Donny's TOS Enterprise Interiors

[feek61]

I use a high-res photo of the restored filming model as one of my desktop backgrounds. One thing that fascinates me is the irregularities in the three seams carved into the primary hull's underside ... especially the middle seam. Will you attempt to model these?

EDIT TO ADD:
You can see the wiggles in those seams in this image -- just off the forward centerline.

That's where Apollo's thumb was!!!

 

[Tallguy]

Great. Not only is Donny the master of Trek interiors, now he's building the OUTSIDES as well. *Sigh*

 

[Donny]

Great. Not only is Donny the master of Trek interiors, now he's building the OUTSIDES as well. *Sigh*

I should point out, in the last year or so I've made two ship models for Star Trek: Online, so this isn't exactly new for me

 

[Tallguy]

Bloody hell, Donny. You got to make the Reliant? I don't know how the pecking order works, but isn't that kind of prestigious? And it's pretty!

 

[Donny]

Bloody hell, Donny. You got to make the Reliant? I don't know how the pecking order works, but isn't that kind of prestigious? And it's pretty!

It was a re-do of our previous in-game model. Although I'm an environment artist here on STO, they sometimes recruit me to help out with the ship team. They wanted to give me something I was familiar with for my first ship, and being the Wrath of Khan fan that I am, the Reliant/Miranda was a perfect choice. I got lucky. Its the first ship new players see when they start a Federation character

However, the methods used to texture a ship for STO and a ship for my purposes with the Unreal engine are going to be quite different. I'm going to have to do some tests to see the work out the best methods for producing a prop that is far different from my usual interior stuff.

 

[Donny]

The grids were only on the saucer section; there were no grid lines on the secondary hull

That is what I thought! Thanks! That over-the-top-with-the-weathering '92 "restoration" really has junked up common belief of what the ship actually looked like. Glad they've brought it back as close as possible to it's original, under-stated glory.

Here's a good resource:

https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/model-starship-enterprise-television-show-star-trek

Oh, man. Thanks for this. There are some great high-res photos there of the fully restored model that are going to be very useful.

I use a high-res photo of the restored filming model as one of my desktop backgrounds. One thing that fascinates me is the irregularities in the three seams carved into the primary hull's underside ... especially the middle seam. Will you attempt to model these?

EDIT TO ADD:
You can see the wiggles in those seams in this image -- just off the forward centerline.

I will endeavor to be as faithful to the original filming model as possible, except I'm actually going to detail the port side, of course

 

[Mytran]

I use a high-res photo of the restored filming model as one of my desktop backgrounds. One thing that fascinates me is the irregularities in the three seams carved into the primary hull's underside ... especially the middle seam. Will you attempt to model these?

EDIT TO ADD:
You can see the wiggles in those seams in this image -- just off the forward centerline.

Hot dog, those are some major wiggles!
I've looked at tons of pictures of the model over the years but never spotted that

 

[Psion]

Hot dog, those are some major wiggles!
I've looked at tons of pictures of the model over the years but never spotted that

They really do look bad in the angle that I use ... once you see them, your eye repeatedly gets drawn to them. Growing up in the '70s, I remember the Enterprise looking a little like this. Where the TV's low-res, analog image blurred out most of the details, and the ship looked huge because you kinda believed it was. There was no way you'd ever see imperfections that subtle.

But I like the jokingly-suggested explanation that feek61 provided: that it was Apollo's thumb print. There's no reason the Enterprise shouldn't have hull imperfections. Take a look at these photos of the U.S.S. Wisconsin, a battleship moored in Norfolk, Virginia. Look at the irregularity of the hull plates (though not the framing). Sometimes irregularities lead to more realism, although not necessarily in this case. Obviously, those wiggles, and the ones you can also see around the edge of the primary hull, are the result of slight imperfections in the model makers' technique. But a real Starship Enterprise should have imperfections that are the result of wear and combat.

 

[DanGovier]

I should point out, in the last year or so I've made two ship models for Star Trek: Online, so this isn't exactly new for me

That Miranda is a thing of beauty. I was using the original in STO for a long time because I love the shape so much.
Are you given a lot of freedom when designing ships, or are you limited to a strict design spec?

 

[DanGovier]

So I started on something new tonight....

Please tell me you're going to put your existing rooms in that, and then do every deck.

 

[Donny]

Please tell me you're going to put your existing rooms in that, and then do every deck.

