce the Romulan Science Vessel.
00:53For this, the studio model was altered with the forward module being changed and the more
00:58obvious cockpit design being removed.
01:00At the aft of the ship, a hammerhead style crescent was added, this time serving as a section
01:05similar to the sensor pod on a Nebula-class ship.
01:08The ship would then return in favourite sun.
01:10This time, the only significant change was to the colour of the ship.
01:14Sternbach himself was less than thrilled with the model's continual changes, lamenting that
01:19once the designs left his desk, he had no control over what happened to them.
01:22When it came to the Science Vessel, and the Narada specifically, these were quite obviously
01:27the same design, a Romulan one and stood out in the episode.
01:31Number 9.
01:32Mercenary Ship, Miradorn Raider, Teresian Ship.
01:35The distinctive vessel that debuted in the episode Vortex is perhaps best recognised as
01:40Arctis Baran's pirate ship, despite that being its second appearance.
01:44The Miradorn Raider Theta-class was designed by Ricardo F. Delgado and was labelled as an
01:50Alien Concept or a Raptor.
01:52The design, striking as it was, inevitably returned.
01:55Gambit sees Picard and Riker taken captive aboard the vessel, which at this point is described
02:00as roughly one quarter the length of the Enterprise-D.
02:02For this instance, there may actually have been an on-screen explanation as to the reuse
02:07of the design.
02:08With Baran commanding a mercenary crew, they may simply have stolen or paid outright for a
02:12Miradorn Raider.
02:13What is a little harder to explain is the return of the vessel in the Delta Quadrant.
02:18Here it takes the form of a Teresian ship, making it another Ryu Studio model to appear
02:23in the episode Favourite Sun.
02:24The ship saw no adjustments, either in outward design or relative scale, to suggest that this
02:29was simply a similar shape of ship.
02:32At least the Romulan science ship went through a colour change.
02:34Number 8.
02:36Federation Fighter, Kralor Warship.
02:38Jim Martin designed the Federation Fighter for the Deep Space Nine episode The Maquis.
02:42It was built with Star Wars as an inspiration, something Doug Drexler would later joke gave
02:46people acid indigestion.
02:48The model would return in pre-emptive strike, again used by the Maquis, before they would
02:52make their debut as true Federation vessels in A Time to Stand.
02:56For these uses, having the ship appear with the Maquis and Starfleet suggested that these
03:00vessels had simply been co-opted by the terrorist organisation, so having them play multiple roles
03:04made sense.
03:05A slightly more difficult to explain, once again, was their appearance in the Delta Quadrant.
03:11In Nightingale, Harry Kim takes command of a Kralor medical ship that bears a striking
03:15resemblance to these small attack ships.
03:18The design was altered to give the Nightingale a larger feel, adding decks to the ship via
03:22multiple lights, along with the suggestion of a beefier engine.
03:25The ship would return a second time in Voyager, though this is somewhat excusable.
03:30In The Void, an Anari warship bearing the same configuration is encountered by Voyager,
03:36though the Anari had been established as combatants in a war with the Kralor in the earlier episode.
03:42Much like the Klingons and Romulans, who's to say there weren't some shared ideas between
03:46the two.
03:47Number 7.
03:48Karama Ship, Bajoran Impulse Ship, Antarian Ship.
03:52The Karama ship was designed by John Eaves for Deep Space Nine in the episode Starship Down.
03:57It was constructed as a physical model and as a CGI model, with the latter returning several
04:01times during the franchise.
04:03Despite the Karama being Gamma Quadrant dwellers, their ship turned up in both the Alpha and
04:07Delta Quadrants.
04:09Shadows and Symbols sees Colonel Kira form a blockade around the Bajoran moon Derna, with
04:14her fleet containing two such vessels.
04:16In notes that were excised from the episode, it was suggested that these may in fact have
04:21been Karama ships left behind by the Dominion.
04:23The CGI model would then go on to appear in the episode Drive, this time portraying an
04:28Antarian vessel that rendezvous with Voyager.
