SDCC17: ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Concept Art Details Klingon And Federation Ships

Concept art for Klingon Sarcophagus ship

Thursday the Star Trek: Discovery exhibit opened at the Michael J. Wolf Fine Arts Gallery, located a couple blocks away from Comic-Con at San Diego Convention Center. The exhibit features genuine props, costumes and sketches from Discovery along with a captain’s chair where you can take photos and even a Star Trek gift shop. 

Star Trek: Discovery Gallery at SDCC shortly before opening

There is a lot to cover so we are going to do it in pieces. We are going to start off with the design sketches.

Klingon Sarcophagus Ship

The following illustrations from various dates in 2016 all show the interior and exterior the main Klingon Sarcophagus ship and all are noted to appear in episode 101 of Star Trek: Discovery.

Illustration of profile of Klingon Sarcophagus Ship “with new bridge” dated August 4, 2016

Illustration of Klingon Sarcophagus Ship bridge dated December 16, 2016

Illustration of Sarcophagus “Glowing” dated December 2, 2016

Klingon Obelisk (like from inside the Sarcophagus ship noted by a “SAR”), dated December 18, 2016

Klingon Raider

There were another Klingon illustrations showing a ‘Raider’ which is noted to appear in episode 100. In typical TV production parlance episode 101 would be the first episode of the first season, so this is an usual notation, we assume it corresponds to the first hour of the two-hour pilot.

Klingon Raider texture study from October 25, 2016

U.S.S. Discovery

The Discovery has seen many revisions since it was first shown as an early concept in the 2016 Comic-Con teaser video. The gallery shows the concept art for the final approved version.

Three views of the USS Discovery – December 2016

Close up of Discovery Exterior

Close up of Discovery Exterior, top-down view

Close up of Discovery Exterior, from the underside

U.S.S. Shenzhou exterior and transporter room

Thanks to the recent May “up fronts” trailer we’ve seen a bit of the Shenzhou already. The gallery offers some new looks at sketches of what we assume to be the Shenzhou surrounded by Klingons, and a much better look at the transporter room.

USS Shenzhou bottom and top profiles – January 2017

Shenzhou confronts a dark armada of ships

Transporter room

Desert scene

The desert scene from the pilot episode was featured heavily in the images and video CBS shared in May. Highlighted below are two beautifully illustrated pieces of concept art from that planet.

Stormy desert world concept art

Bizarre desert alien concept art

Unknown Ship

This ship hasn’t been identified, it may be some sort of cargo carrier or perhaps troop carrier, given the look it’s likely Klingon. The asteroids and space gas in the background place it as part of the scene with the Klingons and the Shenzhou at the edge of known space as shown in the May trailer, also seen in Shenzhou concept art at the gallery.

 

More to come

Coming up soon we will show the Starfleet, Federation and Klingon props and costumes along with some key details revealed at the Star Trek: Discovery gallery at San Diego Comic-Con.

And in case you missed it, check out our report from last night with the Klingon Torchbearer suit.
 

The Discovery exhibit runs Thursday, July 20 through Sunday, July 23 at the Michael J. Wolf Fine Arts Gallery and you do not need a Comic-Con badge for entry.

Stay tuned to TrekMovie all week and weekend for our full team coverage of San Diego Comic-Con.

Star Trek: Discovery premieres on September 24th on CBS with all subsequent episodes on CBS All Access in the US. See our Discovery info page for more details.

Keep up with all the Star Trek: Discovery news at TrekMovie.

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Beautiful stuff. I have the feeling the Discovery design will grow on me, it’s certainly better than what we saw last year. I love the aztecing and the sleeker lines.

Was just going to say, “The discovery design is really growing on me.”

It’s not something I’m instantly in love with, but I’ve generally not been overly fond of most new ships when I’ve first seen them., and that includes the Enterprise-E, the Defiant, Voyager, and NX-01. But I am more self aware of my own tendencies some 15+ years later, and I think I can see myself really growing to like it more and more over time.

It’s got a lot of nice and unique features.

I think it’s the ridiculously long nacelles that drives me nuts.

Early on, I remember my dad commenting in 1987 that the Enterprise D’s nacelles were too short, that the body looked like the classic ship had melted. Now it’s one of his favorite designs.

Yeah, you definitely can have it grow on you. I liked the E-D. I remember being personally offended when they made the E-B an Excelsior Class ship…lol But in my heart I knew it was a great looking ship.

Im hoping Discovery looks better in practice. Havent liked the images I’ve seen so far.

I was gonna make a glib remark about Captain Lorca compensating for something Captain Georgiou didn’t feel the need to… But… I guess… Sometimes a necelle is just a nacelle… 😏

I still feel the ent-e’s nacelles are too long and angular. can’t be in love with every nacelle…

The Discovery has improved since the original reveals. However, the segmented saucer design doesn’t seem very practical. And I still think the delta-wing look clashes with Trek aesthetics. But it’s not a deal breaker and – as you said – it may grow on me. At least it’s unique.

