Latest Ships of the Line: Active Duty

Doug Drexler has posted his latest Drex TV video, which inlcudes several new Ships of the Line: Active Duty animations; many based on the new ships from the 2012 calendar. Also featured are some behind the scenes videos from DS9 and Enterprise, and a lot of spinning guns:

Ships if the Line 2014(!!!) preview

Last month Andy Probert gave a tiny sample of his work on an image for the 2013 Ships of the Line calendar. Well now Doug Drexler has shared a lot more about Probert's image, but also reports it wont be used until the 2014 edition! Probert's new tug design is part of an image he is making depicting the cleanup operation after the Battle of Wolf 359 (cool!). Here's some of the design work:

And what Probert had to tell Drexler about the design:

This whole idea came about when a fan suggested that I design a new Starfleet Deep SpaceTug & Repair Ship for the calendar a couple of years ago. I already was into another idea at the time but started playing around with the idea because it intrigued me. As time went by, I continued to sketch up various concepts but nothing looked quite right. I eventually expanded it’s roll to lifeboat rescue (the four docking ports on top) added a shuttle bay, a mid-hull cargo section, and more clearly defined the ‘service deck’ (flat area on the “bottom”) which incorporates an inverted gravity field within it’s two decks. That allows those working on repairing & servicing smaller ships that have “landed” on that surface to have a ‘heads-up’ orientation to that surface. Incorporating it’s own exterior gravity plates, ships and personal could use it as an Earth-bound strip of tarmac. With flexible side ‘arms’ extending from the sides, that same surface may also be used to store large (or segments of) ships for transport to a repair base. Two tractor beam emitters are mounted at the rear for towing, with cable winches available as tangible backups. Finally, there are the obligatory phaser strips as a security measure.

You can see lots more sketches of the tug on the Drex Files.

UPDATE: A cross section of the tug has been added to the original article, check out the inverted gravity:

Alternate art for Kobayashi Maru

Doug Drexler has posted on his blog a variant of his artwork for the cover of the Enterprise novel Kobayashi Maru:

I think this might be the first time this art has been seen in colour; a black and white version was released in early solicitations for the book.

Drexler has also posted his cover art, without the titles, for the more recent/forthcoming books, To Brave the Storm, and Storming Heaven. Both of which were apparently inspired by Frank McCarthy movie posters. Go have a looksie.

Original effects team returns to work on TNG remastered

Doug Drexler has announced on his blog that he will be joining others from the original production team of TNG to work on the remastering project, and also gave an insight into the modus operandi of the remastering project:

Tomorrow I start work with Dan Curry, David Takemura, and Mike and Denise Okuda on the Star Trek: The Next Generation Remastered.

You heard right, this time around Paramount is bringing in a team that lived TNG as it happened. Dan, as I’m sure you know, was the visual effects supervisor on Next Gen. Unlike the remastering of TOS, this job will be 100% true to the original. Visual effects shots will not be reinvented, pulling you out of the show. What’s about to happen is truly extraordinary. The studio has saved all the original footage, and VFX elements from the good old days.. We will be recompositing them, and then outputting them in high definition. Here and there, elements have been lost, and we will recreate only those missing pieces, and with this promise: aside from looking like you had your windshield cleaned, you won’t know the difference. Star Trek:The Next Generation is Gene Roddenberry’s legacy, it is culturally significant, and we will rejuvenate the show with curatorial eyes only. Paramount Picture deserves a round of applause, and I can’t wait to dig in with my friends.

This echoes Mike Okuda’s recent comments in response to readers of his blog when he posted about TNG remastered:

The good folks at CBS are working very hard to make their work fit in with the original versions, except sharper and clearer. Very occasionally there are a few small aspects (like the green planet in "Sins of the Father," shown above) that are tweaked a little for HD. We don't doubt that sharp-eyed fans (and VFX professionals) will notice some differences, but for the most part, the idea is for CBS to re-create HD versions of the effects that everyone has been so familiar with for so many years.

TrekCore meanwhile have added a new comparison feature for the footage so far released, demonstrating what a remarkable improvement is being made. Go check it out.

Starfleet issue dressing gowns, now for girls.

Remember those Starfleet-styled dressing gowns? Well Kirk's gold and Spock's blue have now been joined by Uhura's red, in a specially shorter cut version for female Starfleet officers to lounge about in:

Here's how Amazon describe it:

Beam me up, Scotty: You don't have to work aboard the Starship Enterprise to enjoy the comfort of this high quality robe, designed to resemble the classic red uniform of Lt. Nyota Uhura. The robe is made from soft, warm microfleece and has a stitched badge on the front, two pockets, and a wrap around belt. Shorter than our other Star Trek robes, designed for a more flattering look for the ladies. One size fits most. Officially licensed.

News blurbs for Storming Heaven and Plagues of Night

Simon and Schuster have updated their listing for the next, and final, Vanguard novel, Storm Heaven, by David Mack. UPDATE: David Mack has tweeted me to point out this is not the blurb for Storming Heaven, but a re-use of and early one for Declassified (albeit with a misleading sentence plonked in front). So hopefully something less generic will be forthcoming in the future:

The final novel in the acclaimed Vanguard saga, based on Star Trek: The Original Series!

