Been watching a lot of 50's tv sci-fi lately like Space Patrol and Rocky Jones, the latter of which had some pretty remarkable FX for the time. While they may look low budget to our eyes, the budget for the FX actually killed the show. Anyway, was tinkering around with some retro spaceships, when I built one that could've been a retro Klingon ship, which in turn got me to thinking about how the Enterprise might've looked if Trek was produced in the early to mid 1950's. I've always wanted to build one, so I did. I tried to emulate the smooth hull of the Orbit Jet and Terra V, but couldn't resist adding a bit more to the saucer section as it seemed to need something more, thought that might change again. This ship is another modification of the Gagarin. I removed the back funnels (or whatever you call them) and made the engines a little more 50's rocket style. Also, scaled down the ship to be more inline with the rough size of the rockets seen on the aforementioned shows. As all the shows of this period used rockets (with Space Patrol being the last to portray a horizontally landing rocket ala Flash Gordon) I imagine some big wig would've been demanding a retooling of the ship into something more inline with what was popular at the time aka a rocket. I'm always amazed at how the original Enterprise can be reinterpreted and still be instantly recognizable as the Enterprise. Not sure that applies to other Trek ships, though I'm sure some creative mind will prove me wrong. I won't be fleshing out this "universe" much, but I'll probably post a few more pics soon, as well as a phaser and communicator. Thinking about using this ship on some UESPA covers in the future. Anyway.....Enjoy!
Cool There was an art contest years ago, where the participants created art of trek as if they were created in a different era. There were some awesome ones.
A nice pre-Pike ship from an alternate timeline. I wonder if you might design a ship a little forward of the 1960s. The post Star Wars late 70's design was the Refit of course, and we saw the Planet of the Titans What would a nice Chriss- Foss mid 70's Enterprise be like--The Metaluna (which your ship here is very like) was a trek sabrejet. What would an F-4 Phantom II Enterprise look like?
Love it!! The lil' guys in spacesuits are a cool touch. You've absolutely nailed the aesthetic. Of course, you're gonna post a render of the retro-Enterprise facing off against the retro-Klingon ship, right? riiiight?? Maybe some energy bolts that look suspiciously like sparklers, with just a hint of piano wire?
A couple more shots. Leaving Earth I think I do that first TMP poster shot for every Enterprise I make! Returning Home Thanks guys! Redfern, I had to look up "atom-punk".....lotta "_____punk" these days. Atompunk, dieselpunk, etc. Used to be just steampunk. Do you remember if I entered that one? Sounds vaguely familiar. There was a guy here several years back who did the "Planet Of The Titans" Enterprise and it was a goddamn masterpiece. Just an amazing piece of work and as far as I'm concerned, it was the last word on that design. I love Discovery's design, but this guy's design was a thing of beauty. His name was Lord Sarvain or something like that. As for the other suggestions.....I don't really have the skills or equipment to pull them off. I'm using a ten year old computer, an obsolete 3D program and my video card was end of life about 5-7 years ago (and since it's a laptop, I can't upgrade it) really limits what I can do. Plus, my design DNA is spartan classic Trek. I'm always amazed by 3d artists who can add a lot of surface detail, greebles as well as more intricate designs. I have simple tastes. Thanks for the kind words! The film grain was almost a necessity in order to give the hull some texture. The smooth skin doesn't really give the eye much to do, so I thought that might help. Although I'm actually mixing two looks. The black "glow" around the ship is an effect that was more common on live shows of the time, whereas film grain would be on film. I wanted the black glow because it feels "truer" to most of the televised sci-fi of the time (not Rocky Jones, that was filmed) but needed the film grain to add a little texture. Thanks as always CC! Thanks Bill! Yeah, I like the spacesuit guys too as I wanted to have some guys to show how small this version of the Enterprise is. As far as the retro Klingon....most likely. The original Trek, and it's spartan design sensibilities is pretty much in my design DNA. Everything I create, tech wise / interior wise, takes it's cues from the original Star Trek. So when I set about working on the other project, when I was done with the ship (a sort of mobile death ray cannon) I realized it's basic shape was that of a Klingon ship. I'd like to think it could be easily retooled into a Klingon ship. As for sparkler's, heh, that *would* be cool! Been thinking of redoing the UESPA cover of "The Cage" with the Rocketprise (my name for this particular version of the Enterprise). In case anyone's wondering what these guys outfits look like, well they'd look like this outfit from Rocky Jones. Tell me Bill Theiss didn't take some inspiration from these! Chest insignia and stylized cuff stripes. Also, while the original 60's Trek uni's are my favorite, these are right up there with them in my book. They actually look of higher quality, less "t-shirt" looking. Like a thicker material. The outfits they wear at the end of season one and into season two while aboard the Orbit Jet are ENT-esque jumpsuits.
What a wonderful and charming idea for reinterpreting the Enterprise, I absolutely love this! Your images remind me of Fireball XL5, a kids tv show quite similar to Space Patrol and something I have a soft spot for to this day.
We have no proof he ever saw them, and sleeve stripes are real-world military stuff and could have been Roddenberry's idea. And the "flying-A" chest logo looks a lot like a NASA astronaut pin.
Lensman, your retrotrek series is one of my favorite alternate takes of Star Trek. Let's see more! Do you do sets? Would like to see your idea of what the bridge is like.
Thanks! As for sets.....Once or twice, but was never happy with the end result. I've toyed with the idea of doing a retro(er) conn though. Not really sure what a bridge for this ship would look like. Again, the cockpit to Rocky Jones ship Orbit Jet is probably closest to what i generally imagine it looking like. Mainly because this ship is much, much smaller than the Enterprise. I imagine a crew of about seven to ten people, if that. Was a little bored today, and wanted to do a quick piece for fun....enjoy!