Sizes of the Filming Models

[Scott Kellogg]

Hey Folks,

I've seen the 11 foot TOS Enterprise in the Air & Space Museum.
I gather there was a 3 footer as well and a smaller one that showed up in "Requiem for Methusela"

I just got to thinking:
How big were the other filming models?
The Klingon D-7 doesn't look nearly so large.

And, I just saw a picture of the TNG Enterprise and it looked much smaller.

Anyone know the sizes?

 

[Redfern]

The 3 footer WAS the ship resting upon the table in "Requiem..."

 

[Albertese]

As I recall (and I could be misremembering) the Klingon battlecruiser AMT model kit was half scale of the studio ship, which would have been about three feet long. Having seen the thing in person, that seems about right.

The Botany Bay was built to the same scale as the 11 foot Enterprise and was about 4 feet long.

Others, just off the top of my head (some one correct my mistakes, please):

Shuttlecraft: 2 feet long
Romulan Bird of Prey: about 2 feet long
Tholian webspinner/Aurora: 1 foot
Planetkiller (Doomsday Machine): 3.5 to 4 feet long (built in scale with the three inch Enterprise)
Fesarius: 2 or 3 feet (no one seems to know for sure)
Most planets: about 2 feet (my personal suspicion is that whatever spherical shape was used for planets was also used for the Fesarius.)

I think the Melkotian buoy was about a foot high, but I could be way off there. No idea how big the ship from "Spock's Brain" was but I've always assumed it was small.

I remember reading about the Space Station K-7 model in the book by Richard Datin's kids, but I forget how big it said it was. I'm pretty sure it says at least how big the disks are and you could figure it out from there. But I think it was a couple feet. The reconstruction of it for "Trials and Tribble-ations" was evidently a lot bigger.

What am I missing?

--Alex

 

[ZapBrannigan]

From the Star Trek Giant Poster Book #10, June 1977, article "The Smithsonian Report":
The Klingon battle cruiser is 31" L, 20" W, and 7.5" H. In cm that's about 79 L, 51 W, 19 H.

From David Shaw info, the 3-footer was just under 34" long, and 15" wide.

 

[Coops]

Nobody will ever be as interested in CGI starships as they are actual models. Why would they be?

 

[Ronald Held]

Is it because CG starships cannot be touched and owned?

 

[Dukhat]

They most certainly can be owned. Touched is another matter.

 

[Noname Given]

They most certainly can be owned. Touched is another matter.

^^^
With a 3D printer, all things are possible.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Seven hundred and twenty fiv--

Oh wait wrong thread. Never mind. Carry on.

 

[Push The Button]

Nobody will ever be as interested in CGI starships as they are actual models. Why would they be?

Agreed. When I saw the 11’ Enterprise filming model at the NASM in 1982, it was a special moment for me. Some bits on a hard drive wouldn’t have had the same impact.

 

[Ronald Held]

It might be easier to own the physical models, then to get the actual files used for the shops seen on/TVand movies.

 

[MGagen]

The "3-footer" was blueprinted to be 33.75 inches long. The "11-footer" was intended to be exactly 4x this length, or 135" long (11'-3").

 

[Maurice]

As I recall (and I could be misremembering) the Klingon battlecruiser AMT model kit was half scale of the studio ship, which would have been about three feet long. Having seen the thing in person, that seems about right.

The Botany Bay was built to the same scale as the 11 foot Enterprise and was about 4 feet long.

Others, just off the top of my head (some one correct my mistakes, please):

Shuttlecraft: 2 feet long
Romulan Bird of Prey: about 2 feet long
Tholian webspinner/Aurora: 1 foot
Planetkiller (Doomsday Machine): 3.5 to 4 feet long (built in scale with the three inch Enterprise)
Fesarius: 2 or 3 feet (no one seems to know for sure)
Most planets: about 2 feet (my personal suspicion is that whatever spherical shape was used for planets was also used for the Fesarius.)

I think the Melkotian buoy was about a foot high, but I could be way off there. No idea how big the ship from "Spock's Brain" was but I've always assumed it was small.

I remember reading about the Space Station K-7 model in the book by Richard Datin's kids, but I forget how big it said it was. I'm pretty sure it says at least how big the disks are and you could figure it out from there. But I think it was a couple feet. The reconstruction of it for "Trials and Tribble-ations" was evidently a lot bigger.

What am I missing?

--Alex

I've never seen anything about the Melkotian bouy, other than the BTS photo of it reflected in a mirror.

 

[Albertese]

I've never seen anything about the Melkotian bouy, other than the BTS photo of it reflected in a mirror.

Yeah, I'm not sure where I got my impression of it being about a foot long. I seem to recall seeing a BTS picture of it with someone's hand in the frame, but I concede that the image I'm remembering may well be entirely the product of my own imagination. I always thought it was a cool looking thing at any rate.

--Alex

 

[Maurice]

Yeah, I'm not sure where I got my impression of it being about a foot long. I seem to recall seeing a BTS picture of it with someone's hand in the frame, but I concede that the image I'm remembering may well be entirely the product of my own imagination. I always thought it was a cool looking thing at any rate.

--Alex

Pretty sure that's the image I am referring to, which shows a hand adjusting the mirror on which the miniature is reflected.

 

[Mudd]

It might be easier to own the physical models, then to get the actual files used for the shops seen on/TVand movies.

You'd be surprised...

 

[ZapBrannigan]

Pretty sure that's the image I am referring to, which shows a hand adjusting the mirror on which the miniature is reflected.

I'm studying the image I saved ages ago from "Star Trek History," and I don't think it's a mirror.

The guy's left hand (at upper left) is apparently holding a fishing rod. His right hand is holding the reel, between thumb and forefinger.

A flat rectangular panel, for backdrop, is leaning on the rod.

The buoy looks to be about 3 inches tall, and it is being spun by reeling in the fishing line. The buoy is mounted in a little framing mechanism that is, by design, almost impossible to see.

Incidentally, I think the buoy was probably made from pieces of those decorative screw-on parts you get from the top of a table lamp. The fx man bought a couple of lamps with Lucite fittings, and he was all set with the parts.

 

[alchemist]

I'm studying the image I saved ages ago from "Star Trek History," and I don't think it's a mirror.

The guy's left hand (at upper left) is apparently holding a fishing rod. His right hand is holding the reel, between thumb and forefinger.

A flat rectangular panel, for backdrop, is leaning on the rod.

The buoy looks to be about 3 inches tall, and it is being spun by reeling in the fishing line. The buoy is mounted in a little framing mechanism that is, by design, almost impossible to see.

Incidentally, I think the buoy was probably made from pieces of those decorative screw-on parts you get from the top of a table lamp. The fx man bought a couple of lamps with Lucite fittings, and he was all set with the parts.

We used to think this as well but other film clips from the dailies seem to show a mirror that was pivoted/moved in order to show the spinning buoy moving without moving the model.

 

[Henoch]

Here's the picture of interest:

 

[alchemist]

Here's the picture of interest:

Note that the left hand is partially obscured by the mirror.