Matt Jefferies and NCC-1017

[Albertese]

So it would have taken some effort to create the E, L and A. Unless the font at that size was in common decal use in other model kits of the time, perhaps? Thanks for the information!

Timo Saloniemi

ummm...what?

E N T E R P R I S E

C O N S T E L L A T I O N

Whoever did it would also need a C, and two O's, unless you think the decal sheet had the word "Constitution" on it, which it didn't.

Nope, the ship's name would have been generated from whole cloth. I suggest it was made from dry transfer letters purchased from a blue-printer somewhere in L.A. And just the registry number was rearranged kit decals. After all, why buy a second sheet of letters in a different point size when you have perfectly good characters waiting to be easily cut up and rearranged?

--Alex

 

[yenny]

So it would have taken some effort to create the E, L and A. Unless the font at that size was in common decal use in other model kits of the time, perhaps? Thanks for the information!

Timo Saloniemi

ummm...what?

E N T E R P R I S E

C O N S T E L L A T I O N

Whoever did it would also need a C, and two O's, unless you think the decal sheet had the word "Constitution" on it, which it didn't.

Nope, the ship's name would have been generated from whole cloth. I suggest it was made from dry transfer letters purchased from a blue-printer somewhere in L.A. And just the registry number was rearranged kit decals. After all, why buy a second sheet of letters in a different point size when you have perfectly good characters waiting to be easily cut up and rearranged?

--Alex

Nope they didn't. What they did, they painted the extra missing letters in. They didn't bother with the nacelles and below the saucer. The nacelles would be damage in the area of where the registry would had been. Plus they only plan to film her from above, port and aft. They never filmed the model from the starboard side and bottom. Also, I don't think they knew the registry of the Constitution during that time.

 

[Captain Crow]

The C, two O's, and A (using chopped up 1's) could have been from the underside saucer "NCC-1701" decals since they're about the same size font as "U.S.S. ENTERPRISE" and the two L's could have been made from E's from Enterprise.

 

[Dukhat]

The C, two O's, and A (using chopped up 1's) could have been from the underside saucer "NCC-1701" decals since they're about the same size font as "U.S.S. ENTERPRISE" and the two L's could have been made from E's from Enterprise.

The link I posted before shows the decals that originally came with the kit. They could indeed have used the C and the O from the registry, and the A and L could possibly have been made how you describe. Of course, that would mean that multiple kits would had to have been bought to get all the letters, but that's a possibility too.

http://culttvman.com/main/?p=3665

 

[Captain Crow]

The C, two O's, and A (using chopped up 1's) could have been from the underside saucer "NCC-1701" decals since they're about the same size font as "U.S.S. ENTERPRISE" and the two L's could have been made from E's from Enterprise.

The link I posted before shows the decals that originally came with the kit. They could indeed have used the C and the O from the registry, and the A and L could possibly have been made how you describe. Of course, that would mean that multiple kits would had to have been bought to get all the letters, but that's a possibility too.

http://culttvman.com/main/?p=3665

They only would have needed the one decale sheet that came with the kit since the only the markings the ship had were the name and registry on top the saucer.

 

[Dukhat]

They only would have needed the one decale sheet that came with the kit since the only the markings the ship had were the name and registry on top the saucer.

No, the registry was also on the nacelles:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/birdofthegalaxy/3698677075/in/set-72157619514479789/

 

[Knight Templar]

Once again, why do we make a big deal about registry numbers of Starfleet vessels?

Even real life ship numbers for the U.S. Navy can be all over the place for various reasons both practical and political. Why should it be any different for Starfleet?

 

[Captain Crow]

They only would have needed the one decale sheet that came with the kit since the only the markings the ship had were the name and registry on top the saucer.

No, the registry was also on the nacelles:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/birdofthegalaxy/3698677075/in/set-72157619514479789/

Actually yes, they could have done it with just the decal sheet that came with the kit by using the the saucer bottom "NCC-1701" decals which are similar in size to ENTERPRISE.

"C" from NCC
"O" zero from 1701
"N" "S" "T" "E" from ENTERPRISE
"L" "L" modified E's from ENTERPRISE
"A" three 1's from 1701
"T" 1 and top of 7 from 1701
"I" from ENTERPRISE
"O" zero from 1701,
"N" from NCC

 

[Dukhat]

Actually yes, they could have done it with just the decal sheet that came with the kit by using the the saucer bottom "NCC-1701" decals which are similar in size to ENTERPRISE.

