A thing I've always been impressed by with Mr. Probert is his attention to functionality. Lap of his designs have a functional logic to them, and he can easily describe what each part on his designs do. Not all designers who have worked on Star Trek have that aspect, though they do still produce some nice designs.
@@AndrewProbert Say Mr. Probert, would you be interested in designing a Romulan Warbird with bigger hangar facilities as in your original design to function as a carrier vessel of sorts for the Star Trek Online game? With impulse engines this time? Or how about designing an advanced successor model or refit to your classical D'Deridex design?
Even after all this much time has passed this is , in my opinion, the most interesting ship design in the Star Trek universe. I do wish the vertical ship design would have made it to the screen - it would have been awesome!
There was one vertical ship in B5 series. One of the races of the first ones. Only seen for a short time but it does give the perspective on what it could have been.
Babylon 5 didn't really shy away from vertical ship design. As +Th0ughtf0rce said, the Brakiri Avioki is a close resemblance to the Warbird, but the Minbari Sharlin's also have a vertical layout.
As fans, we use the word "iconic" for many of our favorite Trek ship designs... This is certainly one of the most so, and if I had to pick a favorite antagonist ship from Trek, this would be it. Thank you, Mr. Probert, for sharing your time like this with your fans, we do so appreciate it! And thank you so much, Stuart and Samuel, for one of your best design interview episodes.
I'd love a model of Andrew Probert's original design for the Romulan Warbird. I really like his original design better, however, I still like the canon version too. Too bad that vertical design never made it into canon, that would have been cool to see as well...
Regarding the "missing" impulse drives: I noticed this early on, because the RWB is one of my favorite ST ship designs, and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE that they are "missing" :D. Here is why: From a physical point of view - and especially in the context of Star Trek's "fantasy physics" - impulse drives and the way they are depicted in Trek, do not make much sense. It seems that people miss two important (major) points: First, an impulse drive is a reaction drive, it operates on the same principle as a rocket (conservation of momentum). This means you need abnormal amounts of fuel to propel such gigantic starships. More to the point, most Star Trek ships would be impractical if they were propelled (at sublight) with a reaction drive. Even if - say - a Galaxy class starship was equipped with an impulse drive (fusion drive) which accelerates the ship at a reasonable rate, the output of the engines would be devastating to any ship nearby: the impulse drive itself would be the most powerful particle weapon you could possibly imagine, and most ships would not survive an encounter with the particle beam. Instead, when the D is propelled by its impulse drive, you see a tiny red glow at the back. It is ridiculous (read some hard science fiction like Larry Niven's "Known Space" if you are interested in a proper depiction of the effects of starship reaction drives). If the MASSIVE Romulan Warbird operates on a properly sized reaction drive - believe me - you would not need much time to find it on the picture^^. Major point 2: Starships in Star Trek SHOULD be propelled by REACTIONLESS field drives, i.e. ships propel themselves by creating force fields. The Warp drive is an example of a field drive. But the same principle could be employed (at much smaller and lesss violent scale) for sublight propulsion. I always imagined that some shuttle types move exclusively via field drives, the standard shuttle of the D does not have any visible impulse engines and is often shown to hover over a planet's surface or it moves very slowly relative to the ground. Within the realm of Star Trek's "fantasy physics" it would make perfect sense if all starships used field drives for their propulsion, since Star Trek establishes a great number of force field technologies. An example from the show would be the DS9 pilot where a force field is used to move DS9 from the orbit of Bajor to the entrance of the wormhole. Therefore, in my head, the RWB is a ship that is exclusively propelled by projecting force fields, a technology that is much superior to federation impulse drive technology... The impulse drives are not missing, the Romulans do not use them anymore ;).
Interesting theory. Just as this ship doesn't have a matter-antimatter warp core anymore to facilitate warp travel, but instead a controlled singularity which can be manipulated to produce enormous amounts of energy as well as bend space-time.