The Discovery & Shenzhou aesthetics make more sense when viewed as extensions of the Starfleet ships seen on Enterprise versus what came later in the timeline.

WHAT HAPPENED TO MY STAR TREK?!!!

It grew up! About damned time…

Yes, it grew up like cancer..

Good another person who won’t watch or post here again. Great news!

Cancer is one of the most powerful diseases and rarely do people beat it entirely. So maybe that’s an apt analogy.

Do you have cancer? Good luck if so, because you’re as good as dead.

Funny you should say that because I’m in treatment right now for HPV based cancer and it’s 85 to 90 % curable. Look it up. Also if you’re not inoculated I suggest you get tested and if you don’t have the virus get the inoculation. I used think guys don’t get HPV cancer just women but not true. Guys get it in their throat. And did you know you don’t have to have sex to get it? Just kissing is all it can take. It stays in your body for decades and then presents itself when you’re in your 50’s and 60’s ( 30s and 40s for women ). So did you know so much about cancer? By the way I’m looking forward to Discovery.

Isn’t this JUST for the pilot?

I thought the series was revamped with new writers and ships.

WE SHOULD BE BASHING THIS. No? I mean LOOK at the Klingons.

Is it change, for change’s sake?

Yes, there are some cancers that are curable (my sister had one in college)– but I assume the poster was referencing aggressive blastomas like what McCain is facing, otherwise it’s not such a harsh comment.

@Tiberius

Also, glad to hear you’re being treated and doing well!

Torchwood. Are you a Star Trek Apologist?

There’s nothing to apologize for. I am a fan that keeps an open mind because I love Trek. If the show sucks I’ll be first in line to tear it a new @$$#*le.

But right now there’s really nothing to hate. The visuals look slick and cinematic, the actors are high class, the story seems intriguing… I mean, on first glance there are certainly things I could nitpick, but why bother at this point? Even the things I’d nitpick (which I’ll detail after this diatribe) are relatively minor, and things I can overlook if the show is good.

As for “change for the sake of change” I’d say the previous 10 years of steadily declining ratings and poor box office on the TNG movies tells me the change is to help fix a broken TV franchise.

Clearly just setting it after Nemesis and continuing with the production designs, style, and the same kinds of stories they’d used for the previous 20 years was not something they were ever going to do. Nor would I if I in their shoes.

I’ll be there 9/14 to watch the premiere and I’ll judge it then. If it’s terrible, I’ll come here and trash it with everyone else. If it’s “meh” but has some potential, I’ll say that too.

I also like to remember though that TNG was AWFUL for almost 2 full seasons, and many of the first 10 movies were downright dumpster fires (more bad than good, on balance). Trek does not have a spotless record, so if it’s terrible I’m not sure I can quickly and easily lay blame at a specific person or cause. I’ll have to do some digging and give it real thought before I can fairly judge the responsible parties and which decisions were the wrong ones.

Things I am not loving so far:

-Acting. This is the big one. The trailer did not do a lot to convince me that the performances will be top notch. That said, I know all of these actors have done excellent work in the past, particularly Isaac (who we’ve seen nothing of) and Green.

-The Klingon look. I don’t hate them, but I am not in love with them either. But I’m holding out on a final judgement until I see them in action. I’ve learned from years of judging early set and production stills that what you see in a photograph often looks far better on film in motion.

-The Ship. I actually am warming to the Discovery, but certain minor details irk me, such as the font on the saucer. But such a minor thing.

-Cinematography. I don’t care that it feels sort of like the films. That’s actually a good thing. But I worry it’s a bit too dark visually.

-The Tone. Like the visuals, I have concerns it is too dark. I like my Trek bright, airy, and ultimately fun, this seems very dreary, melodramatic, and visually dark. I think the tone of the first Iron Man film would be perfect: moments of serious dark drama, but overall a fun adventure. But with that all in mind, if it’s good drama, I can accept it as a darker version of Trek, just as I grew to love DS9 as being a darker version of TNG, that explored more serious themes.

Again, these are just early observations, but none of them are barriers to me watching and not worth stressing over until I’ve seen an episode. I love Trek too much to not go into it with an open mind.

Damn right Star Trek will get Darker like it or not.

I await 9/14 as well. You got that right with Next Gen’s 1st couple.
Perhaps Trek has too vast a canvas to begin effectively.
It may take years. but TV and now the Web are offering new twists to the formula.

Like Data once said, TV did not last much into the 21st century.
Oh well. I guess Next Gen did have some moments early on.

I can see they are trying new things, but to me the whole Klingon revamp is a distraction for this new series. And Like I said earlier the classic Trek Klingons needed some development, but a complete revamp is a strange decision and does not bode well. Especially without some really good talent. and I think hiring Trek hasbeens are NOT the answer.

They should have had a contest here at TM for a new series concept. The winner could have participated in the series development.

Trek needs to go in a good direction.

