Raise the Titanic (1980) featured a 55 ft (16.8 m) long miniature of the titular ship. 
11' USS Enterprise to join NASM "Milestones of Flight"
- Thread starter Robert Comsol
- Start date
Didn't I read somewhere that one of the model builders had accidentally glued his hand to that model while working one night, and that he had to manage dragging himself with that thing stuck to his hand to a telephone to get help?
I suppose the simple term is "perspective." The TOS Enterprise model had to be the size it was to convincingly portray a nearly 1000-foot-long craft on camera. The 3-foot model in the opening and closing flyby shots in "The Cage" looks like a toy.
trevanian
Rear Admiral
That's why I specified "shots of the 11 footer." Yeah, the small model looks like the basis for GALAXY QUEST's old 'tv image' shots, something that never looked credible.
trevanian
Rear Admiral
Didn't I read somewhere that one of the model builders had accidentally glued his hand to that model while working one night, and that he had to manage dragging himself with that thing stuck to his hand to a telephone to get help?
Pretty sure that is true. I have always had the picture in my mind from GOLDFINGER when Connery is handcuffed to the nuke, dragging it along behind him as he tries to reach the cuff keys ... only this was something much bigger.
Is this the Air+Space museum on the national mall? Not the one out of town? I've been there 2 or 3 times, never seen a downstairs, just the main entrance hall and the upstairs bits. I avoid gift shops like the plague too, but I don't remember where it is either.
I'm back in Washington next week, so I guess I'll have to pop down again.
Speaking of filming miniatures. Do they still have the miniature of the Hindenburg from the movie on display? I was there long ago in 79 and they had the huge filming miniature and the full-size gondola from the movie. I think the airship was RC controlled and actually was flyable. It appeared to be around 16 feet long.
trevanian
Rear Admiral
I remember that blimp model as being big, like maybe 20 or 25 feet, with photographic cutouts used for distant shots, but nothing about it being R/C, though there was more than a bit written about the vfx at the time in 70s-era effects books and elsewhere. If anybody has the AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER, it'd be interesting to know if the vfx were featured in there (that's an issue I've never come across at a great price.)
When they pass over the lights of a city at night, those are the little colored things you sprinkle on cookies.
When they pass over the lights of a city at night, those are the little colored things you sprinkle on cookies.
Later on I googled the movie and it had that the model was actually 25 feet long and was hung from wires on a soundstage. They just moved the cameras around it Star Trek/Star Wars style. I was in junior high when Hindenburg came out and I was big into aviation and airships at the time. I dragged my Dad to go see it on the biggest screen in town. I got a whole new perspective when Mythbusters demonstrated that it was painted with what was basically rocket fuel. And the hydrogen was just an accelerant.
I sincerely hope that before the new placement they will do a real restoration, done by people who know what the E looked like on the soundstage. There are plenty of behind the scenes pics available now that there should be no question.
If they can't or won't do a completely accurate restoration, I would rather see a reproduction. One built with both sides completed, and full lighting.
If they can't or won't do a completely accurate restoration, I would rather see a reproduction. One built with both sides completed, and full lighting.
Super old thread bump, but I wanted to fill in some more information, which I've gotten through conversations with the model's curator. (I also work in the museum field.)
The Enterprise model was originally hung from the ceiling when it was first placed at NASM. But it was never designed to be hung, and this put stress on the internal structures of the model. That's why, after restorations at the Garber Facility, it was switched to a standing display - as it was used in original filming.
The reason for locating it in the basement of the gift shop was very simple: its previous home was taken by something else while it was at Garber, and the full-on Star Trek exhibit had closed. A custom case was built in the gift shop, and frankly that's the best any artifact can hope for - it was safe there. The curators didn't necessarily like that it was seemingly hidden away, but it was safe, and why would you move it to somewhere more dangerous?
Two excellent labels were written for the gift shop display, too. The Enterprise model, on display, is really two different ships - it's the fictional Enterprise, our beloved ship, home to Captain Kirk and friends...and it's the factual Enterprise, an 11-foot piece of wood that was shot from all angles in a science fiction show.
Now the Enterprise model is at Udvar-Hazy for conservation. When it comes back in 2016, it's going to be in the Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall, which already features a number of other well-known pieces. So it's going to be in a more readily accessible location, but it's going to lose some of its exclusivity. It's going to be sharing space with the Spirit of St. Louis, Mercury 7, and a bunch of other cool stuff.
I expect it will still be ground-based, as they really cannot hang it, but it's going to be part of that great big mess of objects when you walk in the door. I'm honestly not sure which I like more - the more prominent display, or the ability to focus solely on the Enterprise when I'm visiting, as you could in the gift shop. Thoughts, folks?
The Enterprise model was originally hung from the ceiling when it was first placed at NASM. But it was never designed to be hung, and this put stress on the internal structures of the model. That's why, after restorations at the Garber Facility, it was switched to a standing display - as it was used in original filming.
The reason for locating it in the basement of the gift shop was very simple: its previous home was taken by something else while it was at Garber, and the full-on Star Trek exhibit had closed. A custom case was built in the gift shop, and frankly that's the best any artifact can hope for - it was safe there. The curators didn't necessarily like that it was seemingly hidden away, but it was safe, and why would you move it to somewhere more dangerous?
Two excellent labels were written for the gift shop display, too. The Enterprise model, on display, is really two different ships - it's the fictional Enterprise, our beloved ship, home to Captain Kirk and friends...and it's the factual Enterprise, an 11-foot piece of wood that was shot from all angles in a science fiction show.
Now the Enterprise model is at Udvar-Hazy for conservation. When it comes back in 2016, it's going to be in the Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall, which already features a number of other well-known pieces. So it's going to be in a more readily accessible location, but it's going to lose some of its exclusivity. It's going to be sharing space with the Spirit of St. Louis, Mercury 7, and a bunch of other cool stuff.
I expect it will still be ground-based, as they really cannot hang it, but it's going to be part of that great big mess of objects when you walk in the door. I'm honestly not sure which I like more - the more prominent display, or the ability to focus solely on the Enterprise when I'm visiting, as you could in the gift shop. Thoughts, folks?
^Some of it was new to me. I wasn't previously aware of the reason it was placed in the gift shop. Nice to know it wasn't just out of neglect.
That's OK. At my age, I forget lots of stuff - so I find out things all over again like its new.
Yes, it is a something constructed for a work of televised fiction, but since it was clear the ship transcended "just" being a miniature from a cancelled TV series, it became an honorary "what if" / "could be" at a time when the space program had millions looking to the stars. So, not being just another artifact from a studio, I think it is best treated as part of other great, real pieces from our history of / interest in flight.
I think I would find it inappropriate if say, Star Wars' miniatures of the Millennium Falcon or Death Star sat next to the Mercury 7, but the Enterprise's real and imagined history makes it a natural for the exhibit.
That's OK. At my age, I forget lots of stuff - so I find out things all over again like its new.
LOL, I understand!!!