Donny's Refit Enterprise Interiors (Version 2.0)

[Donny]

So, I've run into another slight snag. The turboshaft exterior, as constructed for the live action plate and then augmented by a paint-over in the matte, is approximately 8 feet in diameter, which is far narrower than it would actually have to be to place a turbocar inside. The turbocar interior set itself 8 feet in diameter, and since the turbocar and the turboshaft would both have to have some thickness to them AND support a set of doors built into both the shaft and car to work realistically, the shaft would need to be about nine and a half feet in diameter. This means I'll have to widen the gap between the support struts that the shaft runs between and the walls between those struts as well. This isn't too big of a deal, but it will result in the turboshafts looking wider than they appeared in the matte paintings.

The other option would be to model the turboshafts as narrow as they are in the matte, but then this would mean the player wouldn't be able to access the turbolift since there's no way I could make the turbocar fit inside without significantly scaling it down. So I'd then make those doors simply not function.

Given that I'd really like to be able to realistically access the turbolifts and use them to travel to other parts of the map, I think the wider turboshaft is the better solution.

 

[137th Gebirg]

Couldn’t those be maybe smaller single-person lifts, like an enclosed version of what we saw in TWOK engineering during the “later” inspection scene? That way, you could keep the narrower screen accurate outer shaft housings.

 

[Donny]

Couldn’t those be maybe smaller single-person lifts, like an enclosed version of what we saw in TWOK engineering during the “later” inspection scene? That way, you could keep the narrower screen accurate outer shaft housings.

But we see Kirk get into one and it's the full sized lift that makes it all the way to the bridge. Those shafts are most definitely intended to be part of the ship-wide turboshaft network.

 

[Donny]

Here's the bay with the wider shafts:

 

[Maurice]

^Looks like it's the same font.

TMP cargo bay: http://movies.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/tmp2/tmphd0391.jpg
TNG Shuttlebay 3 in "The Child": http://tng.trekcore.com/hd/albums/2x01/thechild_hd_013.jpg

Not the same. EDIT: I was referring to the E-1 and E-2 markings.

 

[cardinal biggles]

Which fonts did they use? They look remarkably similar (at first glance, anyway).

 

[Lt. Washburn]

Not the same.

What do you see different?

 

[137th Gebirg]

Which fonts did they use? They look remarkably similar (at first glance, anyway).

Wide Eurostyle, aka Microgramma.

 

[Donny]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure they're the same too. Perspective makes things weird, but those definitley both look like Eurostile Bold Extended to me.

 

[Maurice]

Oh, you mean on the lower floor, not the elevators for the shuttles. I thought you were referring to the E-1 and E-2.

 

[Maurice]

But we see Kirk get into one and it's the full sized lift that makes it all the way to the bridge. Those shafts are most definitely intended to be part of the ship-wide turboshaft network.

How big are the tubes in the Rec Deck?

 

[cardinal biggles]

Oh, you mean on the lower floor, not the elevators for the shuttles. I thought you were referring to the E-1 and E-2.

Yeah, I think Lt. Washburn and I were both referring to the numbers on the actual cargo bay floor, not the shuttle elevators.

 

[Donny]

How big are the tubes in the Rec Deck?

It appears as if the tubes used on the cargo bay set and rec deck are the same dimensions, possibly the exact same set pieces just borrowed from the other set. I haven't done a complete study of the Rec Deck yet, but they appear to also be 8 feet in diameter.

 

[Maurice]

It appears as if the tubes used on the cargo bay set and rec deck are the same dimensions, possibly the exact same set pieces just borrowed from the other set. I haven't done a complete study of the Rec Deck yet, but they appear to also be 8 feet in diameter.

The doors are really the only tricky bits, because there's no reason the tubes and the lift walls need to be more than 1mm thick if they're made of some exotic material.

And looking at the painting, that's not much thickness for the lift door edges.

I mean, since there's no place for the doors to even go, can we assume they just roll-up like a window blind?

 

[captainkirk]

If a piece of transparent aluminum that holds back 400 tons can be only 1 inch thick then surely a piece of metal that doesn't have to support much structure can be thinner?

 

[Donny]

I mean, since there's no place for the doors to even go, can we assume they just roll-up like a window blind?

Back when I modeled the turbolift for the corridors, I thought ahead to this very moment and modeled the inner doors of the turbolift to be curved, and have them receed at an arc into the walls of the turbolift itself, rather than straight like they were in the film. I'm going to do the same with the turboshaft outer doors.

Remember, for a turbolift to actually work there has to be two sets of doors, unlike in the film. An inner set that travels with the turbolift, and an outer set that stays at each deck in the shaft. For the exposed shaft tube, the outer doors will be curved and travel in an arc as well. For when a turbolift opens into a flat wall such as a corridor, the outer doors are flat and open horizontally.

 

[Maurice]

Back when I modeled the turbolift for the corridors, I thought ahead to this very moment and modeled the inner doors of the turbolift to be curved, and have them receed at an arc into the walls of the turbolift itself, rather than straight like they were in the film. I'm going to do the same with the turboshaft outer doors.

Remember, for a turbolift to actually work there has to be two sets of doors, unlike in the film. An inner set that travels with the turbolift, and an outer set that stays at each deck in the shaft. For the exposed shaft tube, the outer doors will be curved and travel in an arc as well. For when a turbolift opens into a flat wall such as a corridor, the outer doors are flat and open horizontally.

Oh I know. I always thought it odd they forgot the double door details with the lifts after TOS.

 

[Donny]

Oh I know. I always thought it odd they forgot the double door details with the lifts after TOS.

My point is that adding a second set of doors adds to the thickness of the turbo shaft. FYI, I’ve modeled the doors to be 2 cm thick, with 2cm lips on either side. The turbo lift interior also has the additional space beyond the 8 foot diameter for the door alcove itself, all of this explaining why the turboshaft has to be a bit larger than the 8 feet we see on screen

 

[Maurice]

Were the doors that thick in TMP? I always got the impression they were quite thin.

 

[Workbee]

This might be another area to diverge from absolute screen accuracy. Sets usually arent made from the materials they are meant to appear to be made from. The doors in the TMP - TNG sets were no exception. They are made from wood, not steel, titanium or even transparent aluminum... that’s not actually transparent...so I guess just aluminum. The thickness that we are able to discern onscreen was needed to provide the wood sufficient rigidity. The “real” Enterprise isn’t made out of wood, so I think it is fine to shrink the thickness however much is needed. I don’t think there was any shot where they were “trying” to convey a thickness. Most shots of the various doors were head on so thriftiness wasn’t apparent.