A complete revamp (if that’s what ou want to call this) is needed. They tried small tweaks on DS9, VOY, and ENT. They tried small tweaks on each TNG movie. And yet ratings continued to decline, box office continued to fall, viewership continued to drop.

Yes, we diehards kept coming back. But Trek needs more than Trekkies to watch to survive. Trek fans, particularly those here, should be held to a restraining order, and kept far far away from the next series!

What Star Trek needs is stories that resonate with a broader audience, an easy on-ramp into the mythology AND is respectful enough of the source material that Trek fans embrace it.

JJ films managed to attract a larger audience of non-fans and lapsed fans by creating a big budget adventure with popular, attractive actors. But the stories lacked. JJ films got stuck in the no mans land where a lot of Trek fans didnt like it and non fans didnt get it.

Where I think Discovery is being smart is placing the series prior to TOS. I stand by my feeling that Enterprise (the series) was the best concept for a Trek series since TNG but they blew it in execution, not concept).

Ask people on the street and I bet most average people equate Star Trek with Captain Kirk and Mr Spock. So you’re baiting those people by having this take place in the same general era. You’re baiting lapsed fans and those non fans who still remember the original series with all the retro props.

But you’re feeding the average viewer with promise of awesome visuals and action. The cast, especially Burnham is really quire brilliant because you have an “in” with another niche but very large fanbase (The Walking Dead).

Where JJ went wrong was that awful STID. They had positive word of mouth, lots of eyeballs and they blew it. If Discovery can be a GOOD show with GOOD storytelling, it creates positive word of mouth. They will do fine.

What will happen with CBSAA is some people who arent really big Trek fans wont subscribe but over time, more and more will interest them, whether they are Good Fight fans or whatever, and Discovery, with strong word of mouth, tips them over the edge to subscribing and trying it out.

I wasnt concerned about the acting in the sense, we have little context. It could be that the marketing people pulled “dramatic” moments for the teaser and they were all sort of flat but perhaps there are better scenes.

And there is always the possibility that these first few episodes are flat. And the actors/writers/directors need time to find their voice.

Even Patrick Stewart sucked in the first season of TNG. On the flip side the weaker actors in Trek excelled once they found their character’s voice.

Regarding tone, it would not surprise me if this is a dark series (or at least this season). But given the amount of Trek fans on the team, you have to expect they have some lighter moments.

I suspect it starts off with lots of “hope” but the premiere ends on a dour note.

Agreed, TUP, I was just providing some early observations I had because people seemed to think I’m a “Trek apologist” who will like “whatever they slop in my dog bowl.”

It looks like it grew up to be some damn hipster. What the ever living fudge is this??? CBS is making the best Mass Effect series ever (sarcasm)

This is what you think a hipster looks like? Son, you need a lesson in style.

It grew up? What does that mean? What an odd statement.

…sadly, it appears…at least aesthetically…it has joined the other “cool kids”. Too bad they choose to be a follower instead of an innovator that makes others want to follow them.

cough troll cough

But to address your point, you’re not entirely wrong. The truth is the very REASON we’re getting a new Trek series is because it’s a safe bet: Trek is an established brand that people recognize, and it’s more likely to get eyeballs than something entirely new (hence the revivals of shows like Twin Peaks and X-Files).

There’s also an established mythology that gives them confidence in adapting or remaking a show (hence the production of adaptations and remakes like Game of Thrones and Westworld).

But given Trek’s last few series were not big hits, it makes perfect sense they’d want to take a cue from other popular franchises that are bringing in big viewer numbers.

It is disappointing, I’ll admit, that Discovery doesn’t seem to be an innovator, but perhaps they’ll surprise us and the show will start out as an imitator to grab viewers, and take a different turn to become something new and different.

LOST did this. Starting out as a standard survival/shipwreck drama we’ve seen before, and quickly becoming the long-form sci-fi/mystery series that networks have been imitating ever since.

Grow up, kid.

Thouse “things” are suppose to be Klingon? LOOL

You people are so pathetic it’s hilarious. Good luck in your battle with cancer.

They are entitled to their opinions Torchwood. Even if you don’t like them.

They look like they’d put the fear of Kahless in the hearts of the TNG style Klingons

So why do you not let us take the images off the site? TrekCore does lol.

I always though Federation ships would look great with some red highlights, low and behold in the trailer and these images, the Shenzhou has red highlights.

Is it certain that the transporter room image is a concept? 1) looks exactly like the image released in EW. 2) it looks like a photo not a concept drawing. 3) through the doorway across the hall looks like a forklift, which makes me think this is the actual set and not a concept.

I love everything I see here and do not have an issue with it.

I’m MUCH happier with the Discovery design. This is such a sleeker, more detailed version of the ship compared to that awful first reveal. The sarcophagus ship looks like a floating tomb -something very ceremonial- and to be fair I could put that raider in a line up with small vehicles that we’ve seen and not feel frustrated with the design. I’m good with it and I’m so excited for what’s to come. Give us another trailer at Comic Con PLEASE

I am enjoying the new designs and aesthetics, but I am noticing in all the ship imagery released recently the lack of Bussard Caps/Lighting.
Maybe they are going the JJ route and only having the Bussards glow at warp, or perhaps removing them in total?

