I don't recall the guy's face after 40 years. I can say that he was likely in his mid-20s. If it had been Poe, however, I would think he would have been a celebrity at a Trek con, but I don't think the guy was on any panels.
The Klingon Battlecruiser
- Thread starter yotsuya
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It's a mixed metaphor to be sure. OTOH I'm pretty sure he knew that.
This is the most informative thread I've read in ages. I feel like I should be taking notes!
A new bit of info I've gleaned from the photos of the pre-loan-to-Magicam look of the 1968 TV model is that it seems to have had chrome on the two small P/S grilles on the upper side of the neck base like the 1968 Poe model. I still can't tell (due to the poor quality of the photos available) if the grille in front of the hanger was chrome like the 1968 Poe model or something else. I also can't tell if it was 2 tone or 3 tone. None of the photos are from the right angle to see that detail. We'd need to see the bottom of the neck where the two colors meet. Except for the photo of Jefferies holding it, you can see that the top of the head is darker, just like the Poe model. In the Jefferies photo it is not darker, but the grills on the aft part of the head are lighter.
The post Magicam paint is easy to document. Plenty of pictures of it thanks to Gary Kerr. The Poe model has been on display and is also easy to document. The current colors are easy to find thanks to it being on display and a small but detailed set of photos being released. But that question of what it looked like during filming remains a mystery. There are some hints in screen shots and the four photos, but not more than that. The only thing I can tell for certain is that the top of the main body and the top of the head were painted a darker color than the rest. There is a clear line demarking the pylon and engine in every photo. And the details on the top of the neck base are also darker. But is the neck and head the same color as the underside of the main body and the engines? And what are those three colors?
The only hint to any of those is this photo:
You can see on the top of the hanger that a patch has been sanded to reveal the paint layers. What does it mean though? Was this model repainted as claimed? Is this a paint layer from 1968? Without going through the same restoration process as the Enterprise and an in depth comparison to the Poe model, we cannot be sure. I'm leaning toward that gray (and the current cover over all) was the base color that was partially painted over in 1968 when they detailed it.That both models were painted similar yet different indicates to me that they used the two models to test paint schemes and kept the one with the scheem they liked and that this model was still painted in the original colors. But more expert people than I disagree. Multiple sources say it was repainted at some point when it was returned to Paramount and Magicam. Same colors? New colors? Original scheme? Old Scheme? The only thing I can say for certain is the the silver foil stickers were removed and not replaced (on that ribbed section at the base of the neck that you can see in this photo).
The post Magicam paint is easy to document. Plenty of pictures of it thanks to Gary Kerr. The Poe model has been on display and is also easy to document. The current colors are easy to find thanks to it being on display and a small but detailed set of photos being released. But that question of what it looked like during filming remains a mystery. There are some hints in screen shots and the four photos, but not more than that. The only thing I can tell for certain is that the top of the main body and the top of the head were painted a darker color than the rest. There is a clear line demarking the pylon and engine in every photo. And the details on the top of the neck base are also darker. But is the neck and head the same color as the underside of the main body and the engines? And what are those three colors?
The only hint to any of those is this photo:
You can see on the top of the hanger that a patch has been sanded to reveal the paint layers. What does it mean though? Was this model repainted as claimed? Is this a paint layer from 1968? Without going through the same restoration process as the Enterprise and an in depth comparison to the Poe model, we cannot be sure. I'm leaning toward that gray (and the current cover over all) was the base color that was partially painted over in 1968 when they detailed it.That both models were painted similar yet different indicates to me that they used the two models to test paint schemes and kept the one with the scheem they liked and that this model was still painted in the original colors. But more expert people than I disagree. Multiple sources say it was repainted at some point when it was returned to Paramount and Magicam. Same colors? New colors? Original scheme? Old Scheme? The only thing I can say for certain is the the silver foil stickers were removed and not replaced (on that ribbed section at the base of the neck that you can see in this photo).
Has anyone been able to decipher (or find a higher-resolution copy of) the battlecruiser schematics here, which on initial reading suggest a length of 624 feet at a scale of 22 feet to an inch, and thus a model length of 28 ⁴⁄₁₁ inches?
Those relationships don’t make any sense to me, but if I change the length to 684 feet and plug in a model length of 28.5 inches, the scale becomes precisely 24 feet to an inch.
Those relationships don’t make any sense to me, but if I change the length to 684 feet and plug in a model length of 28.5 inches, the scale becomes precisely 24 feet to an inch.
Both those numbers are wrong. The size comparison to the Enterprise that Jefferies did (in TMOST and on screen in The Enterprise Incident) show more than 700 feet. McMaster has 710 feet. It could be as large as 725. I have no doubt that the design started smaller than it ended up. At 29 inches, the D-7 was larger in scale than the 33 inch Enterprise. AMT correctly scaled the two models. So the built the Klingon studio model to 2x the scale of their 18 inch Enterprise kit so the final model kit is in scale with the 18 Enterprise model kit. So 1/650. Their mini kit was at 1/1625 scale.
Yeah, from what I can tell all those parts should be either silver or chrome.
I'm working on one of the mini ones (3 ship set). Very inaccurate, but a good test bed for finding out of the paint will work for the 1/1000 Round 2 kit.
I remembered another source of info... long gone from the internet but preserved in amber on the Wayback Machine. I won't speak for the accuracy of every point here.
William McCulliar's IDIC Page
The Original Series Klingon Battlecruiser Studio Model (link)
The AMT Klingon Battlecruiser Model Kit Prototype (link)
Greg Jein's Klingon Battlecruiser from The Original Series (link) (replica for sale, not DS9 model)
William McCulliar's IDIC Page
The Original Series Klingon Battlecruiser Studio Model (link)
The AMT Klingon Battlecruiser Model Kit Prototype (link)
Greg Jein's Klingon Battlecruiser from The Original Series (link) (replica for sale, not DS9 model)
Because I built my own model and because I've had it sitting around, catching light in different ways, I have stumbled on something that makes me rethink this photo.
It appears at first glance that the head is lighter. That is not the case. The head is at a different angle and is closer to the flash. I witnessed this on my 1/1625 D-7. I looked at it one day from a similar angle, and the top of the head which I painted dark, looked light. It wasn't, but it looked it. And as I study this photo, I can see that the edge of the head and the bridge dome are indeed lighter than the flat surface of the top of the head.
It appears at first glance that the head is lighter. That is not the case. The head is at a different angle and is closer to the flash. I witnessed this on my 1/1625 D-7. I looked at it one day from a similar angle, and the top of the head which I painted dark, looked light. It wasn't, but it looked it. And as I study this photo, I can see that the edge of the head and the bridge dome are indeed lighter than the flat surface of the top of the head.
The only remaining question is: "How much darker?". Is is the same tone as the top of the after hull or something lighter?
Considering all the other photos indicate it is the same color as the top of the after hull, I think that is a safe assumption. Especially since the model I noticed this on is painted in the 3 color scheme like the Smithsonian model was from 79 to 91 (with a couple of minor variations since it is an AMT kit)
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