The Borg Tactical Cube from Voyager. Variations on a theme.
The Tac Cube was the result of Species 8472 teaching the Borg the meaning of humility. I remember that after so many years of watching the Borg’s relentless advance across the Universe, it was shocking to see them fleeing before an unknown assailant. Who would have thought that one of Trek’s best spaceship designs would be a cube? A stroke of genius that says it all.
“Mr. Five by Five” - With the introduction of the Borg, TNG caught fire.
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Screen caps courtesy Jörg
The cube is an awesome design, so simple and yet so complex. I did enjoy seeing more of the Borg in Voyager, but I did not like what the show turned them into, not so scary anymore..
Resisting this post would be futile! Thanks for the photos!!
Great update!
Definitely one of Voyager´s best starship designs.
Whom do we have to thank for this one anyway?
Designed by Doug Drexler, built by Koji Kuramura.
Thanks for the explanation.
Ah, that lovely green glow! My favorite color.
I’m always struck with the size of the cubes…just amazing! The Borg were a great foil with an interesting twist that did indeed breathe life into anything they sucked it out of. Not your typical alien culture, they were a combination of many countless cultures but, being devoid of interest in anything besides technology, they were ignorant of the wealth and quality of life, art and beauty many of these cultures possessed. A flaw, yes, but not one easily exploitable when being assimilated!
Nice post, Doug. The Borg are always a good subject, and the cube is…unwieldy looking.
Thanks Doug i really love Borg ships and this one is the best one no wonder because we all know who designed it
I’m on the team that says the Borg are an amazing idea that Voyager played all wrong. Tactical Cubes? Doesn’t that defy the whole spooky aura that total generalization, aka the Borg Cube, conjures? The ship with no engines, no weapons systems, no…anything? Colour me a fan of the plan to make TNG the Passion Play with Q as God & the Borg as the Devil. Turning them into disposable enemies of the week is exactly the reason why Best of Both Worlds is legendary TV, while Voyager is utterly forgettable.
/Trek nerd rant.
Well, VGR totally abandoned the idea of Borg technology being that generalized and decentralized, giving them discrete systems like vinculums and transwarp coils and the like. In my novel Greater Than the Sum I tried to rationalize this as a response to Species 8472, centralizing the systems for greater security against their virus or something, but it’s a tenuous rationalization. The way the Borg were portrayed was constantly changing to suit storytelling needs, even in TNG.
My beef with Borg ships is that the Borg are supposed to be all about efficiency, but a cube is not an efficient shape. The most efficient shape, the one that requires the least amount of material to enclose a given volume and minimizes the distance for travel, wiring, piping, etc. between any two points within that volume, is a sphere. A sphere is also a stronger design than a cube because the edges of a cube are structural weak points.
You are so right.
Personally, I took the cube as less a sign of the Borg’s eye towards efficiency than as part of their utter lack of imagination. Also, for some reason, perhaps somewhen in their long history, they found a cube more useful than a sphere despite the drawbacks. Maybe it was easier to assemble Borg cubes (and, by extension Unimatrices and whatnot) from smaller cubes as Peter David suggested in his novel “Vendetta”?
Nice, I remember in an interview with developers of Star Trek Legacy, they claimed they came up with the idea of the Tactical Cube. I’m sure they were mistaken.
Love this design because it instantly tells you it means business. If we were to compare to Starfleet design, this design is to the Defiant that the traditional cube is to the Enterprise-D.
Didn’t know you were the keen mind behind the tactical design Doug! Very nice! And great model, Koji!
I assume that Koji Kuramura started with the basic cube model and added the armor on top of it? It would be great if he could give us a brief overview of model construction. I’m not entirely clear on how the various cube models are related (did the basic VOY cube model use texture maps from the FC miniature?)
Hi Boris, I’ll see if I can pry him away from JPL long enough to comment.
I second that request – curious how long it took to build – how long did the modellers usually get for ship models during porduction? Can’t imagine it being much time on a TV sched.
The concept of the Borg Cube has to be simple .. Blunt Force Trauma .. it hits you and you stay hit.
The borg taught the federation a simple lesson. No matter how much you think you know, we can outthink you in a moment and humble you.
The borg Tac-Cube is the other end of the equation. what happens when the Borg get taught the same lesson.
Nice surface textures and shapes.
Doug,
Again thanks for posting!
Paul F.
A “tactical” cube, as opposed to the regular pleasure cruise variety. I liked the look of the thing, but could never quite believe Voyager made it through a shootout with one…
When the Tactical Cube was introduced, it sure gave meaning to the Borg having teeth.
Thanks for sharing Doug!
Wow, Sunday with the Drex Files can turn the world on with its smile. That Doug Drexler took a nothing day and suddenly made it all seem worthwhile.
I had pretty well tuned out of Voyager by the time this not-so-jolly green giant debuted, but it was certainly fun to see the Borg pull another arrow out of their very formidable and no doubt cubical quiver.
Hi Boris,
You are correct. I started with the base Borg Cube model. And added the parts that Doug had on his drawings. I don’t know if many people know this, but there was never more than 3 sides built for the Borg cube, because if you think about it… You could never see more than that on screen. The reason being was that it was a very Polygon heavy model. And back in those days of Voyager, memory was at a premium.
Thanks for the info.
The cube is fantastic, but I believe that the best starship designs introduced in Voyager was the USS Prometheus
Agreed here – Prometheus was awesome. Would love to see more of it and about it’s history.
Many schematics I have seen show it as smaller than the Sovereign class, seemed like it would be at least as big.
I never quite got the idea of a Borg Cube having armor. The impression from TNG was that they adapt to new weapons, even if a cube would be destroyed, the next one wouldn’t be. The Borg of Voyager really seem to be running scared, maybe because of Speciese 8472. It was really cool to see another species take out cubes like that for once.
But the Borg did lose their bite, even the Queen became more of a leader of the Borg than being the essence of them. I thought the Borg comeback in Enterprise was a return to form.
Ah, here we do! Thanks, dea!
Whatta design, whatta mesh! Doug, how long build Koji? Ugh. Ugh. Must build more nurnies… nurnies… nurnies… nurnies…
That’s where prac model-building had it made, just open a tank, or ship, or whatever detailed kit, and have at it. Nice once you build up a CG nurnie library to harvest from when needed.
LLP,
deg
request: could you get ortho renders of the normal borg cube?
i would really apriciate it 
Cheers
Max Loef