I love it! I love when kirk asks Scotty's nephew about the talk of the refit being a living bomb because of the plasma conduit route, in the unused footage. Love the evolution of starships!
U.S.S. Enterprise studio model visit
- Thread starter THE DC
- Start date
- Apr 5, 2013
- 13,876
- 10,216
- 228
As far as the windows goes, those guys were probably a few "heads' building that anyways, and T.V.'s were so bad back then, they didn't pick up stuff like that. They couldn't even pick up the wires used on the "Flying winged Monkeys" in the Wizard of Oz!
I thought about you folks and thought I'd take some detail pics that might help model builders and designers; close ups that might provide otherwise missed features that real accuracy freaks, like me, might appreciate.
Apologies for the photo detail but I wasn't aware of the trip in advance and had only a little cheap digital.
I'll post some general overall pics first and over the next few days add details and close ups as interest demands.
Hope these will be valuable...
Thank you for these awesome pictures. Now I'm wanting to spruce up my 1701 build from a few years ago!
That's why I took these pics!
If I had the software i would design, but since I can't, I try to help with detail and encouragement!
If I had the software i would design, but since I can't, I try to help with detail and encouragement!
My apologies for neglecting this thread over the last two weeks. I have been struggling with the flu and was too vain to post any more until my avatar had recovered its youthful glow.
[Don't you hate an avatar with a runny nose and coughing up lung-look?]
I have a few more pics of the 1964 studio model, digging into the close up images I took for builders who want to really shape their paper models.
So, <cough> without further delay:
Pic 1 is a close up of the partial vent, just behind the bussard globes. Note that this is a shaped series of fin-forward scales, not just flat edges like in most professionally sold model kits. A small but interesting detail.
Pic 2 is a close up of the pennant detail. Note that the shape is not the sharp edged versions in decal sheets sold in most professional kits; another curious detail to change on our paper versions. Also different from decal sheets is the very thin break in the actual red design.
Pic 3 is a weaker pic than I would like, but I wanted to show how the individual field coils are mated over the particle vent assemblies. These could are mated below the forward nacelle structure. Note some detail for building: the coils are somewhat notched where they extend over the vents. Also, the coils are not flat blocks but angle where they meet the forward section of the lower nacelle.
Pic 4 is a pic of the aft impulse engine assembly. I am very unhappy with the quality of the image but at least I can share some building details I had visually noted at the time: the small circular structure between the two impulse engine vents. The Impulse Mag-Coil that I showed in an earlier pic can be seen to overhang the engine assembly more than in the plastic kits, and it is separate from the housing. Another really picky detail that I couldn't photo well was that there's a lower shelving under the main impulse housing that is not included in any production kits that I have seen and it has a central structure along its mid-portion.
Picky details but maybe of use to someone tackling the 400 scale paper version of this ship?
If I can accomplish another trip to DC, I'll have to try brining a better camera to compensate for the lower lighting. I'll serf some of the lower hull pics next as many of them were of poor quality.
Again, LL&P!
[Don't you hate an avatar with a runny nose and coughing up lung-look?]
I have a few more pics of the 1964 studio model, digging into the close up images I took for builders who want to really shape their paper models.
So, <cough> without further delay:
Pic 1 is a close up of the partial vent, just behind the bussard globes. Note that this is a shaped series of fin-forward scales, not just flat edges like in most professionally sold model kits. A small but interesting detail.
Pic 2 is a close up of the pennant detail. Note that the shape is not the sharp edged versions in decal sheets sold in most professional kits; another curious detail to change on our paper versions. Also different from decal sheets is the very thin break in the actual red design.
Pic 3 is a weaker pic than I would like, but I wanted to show how the individual field coils are mated over the particle vent assemblies. These could are mated below the forward nacelle structure. Note some detail for building: the coils are somewhat notched where they extend over the vents. Also, the coils are not flat blocks but angle where they meet the forward section of the lower nacelle.
Pic 4 is a pic of the aft impulse engine assembly. I am very unhappy with the quality of the image but at least I can share some building details I had visually noted at the time: the small circular structure between the two impulse engine vents. The Impulse Mag-Coil that I showed in an earlier pic can be seen to overhang the engine assembly more than in the plastic kits, and it is separate from the housing. Another really picky detail that I couldn't photo well was that there's a lower shelving under the main impulse housing that is not included in any production kits that I have seen and it has a central structure along its mid-portion.
Picky details but maybe of use to someone tackling the 400 scale paper version of this ship?
If I can accomplish another trip to DC, I'll have to try brining a better camera to compensate for the lower lighting. I'll serf some of the lower hull pics next as many of them were of poor quality.
Again, LL&P!
