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SCALE OF THE OMEGA CLASS DESTROYER: The Omega class Destroyer is one of the most recognizable symbols of the Earth Alliance, found in Babylon 5 canon. Officially, the Omega class Destroyer is 1714.3 meters in length. The question is, "How close is this figure to what was actually seen in the TV show?" This is the question I will address in this essay.
First, let us begin with the Omega herself. The image you see here is of the original CGI model, production images provided by PTEN back in 1996. Originally this image was in sections at www.starshipmodeler.com, but I was able to easily stitch them together and re-create the full size image of the Omega. Upon review of the tactical display of the EAS Churchill, we can see that the image above is accurate.
Because this is an image of the original CGI model, we will use this to help us narrow down size comparisons from the TV series. SEVERED DREAMS - BEFORE THE STATION: One of the most notable appearances of the Omega, was in the Hugo Award winning episode "Severed Dreams." This provides us with a wonderful opportunity to compare size, because the Omega is seen next to Babylon 5, which was 8064.5 meters long. We have a production sketch of this ship, as found in the Babylon 5 Security Manual, posted digitally in the Sierra CD-ROM guide - an image provided bellow.
Here we see the EAS Alexander, an Omega class Destroyer, parked next to Babylon 5. In the foreground we see Delenn's flyer, bound for Minbar.
The yellow lines measure the distance between the edge of the cowl and the back edge where the engines meet the rear section. I choose these points because they are the flattest areas and provides the best example of distance. The green lines represent my having moved the two yellow lines and having laid them upon that Babylon 5 station. As with the Omega, I choose to use the station's flat rotary driver assembly, situated just behind the forward docking plate. This gives us a good idea of the distances involved. Taking these pictures, I was able to isolate this area as matching the approximate length of the Omega, between the yellow lines. Mapped over an image of the Babylon 5 station where each pixel equals one meter, we find that the distance from the edge of the cowl and the connection point between the rear section and the engines is equal to roughly 1050 meter/pixel.
When we use our first image of the original Omega CGI model, we find that the Omega would be equal to 1665 meters. This is very close to the size of the Omega class Destroyer's official length of 1714.3 meters. Unfortunately, there is a problem.
The Omega shown here is in front of the station. This means that it may be close enough to the camera to skew the results though this scene here, suggest that it was only a few hundred meters from the station while undergoing repairs. Also, please note the two humans in EVA suits, making repairs to the cowl SEVERED DREAMS - LAUNCH FIGHTERS:
As the battle of Epsilon III begins, the EAS Alexander and EAS Churchill launch fighters, making ready to face down the forces of President Clark. Both ships appear to be launching wave after wave of SA-32A Thunderbolt Starfuries. Now, because the production crew built physical sets for the cockpits, we know how big the T-Bolts are: 15.54 meters long from nose to tail, 18.7 meters wide from side to side air foils extended and 6.96 meters tall from top to bottom. Marked, we see the height of a T-Bolt marked out between the two yellow lines. The height is 25 pixels, which means that each pixel is 0.28 meters. Marked in red we see this size translated to the starboard weapons mount. The barrel is 75 pixels high, or 21 meters tall. If this is accurate, than if we scale the weapon's barrel to fit the image of the original CGI model, the Omega would have to be 1800 meters in length. Also, when we measure the height of the Docking Bay, we find that it is 40.88 meters tall, which would put the Omega at 1769 meters... a more accurate figure given that the docking bay wall is closer to the fighter than the gun. SEVERED DREAMS - IVANOVA! EJECT!:
Her Starfury damaged, Ivanova was forced to eject. The images you see above are of this collision - one frame prior to impact, followed by the actual impact frame. We can see here that Ivanova's Starfury was nearly as wide as the missile Launchers, one of which was directly bellow her Starfury. If we measure the scene, we find that Invanova's Starfury was 106 pixels wide. Her Starfury, an SA-23E Aurora, is 17.87 meters wide. Our angle is a little skewed however, so we will round this down to 17 meters, which means that each pixel is equal to 0.16 meters. The Missile Launcher with base is 114 pixels wide, or 18.3 meters. Missile Launchers on our original CGI model, our Omega comes out to be some 1940 meters in length . SEVERED DREAMS - AFTERMATH:
Here we see the EAS Alexander sitting next to the Babylon 5 station. This time she is off to port and we can measure the height of the cowl and compare it to the docking plate, which is 322 pixels in this picture. The cowl is 206 pixels high. We know that the docking plate of the Babylon 5 station is 378 meters in diameter (see Vorlon Dreadnought Scale for details), which means that each pixel is equal to 1.2 meters. This means that the cowl of the Omega is 243 meters tall. Now, once again, if we adjust the size of our image of the original CGI model used in the TV series, we find that the Omega scales to 1459 meters. Those of you who have been fans of this site for may years may remember that B5TECH's original scale for the Omega in the mid 90's was 1400 meters, a figure based upon this very scene. OMEGA SCALE - CONCLUSSION:
Having taken several images from the TV show, using data only for ships and objects where we know the real size (internal sets for the Starfury and Thunderbolt provided actual scale, canon size of the B5 station was stated in the episode "And Now for a Word"), we came up with figures of 1665, 1800, 1769, 1940, and 1459. These differences are easy to explain... it's perspective. Because of perspective, shadows, and complex angles, it is very understandable that our measurements would very to a certain degree, which is why scientists who measure photos, map makers who compare images, contractors who build homes, always take many samples before they come to a conclusion. Now that we have all these figures, we can arrive at an average figure which should yield an accurate scale for the Omega! When we add all our figures we get a total of 8633. We divide that by our total number of values, in this case five, and that yields our average. So, on average, how big is our Omega class Destroyer?
Official size?
So,upon examination and a review of canon evidence from "Severed Dreams" - which is our best resource for all the reasons stated above - the official size of 1714.3 meters for the Omega class Destroyer's length does appear to be correct. Got to love it when the TV guys get something right, doncha'? April 23, 2005 |
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