04:31It also appears as an unnamed alien ship in natural law as well.
04:35The CGI made its final, to date appearance as a transport vessel in Enterprise, a good 200
04:42years before Starfleet encountered the Karama or the discovery of the Bajoran wormhole.
04:47Great minds.
04:48Number 6, Grumal Necret Freighter, Klingon Cargo Ship.
04:52The Grumal Freighter was one of John Eve's first designs upon working for Star Trek.
04:57Being a Cardassian design, he took initial inspiration from Rick Sternbach's Galar-class
05:01warships, beginning with a similar forward section.
05:04However, the producers weren't too keen on this idea.
05:07They wanted the freighter to have a more industrial look.
05:10Eve's flipped the design, softening the wings from the Galar-class and dipped them.
05:14The distinctive Cardassian fork was now at the front of the ship, with huge cargo
05:18boxes making up the bulk of the core.
05:20The bridge was moved to the back of the ship, taking inspiration from real world oil tankers.
05:25The studio model was then built, first appearing in the episode Return to Grace.
05:28It would return repainted in the Voyager episode Fair Trade.
05:32Later, sons and daughters saw it adapt a final time to become Klingon in nature.
05:36He was given another new paint job, with new warp engines added to the aft wings.
05:41The effects manager for the episode, David Stipes, wasn't too keen on the reuse, adapted
05:45as it was by Tony Minninger.
05:47He rationalised that the use of the design, as though the Klingons had captured these Cardassian
05:51freighters as trophies of war.
05:53Number 5.
05:54Klingon D-7 Battlecruiser, Romulan Battlecruiser.
05:57The ship that would come to be known as the D-7 class Battlecruiser, designed by Matt Jeffries,
06:01had a very unusual start in life.
06:03It was designed at the urging of AMT models, so that they might have a companion model to
06:08market alongside their model kit of the USS Enterprise.
06:12As such, it was the reverse of most processes, the toy came first before the ship would fly.
06:17Jeffries recalled that he worked on the design at home, as there was neither time nor budget
06:21to do so at the studio.
06:23After numerous attempts, he based the ship on a manta ray, and the ship was almost done.
06:28The first shots of the model were done for the episode Elan of Troyes, firmly establishing
06:32it as a Klingon vessel.
06:33However, the model, which had delighted producers for the original series' third season, was
06:37quickly inserted wherever possible, including as a Romulan vessel in the Enterprise incident.
06:44A scheduling mix-up meant that this new Klingon ship, designed around Klingon people to be
06:48marketed as a Klingon battlecruiser, was shown first as a Romulan ship.
06:53The remastered versions of the original series fixed this by introducing the ship a little
06:56earlier, and giving those seen in the Enterprise incident a more distinctly Romulan pattern
07:01underneath.
07:02But this was a model that had one of the strangest journeys to screen in the entire franchise.
07:06Number 4.
07:07Torellian Plague Ship, Katarian Vessel.
07:10The distinctive Torellian Plague Ship that appeared in Haven, was one of designer Andrew
07:14Probert's favourite projects for the next generation.
07:17He recalled that, after the Enterprise itself, this model gave him some of his fondest memories,
07:22as it had been a collaboration with Gene Roddenberry himself.
07:25It had become stuck when it came to the overall design.
07:28He knew that he wanted it to be different from the standard engines-at-the-back shape that
07:32tended to dominate starships.
07:34So he came up with the idea of placing the engines at the front of the ship.
07:37He also based his design on Herman Zimmerman's plans for the main bridge, allowing him to
07:42build around it.
07:43It was Roddenberry who suggested moving the power source to the middle of the ship, which
07:47led to the spherical design as seen in the episode.
07:50This would be the only appearance of the ship in this configuration.
07:53The nose was subsequently altered to sport a more triangular shape, while the hole was
07:57removed from the ship's centre, then covered with deck plating.
08:00In this shape it returned several more times, including as the Katarian Vessel in the game,
08:05the Hunters Ship in Captive Pursuit, and the Zalconian Ship in Transfigurations.
08:10Number 3.