This has always been my favorite ship design for all of Trek. I can not be certain, but I feel it was this ship that made the Romulans stand out as my favorite Star Trek Alien. This ship had that intimidation factor with a very unique design in the split hull that resonated with me. I will admit I am partial to the horizontal over the proposed vertical, however I do think the original interior wing space would have made for a much more practical and appealing ship and it is a shame we only get to see it in paintings. Looking at the painting, I see a marvelous demonstration of just how massive this ship is while also showing the utility of that split design. Thank you so much for the video and the wonderful input from the man behind the ship. My only question I don't remember being answered was, "Did Mr. Probert know that the ship was going to use an Artificial Singularity in place of the standard warp core as a power source?"
I'm glad Sam brought up that awesome intro scene from 'Star Trek: Armada' of USS Defiant/USS Avenger flying through the D'Deridex, that was always my favorite part of the intro sequence. Oops...Andrew forgot the impulse engines...
This is my favorite ship of all time and I wouldnt want them to change a thing BUT the vertical version was really cool too. I hope to see something like that in the future.
I truly adore the space between the two aft hulls as I think it more than anything else makes this a memorable dynamic ship. I think it's easy for the Elf/Roman Romulans to be cheesy and for Trek with its endless T-shaped ships to be tired. This one element gives the Romulans an alien-ness that for me makes them endlessly curious.
+18:17 That interior lower wing shot looks like the cargo handling area could be slotted right on top of that tech detail section as a slot on add on part. Also Re : the Bridge - I always liked the idea of the Bridge being in the middle of one huge long thin row of windows just above the beak - the part that usually looks like a dark slot. so the whole command staff would be strung out in a long horse shoe shape.
Great episode as always. I would certainly like to see him release a 3d model of the details of the hollow part. I could then 3d print it and add to my ship :-)
I always wonder if there is a run on Eaglemoss models or old Playmates ships after each new Trekyards episode.....I know I have personally bought a couple of Eaglemoss ships after specific episodes.
First comment!! Thanks for the great episode guys- definitely an interesting ship, one that's always held a little mystery! One question- and sorry if it's been covered: there's a bright, white light under the upper hull section- I think a disrupted blast even came from this section once to destroy a virus threatening the Ent D and a warbird... Was this light always meant to be a disruptor?
It's interesting hearing the designers who come from different backgrounds and who take different approaches. Andrew seems very keen that the model-builders/VFX teams keeping his designs entirely as drawn, whereas, say, John Eaves who comes from both an art department and model building background is more open to the next guy tweaking what he needs to tweak, with Rick coming somewhere in the middle - designing with the modelers' limitations in mind from the start.
Great episode! Only thing I wish you guys had done differently was ask Mr. Probert whether in his opinion (as designer of both ships), whether the Warbird was in fact more powerful than the Enterprise-D, or if they were about the same.
Romulan ships do not require impulse engines. The use an Artificial Singularity that must always be active. The idling strength of this system provides sufficient power for ship operations and impulse drive capability.
I seem to recall that 90% of all operation on a Galaxy-class vessel were automated. (Which does make sense if you take into account that the refitted Enterprise in Star Trek III had an automation center.) My question would be regarding that vertical warbird; does it have a name?
actually TOS Enterprise had a automation center as well, mind you TOS era automation was pretty basic , used for Towing or transporting a new or damaged starship, it was located in the Aux control room.
@ Andrew - I thought the D'Deridex was called the B type warbird and we never got to see the A type warbird, it was planned for ST:TNG but never built or shown on screen.
The latest news about the new Star Trek Show is that the veteran trek writer Joe Menosky is back! In the same regard could you guys use your contacts whit the designers to learn if some of them will work on the new show? I know now it's all CG but who knows?!
Lol Andrew has quite a good point there :3 LOL. But in my mind and in the STO version of this ship i would see them in a certain section of the nacelles more on the aft section of the nacelles at least thats how the STO version of this ship appears to have them. I mean on the Matt Jefferies/JJ Enterprise you see them behind the saucer i mean Im surprised as much as Andrew is that he thought he added them LOL. I suspect its a mistake on the part of the TNG producers and not on Andrew's part to not show them. So yea to Captian Foley and Andrew. Those impulse engines are probbly hidden on the aft parts of the warp nacelles.
