• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

a 198'' model of the USS Enterprise NCC 1701-A

S

Stephane-1974

Ensign
Newbie
Hi everyone :)

this is my first time posting here and am a bit nervous posting about this project.

My name is Stephane Pepin, i live in Canada, near Montreal. About a month ago I started working on this project with my wife and came to realize that this could possibly interest a lot of people.

Sixteen feet and a half long model of the Enterprise? You can't be serious!?!

I am a retired prop maker and still have my studio with all the tools, including a cnc router table, alps printers to name a few. 15 years experience in crafting all sorts of things. Being retired means i see all those tools doing nothing and it breaks my heart.

This is not a commercial venture of any kind (besides i despise money) This is just a fan who LOVES the Enterprise and wants to build a model large enough so that all sorts of crazy details can be built inside... Polarlight's version is still a bit too small for the sort of details i'd like to put in..

At 16 1/2 feet long a shuttlecraft is about 5 inches long and this is large enough to even model the inside... Little figures would be an inch tall!!! Man this is so totally cool!!!

the truth is that i want to build her deck by deck with everything inside along with it. it's crazy, i know, doin' it just the same. This is an invitation to other fans of the ship who would like to participate.

I could go on babbling all day but i don't want to take to much of your time. It's sunday afternoon and still have a few hours of free time and would very much like to get back to working on the Enterprise :)

So if you folks are interested I'll post more details of what i have in mind and we could discuss it.

Kindly,

Steph
 
MADNESS!

I hope you're serious because this has always been one of my dreams. I wonder how you'd build a full interior and still have enough internal bracing to hold itself up. But, I can totally see building interiors to be seen through the windows...

Also, where are you going to put this thing?

--Alex


Take and post lots of pictures!
 
Stephane-1974 said:
Hi everyone :)

this is my first time posting here and am a bit nervous posting about this project.

My name is Stephane Pepin, i live in Canada, near Montreal. About a month ago I started working on this project with my wife and came to realize that this could possibly interest a lot of people.

Sixteen feet and a half long model of the Enterprise? You can't be serious!?!

I am a retired prop maker and still have my studio with all the tools, including a cnc router table, alps printers to name a few. 15 years experience in crafting all sorts of things. Being retired means i see all those tools doing nothing and it breaks my heart.

This is not a commercial venture of any kind (besides i despise money) This is just a fan who LOVES the Enterprise and wants to build a model large enough so that all sorts of crazy details can be built inside... Polarlight's version is still a bit too small for the sort of details i'd like to put in..

At 16 1/2 feet long a shuttlecraft is about 5 inches long and this is large enough to even model the inside... Little figures would be an inch tall!!! Man this is so totally cool!!!

the truth is that i want to build her deck by deck with everything inside along with it. it's crazy, i know, doin' it just the same. This is an invitation to other fans of the ship who would like to participate.

I could go on babbling all day but i don't want to take to much of your time. It's sunday afternoon and still have a few hours of free time and would very much like to get back to working on the Enterprise :)

So if you folks are interested I'll post more details of what i have in mind and we could discuss it.

Kindly,

Steph
Click to expand...

for the right price id buy one of those shuttles :)
 
Stephane-1974 said:
...I am a retired prop maker and still have my studio with all the tools, including a cnc router table, alps printers to name a few. 15 years experience in crafting all sorts of things. Being retired means i see all those tools doing nothing and it breaks my heart.

...

At 16 1/2 feet long a shuttlecraft is about 5 inches long and this is large enough to even model the inside... Little figures would be an inch tall!!! Man this is so totally cool!!!

...

So if you folks are interested I'll post more details of what i have in mind and we could discuss it.
Click to expand...

Meh ... naaaaah, but thanks anyway.






:wtf:






WHAT?! ARE YOU CRAAAAZY?!!

OF COURSE WE'RE INTERESTED!!!


Another site that would love to hear from you is the Replica Prop Forum.
 
First question. Which set of plans do you intend to build from? There's a lot of different interpretations, not as many as the TOS Enterprise, but still something to take into consideration.
 
Wow, that's quite a project you're taking on. I look forward to watching your progress!
 
good evening everyone :)

first of all thanks for the interest you people are showing. I did not expect this and it comes as a surprise. I was very anxious to write about this project as it is a vast undertaking.

From where I come from, often i've seen people come around with great ideas and project to see nothing came out of it.

also i have a tendency to go on writing sprees and get into weird details that seems strangely important like what is going on with the doors on that ship? They slide but they have no walls to slide in!?! worst, nobody seems to care!!!!

So before i proceed is it possible to know what you guys prefer, more as a telegram sort of post or, with your permission, i will take some time to write a complete story/history regarding this project.

to answer a few questions

to alex: yes i am serious. Ceiling hung will permit a more realistic construction of the superstructure, removing the need for a complex rig to support the weight. Basically, each part composing the ship would be hanging separately. The Enterprise will be installed on a train wagon. I will explain this later.

to sojourner: i've been comparing blueprints from many sources, been finding a lot of differences, there is a lot of confusion and still don't know what to do yet, can you help with that, do you have access to material regarding the superstructure? I was thinking about combining them to come up with something realistic without changing the visual aspect of the ship. Any ideas?

