Babylon-5 Shuttles & the Battlestar:Galactica?

[Dayton3]

I've just gotten through watching "Babylon Squared".

I'm a Babylon-4 junkie.

The episode featured several good shots of the B-5 shuttles.

Is it my imagination or do the B-5 shuttles share a striking resemblence to the forward portion of the original Battlestar Galactica?

 

[KoshN]

I've just gotten through watching "Babylon Squared".

I'm a Babylon-4 junkie.

The episode featured several good shots of the B-5 shuttles.

Is it my imagination or do the B-5 shuttles share a striking resemblence to the forward portion of the original Battlestar Galactica?

Yes, there's a general, utilitarian shape similarity in just the nose of each, but the size difference is huge.

 

[RMcD]

Yeah, it's very true. In much the same way the Earth Force Omega class Destroyer bears a startling resemblence to the Leonov from 2010, and the Starfury might just be the lovechild of an X-Wing and a Tie Fighter..

 

[Dayton3]

Yeah, it's very true. In much the same way the Earth Force Omega class Destroyer bears a startling resemblence to the Leonov from 2010, and the Starfury might just be the lovechild of an X-Wing and a Tie Fighter..

The wikipedia article on the Leonov says that it inspired the Omega class destroyer.

And I remember reading that the StarFury was deliberately meant to echo the X-Wing fighter.

But I recall nothing about the B-5 shuttle.

I'm wondering that the shuttle being capable of atmospheric flight might be a factor.

I had read back in the mid 1970s when Battlestar:Galactica was in the planning stages that even the mile long Galactica was intended to be capable of landing on a planet surface (now seems unbelievable).

That being why the bottom of the flight pods were flattened.

 

[KoshN]

I'm wondering that the shuttle being capable of atmospheric flight might be a factor.

I had read back in the mid 1970s when Battlestar:Galactica was in the planning stages that even the mile long Galactica was intended to be capable of landing on a planet surface (now seems unbelievable).

That being why the bottom of the flight pods were flattened.

Hmmm, I thought the Battlestar Galactica from the original show and the one from the current show looked pretty much the same in the front. Haven't seen the one from the original show since that show first aired.

Also, I thought you were talking about this B5 shuttle, not the atmospheric one. This was the one used to shuttle crews off of Babylon 4.

 

[Dayton3]

Hmmm, I thought the Battlestar Galactica from the original show and the one from the current show looked pretty much the same in the front. Haven't seen the one from the original show since that show first aired.

Also, I thought you were talking about this B5 shuttle, not the atmospheric one. This was the one used to shuttle crews off of Babylon 4.

Yeah, thats the one I was referring to. I had forgotten about other delta winged B-5 shuttle.

The more I rewatch it, the more I remember just what a dang good show Babylon-5 was.

I believe that there was one year when Babylon-5 was on, in a given week you could see Babylon-5, Space:Above & Beyond, SeaQuest:2032, Star Trekeep Space Nine, X-Files, & Star Trek:Voyager.

My best friend at Wal-mart would tape all that from Friday through Monday and give me the tape Tuesday morning.

I would spend about five straight hours on Tuesday night watching everything.

Those were the days

 

[Thrawn]

Greetings, all.

Speaking of BSG.. has anyone else noticed that the new series on SiFi.. is actually pretty good?

I know, I know.. I was as shocked as the next guy. But it is surprisingly good. Given the overall cheesyness of the old show, I mean.

 

[GaribaldisHair]

I guess so ...

 

[RMcD]

Hmmm, I thought the Battlestar Galactica from the original show and the one from the current show looked pretty much the same in the front. Haven't seen the one from the original show since that show first aired.[/IMG]

Well the pop-up window on the front is very, very reminiscent of the bridge windows on the originalt BSG (not the new one, which doesn't have windows), as is the general shape..

 

[Recoil]

The thing about this is: yes, there is a vague resemblance in the front to the original (and new) Galactica. Now was this done intentionally? No chance in hell.

Its just a coincidence.

I think JMS did state that the Omega class cruisers were a "nod" to the Leonov in "2010: The Year we Make Contact."

But lets face it here, he put together a pretty freakin basic shuttle design. With all the scifi out there theres a good chance it would end up looking like SOMETHING. First thing I thought of when I saw the B5 shuttle was "Yep, thats a basic everyday shuttle"

Anything beyond that is just stretching the imagination a bit, and clearly wasn't intentional all.

 

[RMcD]

I can remember a quote from Ron Thornton in an Amiga Format interview circa 1995 where he admitted stealing some of his inspiration for ships from fruit and veg.. So if anyone's ever wondered why a Vorlon shuttle resembles a pomegranate and the Drazi sunhawk seems to be powered by corn on the cob..

 

[GaribaldisHair]

I thought the Vorlon ship was based on garlic ... maybe my memory is fading.

 

[KoshN]

I thought the Vorlon ship was based on garlic ... maybe my memory is fading.

No, your memory's just fine.

 

[Galahad]

Vorlon ships were based on garlic, it says so in an interview with Ron Thornton in the "Creating Babylon 5" book.

The Drazi Sunhawk was designed to be a modern day interpretation of The Liberator from Blake's 7 because I think JMS and Thornton were both fans.

I actually think that in some ways (what was actually going to happen to the ship and the crew with regard to their own government), Crusade was going to go down a similar road to Blake's 7.

 

[KoshN]

I guess so ...

Liked the miniseries, so I've been buying the DVDs. IMHO, through Season 2.5, it's been a ~pretty good~ show, although I'm starting to get tired of it because it seems like the writers don't know where they're going with it (iow, The X-Files Syndrome). Haven't seen any of BSG Season 3 yet, because I haven't had The Sci-Fi Channel since they moved it to Digital Cable. One of the last things they aired before moving was the new BSG 3 hr. miniseries (complete with a continuous crawl about the move to Digital cable ) .

 

[Jade Jaguar]

Vorlon ships were based on garlic, it says so in an interview with Ron Thornton in the "Creating Babylon 5" book.

If that is true, I wonder why he made them look almost exactly like a squid?

 

[vacantlook]

From Jane Killick's episode guide for season three:

"...But a butterfly's organic too, so why not have something a little bit more colorful?"

That was the basic thought, but it took at trip to San Francisco and a meeting with the people who produced his computer-animation software to inspire him to come up with the final design. "[My wife] Karen and I were driving back down to L.A. after this, and there's this little town called Gilroy, which is up in northern California, which is the garlic capital of the world. It just smells like spaghetti sauce when you go through it; it's great, just huge pots of garlic. It was on the way down the 5 [freeway] and I'm thinking 'garlic.' So I started sketching out in the hotel room the rough idea for the ship, and the head of it is basically a head of garlic, cloves of garlic. It's a cross between garlic, squid -- it's a decent Italian meal when you look at it -- you've got some calamari and you've got your garlic."

(page 5 and 6)

 

[Jade Jaguar]

A squid with a head of garlic?

I'll bet it's stuffed with ricotta and capers too, we just can't see it.

 

[KoshN]

If that is true, I wonder why he made them look almost exactly like a squid?

The inspiration for the Vorlon ships (i.e. the basic shape of the rear section), was garlic.

 

[Dayton3]

I personally cannot stand the organic ship designs.