Ooof. I dunno about that. I will, however, hook up the eventually constructed hangar deck to the exterior, but it has never been my intention to create “every room and every deck”. I’m gonna keep the scope limited to my generous selection of rooms I have planned and then just sell the illusion that you’re within the exterior by using game design magic ;-)

 

[FormerLurker]

A neat way to do that would be to situate the rooms that you do make in their appropriate locations, and then fudge any connecting corridors so they don't find themselves walking around in space. Any room you don't make would be locked, with a notification that they don't have permission for access. Most visitors would only want to visit familiar locations anyway.

 

[Psion]

A neat way to do that would be to situate the rooms that you do make in their appropriate locations, and then fudge any connecting corridors so they don't find themselves walking around in space. Any room you don't make would be locked, with a notification that they don't have permission for access. Most visitors would only want to visit familiar locations anyway.

Oh great. Then old adventure players like me will be hunting all over the damned ship looking for the keys!

 

[Donny]

Tonight's progress. It's taking longer than I thought it would, but I find myself being ever so careful to get shapes and curvature just right. The Enterprise is so iconic, I'm falling so much more in love with it while studying and buildings and I want to get it right. I'm actually impressed at how complex the shapes are. For those that are interested, I'm using the Charles Casimiro Schematics as my main reference images as I flesh out the shapes, constantly checking things against photographic reference and other resources I'm finding reliable like Alan Sinclair's Schematics, and studies done by Shaw.

These are just blocked out high-poly shapes so far, nailing down the silhouette. Details...many many details...to follow

 

[Tallguy]

Not that I'm surprised (this is not your first rodeo) but you got the shape where the three box structures around the deflector merge into the secondary hull right. In a more refined model that is a smoother blend rather than a sharp line, but I suspect you haven't gotten that far or you won't be managing that with geometry.

Great looking ship. I used the Sinclair plans myself. When I build it again I may use Casimiro just to mix things up. I think I have a good eye for detail but I've never been one of those people who can spot what plans you used by the curve of the lower saucer or some such.

 

[Donny]

Not that I'm surprised (this is not your first rodeo) but you got the shape where the three box structures around the deflector merge into the secondary hull right. In a more refined model that is a smoother blend rather than a sharp line, but I suspect you haven't gotten that far or you won't be managing that with geometry.

Yes, I spent considerable time trying to smooth out where those "three box structures" blend into the secondary hull, and I need to spend some more time on that when I get around to detailing the hull, as the line is currently far too sharp. Again, I'm so impressed (and a little intimidated, tbh) by the complexity of these shapes and it's testing and pushing my modeling capabilities. I'm trying my best to maintain clean topology and actually modeling things as one piece where they were indeed one piece on the original model.

Great looking ship. I used the Sinclair plans myself. When I build it again I may use Casimiro just to mix things up. I think I have a good eye for detail but I've never been one of those people who can spot what plans you used by the curve of the lower saucer or some such.

@Tallguy, where can I view your model? I'd love to see your work.

 

[Tallguy]

I'm not sure where it's online these days. But I can send you a copy of the Blender file when I get home. It's... Old.

 

[Firebird]

I might suggest using some of David Shaw's studies of the filming model and the original 1964 blueprints. They're invaluable resources.
1964 Plans Reconstruction:
http://shawcomputing.net/racerx/trek_stuff/plans/jefferies_1964_sh1-preview.jpg
http://shawcomputing.net/racerx/trek_stuff/plans/jefferies_1964_sh2-preview.jpg

Filming Model Studies:
http://shawcomputing.net/racerx/trek_stuff/plans/1701-11_structure_01.jpg
http://shawcomputing.net/racerx/trek_stuff/plans/1701-11_structure_02.jpg
http://shawcomputing.net/racerx/trek_stuff/plans/1701-11_structure_03.jpg

 

[aridas sofia]

Yes, even ten years ago when I did my cross section, I could see upon close inspection and comparison with the model itself, that both Sinclair and Casimiro were a little off here and there. (IIRC there were subtle differences centered around the dorsal and impulse areas) Of course these days it is Gary Kerr who had access to the model in the flesh, so whatever drawings of his you can find are the current standard. Though David’s are as good as they get for anyone working from the flat images.

 

[cardinal biggles]

The first two links, about the 1964 model, were interesting. I wasn't aware that they'd changed art directors while working on "The Cage", and that the Enterprise had been scaled up to address the change in how the bridge was going to be designed. With that scaling up in mind, I wonder if that's the source of Pike's line implying the ship has a crew of ~200, whereas by the time they went to series it's a crew of 430.