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Andy Probert releases prelim plans for USS Ambassador kit!

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Re: Andy Probert releases prelim plans for USS Ambassador ki

True. In fairness though, I don't mind a small amount of technobabble that uses futuristic terms like isogenic, provided it doesn't get used too often.

sunshine1.gif
 
Re: Andy Probert releases prelim plans for USS Ambassador ki

Cary L. Brown said:
Yep...

On-screen science talk should (1) be present because it MATTERS, and (2) should be consistent with real science.

The points made above are really spot-on. It's best to AVOID talking science in fiction, unless the fiction requires it... this is something that Roddenberry originally "got" but which got left behind later on. The idea was, in TOS, they'd never really explain what a phaser was. All the audience needed to know was what it DID. Nobody cared about "rapid nadion traces." They just cared that you'd point it, shoot it, and stun the bad guy.

I seem to recall a Roddenberry memo from "The Making of Star Trek" which pointed out how ludicrous it would have felt if, in a John Ford western, the hero were to stop and explain how his Colt pistol worked.

True enough, and on the show, we who helped in the tech area knew that six-shooter lesson very well. However, if a mysterious energy blast had to be analyzed to discover, for instance, who fired and with what weapon, we had to have at least some of the science worked out so that it didn't end up sounding stupid and only half-heartedly invented. There's more than enough crappy science in media SF out there; I didn't want to contribute to the steaming pile. :D

Rick
www.spacemodelsystems.com
 
Re: Andy Probert releases prelim plans for USS Ambassador ki

Wait, wait -- the isogenic emitters are where on the Ambassador? :confused:




;)
 
Re: Andy Probert releases prelim plans for USS Ambassador ki

The God Thing said:
http://www.probertdesigns.com/Folder_STORE/Folder_CONCEPT-KITS/Ambassador_Kit.html

The image has been updated with close-up views of the bridge superstructure and sensor radome. Just FYI. :)

TGT

I was just about to post about the update! :mad: :)

FYI, if you look at the bridge structure, you can see (through the outer "wall") a teeny tiny, roughed-in 3D bridge which appears to be based on the set as seen in "Yesterday's Enterprise." He even roughed in the turbolift cars and shafts!
 
Re: Andy Probert releases prelim plans for USS Ambassador ki

Rick Sternbach said:
FalTorPan said:
Arpy said:
Was it Probert or Sternbach that said they designed the E-C by superimposing images of the E-B and E-D and connecting the lines? If that's the case, you can see where the thin nacelles and girthy stardrive come from - ditto the thin, squarish nacelle pylons, come to think of it.

I think both designers adopted that approach -- Probert in 1987, and Sternbach in 1989 or 1990.

I didn't. I developed the Ent-C by looking at the Ent-B and Ent-D with my plain old Mk. I eyeballs and sketching. No superimposing of drawings, just melding elements I saw in both ships and adding them to the solid foundation provided by Andy's color sketch. Since the color sketch was nearly edge-on, there wasn't a lot of data to be gleaned about the saucer shape or the exact form of the nacelles, etc. The final blueprint lines had to be created that would work in shapes from the color sketch and allow us to get a miniature built under TV time pressures (circular saucer, circular cross-section eng. hull). IIRC, the producers weren't keen on making a new ship, so I'm happy that we got what we got.

Thanks for the clarification! :)
 
Looks like Probert is showing us the Trek we didn't get in TNG. *Sigh*

I particularly like his original shuttlecraft design and his vertically oriented Warbird.
 
Re: Andy Probert releases prelim plans for USS Ambassador ki

Hmm.. perhaps he can bring this design to the attention of the Star Trek Online team ;)

I love that little bridge schematic!
 
Re: Andy Probert releases prelim plans for USS Ambassador ki

Isn't he on the Star Trek Online team?
 
Re: Andy Probert releases prelim plans for USS Ambassador ki

^^^ I think I remember him saying that they initially contacted him but then never heard back. This was a while ago. Maybe it was for Legacy. Can't remember...
 
Re: Andy Probert releases prelim plans for USS Ambassador ki

Wait, wasn't there an Enterprise-C as part of the ship display in the observation lounge? I know it couldn't have been based on the ENt-C from "Yesterday's Ent" (as it predates it by several years), so was it based on Probert's design? OR something else altogether?
 
Re: Andy Probert releases prelim plans for USS Ambassador ki

Rick Sternbach said:
I didn't. I developed the Ent-C by looking at the Ent-B and Ent-D with my plain old Mk. I eyeballs and sketching. No superimposing of drawings, just melding elements I saw in both ships and adding them to the solid foundation provided by Andy's color sketch. Since the color sketch was nearly edge-on, there wasn't a lot of data to be gleaned about the saucer shape or the exact form of the nacelles, etc. The final blueprint lines had to be created that would work in shapes from the color sketch and allow us to get a miniature built under TV time pressures (circular saucer, circular cross-section eng. hull). IIRC, the producers weren't keen on making a new ship, so I'm happy that we got what we got.