It almost looks like the bussards are now much more like real world jet intakes and not glowing anymore. I hate it.

It hates you too.

I really really really love the Shenzou, but it doesn’t have a “hero ship” feel to it. Maybe because it kind of looks like an Akira which you’re used to being in the background. I like the new design of the Discovery though. But the deflector dish looks like an anus

Well, the show isn’t called Star Trek Shenzhou, it’s called Discovery. So there you probably have your hero ship. We still have no idea how much of the show will take place on the Shenzhou.

I love everything except that ship. Ugh. Terrible

The Discovery is slowly growing on me. The Klingons are weird, but I’m interested to see where they’re going with them. The Shenzhou looks more along the lines of a 24th Century Starfleet scout ship, but I really like the design.

Also, if that Klingon monstrosity is called “Sarcophogus”, is that hinting that these may indeed be ancient Klingons that were in a state of suspended animation?

Certainly starting to look that way!

Either that or they are modern Klingons but of an old house who’s sole duty was protecting the body of Kahlass. They have been alone (the same “house”) for centuries. If they want to explain their different look, it could be due to inter-breeding, lack of genetic diversity, or even tradition (like many human cultures modified their heads, necks, etc)

They’re to be commended for embarking on a vast departure from any recognizable Trek look — except for Discovery itself from the McQuarrie design. A little biomechanical. Not my cup of tea, but somebody will like this, I’m sure.

Star Trek: Event Horizon…
…except that the design of Event Horizon at least had internal logic beyond looking “weird and cool”.

I’m pretty sure if this had appeared as a ship in Axanar everyone would be exploding in their pantaloons over it.

Oh, so you have seen all of Season 1 then, Forrest Leason?

No? Then knock it off.

It all looks cool. Let’s see how it all fits together.

I’m kinda getting a FASA- Trek vibe to these ship designs and I really like that. :)

Wow. Hard to believe that’s a complete coincidence.

Wow! Yes, I see it now too.

Explain to me what Im seeing (I cant read anything in the attachment)

Just compare the top-down view of the FASA Klingon ship to the new Klingon sarcophagus ship. The technical details and description below the pictures and to the right aren’t relevant–they’re just for playing Star Trek Tactical Combat Simulator. :)

The Senzhou looks like it’s a mix of the NX class and the Miranda. I’m iffy about these Klingons, though. But I’ll wait and see if/how they explain things in the premiere.

The nacelles on the Discovery are gorgeous.

They are my biggest “meh”. They look unduly stretched. I dont like. But, Ill reserve judgement til I see it in action.

I kinda like those Discovery nacelles too. And the ship overall is really looking good.

While DISCOVERY’s makers may claim that it’s storyline and characters are set in the pre-TOS ‘PRIME timeline’, this show seems set to be radically different from the original STAR TREK show in many ways. Which is fair enough, given the 50 years of changes in production techniques and sensibilities in television since TOS first aired.

But leaving aside that it seems likely the fun, family-friendly vibe of the classic show’s era is going to be given a much more challenging, adult-orientated tone in this version, all these recent production design reveals really confirm just how far removed from the original STAR TREK this latest spin-off incarnation is going to look.

Updated techniques are to be expected, but it’s the collective amount of design ‘reimagining’ that makes this an implausible fit as a pre-TOS ‘PRIME timeline show for me at the end of the day – whether it’s the ‘NEXT GENish’-looking ship designs…or the ‘Klingon’ ultra-makeover…or the ‘gas-filled’-looking starfields etc.

Which is fair enough as I said…but I can’t seriously look on this total ‘re-imagining’ of the source material as an actual lead-in to the original TOS show’s characters and events. However, the visual look of DISCOVERY makes it very easy to just imagine it is set in an ‘alternate universe’ which threw up the ‘KELVIN timeline’ shown in J.J.’s 2009 version, instead…and any future appearances of any younger versions of ‘TOS’-like crewmembers will be merely ‘alternative universe’ versions too.

I’ll personally enjoy DISCOVERY a lot more by not having to reconcile ANY of it’s trappings with the classic STAR TREK show from here on in, and just hope it’s an entertaining trip overall.

Star Trek Discovery will take place in a third Timeline.

Nope.

I love the production art. I KNOW it’s not a perfect in-universe fit, but it’s cool as hell!

Just not feeling the design of Discovery. Funky, weird, oddly kitbashed looking. The Shenzhou, however, is pretty good looking. Too bad that wasn’t Discovery.

Those ridiculously elongated nacelles are driving me nuts.

Yep, especially contrasted against the small circumference of the saucer section. Everything just looks ‘off’.

The Ralph McQuarrie design was just a terrible choice to base the ship off of because, well, it’s a terrible design.

