Re: Donny's TOS Enterprise Interiors Incredible work, Donny. Given the dearth of reference material, even more extraordinary.
Re: Donny's TOS Enterprise Interiors That is an incredible amount of thought and effort into such a rarely seen part of the set, but that is just what makes this project so awesome I must admit I had forgotten about the corridor door to McCoy's office, but the other thing that the TNG door provides is an impression of further rooms to the Sickbay complex just "off camera". Dr Crusher had a similar door in the ward section as well and even if they were never really used much (if at all) the very existence of them indicates there is more to the medical section of this very large starship than the small suite of rooms we see onscreen. Anyway, that's enough of that particular hobby horse, on with the show!
Re: Donny's TOS Enterprise Interiors I recall in the TOS ep "Obsession", Kirk has an impromptu teleconference with Spock and Scott on the Bridge while he and McCoy were in Sickbay. Was that room supposed to be McCoy's TOS office? I took it to be at least a kind of general productivity space for Sickbay personnel, bridging the Surgery Ward with the Medical Lab room. But if that was McCoy's office as well, it makes sense. Great work in replicating the TMP-era sets, Donny!
Re: Donny's TOS Enterprise Interiors Just to beat the horse a bit longer, the service corridor visible through McCoy's office windows — especially when there's people in Starfleet surgical garb running down it — does suggest there's more to the medical complex on this Enterprise as well. I like where Donny is taking this by adding a second ICU ward, and maybe the passage can lead other places as well, like the OR suggested in Shane Johnson's floor plan.
Re: Donny's TOS Enterprise Interiors I'm toying with the idea of adding a few "unseen" areas. I figure the service corridor might contain a few doors to other areas as well (beyond what we can see outside of McCoy's office) A morgue perhaps? Maybe an "advanced" operating room, since I've already decided the exam room will double as an operating room. Or maybe a dedicated laboratory. Shane Johnson's Guide talks about a medical stasis unit. Perhaps this is something worth exploring as well. Anyway, I may complete the core areas of sickbay first, and then come back much later and add additional areas. Building all the "must-see" areas of the Enterprise first results in the accumulation of many assets I can simply drag and drop later. I'll be much easier then to create new areas by simply reusing walls, furniture, props, etc from all the existing areas I've already created.
Re: Donny's TOS Enterprise Interiors Worked on McCoy's desk today. Again, there is very little reference material to work from, as seen below: Just a glimpse of the desk in TMP: And a more cluttered view from TWOK. Yes, those are actual paper documents on the desk, and what looks like a desk pad underneath. This is Nicholas Meyer's view of the future, where humans still use books and paper and smoke. A production still from TWOK, giving even more evidence that it is indeed a desk pad with paper documents. We also see a black version of a TOS protoplaser, and we get a better look at what appears to be some sort of desktop computer terminal. I'm guessing that those 9 rectangular protrusions are some sort of data cards inserted into slots. My rendition so far: I still have some various odds and ends to construct, but wanted to get some opinions on the desk pad and paper. I know it seems out of place, but it is canon. Thoughts?
Re: Donny's TOS Enterprise Interiors Of course Bones would insist on doing things the old-fashioned way, if only to get Sickbay away from that 'damned computer center' feel... I do agree that the protrusions are likely the TMP equivalent of the TOS computer cards. But they strike me more as transparent crystal (with slight color shading) instead of metal, like what was in Kirk's quarters in TMP. (In the late 70's, they were alllllll about crystal.)
Re: Donny's TOS Enterprise Interiors Yeah, they're very similar to the type of transparent outcroppings seen protruding from the console in Kirk's quarters in both TMP & TWOK (console relocated in TWOK of course). The protrusions in Kirk's quarters looked more like crystal door stops than rectangular blocks though, and were more likely some sort of aesthetic means of input/interface rather than a mobile memory card. Probably made of some sort of thick Lucite plastic, you can actually see some refraction type effects along certain edges of the blocks in those McCoy office images, which is probably why the tops looks exceptionally dark. The main plate that serves as the backing/frame for where those blocks rise up (as well as those 2 flat graphics monitor/input screens), is apparently a milky translucent material. It's lit from underneath in TMP, but simply unlit in TWOK, but it still looks like white plastic in those TWOK screen shots. Oh, and excellent work on the pad and paper. That one sheet dangling towards the edge has me pulling my hair out wanting to slide it back, as if it were on my own desk at work, so you've obviously achieved something there.
