I couldn't put if off any longer. I had to try my hand at the D7. I had modeled the Enterprise, the Galileo Shuttlecraft, the Romulan BOP, the Botany Bay, and even the Tholian Webspinner. The time had come at last.
I began by examining every blueprint I could find, including Matt Jefferies construction drawing and his TMOST 3-views. MJ's were pretty accurate, but the construction BP hadn't been followed very closely, and the TMOST drawings, while close to the final design, are too small to accurately work from. Many of the fan BPs look nice, but they don't project between views very well and none of them are particularly accurate. The shape is very complex.
Knowing that the original AMT model from 1967 was regarded as quite accurate since the Desilu actually filmed one of two matched set of models that AMT built as a pattern for the kit, I pulled an old, unbuilt kit I had on the shelf, grabbed my trusty dial caliper and set to work.
I modeled each subassembly separately, then digitally assembled the model in MoI 3D. Everything was carefully measured. Along the way I referenced all the images of the original model I could find.
Getting the manta wing shape nailed down was a bear!
In the end, I think I've managed to get pretty close. At least it is accurate enough for me.
Here are Orthographic views:
And here is an image I've wanted to do for a long time. A scene from "The Trouble with Tribbles" showing both the Enterprise and the Klingon Battle Cruiser eyeing each other warily from 2 km on either side of Deep Space Station K-7.
I'll be making some more renders in the next few days. I also plan to post formal blueprints of my take on the D-7.
Cheers,
M.
I began by examining every blueprint I could find, including Matt Jefferies construction drawing and his TMOST 3-views. MJ's were pretty accurate, but the construction BP hadn't been followed very closely, and the TMOST drawings, while close to the final design, are too small to accurately work from. Many of the fan BPs look nice, but they don't project between views very well and none of them are particularly accurate. The shape is very complex.
Knowing that the original AMT model from 1967 was regarded as quite accurate since the Desilu actually filmed one of two matched set of models that AMT built as a pattern for the kit, I pulled an old, unbuilt kit I had on the shelf, grabbed my trusty dial caliper and set to work.
I modeled each subassembly separately, then digitally assembled the model in MoI 3D. Everything was carefully measured. Along the way I referenced all the images of the original model I could find.
Getting the manta wing shape nailed down was a bear!
In the end, I think I've managed to get pretty close. At least it is accurate enough for me.
Here are Orthographic views:
And here is an image I've wanted to do for a long time. A scene from "The Trouble with Tribbles" showing both the Enterprise and the Klingon Battle Cruiser eyeing each other warily from 2 km on either side of Deep Space Station K-7.
I'll be making some more renders in the next few days. I also plan to post formal blueprints of my take on the D-7.
Cheers,
M.