I love pretty much everything else they’re doing with uniforms, props, etc. Just not Discovery herself.

I love how the USS Discovery’s simple primitive shapes contrast with the Klingon’s intricate Gothic/Gaudi inspired design. And using such radically simple shapes for the Discovery make it instantly iconic.

These bold and unexpected design choices are exactly what Trek needs if it’s to wash the bad taste from the last couple of dismal TV series and unwatchably derivative fan films.

Could we go with subtitles for the Klingons?

At least for the first few minutes.

Trek really needs to address the language barrier in some way.

Especially if these are ancient Klingons.

That would definitely be interesting. And I feel like it has become more “acceptable” to have subtitles for some characters even on mainstream shows. However, in previous shows they always relied on the universal translator that could (magically) understand any new species they encountered. So within the Star Trek universe it wouldn’t make sense if suddenly they can’t understand Klingon anymore. They could have Klingons talk in Klingon (with subtitles) when it’s just Klingons among themselves. And then have them talk English when (or if) they communicate with other species.

It was confirmed at SDCC that there will be subtitles…

One other thing, I’m surprised and impressed how the Discovery is bridging the NX-01 with the the TOS Enterprise, and doing so with something never seen before (excluding McQuarrie’s art of course). The Shinzhou is very NX-01 era, while the Discovery manages to introduce the straight-edged simplicity of TOS and do it in a way that, amazingly, looks more advanced. The Shinzhou is the Blackberry and the Discovery’s iPhone.

This is to no one in particular but a lot of people here are forgetting that Star Trek WAS the adult science fiction program. That’s how it broke new ground. Weird that adults here are arguing that it should be safe for kids using a standard that’s 50 years old. For ST to resonate, it cannot merely entertain.

Star Trek is Changing so except it, new Star Trek will be more Flash Bang Action and this is because to pull in a modern audience they have to do this.

The designs are growing on me. I’m hopeful the series will do great and will ensure Star Trek lives on well into the 2020s. It’s important to note the code name for the series… “Tennessee Honey”…. as a Tennessean who happens to love Jack Daniel’s TN Honey…. GO DISCOVERY! :D

And here I thought that “Tennessee Honey” was the name of the Klingon ship.

;) :p

I am STUNNED by the sheer depth and beauty of the production design. The first word that popped into my head when I saw these photos was “cinematic”. Amazing!

I can entirely understand and accept the production delays if this is the kind of level of attention to detail they were aiming for. This is, indeed, cinematic.

I’m in the minority, I guess. I liked the original Discovery better. The triple bussards & the solid saucer looked much better to me. The bussards were unique & stood out. The nacelles reminded me of the Stabilo Boss highlighter torpedo tubes on the New Orleans class. In addition, there was no freaking window on the bridge! The transporter room looks fine until you get to the giant industrial fans behind the pad. It’s simply ridiculous. The Shinzhou design isn’t era appropriate. Also, who puts the bridge on the bottom of the saucer?! And… another fricking window on the bridge! The Klingon ships & Klingons themselves are ridiculous as well. When it comes to design of ships, interiors, & aliens these clowns have missed the mark. What I wouldn’t give to have Doug Drexler, Mike Okuda, & Michael Westmore go in, fix everything, & save this series from oblivion!

I’ll admit I actually did like the “roulette wheel” saucer a bit more. But I also have no issue with a window bridge on the bottom of the saucer. It’s different and unique for Trek, so I’m all for it. Every ship having the same format is uninteresting to me. New and different is important.

Wow, reading the comments on this page has shocked me. Trekmovie used to have a somewhat high-brow erudite set of people and discussions for the most part. Now it’s people calling each other names, some of which are horrible. Other people having usernames that childishly proclaim one ‘Trek is worse (or better) than others. What’s happened in the last few years? The new explosive JJ crowd chimed in?

“Wow, reading the comments on this page has shocked me. Trekmovie used to have a somewhat high-brow erudite set of people and discussions for the most part. Now it’s people calling each other names, some of which are horrible.” Agreed! I couldn’t have said better. Tourchword obviously has nothing better to do with his time other than see himself type. ;-)

Aye.

My impression is that the more nasty comments seem to come from either TOS purists (who hate it because it’s not faithful to TOS) or people who only like the TNG era or “going forward”. I’m not sure the “new explosive JJ crowd” is invested enough. Of course, there are also a number of trolls who just like to stir up trouble. I do agree that there are some posters who tend to get into verbal fights whenever they “meet” each other. Some of them can have “normal” discussions but seem to be triggered immediately whenever they see certain other users.

Like others said here, the more I see Discovery the more its growing on me. My guess is we are getting a second trailer and its going to heavy on Discovery so if true hopefully it will win me over when I see it in action. Right now, its still kind of weird looking but looking cooler too.

Love all the Klingon stuff though. Really cool ships and the interior is beautiful.

Shenzhou still looks cool but like Discovery neither really seem to fit this period but I guess the whole period is getting a revamp at this point.