Re: Donny's TOS Enterprise Interiors Once again, your sleuthing has paid dividends! I'm in agreement with Nightowl and Basill about the memory cards probably being transparent/translucent — it's in keeping with the aesthetics of other contemporary SF films like 2001, and as a bonus sets up a design evolution from the plastic cards used on TOS to the colored transparent plastic chips used on TNG/DS9/VOY.
Re: Donny's TOS Enterprise Interiors Hmm. It's not very clear in my screencap, but I actually modeled the datacards after those seen in TSFS with a transparent edge/center but with opaque sides...and I had theorized that they may actually be the same prop, the ones in McCoy's office having white sides whereas the ones in TSFS were painted black. It may be a stretch, but that's what originally occurred to me. Thoughts?
Re: Donny's TOS Enterprise Interiors I don't think they're the same prop. On TMP they tried to make everything futuristic, and that clunky prop looks like it was cobbled together out of some Radio Shack parts and a plastic jewel box.
Re: Donny's TOS Enterprise Interiors The more I stare at that publicity photo of McCoy in his office, the more I'm convinced Basill is right about them being the same material as the angled blocks on the console in Kirk's quarters. The tops are colored and solid, but the sides are transparent.
Re: Donny's TOS Enterprise Interiors IMHO, those blocks in McCoy's office look like solid transparent blocks with high refraction. That way you get the shiny side and the darker top and bottoms. I don't think they had metallic plates on the sides.
Re: Donny's TOS Enterprise Interiors They were made out of Lucite... It was a very popular plastic back in the '70's. The ends were opaque (because of the way it was cut) but you could see through the flat surfaces of it. I had an uncle that used to work in a place where they made the stuff.
Re: Donny's TOS Enterprise Interiors ^Totally. A definite step towards authenticity. Don't get me wrong. I thought the prior looked great as well, and now knowing your "Valkris" reasoning I totally dig the look even more. Certainly worth hanging on to for alternate filler options. Do you have a particularly high reflectivity or specular/gloss setting on those blocks, along with any particular refraction level? It's interesting, I hadn't even noticed any color variation among the blocks visible in that McCoy publicity shot until tonight, but it's evident to me now they're multi-colored. The more I look at that shot (and compare them to the Kirk's quarters screen grabs) the more I am convinced that each block, regardless of color, is in its entirety a solid uniform tint. The overall tint seems fairly weak (probably less intense than Kirk's), which is why any of them appear so remarkably transparent when viewing light passing through their narrowest widths corresponding to their broad faced sides. They reveal a far richer color value when one stares into their deepest chasms which are directly perpendicular to their thin edges. They're not opaque anywhere, but the overall density/refraction factors end up determining that apparent dark-verses-clear dynamic. This is a good example I've seen of the refraction effect, though not with any particular color tint. When the backing's milky white surface is not backlit, the large sides can give the impression of opacity due to they're shiny polished faces (dependent on viewing angles overall set lighting scenarios of course). It's also very hard to determine the curvature of those short edge corners. Some appear rounded as you have modeled them, while some appear less chamfered. I can't tell if that is another illusion of refraction, or if some are definitely that rounded. One thing I did notice is that the three, centered, solo blocks seem a tiny bit more lengthy than the individual units set in paired groups. Keep up the great work!
Re: Donny's TOS Enterprise Interiors I'd definitely keep them. They seem characteristic of McCoy, and it definitely gives the room a more lived-in look. I much prefer the TWOK aesthetic to the more sterile TMP approach.
Re: Donny's TOS Enterprise Interiors I'd definitely futz with the lighting a bit or shoot the console from another angle. It looks very flat & painted on in this screencap, largely because the corner edge isn't very well defined. A shadow or two would greatly enhance the depth. Spectacular work, though, Donny. I love seeing these concrete renditions of seldom-seen areas of the ship.