This ship was originally seen in an episode of Voyager called “The Fight,” and later reappeared in an Episode of Enterprise called “The Aenar”.
It was nicknamed “The Flea” by the production crew.
In appreciation of your help in identifying the vessel from yesterday’scommunique, Starfleet is immediately releasing all diagrams of this craft.
Top
Bottom
Aft
Fore
3/4
SWEET!
Thanks Doug, it was cool to see the ship on “Enterprise”.
I much preferred it in its original state to how it looked as the Romulan drone, though I can imagine why it was chosen for reuse. I suppose it would’ve been a shame to only use that intriguing design in one episode, never to be seen again.
Are those rectangular bits on the underside actually modeled, or is it a crazy looking texture? It looks like it’d eat up quite a few polies if it was modeled.
I could imagine this design being modelled on an insectoid species native to Romulus/Ch’Rihan/? or Remus/Ch’Havran/?.
I’d rather prefer it if it were “facing” the other way. But all the forward antennae are interesting; don’t see that kind of thing on a lot of Trek ships.
I love the design. But it just never seemed remotely “Romulan” to me.
Wait, this was jus a re-use of a VOY design? That’s a little disappointing.
Still cool little piece of design, though.
Hi Syd, I believe that the re-use entailed some detail changes. If I come across them I will post.
Thanks for posting these Doug – Beautiful renders as always!
I wouldn’t call it a pretty ship by any stretch and I really have no recollection of it in the Voyager episode: “The Fight”; I know I wasn’t too fussed by that story.
However, I did recall the appearance of ‘The Flea’ in the Enterprise episode “The Aenar” although to be honest my mind was a blank on the episode title two posts ago!. I remember everything else about it though: Remote controlled Romulan ship capable of camouflaging itself as other ships and performing impossibly fast manoeuvres, Albino Andorian pilot (telepathic), Brian Thompson playing the Romulan in charge, two or three part story! – Excellent concept and a cool story!
Would anyone care to hazard a guess the inspiration for the way this thing maneuvered?
Nice ship, thanks for the orthographics and insights.
It’s design and maneuvering abilities always reminded me of the “Kadeshi” fighters in the 1999 PC game “Homeworld”, but I doubt that’s right.
I always thought that it moved a bit like the Gunstar from The Last Starfighter, especially the “Death Blossom” spin attack, but that’s probably way off too.
This was a cool design, and I really loved that mini-arc of episodes (I’m a sucker for Romulan backstabby goodness
).
At first when I saw it on TV, I was like, “Whaaah! It should look Romulan and have a big bird on the bottom! grumble, grumble.”
Then about a half-hour after the show, it kicked in — it’s supposed to pass as other ships, so making the base shape look alien just adds another layer of confusion if it gets found out… oh, you clever sons of…
They call moments like that “Fridge Brilliance” over on TVTropes, apparently.
So who originally designed it for VOY? Did I miss it in this or yesterday’s communique?
CarlG, I like your take on it as a Romulan craft…they are clever indeed!
JNG, I actually thought it went the other direction when I first saw the top shot yesterday, then I thought why would Doug be showing us the rear view first? When I saw Alex’s graphic I began to wonder….
Hi DeanneM, I’ll see if I can find out the designer. Since it was Voyager, I might say Rick, although it would be pretty oddball for him.
Doug: Ion propulsion or perhaps some cheezy answer like “flea fuel”?
I always liked the look of this ship from the time I first saw it on Voyager , then When I seen it reused on Enterprise It was still impressive looking , even more so with all the added features .
From looking at this it also looks a bit like a forerunner to Nero’s suped up Narada warship .
Dark sleek, and spiney .
Haha I also thought that it looks like a flea when I first saw it ! However, I liked the version from Enterprise very much because it had a lot of added details and was recoloured as far as I remember. Oh and the way it moved reminds me of some airplanes from air shows but that’s the best I can come up with …
It’s a manatee!
Is it true that when Starfleet positively confirmed this craft that they began outfitting all starfleet vessels with photon torpedos filled with Raid?
I can’t recall how it maneuvered, but it looks like a lobster…maybe it crawls??
Awesome, thanks Doug! I always thought the way the thing maneuvered (at least in ENT) was reminiscent of ultra-maneuverable jet fighters, like the T38.
Richard, We’ll have a picyorial on John’s Enterprise Warbird in the near future.
I just watched an episode of Enterprise last night (keep forgetting it’s on the Scifi channel now) and I saw these ships…very scary! The episode was very cool, especially since it had my man jeffery Combs in it (I loved him as Brunt on DS9). I tip my hat to those responsible for making the Andorran’s antennae move, very nice touch.
creativedistractions, I’ve been trying to catch ENT episodes, but no time. I would have liked to see that one! I can’t actually remember what this “flea” looked like in the episode.
Jeffrey Combs is absolutely great…I love Weyoun, but every time he’s shown up on the screen I’ve been very pleased. The first time I saw Shran in ENT, I got all excited. My daughter looked at me like, uhh? When I pointed at Shran, she had the same reaction.
Getting to see Brunt and Weyoun in the same episode was just plain fun.
A lot like the Narada
Jeffrey Combs is king.
Ah, good to see the lil’ bug ship named for who she is, eh. Does not surprise me, given the Trek knowledge pool here (myself excluded, as even though I have never missed a single eps. of any Trek, I am no-where near as Trek-knowledgeable as some peeps here). Amazing.
Well done, guys!
Thanks for the shots of the cool lil’ ship too, Doug.
LLP,
deg
Makes me wonder if the plan was for these to see action in the Romulan War, but manned instead.