I’m sort of going the reverse. It seems less and less like start trek with everything I see. From the showrunner comments about internal strife to the “one person changing the course of the universe” to these ship designs. It’s just not very trek to me.
The Shenzhou looks like a Trek ship. The Discovery doesn’t and I just don’t like the design at all. It’s got worse from the original teaser that was released, and as you say it doesn’t seem to fit.
The klingon ships seems like a massive departure from the established aesthetic, to the point where they don’t seem like Klingons at all. More like they just wanted ‘an alien race’ and so decided to just stick the klingon name on it. The three Klingon concepts above have no threads between them, they could be 3 ships from 3 totally different races. Maybe they’ll somehow tie it together with some ‘ancient klingon’ story arc as someone suggested, but we’ll have to wait and see.
This stuff certainly isn’t making me more enthusiastic for the show, sadly.

Unlike Tiger2, the more I see the less I like it. But only for one specific reason.
I personally don’t have anything against change. I started watching Star Trek with TNG, but I can honestly say that I liked and enjoyed all incarnations of Star Trek. Until they started this Abramsverse nonsense, that is. So I understand both sides. The worried fans and the open-mind fans and respect them all.

Well, now comes Discovery. And one of the first things the producer Ted Sullivan said was, that the show would be a prequel of TOS. Not a reboot or a reimagining. And that’s simply a lie! Or Mr. Sullivan doesn’t unterstand what the words mean.

The shown technology on board of the ships and the ship design itself doesn’t fit the time perdiod. And of course they had to change the Klingons. Why? Why is it always the Klingons, that need changing? They never changed Vulcans! Even the Romulans in the Abramsverse just have some “cool” tattoos. But the Klingons had to be changed to some generic clowns jumping around on the surprisingly desolate klingon homeworld.

The new klingon costumes and weapons in Discovery look honestly quite impressive, well-designed and expensive. But they could be from any sci-fi universe, something dark like Warhammer 40k or something silly and flashy like Flash Gordon’s Emperor Ming. But they’re not klingon for me.
But this time they also seem to change the culture. A sarcophagus ship and an actual sarcophagus? For Klingons dead bodies are just empty husks. They don’t honor them. Or do they carry Kahless around now, for millenia? The ship design reminds me of Lexx: The Dark Zone.
The rest of the design is just personal taste. I think the Discovery is just ugly, but I like the Shenzhou. But who cares!

But call it what this show is. A reimagining! Nothing else. It simply doesn’t fit into the established Star Trek Prime universe. And then I think many people wouldn’t mind the changes as much. And then you also don’t have to respect the canon at all. And don’t need to understand the many timelines and different universes of Star Trek, whatever Mr. Kurtzman means with that. I have no clue.

And as long as Mr. Kurtzman is at the helm, I personally have no hope at all. I haven’t seen a single well-written movie or TV-show from him.

I just hope we get a very detailed look and its very realistic looking. Every image I’ve seen looks like a cheap animation.

Unless I missed something we’ve only seen concept drawings of Discovery and that low-quality CGI trailer from last year. Given the level of detail in the other stuff I expect Discovery to be very detailed. And with the advances in CGI (and the budget they seem to have) they should be able to get much closer to the ship with the virtual camera.

Those ship designs may be the ugliest ship designs I have ever seen. Those Klingon ships do NOT look Klingon, not in the least. They look like something out of Warhammer 40k. And both the Discovery and Shenzhou are some of the worst Starfleet ship designs I have ever seen. The only ones worse are every single ship design in the garbage nuTrek films. I mean, WHY is Shenzhou’s bridge on the bottom of the saucer? Are the makers of STD so dumb that they don’t now that the bridge is on the top of the saucer in every single Starfleet ship ever made? And WHY is the Discovery’s saucer section segmented? Why all the negative space? The saucer section for every Starfleet ship ever made is of ONE piece. Once again, the makers of STD (and yes, I am deliberately calling it STD because like a real STD, you don’t want it and usually will run as far away from it as possible) must be completely stupid. Add to that the new Klingon physical appearance, armor, and weapon designs, which don’t look Klingon IN THE LEAST (why do the Klingons have talons on the end of their fingertips? WHY?), and the dumb new Starfleet uniforms which don’t reflect the era of “The Cage” in any way, shape, or form, or Shenzhou’s transporter room that doesn’t look AT ALL like a transporter room, and simply put, this show deserves to die a quick death and be sent to Gre’Thor where it should rot and burn for all of eternity. Screw you, JJ Abrams. Screw you, STD showrunners. Screw you, Alex Kurtzman. Screw you, CBS and Les Moonves. You’ve been ruining Star Trek ever since you got it and you’re doubling down on it now with STD.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! I was shaking my head scrolling through this thread, reading the people squeeing about how they “really like” the ships and how cool they are. GAH. They suck. Starfleet Engineering would never create that saucer section in the images. And those Klingon ships? The Klingons are a disaster. Those “spokes” on the Discovery saucer section are all that is connecting the outer ring with the center ring and there should be no rings at all, and those nacelles are too long. I don’t know what the hell they think this show is supposed to be depicting, but it is it’s own thing ans Star Trek is something completely different. The real killing thing is that the production team is so dumb that they did not start out considering that the original Enterprise 1701 is in THIS timeline too. Before Kirk and Spock was Pike and Spock on the 1701. They brought in Harry Mudd? WHY? Because these nuTrek kids like the tribbles. So cuuute (and easily mass produced to sell on Black Friday). Perhaps they will make the nuTribbles talk and have faces and mouths. I am sure they will be very popular because they are “gender neutral”.