Finally i will conclude this message by saying that building a project on that scale involves building all sorts of tools, jigs and rigs. I won't simply throw out silicon molds when i am done... all the work i put into this is at your disposal, if you want a ship, i will gladly cast it for you. Anyone has any idea how people go about it usually? I was thinking about making the parts available as the ship is being built. Guidance on this matter would be appreciated. I look for no profit.

again thanks for your time :)
 
So, I'm sure if you posted progress on this project, say, daily, we wouldn't get sick of hearing from you. Post as much as you want and we'll just eat it up, I assure you.

In fact, I'd love to help if there's any way I can. Sounds like you're building this thing at a similar scale to most table-top wargames (maybe even just a skoshe bigger). I have a lot of experience with that scale, so if there's some way I could be of assistance, I'd love to help...

I live on the other end of the continent from you, but who knows, by the time this thing is far enough along... maybe I'd be in a position to take a trip to Montreal and see it in person. Now that would a worthwhile trip!

--Alex
 
To answer your question, no, I am not one of the board's authorities on the Enterprise. Do a search on "Enterprise" in the thread titles of the fan art forum and you should find a couple people working on projects that may be of help. At one time over the last 2 years there were a couple of concurrent projects to do complete 3d modeled versions of the ship.

Say, I just had a great idea! That would be an awesome thing to submerge in a swimming pool. Be neat to swim around it to see from odd angles.
 
hi everyone l :)

this is probably the most difficult post i've ever written.

in advance, thank you for your time.

Alex, i will be in touch with you shortly :)

to all: distance is not an issue, there is the internet and as far as i know anything can be shipped from anywhere at anytime. It's only a matter of how well organized we are.

This project is very important to me and cannot describe the admiration i have for this vessel. Truly she is beautiful.

brief curriculum...
as a teen i was into star trek for the technical/science aspect of it. First job was in interior decorating, working at Color Your World where I specialized in faux finishing, had picked up an interest in this while in school in theatrical productions. Later I had an antique store and was interested in restoring old furniture. After that got into computers, 2D & 3D, music, making websites.

When I saw The Matrix I started making independent films. That was a lot of fun. Later, discovered airsoft, so i opened a playing field and organized games and milsims. Worked for a signage company for a while. operating a Seiko 64in printer and then went back to working for myself.

-------------

our current projects are numerous and complex...

my day job is to create kits to construct table top game settings (buildings, dungeons, castles and stuff like that). I won't elaborate more than that because already i've said too much...


When I was into prop making I came up with a kit for the E11 blaster. It went viral and could not supply the demand. Some folks in the 501st got word of the kit and the news spread. That's when I got interested in making props into kits. Eventually this developed in the project of making building kits for table top games.

-------------

trains... this is a bit long to explain...

My wife and I have 6 kids. We are into gardening and tiny homes. We want to make our own energy. We are funny that way. I am also a train enthusiast. I love making trees and all sorts of dioramas... it's like TerraGen but with real stuff!

Anyhow, last summer we've put our house for sale and we are looking for a piece of land on which we can build our home and a live action and role playing field, LARP for short. As expected, everyone here is pretty excited about this.

A couple weeks back, we are all sitting around the table one evening talking about the kind of tiny house each one would like to build. When Suzanne throws this 'how about we live on a train?'

we where all silent. Each of us considering how great the idea was. She goes on to say 'steampunk design, engine at the front pulling the train and providing the energy, not moving too fast but just fast enough to get the feel of moving... we could have a wagon for the living room, one for the kitchen, a green house and so on. The real house would be the train station and we happen to live on the train."

i was speechless, numbed by to enormity of what she was talking about. Please understand that i am the kind of person who spirals out of control when i get to build something from scratch. And a train? Man this i have to dedicate my life to cause it's way to amazing to just let the idea go by.

which brings me to the Enterprise.

since the polar light model came out I wanted to get one. But it felt kind of silly to buy one when i could build her from scratch. We had talked about building her 11 feet long at one point. Still it was not large enough to really get into the details that makes this ship so wonderful.

So one evening Suzanne and I are sketching the green house wagon.

* angel choir, beam of light from heaven * look and behold, in my mind's eye there is a vision of the Enterprise gently coating at night against the star field... I was trembling.

Steph "Sweety... do you think we could build one for the Enterprise"
Sue "Love... you better make the Enterprise bigger, else she will look like a small fish in an aquarium."

I love that woman.

-------------

About the shop.

We have two shops actually. One for the cnc router table and power tools. The second provides a dust free environment.The shops always change around according to projects and we try to keep it simple so that it's easy to re-adapt.