As am I. The Ambassador class that was shown on screen has, imho, very little to apologise for.
 
Re: Andy Probert releases prelim plans for USS Ambassador ki

137th Gebirg said:^^^ I think I remember him saying that they initially contacted him but then never heard back. This was a while ago. Maybe it was for Legacy. Can't remember...
Andy Probert has been doing a LOT of design work for ST-OL. I don't know if that's ongoing (I mean, it's possible that his involvement could have ended, even ended badly). But I know that the site for ST-OL showed a large number of interior setpieces worked out by Andy that expanded upon what was present and/or possible on a TV show budget. Large portions of the sickbay/biosciences deck were illustrated in extravagant detail on the ST-OL site a while back (don't see those anymore, oddly). All the sketchwork was Probert-created.

On the other hand, I recall Rick mentioning at some point (correct me if I'm mistaken, Rick!) that he was approached and... um... was underwhelmed by the professionalism of the ST-OL team?

As for where things stand today... I'm skeptical. Then again, it wont' really impact me one way or another, since I have far too much going on in my real life to be able to live online. MMORPGs are just too much of a demand on my time for them to be REMOTELY worthwhile to me, personally.

It might be fun to go walk around in a "semi-real" Trek universe... but only for a visit or tour, not to "create a life." So I doubt I'll be playing.
 
Re: Andy Probert releases prelim plans for USS Ambassador ki

Mike Have-Not said:
Wait, wasn't there an Enterprise-C as part of the ship display in the observation lounge? I know it couldn't have been based on the ENt-C from "Yesterday's Ent" (as it predates it by several years), so was it based on Probert's design? OR something else altogether?

Cut-n-paste: http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/gallery/unknown/shipwall.jpg
 
Re: Andy Probert releases prelim plans for USS Ambassador ki

Zero Hour said:
The Ambassador class that was shown on screen has, imho, very little to apologise for.

Although I prefer Probert's take on the design, I like Sternbach's version a great deal, too. As I said in one of my earliest posts in this thread, comparing the two designs is somewhat unfair, because Rick's design was very much constrained by the practicalities of constructing a ship of the week. Andy's design was/is not.
 
Re: Andy Probert releases prelim plans for USS Ambassador ki

FalTorPan said:
Zero Hour said:
The Ambassador class that was shown on screen has, imho, very little to apologise for.

Although I prefer Probert's take on the design, I like Sternbach's version a great deal, too. As I said in one of my earliest posts in this thread, comparing the two designs is somewhat unfair, because Rick's design was very much constrained by the practicalities of constructing a ship of the week. Andy's design was/is not.

Indeed, though I think I might prefer Rick's Ambassador, it really isn't fair or right to compare them.
 
Re: Andy Probert releases prelim plans for USS Ambassador ki

SonicRanger said:
Mike Have-Not said:
Wait, wasn't there an Enterprise-C as part of the ship display in the observation lounge? I know it couldn't have been based on the ENt-C from "Yesterday's Ent" (as it predates it by several years), so was it based on Probert's design? OR something else altogether?

Cut-n-paste: http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/gallery/unknown/shipwall.jpg

So, I guess it looks like the "something else altogether" option, then?
 
Re: Andy Probert releases prelim plans for USS Ambassador ki

My understanding of the "Ambassador Chronology" is this:

* TNG Pre-Production (probably 1987) - Probert creates the color rendering of a new ship design. The intent is to use this painting to depict a ship without requiring the construction of a new filming miniature, or recycling a pre-existing miniature to depict an 80-or-so-year-old starship. The painting is never used.

* Several weeks later - Probert has an opportunity to design the Enterprise-C, since it will appear as a half-model in the "observation lounge" set. The Ambassador painting is a starting point for what becomes a hard-line profile sketch.

* Right here, right now - Probert is creating a full 3D realization of his concept of the Ambassador-class Enterprise-C. Although both the profile sketch and color painting are primary references, the profile sketch is considered the more authoritative reference.

(I've gleaned this information from email conversations with Probert. It's possible that I've misstated something, though.)
 
Re: Andy Probert releases prelim plans for USS Ambassador ki

I'd like him to fix up the bridge design. Not the basic layout, just bring it inline with the ideas he had for pre-TNG Starfleet in Season 1.

I just want the carpet to match the spinners and the chrome, if you get me. ;)

EDIT: It looks as if he already has. Like I would've expected less. :P
 
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