Secret operations, sealed orders, high-risk military special operations—such dangerous missions have been at the core of the Star Trek Vanguard series since its inception. Four great nations—the Federation, the Klingon Empire, the Tholian Assembly, and the Romulan Star Empire—have all taken tremendous risks in their race to learn and control the technologies of the ancient interstellar hegemons known as the Shedai. Now get ready for the mystery of the Taurus Reach to be revealed….

They have also added a blurb to their online catalogue listing for the next Typhon Pact book, and part one of David R. George III's new duology, Plagues of Night:

In the wake of the final Borg invasion, which destroyed entire worlds, cost the lives of sixty-three billion people, and struck a crippling blow to Starfleet, six nations adversarial to the United Federation of Planets—the Romulan Star Empire, the Breen Confederacy, the Tholian Assembly, the Gorn Hegemony, the Tzenkethi Coalition, and the Holy Order of the Kinshaya—joined ranks to form the Typhon Pact. For almost three years, the Federation and the Klingon Empire, allied under the Khitomer Accords, have contended with the nascent coalition on a predominantly cold-war footing. But as Starfleet rebuilds itself, factions within the Typhon Pact grow restive, concerned about their own inability to develop a quantum slipstream drive to match that of the Federation. Will leaders such as UFP President Bacco and RSE Praetor Kamemor bring about a lasting peace across the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, or will the cold war between the two alliances deepen, and perhaps even lead to an all-out shooting war?

First hints at new stories coming in Star Trek ongoing

Comic Book Resources has posted an interview with Star Trek ongoing writer Mike Johnson. He talks about the differences between the original TOS and his new versions of episodes, and how the artists have had to come up with new rooms on the Enterprise not seen in the movie. He also talks about what's coming up in the series, and it's not just reimagining episodes:

It starts similar to the scope of the original series and gets bigger as we go. Think of the old "butterfly and the hurricane" analogy. Things start off relatively similar to how they did in the Gary Mitchell story, only to evolve in scope to the point that we get to the first big, original comic story, post-movie, which involves the Vulcan response to the apparent Romulan responsibility for the Vulcan homeworld's destruction.

Now that's more like it! He also talks about how the series might work around the next movie:

The great thing about working with Bob and being privy to the development of the next movie is that we can really tie everything together in the same way we did with the "Countdown" prequel miniseries for the last movie. Plans are in the works for a similar prequel to the next movie. If we're lucky enough to continue the comic series after the next movie, we would definitely want to show the effects of the film on the crew in the comics.

And in the near term, a bit about the Galileo Seven story (part one of which came out this week):

"Star Trek" #3 and #4 are based on "The Galileo 7," which is a dramatic look at how Spock deals with the responsibilities of command, with the added twist that in this new timeline he was technically captain of the Enterprise for a short time as seen in the movie. We'll explore how he feels about adjusting to the role of XO.

New Star Trek jewelry

StarTrek.com has announced a new range of Star Trek jewelry available exclusively from Amazon. Designer Udi Behr had this to say about the range:

Star Trek is an icon in American culture, and I tried to create a line of jewelry that will not only speak to the Star Trek fan community, but that will also serve as a great ambassador to an audience that is not familiar with the franchise.

Available are rings, necklaces, and bracelets. Here are a few highlights:

 

 

 

 

 

You can see the entire range, on Amazon.

Star Trek Online launches season five

Star Trek Online's fifth big update, Season Five: Call to Arms, has now launched. The new features include:

• Duty Officer System - A new way to build, train, and trade your starship's crew.
• The Borg Advancement - New Borg invasion missions.
• Klingon Gameplay Updates - Updated gameplay for Klingons.
• Skills Revamp - Options to test your chosen skills areas and ship specs.
• Mission Revamp - A new way to find episodic content and get straight into the action.
• Lore Missions - New STO history based missions.
• Economy Restructuring - Various in-game currencies have been streamlined into the trade of dilithium.

Full details can be found on Cryptic's announcement. To celebrate the launch they have also made two ships available for free form the Cryptic store:

USS Enterprise

Klingon Qorgh class refit

The Qorgh Raptor Class that has served the Empire so well in battle has been updated with new technology for the 25th century battlefield. The SuQob Raptor comes equipped with a Bio-Neural Warhead. This unique weapon allows you to launch a heavily armored tricobalt explosive equipped with shields and a point defense system that is piloted by an onboard bio-neural artificial intelligence. This warhead will deal massive damage to a target if it reaches its destination. The Bio-Neural Warhead can be equipped in console slot on any Raptor, Bird-of-Prey Raider or Destroyer.

Want a Crucible poster? Tell Cross Cult

Cross Cult, who are just about to publish their German translations of the Crucible trilogy, have floated the idea of producing a poster of the cover art from the trilogy.

So if you like that idea, go tell them so on their Facebook page. They're thinking about €10, plus postage, pending CBS approval.