Scaling the Borg Cube from "Q Who?"

[Mike DiCenso]

It dawned on me while using several images from the recent navigational deflector thread that one of first of the images used to illustrate that the nav deflector could not have been used to block the Borg's cutting lasers because of the high angle of attacks employed, could also be used to get a very good and precise scaling of the Borg cube's size relative to the E-D.

The commonly used image for scaling from the episode is this one here:



While useful, this image has problems when used for scaling since the camera angle has the E-D set somewhere between it and the Borg cube. Most people have mistakenly used this under the assumption that it provides an accurate scaling when it can only provide a lower limit. The angle also makes things kind of odd since it gives the appearance of the cube being slightly taller than it is wide, which we know from other views of the ship that it is most definitely not. The E-D measures roughly 1.45 inches wide across the saucer section, and the cube ship along the bottom side where the E-D is measures 3.57". That would make for a ratio difference of 2.46 to 1. Given the commonly accepted 470 meter with of the saucer section, the Borg cube would be no less than 1,157 meters to a side.

Fortunately we have other views that give us a good understanding of the distance between the E-D and the Borg cube such as this view here when the Borg start to cut into the E-D's saucer:



This view is much better since the camera angle is looking almost straight down on the E-D and the Borg cube. We know from the previous view that the E-D is not sitting even with the bottom side of the Borg cube, but well above it. However, for the sake of simplicity and to give the lowest possible scaling, I will treat it as if the saucer's leading edge were lined up even with it. The cubeship's bottom side measures 5.44" wide and the E-D's saucer measures 1.18" across the widest point of the ellipse. Dividing 5.44 by 1.18 gives us a ratio of 4.6 to 1, which means that the Borg cube in this image is no less than 2,166 meters long. Almost twice as long as the previous scaling!

This is also well within a kilometer of the official canon 3 km to a side number derived from the 28 cubic kilometers given in dialog from VOY's "Dark Frontier". We can bring the number up considerably, if we measure the saucer against a part of the cube that it's actually lined up with.

There is a third view later in the episode that gives us an even bigger number. This image is from when the E-D away team has beamed back upon discovering the Borg ship is regenerating itself, and ship heads towards the cube and then banks away in an attempt to flee:



The cube is so large that it overfills the picture frame quite considerably. The visible portion of the cube measures 11" across the diagonal, while the E-D is only 1.5" wide for a ratio of 7.24 to 1! Even taking the E-D being at a 3/4 angle, the Borg cube is no less than 2.9 km to a side! And this is only of what we can see of the cube in view of the frame.

However, in order to maintain the lowest averaging of all of the three scaling estimates, I will assume that the third view is the full ship.

So now for the averaging:

Image 1: 1,157 meters

Image 2: 2,166 meters

Image 3: 2,900 meters
---------------------
total: 6,223

6,223 divided by 3 = 2,074.33 meters.

So that's it. Working as hard to keep the numbers as conservative as possible, the Borg cube ship from TNG's "Q Who?" is no less than 2.074 km long to a side.
-Mike

[2046]

As I did with 359 recently, let me hit my "like" button here and compliment you on your pure research. There is still such a wealth of untapped knowledge.

That said, I have always been interested in scaling that last scene by itself comparing against the cube's hull features.

And since you inspired me,



Next I would probably skew the small image and overlay it. But suffice it to say that the E-D is about the size of the regenerating crater, which I do believe is smaller in the small image.

But eyeballing it, that does look to be about 3km wide for the cube by this measure, which is impressive scaling by the FX dept if so. I assumed it would come out all huge.

[2046]

Of course I am assuming the ship grazed the hull by saying 3km, which is amusing because at those angles it would almost fly through the crater it made in the corner when departing.

[Mike DiCenso]

Thanks for the compliments, Robert. This is not an new subject, but it is one that never seriously got the attention it deserved in the pure Trek tech circles, and most especially in the Versus Debates. Most because as I noted, certain people tend to cherrypick rather than look at the whole body of potential evidence. The Borg cube from "Q Who?" is just such an example.
-Mike

[Mike DiCenso]

Of course I am assuming the ship grazed the hull by saying 3km, which is amusing because at those angles it would almost fly through the crater it made in the corner when departing.

The oddity of this effects sequence is caused by the fact that the E-D herself is a reuse of an element from the pilot episode "Encounter at Farpoint" when the E-D is banking hard and trying to escape from Q's forcefield as seen here.
-Mike