Phase II Enterprise Study Model

Wow, thanks for continuing to provide such detailed BG information. That's great! I had seen the original sketches and designs but never really put the two pieces together. It makes perfect sense that sensitive equipment be shelled and protected if it can be.


Once again, she's looking beautiful.

 

Hey Shaw, did you ever follow up with Price to find out if he had any information that you have't been privy to?

 

Thanks!

Yes, and he still has a lot of stuff from back then (including the original molds for the model... as well as the altered ones for the Planet Hollywood TMP models).

The more I examined what I had from Jefferies and where the studio model was going, the more I realized that I needed to treat these as two different projects.

While Price/Loos had far more access to Jefferies than anyone else working on Phase II, that still wasn't a lot of access. Jefferies tried to get as much information down on the page as possible, but in doing so he made it hard to make out some elements.

For example, the studio model plans show the phaser assembly coming out of the base of the dorsal pylon with thin wedge shapes supporting it top and bottom. The way Jefferies had drawn this on the page it is hard to see (I didn't even notice it until I was actually building the model), and Price/Loos saw it as a bend in the leading edge of the dorsal (which looks a bit like Jefferies' earlier drawings).

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Similarly, the nacelle support pylons of the studio model had cross sections that looked more like the TMP Enterprise, but Jefferies had designed it to have a wing like cross section (which is how I built mine on this study model).

So without Jefferies right there to answer questions, Price/Loos had to do their best... which was great. The model was looking awesome for where they had gotten to. But there are differences and I'd love to take four or five days to visit Price to interview him on the designing/building of that Enterprise, look over what he still has (drawings, decals and molds of the model) and then document how the studio model was going to turn out (basically going forward from where they left off). Price has been kind enough to give me tons of background info on that period of Trek production during phone conversations, but I'd still like to get the chance to sit down with him in person if possible.

Sadly, this is a really expensive hobby... and to do what I'd like to do would really require finding some way to off set the cost. But if I can find a way to pay for it, I'll try to make it happen.

 

Simply awesome work, Shaw.

 

Thanks!



So while I finish up on the decals, I thought it would be nice to roll back the clock to the fall of 1978 and imagine what it would have been like to sit in front of our TVs watching new Star Trek episodes.

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I know I would have loved it!


Some progress shots...

This is the last set of shots of the model before I started applying the gloss coat...

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Currently the model is super glossy and doesn't photograph very well. This was right after I finished most of the decals for the primary hull...

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And this is with the rest of the decals in place...

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Now I just need to bring it back using some matte finish on it.

 

What a difference a coat of paint and some decals make! The lady looks stunning.

 

Does this mean you're closing in on the endgame?

 

Thanks guys!

It sure is looking a lot closer to being finished... but then I look at my to do list and realize I still have a ways to go.


Small update...

Well, I hit her with a coat of matte finish, and I also (finally) glued the hangar doors in place. I also realized I hadn't taken any shots from behind in a while, so here are a couple...

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And I added on a few more small parts (most of the marker lights). I still have some other things to work on, but it is getting to look pretty complete at this stage.

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Fantastic model. I'd love to have one myself. Great work.

 

I'll take two.

 

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Kirk would be proud.

 

Thanks guys!


Update...

Few more small additions, nothing too major.

I did finally add the sensor ramps. Part of the reason this took so long was that I had made those parts a long time ago... and then lost one. I looked everywhere for it, and finally decided that it would be easier to start over with three new parts (so they all matched). So I started in on them last night and finished them this morning.

Here are a few more shots...

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It's already been said a hundred times, but what a gorgeous model. I want one.

It also shows that Jeffries' version of the refit was wonderful in its original form. The final version is starting to look overdesigned by comparison.

 

+1

I've never been a fan of the refit as seen in the TOS movies.

 

Thanks! I really appreciate the encouragement.

I'm still surprised at how many people like this version of the Enterprise. The drawings never did it justice (mainly because they were incomplete), but it is rewarding to have people who originally didn't care for the design change their minds during the building of this model.

There is still a ways to go in the project. There is the additional research needed to document the studio model (which, while being very close to what Jefferies wanted, has some unique features), and I'd like to build a larger (studio scale or near studio scale) version that could be lit as the model was intended.

And all that has gotten easier knowing she isn't seen as quite the ugly duckling that she once was.

Jim Key (of Custom Replicas) wants me to put together a set of masters for making a kit of this model (at the same scale as this model, 1/500th), so I might put off working on a larger version for a while. But if what Jim said is possible (to cast the major hull parts in clear), we could have a lit version soon.



For today, test shots of the model... mainly to get a feel for what are some good angles to shoot her from. Click the images below to enlarge.

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She really is a beauty. You've done amazing work on this. Are you going to build an 11 footer?

 

Yes, please.

 

A tall ship indeed.

This may be a really dumb question, i'm not too familiar with the process of putting models such as these together, but do you intend to do any electronics on it? Any of the lighting that is?

 

Guys read Shaw's previous post. He addresses future plans and lighting.

Great work!

Shaw, two questions.

1. That pair of ribbed trapazoidal details, above and on the impulse engine, were they drawn on the plans that way? When I saw them on the Loos model it always looked weird. On that model the lower one looks narrower than the upper one, or at least it's taller and thus has a narrower top end, while yours appear to be the roughly the same size.

2. Any idea why the Sept. 5, 1977 plans have X's on the nacelle cap chin guards? Usually that means "omit", right?