CATSPAW prop now at NASM

[spockboy]

A guy named Alec Peters posted this in Facebook.

(Click picture to embiggen)



This Starship Enterprise miniature model in a clear plastic block was a prop used in the original Star Trek television series, which aired from 1966-1969. This model appeared in episode #30, titled "Catspaw" (director, Joseph Pevney), which first aired on October 27, 1967, during the show's second season. The episode had a Halloween theme in which the U.S.S. Enterprise encountered witches, black cats, and haunted castles on planet Pyris VII. As part of the story, the head witch dangled a Starship Enterprise charm over a flame and threatened Captain Kirk to do her bidding while the crew of the ship became anxious about the sudden rise in temperature aboard the real ship. When the miniature Enterprise is then encased in crystal (the clear plastic block), the real ship finds itself surrounded by a force field.
In 1973, Star Trek designer Walter "Matt" Jeffries donated this miniature to the Museum, along with a production model of a Klingon battle cruiser.
Gift of Walter M. Jeffries

Spockboy

 

[ZapBrannigan]

I can't see the Facebook post due to the firewall here at work, but a photo of the miniature in lucite was published in the Star Trek Giant Poster Book number 10, June 1977.

 

[feek61]

I'm a little confused by the title of your thread. This piece has been at the NASM for over 40 years and was displayed back in the 90's. It has also been featured on the NASM website for years. I guess "now" it is there as you say but the title makes it seem as if it is a recent addition; not part of the collection for years.

 

[spockboy]

I'm a little confused by the title of your thread. This piece has been at the NASM for over 40 years and was displayed back in the 90's. It has also been featured on the NASM website for years. I guess "now" it is there as you say but the title makes it seem as if it is a recent addition; not part of the collection for years.

LOL!
Well I guess the article I read made it sound as if it were a recent event and therefore, news to me. Perhaps it will be displayed again as it was in the 90's?

Sorry about that chief.

Spockboy

 

[GSchnitzer]

I'm a little confused by the title of your thread. This piece has been at the NASM for over 40 years and was displayed back in the 90's. It has also been featured on the NASM website for years. I guess "now" it is there as you say but the title makes it seem as if it is a recent addition; not part of the collection for years.

LOL!
Well I guess the article I read made it sound as if it were a recent event and therefore, news to me. Perhaps it will be displayed again as it was in the 90's?

Sorry about that chief.

Spockboy

Did Alec Peters really misspell Matt Jefferies as "Jeffries?"

(Only a little embarrassing.)

 

[uniderth]

Thank you for that image. I'm making the 3D model of this and I can already see some errors.

 

[Shaw]

I did plans of both of these last year...

Click to enlarge


Click to enlarge​

And yes, the two are different from each other...

 

[ZapBrannigan]

Thanks for the design work, Shaw! Quite a while back, I recall seeing an excellent fan-made replica on the Net. Was that yours?

Incidentally, the one that was not encased in Lucite was used briefly to portray the actual Enterprise in "The Doomsday Machine." Last I heard, its whereabouts were not publicly known.

 

[Melakon]

A guy named Alec Peters

I think I've heard of him. Pretty sure I saw the lucite Enterprise and Klingon miniature at Air & Space Museum in the 80s.

 

[Shaw]

Thanks for the design work, Shaw! Quite a while back, I recall seeing an excellent fan-made replica on the Net. Was that yours?

No, those were from about five or six years ago and were some very nicely milled aluminum replicas. Unfortunately their proportions were slightly off.

For my plans I used a scan of Jefferies original drawings to get the base measurements and then use photos of the models (including HD screen caps from both Catspaw and Doomsday Machine) to flesh out the details. This is all part of the same project to document all the models that represented the Enterprise in the original series (the same reason I've been working on plans of the 1966 AMT Enterprise model kit).

I did rough together a quick-n-dirty study model modified from a 1/2500 scale kit (so about 30% bigger than the original models) for the fun of it (here)... but it sadly got squished.

Incidentally, the one that was not encased in Lucite was used briefly to portray the actual Enterprise in "The Doomsday Machine." Last I heard, its whereabouts were not publicly known.

I recall seeing a photo of it from the 70's (maybe early 80's), but haven't heard of it since then. Hopefully it is still in one piece.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

I built two of those AMT Enterprise kits as a kid. Documenting its exact configuration is a terrific idea!

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

I did rough together a quick-n-dirty study model modified from a 1/2500 scale kit (so about 30% bigger than the original models) for the fun of it (here)... but it sadly got squished.

Very nice work, Shaw.

I wonder if any company would take the leap to produce the "Catspaw" 1701 in time for the 50th anniversary?

 

[uniderth]

Yes Shaw I had found your plans when I started the project. They are great. But looking at the image in the OP I noticed the the rear ends of the nacelles don't seem to match your plans. Maybe it's an optical illusion. But it looks like they are formed from a cut out of a rounded end. Like this:

 

[Shaw]

Yes Shaw I had found your plans when I started the project. They are great. But looking at the image in the OP I noticed the the rear ends of the nacelles don't seem to match your plans. Maybe it's an optical illusion. But it looks like they are formed from a cut out of a rounded end. Like this:

That looks like a better representation than mine.

 

[publiusr]

I detect two grooves. One at the very tip (just behind) and the one you depicted farther up the nacelle's front.