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Good news for the Enterprise!

I don't know much about restoration work, to be honest, but it looks like they're taking care of our baby.
 
I doubt any of them like what was done to it and I imagine many of them will be pushing to remove the 'new' paintwork and try better to replicate the original studio look of the model.

In that regard, I'd like them to do something where they can show how it was filmed and mounted. Make a new model and rig it for filming just as it was rigged 50 years ago. Make it so people can create their own model shots and learn how difficult it was to film this beast, so as to appreciate what talent it took to work with real models rather than CGI.
 
In that regard, I'd like them to do something where they can show how it was filmed and mounted. Make a new model and rig it for filming just as it was rigged 50 years ago. Make it so people can create their own model shots and learn how difficult it was to film this beast, so as to appreciate what talent it took to work with real models rather than CGI.

That would be very interesting! Why not have each participating visitor get his FX sequence saved (and Smithsonian watermarked) on a disc or flash drive as their souvenir?
 
Doug has also worked on a number of restoration projects of his own, including a recent restoration of Uncle Martin's ship from My Favorite Martian.

The miniature or the full size version?

Steve Neil has videos on his blog of him restoring Doug's full-size "My Favorite Martian" ship. But I don't think it's the original. They both said that it was a background prop from one of the "Men in Black" movies. it's hard to believe that someone can actually fit in that thing.
 
I am very much looking forward to having the project finished & having the model on display again in NASM. I'll make a trip to DC to see it when it is.
 
Dang, the pictures in that article are too huge. I ended up copying the text and pasting it in a Word document just so I could read it comfortably. They should fix it with enlargeable thumbnails.
 
Crosspost from the other restoration thread:
Update from TrekCore:

Smithsonian Update: The Experts Have Arrived!
jUuvo4y.jpg


Greg Kerr sez:
Our thinking is to restore the model to its filming appearance, with only the markings on the left nacelle, which were on the filming model, remaining. We don't want to open up all the holes and add fake wiring, but will have period photos of the model on the monitor.

The model will be in a big glass case that's temperature & humidity-controlled to preserve the model. How would you feel about a two-sided approach, with the case oriented so the "pretty" side is arranged to provide better visibility and "Kodak moments" for visitors?

The "pretty" side would describe the theoretical spaceship, while the descriptions on the other side would describe the filming model.
http://trekcore.com/blog/2015/05/smithsonian-update-the-experts-have-arrived/

Sounds like the perfect plan to me.
 
I'd love a full 3d model approach.

But what I'd really like is a full sized building in every detail.

But that would cost a few million dollars.

Still, if i had the money to burn, i'd build one. But for me it would be the refit/A.
 
That's Gary Kerr, by the way, not Greg.

Nice to see they're settling on a plan for the restoration. It's pretty much what most of us expected, an attempt to restore it as closely as possible to its filming appearance, though Rick Sternbach makes a good point about the uncertainty of where to "freeze" it, given that its appearance changed over the course of the series. (I suppose I'd favor whichever came last.) And there are interesting ideas about how to display it.

Are those LEDs inside the nacelle cap instead of the original bulbs? The reflector-fan thing in the middle is intriguing.
 
I seem to recall reading on the old IDIC page back when that when the Smithsonian received the model initially, the lighting effect behind the nacelle caps was no longer present. IIRC, the lights behind the nacelle caps now are what Greg Jein came up with to simulate the original effect.
 
^Yeah, I figured that. My question was meant more literally -- are those LEDs? I think they're LEDs, but I'm not entirely sure. But I imagine they'd be much safer to use in a wood-and-plastic model than incandescent bulbs, and much more long-lasting. (I'm pretty sure it's impossible for an LED to burn out. Or is it just uncommon? I used to know this, but I've forgotten.)
 
Sounds like they're taking the right approach. Once they're done and she's on display, I may have to trek down to DC (wink, nudge) and see the old girl for the first time.
 
It would definitely be the first time for me. I haven't been to DC in ages and don't recall if I saw it or not.
 
I've been to DC a couple of times years ago, but didn't make it to the A&SM. (Took the White House tour while Clinton was in China.) Sounds like it will have been worth holding out on.
 
Dang, the pictures in that article are too huge. I ended up copying the text and pasting it in a Word document just so I could read it comfortably. They should fix it with enlargeable thumbnails.

The article and photos display perfectly fine on my browsers. The pix only get huge when I click on them.
 
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