Favorite part should have been easy - it's hollow! This ship was mind blowing when it first appeared. It's a shame we never got to see it in action except for when it was getting its butt kicked by the purple beetles. This should have been the bad guy ship in Star Trek 2009 instead of the ridiculous dragon spine thing. The vertically oriented idea is interesting, but better reserved for a different race. Vertical wings would never satisfy the Romulan bird fetish.
And looked great doing it! I seriously don't know why the movie people don't want to bring any of the old designs back. It's been a long time since we've seen them, and the newer fans may have never seen them. At least it appears as if the tv people are going to do a better job - I wonder what their Romulan ships will look like?
Y'know....I'm actually perfectly okay with the idea that the Warbird might not have impulse engines. In fact, I rather like it. I'm fine with the idea of concurrent technological evolution, too, but we're talking a race that uses an artificial black hole as a power source for their ships instead of the more typical matter/anti-matter reactors. Obviously, they don't think the way humans do, so I figure that'd apply to their design philosophy, too. What if they're using something like, I dunno, a mass effect field for propulsion instead of impulse engines? A reactionless propulsion system of some sort, anyway. Then they wouldn't need the fusion reactors to power the impulse engines as so many other races do. More space for troops or weapons or something if you don't have to carry that reaction mass around.
I get what you're saying but consider that the original BoP was more a flying saucer with wings and a bird painted on the bottom -- it wasn't very birdlike itself. The esthetic was more "raygun gothic" than anything else. Plus, even vertically set, no one's going to look at any of the designs above and not think bird -- the shapes and accents all say avian. For me, I think the bird motif can be too one-note by itself and really love more creativity. I love the overall organic look of the warbird and the double hull design; these each in concert with the bird element make it spectacular for me. And I think I love the wicked "blood green" color of this stylish battleship as well.
I have no issue with small crews - it is actually quite prescient - take European Aircraft carrier they use automated weapons elevators and so pretty much remove or drastically reduce a whole segment of crew that is essential on an older ship. The crew of about 300 a century before or the crew of 100-150 on the Intrepid class and the crew in the lowish numbers on many later ships all suggest a great degree of automation, besides that 1100 Number includes the families too some of whom don't even have a proper job on the ship that relates to its function like school teachers or kids for a couple of example or the ships Hairdresser etc.. (yes I know Aircraft carriers usually have a hairdresser too). As for the Impulse engines simple really there isn't any (Eaglemoss I am looking at you) quite obvious really when you think about it if the ship is moved by the singularity that can do that just as easily at low speed as high speed. But even so the info on this ship is pretty iffy I prefer to think of it powered by a gravity distorting Singularity drive (much like some natural warp capable species of alien life use) - so I disagree with the idea of it making warp plasma as much - except by virtue of it possibly being used for the super-luminal aspect or to power the shields and weapons. Or perhaps the warp engines are useful under cloak and the singularity or the engines are powering the cloak while the other is moving the ship. Personally I'd prefer the nacelles to not even be that obvious or even there at all - perhaps a future version wouldn't even need the nacelles at all. I need to look up to see if the Valdore uses a Singularity drive or not though. But nah I don't see the need for Impulse engines - it doesn't need them it just used a gravity drive to push itself about at slow speeds - it might even use the singularity to aid the tractor beam function too.
It's too bad that the powers that be in the series decreed that warp nacelles had to be horizontally aligned on statships. Really, top, bottom, up and down don't make much sense in space anyhow so realistically there probably wouldn't be such designs anyhow and they'd probably be a lot more "freeform", if you will. Assuming Roddenberry's line-of-sight rule holds that would be about the only real restriction on the appearance of the craft, well that and other practicalities I would suppose. Wow, that's a lot of words for me simply to say, "I really would have liked to see the vertically aligned nacelles." 😁
A thing I've always been impressed by with Mr. Probert is his attention to functionality. Lap of his designs have a functional logic to them, and he can easily describe what each part on his designs do. Not all designers who have worked on Star Trek have that aspect, though they do still produce some nice designs.
