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Inspired Enterprise -- new behind-the-scenes book about TOS

The book says that the first shuttlecraft model kit was released in 1974. It also has some discussion of the Leif Ericson/"Mystery UFO" kit, which apparently was developed for a TV series concept Stephen E. Whitfield pitched called Space Cadet (no idea if it was related to the Heinlein novel), in which the cadets would've trained on a different ship each season, allowing AMT to put out a new model kit each season.

There's an interesting bit in the first photo insert -- a set of photos from Whitfield's collection that didn't make it into The Making of Star Trek, including more photos of props from the show and some behind-the-scenes photos of things like Jim Rugg working on the bridge equipment and one of the planet models being lit for an effects shot. Unfortunately, they're printed rather small, so it's hard to make out detail.
 
Christopher said:
Jim Rugg working on the bridge equipment
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This one? :

Zrug.jpg
 
TrickyDickie said:
This one? :
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Not that specific photo -- as I said, these are photos that did not make it into TMoST. But they appear to be from the same set of photos. Rugg is wearing the same shirt, the same box is on the floor beside the helm console, and I think maybe two of the same people are shown working on the console (plus another man in a checked shirt), with the camera angle from next to the navigator's station, just right of the guy standing on the left in your photo. The other photo shows Rugg kneeling behind what's apparently one of the bridge stations, working on the back side of the lights and displays.

Speaking of the bridge, it strikes me as odd that AMT's bridge model kit is open on the port side of the bridge, with engineering and the other stations between the turbolift and the viewscreen missing, when in the show it was usually the starboard-side stations that were removed for camera access.
 
hbquikcomjamesl said:
AMT may have built the filming model, but the tooling people for model kits apparently didn't pay much attention to the plans. I ended up extensively kitbashing the stern, based on the FJS plans, to get it even kind-of sort-of right. I also have a somewhat kitbashed bridge.
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Have you read the 1976 essay "Star Trek Miniatures: The Starship Enterprise" in the very first Best of Trek anthology back in 1978, by Richard G. Van Treuren? It discusses the production of the AMT Enterprise model and has instructions on adapting the AMT version to look like both the pilot and series versions of the ship.

https://archive.org/details/TheBestOfTrekIrwin/page/n25/mode/2up
 
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I'm sure I did, a long time ago. I also have an unusual 'zine, called Star Fleet Assembly Manual No. 1, or something to that general effect.
 
ZapBrannigan said:
I think so (know so), too. "The Galileo Seven" was named in the same format as The Magnificent Seven (1960). And the usage occurs in non-fiction once in a while: two years after the episode, there was a "Chicago Seven," who were tried for inciting political rioting. And it doesn't have to be seven for the form to crop up. It's a known thing.
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Agreed completely. I . . . seriously can't believe that anyone ever thought that the title of the episode referred to anything but the seven crew members. I guess I'll file that one away with "Hey, was Starfleet a military organization?" :cardie:

The cool picture from TMOST with the production crew working on the bridge reminds me of a question I've often had but never posed here as far as I remember. In the picture, the doors are stuck open (were the Scalosians around?) and you can clearly see the turbolift. Did they film all scenes set in turbolifts with the cameras on the bridge set? Or did they use one of the turbolifts in the corridor set? I guess it probably varied depending on where they were boarding and disembarking. If that's the case, how many "working" turbolifts did the sets have altogether? Three, perhaps—two off the corridors and one off the bridge?
 
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Recently I also have been wondering about the total number of usable lifts on the set. Like you, I have been imagining two for the corridor complex (and will probably end up making two wild ones for my Stage 9 model), but I have a feeling they could have done it with the bridge lift and just one more. I haven't yet thought of an episode where it would have been strictly necessary to have two wild ones (even though it would clearly be a lot more convenient).
 
Phaser Two said:
The cool picture from TMOST with the production crew working on the bridge reminds me of a question I've often had but never posed here as far as I remember. In the picture, the doors are stuck open (were the Scalosians around?) and you can clearly see the turbolift. Did they film all scenes set in turbolifts with the cameras on the bridge set? Or did they use one of the turbolifts in the corridor set? I guess it probably varied depending on where they were boarding and disembarking. If that's the case, how many "working" turbolifts did the sets have altogether? Three, perhaps—two off the corridors and one off the bridge?
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The turbolift was small enough that it could have easily been moved. I assume they only had the one, and they stuck it behind whichever doors it needed to be seen behind, or planted it down by itself when they needed to shoot a scene in it. Remember how big cameras were back then. There's no way a shot like this one could've been filmed through the doors to the bridge. And of course, the walls would have been removable so they could shoot a scene from either side, like here. The whole thing was just maybe six wall panels, easy enough to break down and reassemble wherever it was needed.
 
If it wasn't for the NCC-1701/7" on the hull, I'd completely agree that the "Seven" meant the people inside only, but it's" got to be a double meaning. Considering the 7 is right after the Enterprise's number, it's mostly likely the 7th shuttle in the inventory.

Yes, the Exeter only had an expected 4, but that could mean the Exeter only had 4 in inventory and Spock confirmed that before his report to Kirk in The Omega Glory.

Naturally, TV production issues created inconsistences with the number and the name of the shuttle when used with the replacement Galileo. But Galileo II (or III if they had thought of it) makes sense as a replacement and keeping the number in the series - just filling the hole in the inventory and keeping the name.

Space:1999 had this issue with a few "Eagle 1" transporters being destroyed but replaced next week and the numbers on the door not matching the dialog.
 
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