Perhaps this budget-scrapped lighting effect might be worth pursuing as an Unseen TOS item? I don’t know about you, but some sort of moiré effect along the inboard nacelle turns my crank…
Lots of people have already built 3D as well as physical models with the nacelle inboards lighted. They usually use the same blue as that seen on the TNG E and other contemporary Trek ships. I personally find it gimmicky and feel it doesn’t look right on the TOS E given it already has the spinning light nacelle caps so lighted inboards looks like overkill, but to each his own. The nacelle inboards on the TMP E were also lighted, but in a different way and much more subtly—it works there and looks more purple.
I doubt if they lit the inboards on the TOS-E they'd have used blue. Especially using bluescreen to cut out the Enterprise. Too many weird artifacts there they'd have had to fight with.
True. I know it adds something to the look, but somehow I think it looks more realistic not to have the inboards lighted. Sometimes a limitation works for you.
Lighting the inboards on the TOS-E with blue would suggest that it has been updated to TNG/DS9 warp engine technology as we saw tons of Mirandas have an always blue nacelle starting in DS9. Not having the TOS-E do that also visually differentiates the generations, IMHO.
I completely agree. I find the reflective metal grille that they ended up going with highly effective. It’s the GR memo & budget talking about lighting those inboard sections that made me suggest it as something for your project. More money doesn’t necessarily yield a better result. What we got was great.
The NX looked good with the blue grills, I think the TOS-E would work if the brightness was fairly low. It has my favorite nacelles of franchise, they look like massive generators instead sculptures. On a side note, wish they could have gotten this effect to have worked in TMP (Sorry, link seems to need to be copy and pasted) content://com.android.chrome.FileProvider/images/screenshot/1677546983509552632104.jpg Just imagine if this warp effect had been achievable and became canon like the warp flash.
In the real world we have powerful energies around us…that are largely invisible. Lightning is an exception. Lighting up physical or cgi miniatures is an attempt to make them more visually dynamic particularly when you can’t show flaming exhaust coming out the back. But strictly speaking it doesn’t make them look more “real.” It just makes them look kewl. But to my eyes those bright primary glowing colours look…cartoony.
Forgive me for quoting myself, but I wanted to elaborate on my point. Back in the dark ages, 1960s/‘70s sci-fi, it was common to show a computer in operation with lots of blinking lights and sound effects. Why? Because watching real computers in operation is more akin to watching paint dry—essentially noiseless (more contemporary computers anyway) and not much to see until the computer completes the task you just set in motion. It’s boring visually. So you add lots of winking lights and appropriate whirring and beeping sound fx to dramatically convey the fact the computer is actually doing something. In reality the bridge of the Enterprise would be a lot quieter than what we hear on television. But that would be kind of boring. So we hear all kinds of sounds to convey the idea of sophisticated machinery in action. And that includes the howling sound of the warp engines rapidly accelerating and decelerating. At warp speed we would never actually be able to see the Enterprise in motion. Our eyes or any camera (as we know it) could simply never be able to track it visually. Lots of stuff is done in film and television (and not just in sci-fi) to convey an idea that is totally divorced from what we would experience in reality. And this practice actually exists in the real world as well largely because we respond to sensory feedback. Even a simple game like solitaire or jigsaw puzzles on your iPad can have accompanying sound effects to make the games more interesting. Indeed we can feel something is wrong if those sound effects aren’t there. We do the same thing with our phones and other devices to have that satisfying “click” or “beep” when we use the buttons or keyboard. Automobile manufacturers simulate shift points in cars with CVT transmissions. Or they’ll pipe in fake engine and exhaust noises through the entertainment system to simulate a sporty exhaust note. It’s the extension of film and television fakery.
I worked this up about six years ago. It’s a 3D model of the Comostrator from First Spaceship On Venus and then photoshopped into a fictitious screencap. I think with some tweaking it could make an interesting TOS era ship.
Very nice Cosmostrator! I had one of those silent digest prints of this movie on 8mm when I was a kid. Really just a highlight reel; but it fired my imagination. M.
I’ve started mulling over the Gorn ship. I’m hoping for something that evokes the idea of what we eventually see of the Gorn without looking obviously reptilian. One idea that struck me was playing with the idea of a talon or claw as we see on the Gorn. I’ve also found myself thinking: why did the Gorn run after the Enterprise showed up? They destroyed Cestus III with little effort leading us to suspect the outpost had little to nothing in terms of defences. When they failed to immediately destroy the Enterprise they broke orbit and ran rather than engage in a ship-to-ship slugfest. Did they fear the Enterprise outmatched them or were they hoping to lure the Enterprise into another trap? If a trap couldn’t they have had other ships somewhere nearby waiting to ambush the Enterprise arriving at Cestus III? The Enterprise’s initial volleys failed to damage the Gorn ship or at least appeared to fail. Maybe the Enterprise did damage them sufficiently to compel the Gorn to cut and run? And eventually in pursuit the Enterprise did begin to gain on the Gorn ship before both were stopped by the Metrons. So maybe the Gorn might appear to be at technological par with the Enterprise, but actually they’re not?
Perhaps it could feature hexagonal mesh features over, say, warp engine vents etc, and use multiple glass beads over sensor domes, to echo the multifaceted eyes on the TOS Gorn... Also bearing in mind that the Gorn captain's "uniform" was pretty ostentatious, maybe their hull decoration could be equally loud. Attention-grabbing yellow/orange/red designs could both scream "predator!" in-universe (even just as a deterrent to other species if the Gorn are technologically subpar) and in theory be safe to use for matte photography.
I always imagined it along the lines of the Narn G'Quan, angular with primal touches https://www.google.com/search?clien...=878&dpr=1.75#imgrc=76JEM9mrL3hcQM&lnspr=W10=
In line with the mindset of this project I find myself thinking about what could be thrown together in a workshop. Unless the familiar story were changed we wouldn’t get to see much of this ship. Hmm…
From the survivor it sounded like the Cestus outpost was taken by surprise. "They came in space normal speed, using our regular approach route, but they knocked out our phaser batteries with their first salvo. From then we were helpless. We weren't expecting anything!" So we know the outpost had phaser batteries at the minimum and that the Gorn ship can fool the outpost into thinking it was not dangerous. The Gorn then demonstrated sophistication in falsifying Starfleet comms to lure the Enterprise tactical crew down to the planet. However it would appear that they were not expecting the Enterprise in orbit to detect and defend herself. It is likely that the Gorn ship was evenly matched with the Enterprise at a distance since neither side could damage each other with shields up. The Gorn ship's refusal to close the distance would suggest that they were not confident with the outcome of a visual range ship duel. And we also have the Gorn's ground force not closing the distance to attack as an acknowledgement that the ground weapons were also evenly matched at a distance and probably too deadly for close-range combat. I'd say the Gorn were technologically on par in long-distance combat, sensors, transporters and FTL. What we don't know is how they would do at a closer distance where phaser damage is increased or if they can fight at FTL speeds. A question would be whether the Cestus outpost might have been more suspicious or hair-triggered if the Gorn ship design appeared to be menacing or dangerous? Then again, what would be considered a menacing looking ship in TOS?
The Gorn also had a rather sophisticated trick of locking onto a tricorder and turning it into a bomb, which surprised Spock...
I’ve come up with a basic concept with two variations: essentially a dual nacelle version and a single nacelle version. It sorta evokes a snake poised to strike.