I have a recollection seeing those retracting into the wall. Can’t remember the exact context or when it happened. Pretty sure they do move, but on their own.
Donny's Refit Enterprise Interiors (Version 2.0)
- Thread starter Donny
- Start date
We actually see them move, don't we? Or is this going to be one of those things that just got into my head ~40 years ago and has no basis in reality?
No, it really happened. The rod in the bottom right corner of the panel on the left-hand side pulls in. The movement of the rods may or may not have been physically tied on-set to Nimoy moving those levers on the control panel (which I never noticed in all these years until seeing Donny's latest renders! 
). The next time we see them (right before Spock lifts the lid off the pedestal), all the rods are retracted.
(Start at 3:33)
). The next time we see them (right before Spock lifts the lid off the pedestal), all the rods are retracted.(Start at 3:33)
No, it really happened. The rod in the bottom right corner of the panel on the left-hand side pulls in. The movement of the rods may or may not have been physically tied on-set to Nimoy moving those levers on the control panel (which I never noticed in all these years until seeing Donny's latest renders!
And in the shot before that last one you mention, you can see the reflection of the rods retracting in the glass wall that Scott and McCoy are banging on.
And yes, it's definitely Spock moving the levers that retracts the rods. That's a weird sort of interpretation of what was in the script, which was written as though the engine was a nuclear fission reactor and talked about Spock struggling to pull out the control rods that were damping the reaction so that the reactor would come back on line. But those rods were supposed to be inside the "radiation container" and were the thing he was exposing himself to a lethal dose in order to withdraw. This not only moves them outside the container and changes them to a preliminary step, but has Spock making them go in rather than out. Which further confuses the issue of just how the hell any of this is supposed to work.
I suspect that scene was a victim of "this is what we'd like to show" vs. "this is what we can afford to build." We're probably lucky the rods moved at all. 
I suspect that scene was a victim of "this is what we'd like to show" vs. "this is what we can afford to build." We're probably lucky the rods moved at all.
But writing the script as if a warp reactor were a nuclear fission plant was ridiculous, so a more faithful interpretation wouldn't have fixed the underlying problem. But yeah, having such a supposedly critical part of the engine be this little room off the side, not even connected in any perceptible way to the actual warp reactor right there in the middle of the set, only compounded the ridiculousness.
In that scene above, just what does Scotty shout at 4min14secs?
McCoy says "Good God man, get out of there", and the Scotty says "No, Spock..(SOMETHING)" and it sounds a lot like bastard, which I sure it isn't, and my ears are playing tricks on me, but I just can't make it out!
McCoy says "Good God man, get out of there", and the Scotty says "No, Spock..(SOMETHING)" and it sounds a lot like bastard, which I sure it isn't, and my ears are playing tricks on me, but I just can't make it out!
Just sounds like "No, Spock, don't!" to me. His scripted line there is "No! God, don't, Spock!"
It does indeed sound like "No, Spock, don't!" What's interesting is that they're yelling at him to get out, until he goes for the pedestal. Then Scotty yells "No, Spock, don't!" as he pulls off the lid. After that, they stop yelling, as if they know it won't do any good anymore.
I'd never given it much thought but... that's pretty dark.
That's actually fairly accurate to the film set, where you can see the column wobbling back and forth as Spock works with it
You're assuming most people care. We're more focused on the drama of the scene than whether this is a plausible way to power the engines of a starship. I'm sorry that this takes you out of what is still the best Star Trek movie committed to film; you have my deepest sympathies.
You're assuming most people care. We're more focused on the drama of the scene than whether this is a plausible way to power the engines of a starship. I'm sorry that this takes you out of what is still the best Star Trek movie committed to film; you have my deepest sympathies.
You're assuming I'm talking about the immediate experience of watching the film, which is a bizarre assumption to make when we're posting in a thread about the meticulous recreation of sets from a film that most of us saw decades ago and have subsequently had the luxury to think about in greater detail over a long period of time. This conversation is not about watching the film for the first time, it's about analyzing the hell out of it afterward, which is just as legitimate a part of the fan experience, particularly for those of us who follow threads like this one. There are some things in Star Trek that hold up well to that kind of in-depth analysis, but this set is very much not one of them.
Well, I've finished up the Dilithium Reactor Room tonight, complete with the central pedestal with crystals inside the smoked-glass dome there (you can see what looks like crystals inside the dome here). I also rigged a "Radiation" mode, which extends the control rods from their consoles and blink, alternates the blue/white lights underneath the floor grating, turns on the blue lights in the recesses on the side walls, and flashes the "Radiation" indicator above the foyer. Also included is a working revolving door, activated by interacting with the panels there besides the door, with a 3 second delay to give you enough time to step into place.
Here you can see the difference between "Normal" mode and "Radiation" mode:
Next up: those TWOK-specific consoles that littered the room, which were rented from Modern Props!
Here you can see the difference between "Normal" mode and "Radiation" mode:
Next up: those TWOK-specific consoles that littered the room, which were rented from Modern Props!
Last edited:
Very nice.
Pretty sure I shared this on the board previously, but here's a photo of propmaker Richard A. Coyle with the partially dis/assembled cap on that pipe.
As I recall its contents were just some silver things that spun from the air being blown up from below, like pinwheels.
You can see some nice set details there as well. Not sure if this was taken as they were taking the room apart to use elements in ST4, but some screenshot comparison ought to clear that up. For instance, are those inserts really painted/textured like that in TWOK?
BTW, I'm sure you've scoured his RACprops site before, but you can do a site: search and see every photo on it, as thus (link).
Pretty sure I shared this on the board previously, but here's a photo of propmaker Richard A. Coyle with the partially dis/assembled cap on that pipe.
As I recall its contents were just some silver things that spun from the air being blown up from below, like pinwheels.
You can see some nice set details there as well. Not sure if this was taken as they were taking the room apart to use elements in ST4, but some screenshot comparison ought to clear that up. For instance, are those inserts really painted/textured like that in TWOK?
BTW, I'm sure you've scoured his RACprops site before, but you can do a site: search and see every photo on it, as thus (link).
Ah I’d never seen that pic! And it reveals what some of those text decals really are. I’ll have to correct mine now :-pVery nice.
Pretty sure I shared this on the board previously, but here's a photo of propmaker Richard A. Coyle with the partially dis/assembled cap on that pipe.
As I recall its contents were just some silver things that spun from the air being blown up from below, like pinwheels.
You can see some nice set details there as well. Not sure if this was taken as they were taking the room apart to use elements in ST4, but some screenshot comparison ought to clear that up. For instance, are those inserts really painted/textured like that in TWOK?
BTW, I'm sure you've scoured his RACprops site before, but you can do a site: search and see every photo on it, as thus (link).
And yes, I’ve downloaded most of the pics from his site. Not sure how this one eluded me. Thanks for sharing, @Maurice
That color version does not appear to be on the site and I forgot where I found it. Glad to be of service as ever.
Which I've always thought of as "the Wrath-of-Khansoles." Although the earliest production I can recall seeing them in was The Incredible Hulk.
I sort of miss the manufactured, glowing TOS orange paddle crystals. Natural crystals seem like a technical regression as they evolved during TOS first season, but maybe a natural crystal is more powerful and more efficient than ground up and sintered/recrystallized crystals. Anyway, we still don't know how the power systems and propulsion systems work...actually, I'm even more confused after the TOS movies.