Thank you for your observations-
Certainly one of the most important abilities of a fictional ship designer. And yet he did actually forget the impulse engines on this one!
@@AndrewProbert Say Mr. Probert, would you be interested in designing a Romulan Warbird with bigger hangar facilities as in your original design to function as a carrier vessel of sorts for the Star Trek Online game? With impulse engines this time? Or how about designing an advanced successor model or refit to your classical D'Deridex design?
Even after all this much time has passed this is , in my opinion, the most interesting ship design in the Star Trek universe. I do wish the vertical ship design would have made it to the screen - it would have been awesome!
Yes. But I'd like to see the vertical warbird with the D'Deridex instead of it being the D'Deridex.
There was one vertical ship in B5 series. One of the races of the first ones. Only seen for a short time but it does give the perspective on what it could have been.
Troy Dixon
Yeah. The Torvalus Dark Knife. But I'd say the Brakiri Avioki would be closer in look and feel
Babylon 5 didn't really shy away from vertical ship design. As +Th0ughtf0rce said, the Brakiri Avioki is a close resemblance to the Warbird, but the Minbari Sharlin's also have a vertical layout.
As fans, we use the word "iconic" for many of our favorite Trek ship designs... This is certainly one of the most so, and if I had to pick a favorite antagonist ship from Trek, this would be it.
Thank you, Mr. Probert, for sharing your time like this with your fans, we do so appreciate it!
And thank you so much, Stuart and Samuel, for one of your best design interview episodes.
I'd love a model of Andrew Probert's original design for the Romulan Warbird. I really like his original design better, however, I still like the canon version too. Too bad that vertical design never made it into canon, that would have been cool to see as well...
Holy crap I never saw that vertical ship painting before, that needs to go on a cover!
Marz10, it's in one of the 'ships of the line' calendars... 2013, I think-
Regarding the "missing" impulse drives: I noticed this early on, because the RWB is one of my favorite ST ship designs, and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE that they are "missing" :D. Here is why:
From a physical point of view - and especially in the context of Star Trek's "fantasy physics" - impulse drives and the way they are depicted in Trek, do not make much sense. It seems that people miss two important (major) points:
First, an impulse drive is a reaction drive, it operates on the same principle as a rocket (conservation of momentum). This means you need abnormal amounts of fuel to propel such gigantic starships.
More to the point, most Star Trek ships would be impractical if they were propelled (at sublight) with a reaction drive. Even if - say - a Galaxy class starship was equipped with an impulse drive (fusion drive) which accelerates the ship at a reasonable rate, the output of the engines would be devastating to any ship nearby: the impulse drive itself would be the most powerful particle weapon you could possibly imagine, and most ships would not survive an encounter with the particle beam. Instead, when the D is propelled by its impulse drive, you see a tiny red glow at the back. It is ridiculous (read some hard science fiction like Larry Niven's "Known Space" if you are interested in a proper depiction of the effects of starship reaction drives). If the MASSIVE Romulan Warbird operates on a properly sized reaction drive - believe me - you would not need much time to find it on the picture^^.
Major point 2: Starships in Star Trek SHOULD be propelled by REACTIONLESS field drives, i.e. ships propel themselves by creating force fields. The Warp drive is an example of a field drive. But the same principle could be employed (at much smaller and lesss violent scale) for sublight propulsion. I always imagined that some shuttle types move exclusively via field drives, the standard shuttle of the D does not have any visible impulse engines and is often shown to hover over a planet's surface or it moves very slowly relative to the ground. Within the realm of Star Trek's "fantasy physics" it would make perfect sense if all starships used field drives for their propulsion, since Star Trek establishes a great number of force field technologies. An example from the show would be the DS9 pilot where a force field is used to move DS9 from the orbit of Bajor to the entrance of the wormhole.