The cnc router has a table of X48" by Y48" by Z6". I usually machine plastics and wood. Little experience machining aluminum. Made a tool to hold a dremmel for engraving. Also thinking about adding 3D printer module.

I have two alps printer, a MD 1000 and MD 5100. A Roland Camm-1 pro plotter to cut vinyl or draw plans. A Futura 500 stitching machine to make patches.

Since i cannot post pictures i am providing a link to my facebook gallery. Made some albums public so you don't have to add me as friend. Also made available pictures of my family so that you can put a face on all of us :)

https://www.facebook.com/steph.letrespresent/photos_albums

please don't request props cause i no longer make them, not even for trades, i am sorry folks. CBS Law is the final frontier.

-------------

At this point in time

all images and material consulted has been referenced. I run an excel spreadsheet where information going into the porject is logged. Keeping tabs on books, blueprints, online material and websites.

Also i am thinking about an interactive side to her, a blog, youtubes of the construction, etc.

Currently I am working on drawing the secondary hull, placing deck beams and such. If some people can assist with that part of the construction it would be very much appreciated. (thanks sojourner, will do)

I guess this sums it up.

again many thanks for your time everyone. If you still want to get involved in this project you are all welcome. Like i said in a previous post, it will be possible for others to get the parts to build a ship of their own. Would be fun to know that there is a real fleet out there.

Any one out there who would like for this to be treated as a real ship building in a real yard? Cause i am game for it, really i am. There is no limit to where we can bring this and there is so much exploration and learning and fun to have in such a project, enough to interested anyone who has something going for Enterprise.

Until this project is complete, my life is centered around Enterprise. There are no simpler ways to say it.

Looking forward to hear from you guys :)

Best regards,

Steph
 
Looking forward to seeing what you come up with Stephane-1974!

I'm assuming you've visited Andrew Probert's site with some of the matte paintings of the cargo and flight deck interiors? You could use that as a starting point and meld it with the out-of-proportion flight deck from "The Final Frontier".
 
thanks blsswlf for the suggestion. I will look into it.

i'll try another question, this one regarding the interior of a nacelle. Is there an official or a most accepted version of the inside? I was thinking about combining elements from these sources: Constitution blueprints, Jackill's seems to have two versions. Found a simple schematics in Schmidt Starfleet dynamics also.

I think it's blssdwlf who came up with a design with moving parts at the end of the TOS nacelles. Found this very clever. Mind if I borrow your idea and incorporate it in this model?
 
Don't mind at all. The movie Enterprise didn't really seem to have any moving parts on the nacelles but it'll be interesting to see what you come up with. I think you have quite a bit of creative freedom since they only showed just a handful of locations/sets over a limited number of movies :)
 
Stephane-1974 said:
thanks blsswlf for the suggestion. I will look into it.

i'll try another question, this one regarding the interior of a nacelle. Is there an official or a most accepted version of the inside? I was thinking about combining elements from these sources: Constitution blueprints, Jackill's seems to have two versions. Found a simple schematics in Schmidt Starfleet dynamics also.

I think it's blssdwlf who came up with a design with moving parts at the end of the TOS nacelles. Found this very clever. Mind if I borrow your idea and incorporate it in this model?
Click to expand...
This sounds like an awesome idea - looking forward to seeing the progress.

As for interior design, the interior pieces you get with the Polar Lights kit seem to be close to "accepted", as far as I can tell. Other good resources:

Y'know, this project reminds me of something I read about Douglas Trumball, when he was working on TMP, I recall he originally wanted a super-large scale model of the refit, around this size you're planning, so that viewers could get a real idea of the scale of the ship. The idea was obviously nixed in favor of what was eventually built, but this definitely feels like it's in the same spirit. Good luck!
 
to blssdwlf
thanks for the permission to use your idea :)

to 137th Gebirg, thanks, got those and it's great reference material. Also using some of Jackill's work and a few other sources. Will try to contact Mr Trumbull.

it's funny cause for all other ships you can find info regarding everything... but Enterprise A seems to have very little available while being the most recognized sci-fi vessel. kind of strange no? hehehe

so if anyone out there has any image or technical reference on the skeleton of the ship, ideas, perhaps even concepts on how it should be made. please let me know :)

today i'll be setting the secondary hull aside and start working on a nacelle. pictures coming soon.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Shaw
Series Enterprise (rebuild)
Replies
18
Views
2K
Shaw
Shaw
Shaw
Pilot Enterprise (rebuild)
2
Replies
31
Views
4K
Tallguy
Tallguy
Z
UE5 fangame: Walk around the fully-modelled Enterprise A interior
Replies
4
Views
986
zzz
Z
SuricataFX
USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-G MSD
Replies
16
Views
3K
shipfisher
S
M
AMT Models SCALE actually 1/528 not 1/537
Replies
6
Views
963
publiusr
P
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top