I'm not saying they couldn't have done it; I was stating that the name and registry weren't the only markings on the model, as you claimed.

 

[Captain Crow]

I'm not saying they couldn't have done it; I was stating that the name and registry weren't the only markings on the model, as you claimed.

Sorry about omitting the nacelle decal. I haven't watched "The Doomsday Machine" in a while and the first picture I found of the Constellation online was at just the right angle where you can't see it.

 

[yenny]

I'm not saying they couldn't have done it; I was stating that the name and registry weren't the only markings on the model, as you claimed.

Sorry about omitting the nacelle decal. I haven't watched "The Doomsday Machine" in a while and the first picture I found of the Constellation online was at just the right angle where you can't see it.

You're right about the decal being on the Constellation nacelles. Trekcore has screencaps from the episode which show the registry on the Constellation nacelles.
Anyway, they must had use more then one model kit. If you look at the screencaps when the Constellation heading into the mouth of the planet killer. You will notion that they did little work on that model.

 

[137th Gebirg]

They only would have needed the one decale sheet that came with the kit since the only the markings the ship had were the name and registry on top the saucer.

No, the registry was also on the nacelles:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/birdofthegalaxy/3698677075/in/set-72157619514479789/

Y'know, this picture almost makes it look like the registry might have been something else at one point. You see the area around the zero? It seems to be whiter than the surrounding area, like someone had started off doing something different and had to change it by scraping/sanding the decal off an already-painted/battle-damaged hull. The zero and the second one also appear to be lighter than the first one and the seven, like they might have been drawn in with pencil to match the font rather than a decal. This is really weird, now that I look at it more closely.

Edit: On second thought, it could also be a reflection of the direct lighting used to illuminate the model for filming. Can't tell on a still image.

 

[Boris Skrbic]

But 1017 is canon and accepted even by "Treknical Fandom", so why would anyone want to see a different registry number? I don't understand the point of this discussion. Even if we were to find actual documentation proving that 1017 was an error, there is no point to changing it now. It's everywhere, so an alternate version would only be alternate. I'd like to see the real thing, a reconstruction of the onscreen model, preferably un-Remastered.

 

[Dukhat]

I don't understand the point of this discussion.

The OP asked if anyone had ever spoken to Jeffries about his decision to make the Constellation's registry number 1017, based on the possibly false assumption that Jeffries had anything whatsoever to do with that decision. He wants to build a replica of the model, but wants to know what the registry "should have been," the consensus of which seems to be that it should have been exactly what was on the model as seen in the episode.

Then, much to the OP's dismay, the topic segued into exactly what class the ship was, based on the (IMHO) slight differences between the AMT model kit and the large filming model, and the low registry, even though official sources state (and the intention of the producers was) that the ship was the same as the Enterprise.

 

[Timo]

...Regarding the one segue not yet made in full, how come we're so convinced the Constellation had decals?

I mean, it's not as if we're seeing Microgramma Bold Extended with the fancy double borders or anything. It's just straight lines. Decals would appear to be overdoing it when a marker pen would be so much quicker and easier.

If decals weren't involved in making the pennants, then the logic of reusing the digits from NCC-1701 doesn't hold, and the number probably is an utterly random one...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[137th Gebirg]

I think the assumption that they used decals stems solely from the lack of imagination in the numbers used, being simply rearranged from the Enterprise's registry out of the model kit. If it was done manually, in pencil or ink or whatever, why not come up with some different numbers then? Maybe it's coincidence, but then again, as the OP said, there doesn't seem to be any first-hand information on how this thing was made, so we will likely never know.

 

[Green Shirt]

It is mention on Space Seed that the Enterprise is a Constitution class starship.

Who mentioned that?

 

[Unicron]

IIRC, the schematic that Khan studies has the words "Constitution class" on it, which implies that the Enterprise is of this class since he asked for her technical journals.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ And the other journals, the ones that Scotty is seen reading in ST VI, also say Constitution class.

 

[throwback]

I don't think we ever saw the schematic that Khan was looking at in "Space Seed". The schematic was seen in "The Trouble with Tribbles". Like I said before, if we stay within the canon and within the original series, we didn't see a Constitution-class starship. The Making of Star Trek classifies the USS Enterprise as an Enterprise-type starship.

Now as for the classification of the Enterprise as a Constittution-class starship in the Star Trek Concordance, I am accepting this on faith alone as I have never seen the first edition. Now, I would like to know, what was Bjo Trimble's source for this information?