More views of the Merian class

Following on from Doug Drexler's posts yesterday, Mark Rademaker has posted up more behind-the-scenes images of his Ships of the Line 2012 starship design, the Merian class USS Planck. Including this cool variant idea:

In the comments on his post he also explained the class' duel deflector:

Two deflectors for redundancy and the Quantum Slipstream drive. When opening a Quantum Slipstream conduit/tunnel the deflector needs to be at maximum. In such a case the second deflector can be put online to add the extra power needed. (Power that when routed to 1 deflector might fry it.)

Another solution would have been a more sophisticated deflector system, like perhaps on the Vesta. That one can handle it on its own. But two smaller relative "low tech" deflectors are safer and easier to maintain. This keeps the ship "entry level". (So you don’t need a Torres or a La Forge to keep it running.)

Several more pictures can be found on Rademaker's original post. UPDATE: Also added to Mark Rademakers blog now is a poll on what the next Merian variant should feature, including the option for the "dual wing" pictured above. Go forth and vote!