What does Harry Mudd have to do with Tribbles? I thought, correct me if I’m wrong (and I often am) that was Cyrano Jones?

I stand corrected. Harry Mudd had the Venus drug and the wives, and he also was the guy who found the Android planet and reprogrammed them. Cyrano Jones was the tribbles. You are correct.

Love the look of the Klingon Sarcophagus ship – it looks like it should be trailing misty, ethereal wisps from it, like it was itself a ghost. Also, it’s been clear that the past Klingon ships had designs inspired by Klingon wildlife, and that ship really looks like a huge moth or zombie bird of some sort, and very organic – yet unmistakably a Klingon ship, with the long neck and forward bridge area. Home run there.

The Discovery, I’m slightly – it looks cool, but I guess I’m just not open-minded enough to miss that the USS-Pasteur-forward-hull-like ball-turret bridge module is going to be a pain to get out of given it is surrounded by space, if that (admittedly fairly beefy) stalk attaching it to the inner ring of the saucer section (targeting reticle section?) gets damaged… the bridge on the top of the saucer was always, to me, an obvious target, but this one looks like it could be shot at from below as well as above the ship. Still, pretty cool design, even with that. I actually think the empty rings within rings was inspired by buildings that have hollow cores surrounding courtyards to give both the outer and inner rooms access to windows (I’m sitting next to a window off a courtyard in the middle of my office building as I write this, actually… yeah I know, get to work you hippie!). And also, lets not forget that on the 1701 and 1701-A there was a part of the lower saucer that arced up into the saucer so much that it actually wasn’t thick enough for a person to stand in (but was easy to blow a hole through, as seen in the last battle in Undiscovered Country), supposedly machinery space. So, not entirely practical back in the day either.

That part of the saucer was totally big enough for someone to stand in — it was easily a deck or two thick. Practically, I don’t think it makes sense to have an outer ring around the saucer accessible by only four thin corridors…but hey more windows for everyone, I guess. As long as the SIZE proportions aren’t out of whack, like they were with the JJprise, I’ll be happy.

Wasnt the Discovery described as a science ship? So, perhaps the defensibility of the ship wasnt really a concern to Star Fleet engineers. But keeping scientists happy by providing windows might be…lol

It also gives them the opportunity to show other parts of the ship through the window. I think Star Trek 2009 was the first Trek where you could see parts of the ship when looking out of the brdge window. In previous Trek they only had stars outside the windows.

That’s because they WEREN’T windows. In the 2009 movie, the main viewscreen has become a window. in the original Star Trek, it was only a viewscreen.

Well, four narrow connectors plus the thick neck/interconnecting dorsal. Are the quartet big enough to contain a corridor, a turboshaft, or both? At this point, without seeing them in action, my main objection is one of proportions — they look *dinky* next to the inner and outer rings, like the sprue on a plastic model kit.

They’re potentially impractical, especially during emergency situations — instead of having your choice of radial corridors, you might be forced to run up to 180° around the rim to the thicker, more damage-resistant neck.

Re: a saucer with gaps/voids/lacunae — Comments from the designer would be more helpful than speculation, but the same idea appeared with the U.S.S. Vengeance in STID(2013), and IIRC, in several of the playable Starfleet ships in “Star Trek Online” (although I can’t seem to locate any right now).

I love the Discovery design. I only wished they had made the hull smoother and a lighter grey in line with TOS style and made the deflector that copper radar dish look. I also hope we get to see classic Klingon D7s.

I don’t hate the new designs at all, I absolutely love the new designs I just hope we get to see how it transitions into the Original Series if not this season at some point before this new series ends.

I thought this show was in the Star Trek universe. I guess I was mistaken.

…well…overwork the designs much? So much for the once-upon-a-time signature sleek style of Star Trek. Now there is so much busy detail in everything it looks like everything else put out by everybody else. Congrats.

It’s called “necessary” (due to HD) and “amazing” (due to the very clear dedication to craftsmanship).

I noticed (in the other SDCC props article) on the command controls on Captain Lorca’s chair that it has controls for port and starboard forward phasers but nothing for central forward phasers like the 1701 has. I noticed on the pics above the Discovery lacks central phaser banks on the upper and lower saucer. Any thoughts on this?

They got the equipment like the hand phasers and such right but the ships – bleh. The Discovery is far off of what a Starfleet ship of the period looks like and the Shenzhou is essentially a modified 24th century Akira.

Shenzhou looks like a logical progression from the NX Class (taking into account 21st Century production design), and the McQuarrie starship design is canon (in spacedock in the films).

There’s no getting away from it now: the Discovery is quite simply the most horrible, amateurish design in the entire Trek canon. The “Raging Queen” kitbash at least had a sense of fun. The D is… pardon my language here, I’m really sorry… a fucking flying pizza cutter. And what makes it all the more tragic is, the Shenzhou is actually really nice, an innovative continuation of the NX and Franklin era concepts.

What were they thinking?

Maybe there were thinking it was a different ship, with different technology. Just sayin’.

The Discovery’s saucer section looks like a Daedalus class ball with a saucer built around it! While the Shenzhou obviously has elements from the NX class – perhaps suggesting overall different starship design lineages coexisting in parallel…

Interesting that the bad guys’ concept art features “Islamic” design.

Yes, I raised a Spock-like eyebrow at that description. Surely it’s actually an ornate ‘alien’ design detail? Fascinating.

There’s no politics involved – it’s reference to an artistic ‘style’.

There is a popular theme in Islamic art, throughout the Muslim world, that is extraordinarily ornate and decorative. What they’re referencing is the immense detail they’re putting into the costume work, which has everything to do with the art style and not the religion. Look up Mosques and other Muslim structures especially in Spain and you’ll see what i’m talking about.

The art direction has me intrigued, I’m very interested to see how these different visual elements come together on-screen. Little worried that this could end up being another super dark/depressing scifi series, I hope they remember that star trek is supposed to convey an optimistic view of the future of humanity. Don’t want it to be Into Darkness: The Tv Show, you know?

A-historic, non-canon garbage. I saw some art for the sarcophhagus and mockups of the Klingon uniforms on another article and immediately thought “Jaffa, KREE!”

They should have listened to Fuller…this is NOT the Trek the fans want.

Just…..OMG. Whatever this show is supposed to be, good luck with it. I think I am more saddened by the people on here who are evidently okay with what those images are showing us. It’s all style and flair over logic and science. This Star Trek (NuTrek) is clearly in the action-fantasy genre now, along with Star Wars. Star Trek is science fiction. But I say that as a statement of truth, not as a diss to this show they are calling Star Trek Discovery.

Why did they say this was going to be in the prime universe? It clearly is not. And “10 years before Spock and Kirk”, the original Enterprise 1701 was on a previous 5 year mission under Captain Christopher Pike and first officer Spock.That means Enterprise 1701 is out there flying around when this show is supposed to be taking place.

I am sad because most of these NuFans do not care enough about Star Trek for it to be that big of a deal. They don’t care that the Trek universe has been butchered like this.

How is it in the ‘action-fantasy genre’? We haven’t seen anything yet.

Whilst this series is set before TOS, don’t forget that the Constitution Class on their Class-unique mission of deep-space exploration have been active a number of years at this point. They were part of a particular programme the Federation wished to pursue, and were designed for that purpose. Myriad other ships would have been in service to serve other mission profiles. CF the Royal Navy circa 18th-19th Centuries – it had vessels assigned to exploration and research, such as HM Bark Endeavour, and heavy warships such as HMS Victory (currently the oldest commissioned warship in the world).

Enterprise is an old ship when Kirk takes command. If Discovery is launched later, then of course it looks more advanced. And it likely has an utterly different mission.

Of course, the Constitution Class were the ‘prestige’ assignments, but in a dangerous galaxy, I doubt Starfleet rested on its laurels.

“How is it in the ‘action-fantasy genre’? We haven’t seen anything yet.”

We have seen plenty, actually! Much of it is right here in those images. And if I have to answer the question about this being action-fantasy vs science fiction for you, my answer is not going to make much sense to you. Just how long have you been a Trek fan anyway? have been watching it since it’s birth in 1966. I have seen every single episode of every series ever made for this show, along with the movies. It stopped being science fiction when JJ Abrams took charge. Star Wars fans never needed science, and they do not understand it anyway. Star Wars is fantasy, and real Star Trek is science fiction. If you think there is no difference, look up the definitions.

The Starfleet ships look like Starfleet designs. Satisfied so far. The Klingons have also had a specific design aesthetic and so far, all Trek has bred true on it. Discovery had better not eff it up. There’s a bit of a tradition of changing Klingon look. But better get their ships right.

Well, well, well! Ship designs that look great from ANY angle! Amazing! Too bad the people behind the recent films didn’t understand this basic concept of what makes a great Trek starship design.

I like the uniform designs a lot. I think the Shenzhou is a gorgeous design, but is out of place in this timeline. The Discovery isn’t pretty, and it looks like some old clunky Federation starship, but it seems to service the plot — so that’s fine. Klingon redesign doesn’t bother me. They look cool and mysterious/menacing. So I’m on board to watch this show when it premiers, and I hope it’s a huge hit.