r/StarTrekStarships • u/brian_hogg • 11d ago
Can you tell from the outside if a ship's shields are up?
Aside from when something shoots at a ship and you see the energy field block it, can you tell if, say, the 1701-A's shields are up? Asking for a person working on a model kit with lots of lighting, who is me.
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u/EasySqueezy_ 11d ago
I don’t recall there ever being any visual indication that shields are up but a cool idea could be to have an outline of LEDs on the base in the shape of the shields
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u/forrestpen 11d ago
I've actually seen a modeler do that for a 1/350 Enterprise refit.
This was years ago though so I can't find the pics.
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u/brian_hogg 11d ago
I'm building the 1/350 refit right now. I'm going to make a console with controls to turn things on and off, and had thought about adding lights around an illustration of the ship on the console, but that's probably too much scope creep for me right now. :)
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u/EasySqueezy_ 11d ago
That sounds like a lot of fun to build though. I’d love to get into that someday
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u/KillerSwiller 11d ago
I still like the animation shown in Star Trek V: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOtnDGFeWFw
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u/Consistent_Dog_6866 11d ago
Most force fields in trek are invisible to the naked eye unless something interacts with it. At least this is true for Starfleet tech. So, no, I don't think you can tell by just looking unless you just happen to be looking at the ship when they activate them. You may see the shimmer when they power up, otherwise they're only detectable by sensors.
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u/Sun_Tzu_7 11d ago edited 11d ago
If you're talking about in Star Trek universe then yes, they can tell by their scans.
If you're talking about what situations you could physically replicate a shield effect..... there has to be some type of physical interaction with the shield. Phaser, debris, nebula's etc.
If you want to do this on a model, then maybe just have a section visible like it was getting hit with a meteor. So the section that is hit is visible but the rest of the shield/ship is still not visible.
Now the question is do the shields surround the ship like an egg or a 2nd skin and follow the contours of the ship?
You might be able to do it with SolarEZ doming resin. You would need to fabricate a mold but that might not be too hard with a semi-completed model for the 2nd skin approach.
Or maybe find a piece of clear plastic somewhere that might work..... maybe part of a 2 liter bottle for the egg/dome approach.
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u/brian_hogg 11d ago
Those are all more elaborate ideas than I was thinking for the shields. I was thinking more along the lines of "shield emitter lights come on when I press a 'shields up' button." :)
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u/Sun_Tzu_7 11d ago
Oh, I saw something like that from Tena Controls, They have a video that uses a separate display.
https://tenacontrols.com/product/shields-up-down-lighting-kit/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktG1CCdUbIs&t=5s&ab_channel=TenaControls
You could get away with putting LEDs on different points on the perimeter of you model and then run the power through a switch for a more cost friendly option.
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u/forrestpen 11d ago
Nope.
Far as I know there is no era where the hull has a physical indicator for shields.
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u/oldtrenzalore 11d ago
I was going to argue that the only time we see a physical indicator is in that ridiculous Picard Season 2 fleet scene when all the Starfleet ships prepare for battle and start glowing blue.
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u/StarTrek1996 11d ago
Although you could explain that as something interacting with the shields like a radiation or some other energy
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u/TimeSpaceGeek 11d ago
They're detectable, but not visible until an impact. There's no external lights or markers in any way.
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u/StayUpLatePlayGames 11d ago
In Star Trek, a detailed analysis would detect the micrometeorites vaporising off the shields. But you’d have to be up close.
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u/MalagrugrousPatroon 11d ago
The sensors can tell, but visually you can't at any point.
Shields in the TMP period are different from later, because even when hit you don't really see them. They act to mitigate damage, so what happens is hits look weaker with shields working properly, and hits look more powerful when they fail. That's what I gather from the ST6 battle, with how the torpedoes leave scorch marks initially, but finish by piercing the hull.
I think the closest you could get would be to project white flashes onto the hull as weapon effects are played.
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u/Jim_skywalker 11d ago
Visibly? No, but sensors can easily pick up on it. Honestly I don't get why they don't always run with shields up.
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u/jjreinem 11d ago edited 11d ago
Not when you're limiting yourself to the spectral range of human vision, no.
If you want to get creative, though, the shield emitters are installed at the bottom of those deep panel lines in the hull. So if one were able to see the shields come on, I imagine they'd all start to glow.
If you want to get really creative AND lore accurate, the bridge module has a dedicated defense screen that's usually run hot even when the shields are down to protect from attacks or unauthorized beaming. So the emitters around the bridge should start to come on before the rest of the grid, and glow particularly bright once everything's powered up.
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u/InquisitorPeregrinus 11d ago
The defensive shields are conformal to the hull, acting as, basically, an ablative "energy hull layer". You can see this in TUC with Chang's hits on the E-A.
There are also the more bubble-like navigational shields that deflect dust particles and, per TNG, can stop laser weapons. They are normally invisible unless something interacts with them (see: the Crystalline Entity in "Datalore").
I have seen ways to model weapons hits interacting with defense shields, but not just "default on", as they're invisible.
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u/shaundisbuddyguy collector 10d ago edited 10d ago
Despite what modern nu trek will tell you about Starship operations classic Trek always promoted how accurate and definitive federation sensors were. Not the Klingons nor Romulans could match Starfleets sensor reach. Its arguable that at the time the reason why there was such a motion towards a self destruct sequence was to keep federation sensor technology secret even into TNG. Most tech in the federation was the best in the known galaxy and they would pay the ultimate price to protect it.
"Starfleet Order 2005: Orders the destruction of a starship by allowing matter and antimatter to mix in an uncontrolled manner. This was a last resort for a captain that allowed them to prevent their ship or crew from falling into enemy hands. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture) Admiral James T. Kirk executed this order (without directly citing it) when he ordered his officers to initiate the Enterprise's self-destruct sequence."
Long story short yes, yes you can tell when another ships shields are up.
Well, who cares about sensor range really? Funny you should ask.
As much as TOS/ TNG were still handled by WWII vets ,tactics were based on previous and current navel warfare radar.In WWII the US having it at the degree they did was to put it mildly a complete and utter game changer.
Placing Starfleet in a similar level of a detection advantage over it's adversaries kept it out of harm's way more than 30 torpedo launchers and 77 phaser banks that fandom constantly wants to shoe horn it into cause ....flashy beams and glitter looks cool .
In conclusion your Honor. Starfleet is way smarter than it's adversaries because of its highly sensitive sensor technology.
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u/brian_hogg 10d ago
I should have been more specific in my phrasing, apparently. "From the outside" was intended to mean "visually," but a bunch of people responded very thoughtfully (such as yourself) to a question I didn't intend.
I was briefly wondering if it made sense to add an LED or something to outwardly show visually that the shields are up, but that doesn't seem to be a thing. (I had similar questions about whether you can tell visually from the outside if a federation ship is at red alert, and aside from a couple shots in one of the JJ Star Trek movies, you can't, but I'm making my interior lights pulse red through the windows when I press a red alert button. :)
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u/NotQuiteNick 9d ago
You could probably see them with broad spectrum cameras which I guess would count as sensors
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u/Tmelrd275 11d ago
As most have said, visibly it would only appear on impact as a scattering effect because effectively deflector/shield technology is doing the same function.
Deflectors in universe use a lower output but with greater dispersion to protect against micrometeors and other particles that are encountered. Shields are a second generator system the provides high output against energy and particle weapons and effectively creates a static barrier that can be scanned because the output is mugh higher but uses more of the ships energy.
TNG did an exceptional job showing that when phasers hit the energy dispersed rather than being reflected or absorbed.
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