Attachments
My next series of pics were very hard to extract from a cheap camera and very poor lighting. It took many attempts to accomplish what I have to share, and they are admittedly weak, photographically, but might have some detail significant to detail-hounds, such as myself, in designing or building this ship. I hope these will answer some of the questions I have heard or read people ask about those elusive hull markings...
1st pic: The aft portion of the secondary hull, on the filming side of the model, illustrates several windows; note how varied the shape and size. The aft portion of the hull pennant is clear, in red, and the number "705", line perpendicularly above it, at the lower part of the hull.
2nd Pic:
Took over a dozen images to get even this one! Rough lighting.
This is a close up on the upper portion of the secondary hull where the engine pylon mates at the base of the secondary hull. Note the observation port or hatch on the lower pylon itself!
Below the pylon are a couple of interesting details. Some very tiny and unreadable writing, too small to even make out in person, at the aft-base of the pylon; while just before where the pylon mates with the hull, the number "1384" is clear. Note also the transparent windows or access points; several of which can be lit.
3rd pic: Staying on the theme of numeric representation in close up detail, this pic illustrates the aft of the secondary hull, near the hangar bay. Note the numeric decal of "1837", with the now familiar line perpendicularly topping it. Above the numeric are a series of two rectangular windows and a circular port. The still unidentified writing at the base of the nacelle pylon can also be seen but not legibly examined. Next to the 1837 decal is a circular base with a transparent port or docking bay that lights up quite bright when the model is illuminated (more than the windows near it). Also of interest is the hangar beacon atop the aft hull, barely in the pic, with it circular rim-base that the dome is housed in, which is colored the same as the hull.
4th pic: Fore portion of the lower secondary hull.
Took dozens of attempts to get even this level of image. This pic shows the fore numeric of "102", near the lower curve of the hull. Behind this decal the model's base stand can be seen mating with the hull. Also, another detail of interest, is the navigational deflector housing, sloping upward, with a pronounced ridge circumscribing the section. At the lowest base of the fore hull, the very pronounced rectangular projection juts out, framing the lower portion to the secondary hull and the deflector housing assembly.
Lots of little detail!
1st pic: The aft portion of the secondary hull, on the filming side of the model, illustrates several windows; note how varied the shape and size. The aft portion of the hull pennant is clear, in red, and the number "705", line perpendicularly above it, at the lower part of the hull.
2nd Pic:
Took over a dozen images to get even this one! Rough lighting.
This is a close up on the upper portion of the secondary hull where the engine pylon mates at the base of the secondary hull. Note the observation port or hatch on the lower pylon itself!
Below the pylon are a couple of interesting details. Some very tiny and unreadable writing, too small to even make out in person, at the aft-base of the pylon; while just before where the pylon mates with the hull, the number "1384" is clear. Note also the transparent windows or access points; several of which can be lit.
3rd pic: Staying on the theme of numeric representation in close up detail, this pic illustrates the aft of the secondary hull, near the hangar bay. Note the numeric decal of "1837", with the now familiar line perpendicularly topping it. Above the numeric are a series of two rectangular windows and a circular port. The still unidentified writing at the base of the nacelle pylon can also be seen but not legibly examined. Next to the 1837 decal is a circular base with a transparent port or docking bay that lights up quite bright when the model is illuminated (more than the windows near it). Also of interest is the hangar beacon atop the aft hull, barely in the pic, with it circular rim-base that the dome is housed in, which is colored the same as the hull.
4th pic: Fore portion of the lower secondary hull.
Took dozens of attempts to get even this level of image. This pic shows the fore numeric of "102", near the lower curve of the hull. Behind this decal the model's base stand can be seen mating with the hull. Also, another detail of interest, is the navigational deflector housing, sloping upward, with a pronounced ridge circumscribing the section. At the lowest base of the fore hull, the very pronounced rectangular projection juts out, framing the lower portion to the secondary hull and the deflector housing assembly.
Lots of little detail!
Attachments
Well, there are some good people in the world. Today is proof.
Many thanks to a colleague at the Smithsonian for answering my reply regarding the mysterious, very small writing in pics 2 & 3. The decals were too small to make out, in picture or in person through the glass case, but she was willing to get the magnifying glass out and attain the words for me. o easy task.
Are you ready? Possibly one of the least known mysteries in the history of the Star Trek series, a mystery so small and innocuous, it has been over-looked over the years. Few even knew the misery was there!!!
Hmmmm; what should I do?
Zithers? What does the great machine say?
Should I just tell you straight out or should we make a game of it? I don't have any prize to offer, beyond bragging rights...
Should we make a game of it and elicit guesses?
Let me know what you'd prefer!
Many thanks to a colleague at the Smithsonian for answering my reply regarding the mysterious, very small writing in pics 2 & 3. The decals were too small to make out, in picture or in person through the glass case, but she was willing to get the magnifying glass out and attain the words for me. o easy task.
