Does anyone know of someone attempting to create a TOS shuttlecraft exterior that follows the lines of the interior set? The interior is much too big, and its angles are entirely wrong. We are left plopping that interior inside a second skin exterior made much bigger than the set piece built to represent the shuttlecraft. A number of talented artists have tried reconciling the two by fitting the inside in an expanded version of the outside. But has anyone on a lark just remade an outside to fit the inside?
I'm not aware of anyone trying. I suspect it wouldn't look very good since the proportions would almost certainly look...odd. Probably end up rather tall and narrow looking. Sort of like what went wrong with the Pontiac Aztek design: vs:
I suspect it might look a little like the old AMT model, but with a steeper face. Are blueprints of the interior available?
Well, back in 2004 I drafted plans for the interior set that was used in Starship Exeter... Shuttlecraft Interior Miniature I believe I still have most of my research, though the stated objective at the time was for a two wall recreation (at about one-sixth scale) and the plans were needed within about a week. So things like the aft cabin bulkhead and rear compartment weren't needed for the shot as planned (and later filmed). The goal was to make something that looked like the original TOS set, with no consideration for wedding the interior with the exterior. Is that the type of thing you're looking for?
I'm pretty sure Gary Kerr studied all the various ins and outs of the filming model, the 3/4 scale set prop, and the interior set, when he designed the Polar Lights model kit, which he said was an attempt at a reasonable synthesis of all three. I remember him keeping us informed on his research over at hobbytalk dot com.
Fascinating! I hope to see someone's take on this notion! But honestly, I'm much more interested in exploring the opposite: creating a version of the interior that fits inside the exterior (matching the aesthetics of the interior set, but by no means being tied to the interior dimensions in the slightest). I've seen lots of attempts at marrying or compromising the interior and exterior for some sort of middle ground, but few if any that go whole hog in making one match the other, so to speak.
Absolutely. I assumed you pulled the orthographic renderings from photos of the set? I know you have that skill set, so theoretically you should have ended up with something superficially similar to the construction blueprints.
I agree and am onboard with that project, but it will be a separate thing. I am thinking there are at least three shuttlecraft available to portray in some form - one based on the interior, one on the 3/4 scale exterior, and one that marries the two in some fudgy way that might be based superficially on the small filming model. That last one has already been performed admirably by Warped9 and others. All we know is that one of the three has to in some way be able to be said to be 24-feet long.
Well… I think you know how I feel about that. If he has seen and recorded construction plans for the interior shuttlecraft set, then we are unlikely to ever see them except in a form he has interpreted. Which is his right, of course, but does not meet the needs of the moment.