Therefore, in my head, the RWB is a ship that is exclusively propelled by projecting force fields, a technology that is much superior to federation impulse drive technology... The impulse drives are not missing, the Romulans do not use them anymore ;).
Interesting theory. Just as this ship doesn't have a matter-antimatter warp core anymore to facilitate warp travel, but instead a controlled singularity which can be manipulated to produce enormous amounts of energy as well as bend space-time.
This has always been my favorite ship design for all of Trek. I can not be certain, but I feel it was this ship that made the Romulans stand out as my favorite Star Trek Alien. This ship had that intimidation factor with a very unique design in the split hull that resonated with me. I will admit I am partial to the horizontal over the proposed vertical, however I do think the original interior wing space would have made for a much more practical and appealing ship and it is a shame we only get to see it in paintings.
Looking at the painting, I see a marvelous demonstration of just how massive this ship is while also showing the utility of that split design. Thank you so much for the video and the wonderful input from the man behind the ship.
My only question I don't remember being answered was, "Did Mr. Probert know that the ship was going to use an Artificial Singularity in place of the standard warp core as a power source?"
I'm glad Sam brought up that awesome intro scene from 'Star Trek: Armada' of USS Defiant/USS Avenger flying through the D'Deridex, that was always my favorite part of the intro sequence.
Oops...Andrew forgot the impulse engines...
Many thanks .... I do remember the first time this ship popp up in TNG and blow my brain away.
Vertical ship designs would be cool for the new ST series!
This is my favorite ship of all time and I wouldnt want them to change a thing BUT the vertical version was really cool too.
I hope to see something like that in the future.
Probably my favorite alien ship from Star Trek.
I have a new appreciation of the war bird. Now I need schematics created by the designer showcasing the ship as he intended.
Really a cool design! After seeing this episode, it would have been awesome had the writers also included the "vertical" design Andrew had conceived.
I truly adore the space between the two aft hulls as I think it more than anything else makes this a memorable dynamic ship. I think it's easy for the Elf/Roman Romulans to be cheesy and for Trek with its endless T-shaped ships to be tired. This one element gives the Romulans an alien-ness that for me makes them endlessly curious.
Love the shot of the E flying through the ship. Well done.
I doubt the J could do something similar. :)
The Enterprise-J would probably just phase through.
Phasing tech. Now there's an idea.
+18:17
That interior lower wing shot looks like the cargo handling area could be slotted right on top of that tech detail section as a slot on add on part.
Also Re : the Bridge - I always liked the idea of the Bridge being in the middle of one huge long thin row of windows just above the beak - the part that usually looks like a dark slot. so the whole command staff would be strung out in a long horse shoe shape.
lol Stuart you are such a fan boy i love it i rly think Andrew appreciates the love you guys have for his ships
wow,that episode was great. Mr. Probert was blessed by the Omnissiah.
This has to be my favorite Star Trek ship outside of the Connie.
Hahah! That image of three D'Deridex vs a Sovereign, Galaxy, Defiant, and Prometheus... those Warbirds are in for a tough battle!
Always been my favorite ship!
Great episode as always. I would certainly like to see him release a 3d model of the details of the hollow part. I could then 3d print it and add to my ship :-)
Mr. Probert, please put anything out that you think is missing/incorrect about this ship.
I always wonder if there is a run on Eaglemoss models or old Playmates ships after each new Trekyards episode.....I know I have personally bought a couple of Eaglemoss ships after specific episodes.
First comment!! Thanks for the great episode guys- definitely an interesting ship, one that's always held a little mystery!
One question- and sorry if it's been covered: there's a bright, white light under the upper hull section- I think a disrupted blast even came from this section once to destroy a virus threatening the Ent D and a warbird... Was this light always meant to be a disruptor?
It's interesting hearing the designers who come from different backgrounds and who take different approaches. Andrew seems very keen that the model-builders/VFX teams keeping his designs entirely as drawn, whereas, say, John Eaves who comes from both an art department and model building background is more open to the next guy tweaking what he needs to tweak, with Rick coming somewhere in the middle - designing with the modelers' limitations in mind from the start.
Great episode!
Only thing I wish you guys had done differently was ask Mr. Probert whether in his opinion (as designer of both ships), whether the Warbird was in fact more powerful than the Enterprise-D, or if they were about the same.
I'm down for a kit add on, Andy :D
yess a kit add on for this ship would be quite fun :D.
An addon would be great, but a new and accurate model in 1:1400 would be even greater :D
Awesome episode! Impulse engines...yeah...where are those suckers? LOL
They were to have been directly at the apex of the ship's rear -
I see. Thank you. I don't recall ever seeing that section let up. Gonna have to watch some episodes again. :)
I see. Thank you. I don't recall ever seeing that section let up. Gonna have to watch some episodes again. :)
I always assumed that the Warbird had no impulse engines and had a gravitic drive instead.
I imagine there would be a few intermediate designs between this and the original.
I wonder if you could do the Romulan Kerchan class ship? I think it was the most interesting Romulan design in Star Trek, it looks so sinister...
I would love to have a resin insert from Andrew Probert.
Probert: Would you like an ancillary piece to add more structure to the warbird lower wing?
YES
My favorite Romulan Design and absolute favorite designer.
Absolutely! And if the Impulse engines if they were left off
saquist, yes,... are you a modeler?
Yes but only a beginner.
My primary skills are in CAD AutoCAD, Inventor 3D and Solidworks. I"ve been learning Lightwave.
a pink day go battle ship would rock.
yes please I would love that. Andrew model update
hey solution the one with out the extra bulk is the pre refit and the one with the extra bulk is the refit
Romulan ships do not require impulse engines. The use an Artificial Singularity that must always be active. The idling strength of this system provides sufficient power for ship operations and impulse drive capability.
I seem to recall that 90% of all operation on a Galaxy-class vessel were automated. (Which does make sense if you take into account that the refitted Enterprise in Star Trek III had an automation center.)
My question would be regarding that vertical warbird; does it have a name?
actually TOS Enterprise had a automation center as well, mind you TOS era automation was pretty basic , used for Towing or transporting a new or damaged starship, it was located in the Aux control room.
@ Andrew - I thought the D'Deridex was called the B type warbird and we never got to see the A type warbird, it was planned for ST:TNG but never built or shown on screen.
Hey guys, I would love to see a Trekyards episode of the SS Emmette.
Wow, the Romulans have a Jerry, too! (Spelled Je'ri, I'm sure, because aliens)
I think that the impulse is on the back of the head section.
Except that the trailing energy stream would be blasting that rear section-
Make it like Thunderbird 2 and that there are many different numbered pods that can fit inside the middle.
somebody should paint thunderbird 2 like a romulan warbird. I'd pay to see that.
The latest news about the new Star Trek Show is that the veteran trek writer Joe Menosky is back! In the same regard could you guys use your contacts whit the designers to learn if some of them will work on the new show? I know now it's all CG but who knows?!
Lol Andrew has quite a good point there :3 LOL. But in my mind and in the STO version of this ship i would see them in a certain section of the nacelles more on the aft section of the nacelles at least thats how the STO version of this ship appears to have them.
I mean on the Matt Jefferies/JJ Enterprise you see them behind the saucer i mean Im surprised as much as Andrew is that he thought he added them LOL. I suspect its a mistake on the part of the TNG producers and not on Andrew's part to not show them. So yea to Captian Foley and Andrew. Those impulse engines are probbly hidden on the aft parts of the warp nacelles.
It's a deflector... Well dammit. I can't complain about the ship not using it as a weapons hardpoint in games anymore.
hmmmm a vertical version of this would be cool.
What's this obsession everyone has with ship separation? That's something TWO ships did.
THANK YOU someone else says it, iv never liked the idea of that at all,
Favorite part should have been easy - it's hollow! This ship was mind blowing when it first appeared. It's a shame we never got to see it in action except for when it was getting its butt kicked by the purple beetles.
This should have been the bad guy ship in Star Trek 2009 instead of the ridiculous dragon spine thing.
The vertically oriented idea is interesting, but better reserved for a different race. Vertical wings would never satisfy the Romulan bird fetish.
It would have vaporized the JarJarprise in one shot.
And looked great doing it!
I seriously don't know why the movie people don't want to bring any of the old designs back. It's been a long time since we've seen them, and the newer fans may have never seen them.
At least it appears as if the tv people are going to do a better job - I wonder what their Romulan ships will look like?
Y'know....I'm actually perfectly okay with the idea that the Warbird might not have impulse engines. In fact, I rather like it. I'm fine with the idea of concurrent technological evolution, too, but we're talking a race that uses an artificial black hole as a power source for their ships instead of the more typical matter/anti-matter reactors. Obviously, they don't think the way humans do, so I figure that'd apply to their design philosophy, too.
What if they're using something like, I dunno, a mass effect field for propulsion instead of impulse engines? A reactionless propulsion system of some sort, anyway. Then they wouldn't need the fusion reactors to power the impulse engines as so many other races do. More space for troops or weapons or something if you don't have to carry that reaction mass around.
While i like the way it looks in the vertical aspect i think it makes it less Romulan as it is less bird like.
I get what you're saying but consider that the original BoP was more a flying saucer with wings and a bird painted on the bottom -- it wasn't very birdlike itself. The esthetic was more "raygun gothic" than anything else. Plus, even vertically set, no one's going to look at any of the designs above and not think bird -- the shapes and accents all say avian. For me, I think the bird motif can be too one-note by itself and really love more creativity. I love the overall organic look of the warbird and the double hull design; these each in concert with the bird element make it spectacular for me. And I think I love the wicked "blood green" color of this stylish battleship as well.
I have no issue with small crews - it is actually quite prescient - take European Aircraft carrier they use automated weapons elevators and so pretty much remove or drastically reduce a whole segment of crew that is essential on an older ship.
The crew of about 300 a century before or the crew of 100-150 on the Intrepid class and the crew in the lowish numbers on many later ships all suggest a great degree of automation, besides that 1100 Number includes the families too some of whom don't even have a proper job on the ship that relates to its function like school teachers or kids for a couple of example or the ships Hairdresser etc.. (yes I know Aircraft carriers usually have a hairdresser too).
As for the Impulse engines simple really there isn't any (Eaglemoss I am looking at you) quite obvious really when you think about it if the ship is moved by the singularity that can do that just as easily at low speed as high speed.
But even so the info on this ship is pretty iffy I prefer to think of it powered by a gravity distorting Singularity drive (much like some natural warp capable species of alien life use) - so I disagree with the idea of it making warp plasma as much - except by virtue of it possibly being used for the super-luminal aspect or to power the shields and weapons. Or perhaps the warp engines are useful under cloak and the singularity or the engines are powering the cloak while the other is moving the ship.
Personally I'd prefer the nacelles to not even be that obvious or even there at all - perhaps a future version wouldn't even need the nacelles at all.
I need to look up to see if the Valdore uses a Singularity drive or not though. But nah I don't see the need for Impulse engines - it doesn't need them it just used a gravity drive to push itself about at slow speeds - it might even use the singularity to aid the tractor beam function too.
Agreed...Newer designs of US ships have much smaller crews than you would anticipate.. Littoral and Zumwalt classes YTUBE has them
Aftermarket update!
It's too bad that the powers that be in the series decreed that warp nacelles had to be horizontally aligned on statships. Really, top, bottom, up and down don't make much sense in space anyhow so realistically there probably wouldn't be such designs anyhow and they'd probably be a lot more "freeform", if you will. Assuming Roddenberry's line-of-sight rule holds that would be about the only real restriction on the appearance of the craft, well that and other practicalities I would suppose.
Wow, that's a lot of words for me simply to say, "I really would have liked to see the vertically aligned nacelles." 😁
I don't think daily videos would be a good idea, I figure they would need a little time to be done well.
They are great looking ships, but for real combat their flops.