Ent Era Klingon ships - Page 3

**Paragon** · #21 07-15-2010, 10:21 PM

Sometimes I'm not sure Klingons, Romulans, Vulcans, etc actually paint their ships. Part of me thinks it may have something to do with the native ores of their planets/systems, because it really doesn't seem practical to paint an entire starship, so I'm not sure I would want a "chipping" effect. I mean, think about the color of the planet Vulcan, it doesn't seem hard to imagine it could have an impact on the final color of their ship hulls. Meanwhile Klingons have expanded an empire that allows them to take ore from lots of different worlds, which could contributed to the relatively large variety in colors of Klingon ships. The same could easily hold true for the Romulans.

**rbeach84** · #22 07-16-2010, 01:42 PM

Excellent point - spaceships probably don't have the same type of corrosion issues as craft subjected to an atmosphere - unless they are surface lander-capable, like the BOP. Still, exposure to radiation, particulate matter and thermal effects would take their own toll. So, painted or not, representing weathering and surface reflectances naturally results in a more 'believeable' model. With large metallic surfaces, some kind of surface treatment may be used that would impart a the distinctive look to the vessels. Fictional ships, particularily TV or movie sourced ships, are also subject to other concerns related to desired visual effect, fabrication and photogenic qualities.

What a wonderful way to be creative!

**SEBRET** · #23 07-16-2010, 02:36 PM

Hey Paragon, you got me and some trek friends talking about space paint now, lol. I had a thought. In a lot of sci fi, you see types of ceramic armor. this is usually because ceramic is supposed to have properties that work better for space combat than straight metal, using different layers to guard against different forms of weaponry. from what I know, ceramics are made of earthy materials other than metal. This further backs rbeach84 in relating hull color to native worlds. Just tossing in my two cents. Can't wait to see the finished model.

**Paragon** · #24 07-16-2010, 03:18 PM

I could definitely see a lot of races in Star Trek using ceramic coatings for their ships, considering the wide and increasing range of applications we currently have for ceramics, and I agree, that would be a lot easier way for natural colors to come out in ships than in the metal. It would certainly help explain why the original Constitution class is white. So I guess we could assume that the most common and useful types of ceramic in Earth's future are made from raw materials that produce white-gray and blue colors? The idea of ablative armor (like the Defiant has) would probably make a lot more sense if it was made of ceramic. And of course, ceramic deals with heat a lot better than metal. It could also explain the look of the NX-01 if we assume that it didn't have the same ceramic tiling that most later starships might have.

ANYWAY, as fun as this is to consider, I should continue work on the BoP. I should have some progress to post later tonight.

**starship builder** · #25 07-20-2010, 03:15 PM

also just to rember first episode of ent trip scratches the ship with the inspection pod archer tells hi to re-paint it...

**Sidewinder81777** · #26 07-20-2010, 03:30 PM

he says "you just scratched the paint" he may have been being facetious

**pdmccool** · #27 07-20-2010, 06:27 PM

Actually, painting in outer space wouldn't be impossible if you used an electric charge like they do for painting cars or powdercoating. All you'd really need is an anaerobic paint formula that would dry in the absence of air.

**starship builder** · #28 07-21-2010, 09:13 AM

also in the episode later on in season 2 i belive with the automated space station that repairs teh ship it picks up the scratch on the hull to fix also..

**Millenniumfalsehood** · #29 07-23-2010, 12:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdmccool

Actually, painting in outer space wouldn't be impossible if you used an electric charge like they do for painting cars or powdercoating. All you'd really need is an anaerobic paint formula that would dry in the absence of air.

The US Space Program actually had a weapon like this which would be used to disable Russian satellites. They would spray black paint in the path of an incoming sat and it would get covered. Then it would simply be a matter of time before the satellite overheated and shut down due to the black paint absorbing solar radiation and cooking the components within. No need for an expensive missile or the risk of debris knocking out friendly satellites.

**cMags** · #30 07-23-2010, 07:56 AM

Haha awesome! You got a source on that? I'd like to read more. Sounds like a great (and simple) idea.

Now that I say that, it doesn't sound like the US government at all... As an example, when the space program first started, NASA discovered that the standard ball-point pen wouldn't work in a zero-G (low-G) environment and spent approximately $1M on R&D to develop the space pen. Russia, faced with the same difficulty, gave their astronauts pencils.

:p

...of course the above is entirely an urban legend, but it's a fun one to tell... here's the real story: Space Pen - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia