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Some of the more angular features were also a result of the rough model as well. In the end I was asked to combine the front of #1 with the tail of #2 and after some adjustments, bam the Steamrunner as it appears in First Contact. The Deflector dish boom was then mounted more like the boom on the Akira-class only this wasn't a weapons pod per say. It featured the catamaran nacelles, but instead of being mounted on top of the saucer, they were mounted underneath and the saucer sort of bent around them. "The second design was more to my liking, it was a bit more 'automotive' in its design shapes. There was even a 3rd version with 4 nacelles, two on the top and two more attached to the lower secondary hull. The first design had a secondary hull, but instead of struts to hold the nacelles, they were instead mounted to the saucer section and then cowled over. The boom section of the second ship was then flipped upside down so the deflector was underneath. The front saucer section of one ship combined with the catamaran nacelles and boom section of another. Also on the design, it is actually the merging of two different designs I did. But somewhere in the process the 'R' got dropped in one of the approval pages and it became the Steamrunner, which is still kinda cool retro- steampunk sounding. It had a sci-fi feel to it and I thought it made a cool ship class name. This was the name of a song from a band called 'Fold Zandura' (formerly 'Mortal'). "Here's a bit of background on the Steamrunner: As one person pointed out, it was originally to be called the StReamrunner. Jaeger, in far more detail, recalled in 2009:
#Sector 9 steam roller manual
?) and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual [ page number? The reasoning for the name change to Appalachia was unknown and was subsequently adapted (or adopted) by the Star Trek Encyclopedia ( ? ed., vol. This name was a homage to a song by the band Fold Zandura. The USS Appalachia, featured in First Contact, was apparently intended to be named " St reamrunner" originally, as based on the name appearing in Jaeger's sketch of the revamped "USS St reamrunner," dated 4 April 1996. The Steamrunner-class was designed by Alex Jaeger at ILM. Promotional image of the Steamrunner-class USS Appalachia ILM's original CGI model for First Contact on the right, and Fabio Passaro's later CGI version for the Starships Collection publication on the left
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The ship's deflector dish was housed in the rear, on the detached secondary hull, while the bridge module was inset between the Bussard cowlings. The nacelles themselves were directly attached to the saucer section by large cowlings, which housed the Bussard collectors. The Steamrunner-class was a somewhat drastic departure from other Starfleet vessels of the era, in that it featured a large saucer section, and a detached secondary hull, not completely unlike the design employed in the Oberth-class, but was joined at the aft to the ship's nacelles. In 2401, at least one Steamrunner-class ship, the USS Appalachia, and its younger crew were partially assimilated by the Borg Collective during the events of Frontier Day. In an alternate timeline resulting from Q altering Earth's history in 2024, Steamrunner -class starships were operated by the Confederation of Earth in the early 25th century.
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( DS9: " Statistical Probabilities", " The Magnificent Ferengi", " Afterimage", " Field of Fire")Īt least one member of the class was within a light year of Earth in 2378. ( DS9: " Favor the Bold", " Sacrifice of Angels", " The Changing Face of Evil", " What You Leave Behind") They were also frequently stationed near Deep Space 9 during the war.
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In the years to follow, several vessels of this class were assigned to Starfleet's Second Fleet during the Dominion War, which participated in Operation Return in 2374, the second Battle of Chin'toka, and the Battle of Cardassia in 2375. The Steamrunner-class saw action at the Battle of Sector 001 in 2373, where several were lost. Entering service some time during the early- 2370s, the Steamrunner-class was a common fixture in Federation fleet deployments, appearing on the front lines of numerous engagements, including against the Borg and the Dominion.
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