I think the TOS production phaser rifle, had it ever been made, would have been a butt stock module that plugs onto the Type II phaser. Check out Matt Jefferies' drawing of the phaser seen on this thread at the RPF: It describes the phaser pistol as "Hand Phaser Unit #2," shows the small hand phaser as "#1" and describes the handle as "Power Pack Unit #3." On the bottom of the tail end is a note saying "Recess to recieve spring lock from Unit #4" which is otherwise undescribed. But it seems to me that the intention was to have a stock plug into the back of the Type II, possibly wrapping around the radiator vanes at the back. I've often wondered what it would look like, possibly a shoulder stock, or possibly an L shaped unit that makes the whole assembly look like the TNG phaser rifles. I've played around with sketching ideas but never came up with anything that didn't look hokey. --Alex
I would have paid good money for those 50 years ago. I was making my own phasers in the workshop with nothing but the reference in "The Making of Star Trek". Yea the Technical Manual was a big boost in quality.
Found this on DeviantArt at https://www.deviantart.com/tiredjadedsoul/art/Federation-Phaser-II-R-concept-TOS-345209485
I like this a lot, but I still doubt it's the direction that Matt would have gone. He would have plugged it into the rear of the Type II. --Alex
I am of two thoughts on this. On one hand I understand the coolness factor and notion of economy by plugging the Phaser II into a rifle cradle. But I also don’t think it’s the only way to go given an actual dedicated phaser rifle design should exist. And a separate rifle design would offer a bit more creative freedom rather than be constrained by finding a way to integrate the phaser pistol into a cradle so it looks as all one thing.
A quick review. I worked out the Astral Queen would be 410 ft. long. This is a size comparison of the ships modeled so far. Despite its apparent size the Valiant wouldn't be as spacious inside as it might look given its cylindrical hull, bulky machinery and a good portion of the aft end taken up by the massive impulse engines.
Agreed on this. With no disrespect to the Deviantart artist, does the Phaser 2 have to fit into a Phaser 3/rifle? I can understand the Phaser 1 being a plug in component into a rifle body, just like it does into a Phaser 2 pistol grip. The fan film Phase 2 movie "Blood and Fire" had a Phaser rifle, that looked like a TOS version of the original TNG Phaser rifle in basic layout. Although that TNG rifle had similar design elements to the later TNG Cobra head Phaser 2s (just a bit squarer at the front), it in no way suggested the Cobra head fitted into a rifle body. I'm looking forward to see what you come up with on this! I though this thread would just be about unseen starships
Jefferies’ notes seem to suggest the Phaser II could plug into a rifle like assembly. But since that was never actually done it remains a question mark. Furthermore the WMNHGB phaser rifle looks of similar aesthetic style as the pilot laser/phaser pistols yet it no way shows the pistol incorporated into the rifle itself—it’s definitely a distinctly separate thing. So I am inclined to envision a Phaser III—a phaser rifle—as a distinctly separate and independent piece of hardware. The trick will be to make it stylistically similar to the Phaser II.
“The Galileo Seven” – We finally see the ship's hangar deck, but where does the truntable/elevator go? Okay, I have pretty much addressed this (see upthread) although there are a few things I could add. “Court Martial” – Shouldn't the Enterprise be docked while it's undergoing repair at Starbase 10? What might that look like? A couple of other things. I would have liked to see a field jacket more in keeping with the series era uniforms. Also a female alternative uniform without the open neck as we saw once or twice in the background. If they had ever shown a woman in a command position then she would have had to wear something more professional than a miniskirt. I have also imagined some other rooms aboard the Enterprise we never got to see, such as an expanded rec deck.
As for repair "docks", I started this thread a few years ago, the caveat being "what might have been achieved between 1966 and 1969 without foreknowledge of the movies and subsequent series. https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/drydock-tos-style-thoughts.255052/ @Vektor dug up some old concepts which proved very interesting. They might serve as a "branching" point for you.
I’m thinking this could have been visualized in TOS in a two ways given they would not likely build a dock for the 11 footer. 1. A matte painting. 2. A miniature that could hold either the 33in. miniature or a decently assembled AMT Enterprise model kit and shown in a long shot.
Could they have composited a stock shot of the 11 foot model with onto a newly filmed element? Similar to what they did with K-7?
Thats an excellent question. “Court Martial” aired February 2nd, 1967 and (according to Wkipedia) AMT signed a deal with Desilu on August 1st, 1966 wherein AMT acquired the rights to produce a model kit of the Enterprise in exchange for a 3/4 exterior set and a fullsize interior set of the shuttlecraft Galileo. According to Memory Alpha “Court Martial” was filmed between Oct. 3rd. to Oct. 11th, 1966. I understand the AMT model was available in 1966 by at least Christmas, but I haven’t yet learned more precisely when it was available in stores that year. Now post-production doesn’t necessarily happen while primary filming is happening, but rather later. So it might be quite possible the AMT model was available if TOS wanted to use one in post-production. The question is now when did the episode’s post-production occur? It would have been after early October, 1966 and before February, 1967. That could be narrowed down if we knew when the episode was delivered to NBC prior to airing. We also know TOS was often down to the wire delivering episodes. At a guess the episode could have been delivered sometime in January, 1967 if not earlier. If the AMT model was ready for Christmas, 1966 it should have been in stores by at least early December. If we’re generous, and without more specific information, that leaves a possible three month window of mid October, 1966 to January, 1967 for the model to be available for the episode’s post-production. From what I can gather the episode's post-production mid October to late November, 1966. So how soon was the AMT kit available? If the AMT kit wasn't available then they would have had to use the larger 33in. miniature.
All I've found was that they finalized the model deal in August of 1966 and that's the same year the Enterprise model was released.
Was the original AMT kit actually seen in "Court Martial" or was it maybe the 3-footer or a photo of the big one? According to this article, its first appearance was "Doomsday Machine" as the Constellation, which is what I always thought was its first on-screen use.
Yes, the AMT’s first actual onscreen appearance was in “The Doomsday Machine,” but we are exploring whether it could have been utilized earlier. And, no, nothing but the 11 footer was actually seen in “Court Martial.”
There was also one in "The Trouble with Tribbles" and shock...it survives. Talk about nacelle droop. Those early AMT models were terrible for that.