Smithsonian returns restored Starship Enterprise model to public display
- Thread starter Mudd
- Start date
Yeah, I thought about it and maybe we just need to take some time to ogle and process the beautiful work here. Strangely I never doubted they would nail the nacelle cap lighting -- so iconic and so beautifully reproduced. The restoration team obviously put a lot of work into just that part to get it right.
As far as the bow light, there has to be some rationale behind it because it was on Greg Jein's "Trials and Tribbleations" miniature and like I said it's on replicas all over the place. It was just never lit in the series; presumably the hull-colored plug was always in place.
I'm always happy to link to Tallguy's great reference page:
http://www.trekplace.com/tosfxcatalog.html
Surprisingly only 3 shots show that area of the saucer clearly: "Bow" (used only in "Metamorphosis"), "Station Depart" (first used in "Tribbles" but may have been shot some time before the "Station Approach" angle that was only used in that episode), and "Saucer Top" (used relatively rarely but mostly seen in the third season). "Station Approach" and "K7 Near" are considered to be the last times the model was filmed for TOS and neither show the bow. If you look closely at "Saucer Top" you can see the faint outline of the plug. My personal choice would've been to keep the opening hull-colored; I'd still be interested in documentation or other guidance that led the restoration team to light it up.
Again, great, great work; my only hope is that the nacelles can stay lit and someday the restored Galileo can be seen during the same visit!
Some fitting background ambiance for your gazing pleasure.
She is beautiful!
She is beautiful!
That is some excellent restoration work. A thing of beauty.
Not sure what's going on here, but I clearly see light in the center hole.
Great! 
Seems alone without the Botany Bay, though.
Seems alone without the Botany Bay, though.
I'm happy to take the restoration team's word on that, but every time I've seen that hole lit up it's just as bright as the rectangles to either side; I can't imagine it being totally invisible from the angles we got in the series. Again, a very minor point; overall I love it!
That's the 2nd pilot version; actually I think that was a test shot taken after work was completed on the 2nd pilot but before the ship was changed to the production version. The 2nd pilot version had a bulb just for the middle window (it protrudes a bit); for the production version this was changed to a backlight for all three front windows that was accessible through the hole drilled in the top of the saucer.
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It's a bank of LEDs that have been programmed to light up in a specific animated sequence to simulate the light patterns generated by the original mechanicals.
EDIT: Actually, that was a plan. Apparently they went with motors after all. See below.
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Awesome!
Uh, but in this pic the nacelles look like they're sagging, odd.
Nice to see that previous horrid paint job gone. Now it looks right.
In the video when the camera moves level to the saucer you can see that they are not sagging.
I didn't see any support for the nacelles yet; Anybody know if it is invisible and hanging from the ceiling of the display box?
Malcolm Collum in this linked video states in this linked video that the team ultimately decided motors were needed to recreate the spinning vanes as in the 1960s. Yes, LEDs have replaced the holiday bulbs, but a totally digital approach just didn't generate the effect they desired.
And while the miniature will not be illuminated all the time, fans can rest easy. The current plan is to light the model for 10 minutes three times day, 11 AM, 1 PM and either 3 or 4 PM. (I originally assumed it would jusr be special occasions like major holidays or something. But this schedule gives it a kind of "Old Faithful" quality. "Return right after lunch, 1 PM for the next 'show'!"
Fantastic!!!
Glad they went with the motors, they did a fantastic job! I wonder what type of touching up they did to the top level of the saucer? I know that it was still the original paint but was cracking in some areas. Did they repaint it or somehow clean it up while still keeping it original?