08:11Prameleon Battlecruiser Scrian Ship.
08:14This particular model is the most unusual on this list, as it wasn't even designed for
08:19Star Trek to begin with.
08:20It was, in fact, designed by Steve Berg for the 1986 B-movie Night of the Creeps.
08:26In that fact, the model was shown in a single scene, floating over a graveyard, as it would
08:31not be presented in full relief, only the ventral side was given any detail.
08:35Once filming was completed, David Stipes came into possession of the model.
08:38When the script for Booby Trap came through, with pressed little time to design the new
08:42ship that was called for, Stipes stepped in and loaned Trek the model.
08:47Interestingly, while Gregory Jean was normally responsible for building the new ship, he
08:51and his company were busy working on the Hunt for Red October, in which Gates McFadden appeared
08:55while on her gap year from Star Trek.
08:57The production team would significantly alter the model, flipping it so that the ventral side
09:02in the film would serve as the dorsal side in the episode.
09:05It would be filmed once again for Deep Space Nine for the episode Sanctuary, serving as
09:09the Scrian ship, with stock footage of this being used as Nagra's shuttle in Sons of Moog
09:15and as an unnamed alien ship in The Muse.
09:19Number 2.
09:20Temerian Deep Space Cruiser, Claystron Starship.
09:23The ship began its life in the episode Suddenly Human.
09:26Rick Sternbach based the design on Coast Guard training ships with two solar powered sails above
09:32and below the vessel.
09:34The pointed nose of the ship would end up being the section that lasted for each alteration.
09:39First the ship was given a mild refit to appear as a Kyossian ship in the perfect mate.
09:44The heaviest modification came when it was altered to become the Temerian Deep Space Cruiser which
09:49debuted in the episode Darmok.
09:51Here additional nacelle struts were added to the port and starboard with a red hue.
09:55This configuration would return in Deep Space Nine as both the Claystron and Tilani vessels,
10:01before appearing in Voyager as an imaginary Bothan ship and a Dreyen cruiser as well.
10:07After the initial refit to include the nacelles, the model largely remained of the same configuration,
10:12with simple changes like the colour of the nacelles, though for its appearance as the
10:16Dreyen starship, the nacelles themselves were given a mild change as well.
10:21Number 1 Tellarite Cruiser, Zindi Arboreal Cruiser.
10:25John Eves designed the vessel that would appear in Enterprise, used periodically by three different
10:29alien species.
10:30First, it appeared as the Arconian Destroyer in Dawn.
10:34The ship was realised entirely in CGI, which presented Eves with an opportunity to use null
10:38space in its design.
10:40Design work for the Romulan Valdor Warbird had included a gap behind the head, so Eves reused
10:45the idea for this vessel.
10:47The problem with physical models, Eves commented, was that this type of ornamentation could lead
10:51to lighting issues.
10:52That wasn't a concern on CGI models.
10:54As often happened with his designs, Eves then found his Arconian Destroyer returning
10:58as the Zindi Arboreal ship, minus the blaster from the underside of the ship, joining the
11:02Zindi fleet.
11:03The ship would then see an updated colour scheme for its next appearance as the Tellarite ship
11:07in Enterprise's fourth season.
11:09This seems to be the allegiance that has stuck with the design, as a Tellarite sleeper ship
11:14of this configuration was seen in Star Trek Prodigy as well.
11:17Now that's everything for our list today folks.
11:19Which ships do you think were missed off this list?
11:21Let us know in the comments below and of course let us know over on social media.
11:24You can catch us on Twitter at TrekCulture and you can catch us on Instagram at TrekCultureYT.
11:28You can catch myself at Sean Ferrick on the various socials too.
11:32Thank you so much to our wonderful video editor Martin for going through this and making it
11:36look pretty.
11:37Folks, you are awesome and wonderful.
11:39Make sure that you live long and prosper until I'm talking to you again.
11:42Stay frosty, stay wonderful and if you're gonna get reused, try and stand out a little, yeah?
11:48Make it so.
11:49Thanks.