Are you ready? Possibly one of the least known mysteries in the history of the Star Trek series, a mystery so small and innocuous, it has been over-looked over the years. Few even knew the misery was there!!!
Hmmmm; what should I do?
Zithers? What does the great machine say?
Should I just tell you straight out or should we make a game of it? I don't have any prize to offer, beyond bragging rights...
Should we make a game of it and elicit guesses?
Let me know what you'd prefer!
Last edited:
- Apr 5, 2013
- 13,876
- 10,216
- 228
Not at that time, it was all "Made in Japan" crappy at first, then masterful, then masterful and ridiculously priced. The it was Korea for a short while, no it's "Made in China". Around 200 years ago, China made most of the mass produced products in the world. Now, with the wage increases, they are seeing an exodus of manufacturing.
For me, it is value by the artist. a scribble about TOS star trek is worth more to me, if it was by Matt Jefferies, than an entire model ship made in china. However, those polar lights metallic Jupiter 2's with lights and sounds were pretty impressive, even if they did cost up in the thousands.
- Apr 5, 2013
- 13,876
- 10,216
- 228
I look for the quality of the product not where's it's made. Violins, for instance. China has old growth trees and are producing Violins that are so fantastic, they Government does not allow them to leave the country. So we get superior ones, if you research the buyers, who go there and check out every single one individually. Same thing with former East Bloc countries. I purchased a Violin from Romania, $485 dollars and expected real crap. I took out my Luthier tools, made a new bridge, refitted the pegs, purchased a new set of strings ($75 bucks!), and it came to life. 7 years later, it has not cracked, sounds even better. It's hit 'n miss, the net one could have been crap. My 1947 Georgi Johannis is my favorite though, as is my Knilling Violin. Tuning a bridge with a machinist file is a thrilling experience, all those scroll filed are for changing the timbre of the note, and you need two people to do it as the sound wave develops around 10 feet from you and keeps going, it comes off, but too much, and the notes timbre is too high, though on the "E" and the "G", you cut the corresponding scrolls to lower the Timbre.
This pic shows how the tuning is spread out:
This pic shows how the tuning is spread out:
Well, not to change the subject, but I have the reveal for the mystery letters, written too small to see on TV and even too small to read at the exhibit.
The words below the pylon read:
Tail Pipe
Socket Adjustment
Access
Perhaps to add to the inside joke, these words are not very far away from the large light socket at the side that could be a docking hatch, a socket, of exhaust port. This light was brighter than the transparent windows built into the wooden model body, that were backlit.
Now that you know, keep it a secret! We wouldn't want this to get out and everyone know...
Very few pics left worth showing. The camera was not a good tool for the close-up and lighting needs, but I'll post soon.
The words below the pylon read:
Tail Pipe
Socket Adjustment
Access
Perhaps to add to the inside joke, these words are not very far away from the large light socket at the side that could be a docking hatch, a socket, of exhaust port. This light was brighter than the transparent windows built into the wooden model body, that were backlit.
Now that you know, keep it a secret! We wouldn't want this to get out and everyone know...
Very few pics left worth showing. The camera was not a good tool for the close-up and lighting needs, but I'll post soon.
- Apr 5, 2013
- 13,876
- 10,216
- 228
It could have said, "Hand Signals in Use when Turning".
That would be classic!
Kirk, "Mr. Sulu, hard-a-starboard!"
"Aye sir, indicating now. Er, sir, I have lost my hand due to vacuum exposure!"
Kirk, "Damn it Bones, why did this happen?!?"
McCoy," Damn it Jim, I'm a doctor, not a starship designer!"
Kirk, "Yes. Scotty, why do we have such a damnfool system?"
Scotty,"I dunno sir, but if we reverse the flux capacitor through the bussards with negative polarity we might just recover Mr. Sulu's hand."
I'll stop now before it gets silly...
Kirk, "Mr. Sulu, hard-a-starboard!"
"Aye sir, indicating now. Er, sir, I have lost my hand due to vacuum exposure!"
Kirk, "Damn it Bones, why did this happen?!?"
McCoy," Damn it Jim, I'm a doctor, not a starship designer!"
Kirk, "Yes. Scotty, why do we have such a damnfool system?"
Scotty,"I dunno sir, but if we reverse the flux capacitor through the bussards with negative polarity we might just recover Mr. Sulu's hand."
I'll stop now before it gets silly...
- Apr 5, 2013
- 13,876
- 10,216
- 228
They could have had massive long signal indicators, maybe 100 feet long, like these.
Spock: "Klingon ship decloaking dead ahead!"
Kirk: "Mr Chekov, raise shields and extend middle finger!"
Kirk: "Mr Chekov, raise shields and extend middle finger!"