• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

MR TOS Enterprise...Is it worth it?

I don't take any pride in my refrigerator... so I really don't care that much about it. I'm guessing that all those other things listed are things that you guys have little or no interest in and take no pride in. And that is fine.

When I cared about my car (and took a measure of pride in it), that was what I spent my time on. I've owned four Porsches, could do a lot of the work on them myself (with the aid of my Grandfather's workshop). At one point I bought one car took both that car and mine apart, and put mine back together using the best parts of both.

But my primary interest at the time was Porsches... and I even worked at Alan Johnson Racing to learn more about them back then. But that was more than 15 years ago, cars don't interest me anymore.

But here is the thing... I've been relatively poor all my life, so I always had to find other avenues to owning things like Porsches. There are plenty of Porsche owners who walked in, dropped thousands of dollars on the table and drove out with a car that was infinitely better than any of the ones I owned. But in the end I knew how things worked and the history of the company... it became more than just an object (and still is even though I don't have those cars anymore).

In recent times I've been on a computer kick... I own Apples, Suns and SGIs. At last count I own 30 computers, and a vast catalog of software that lets me do nearly anything I could want with them. And yet in the last 10 years I haven't spent more than $3,500 (total) on hardware and software. And I can take apart, diagnose issues and put back together all of my systems (it is good practice for what I do for a living). And still, I look for the hardest of tasks... I work in some platforms where I'm just about the last person using them and then document what I've found out about them.

So if this just a passing fancy... by all means, don't waste any effort on it. You should only put effort into it if you are actually getting something from the effort.

Besides, the entire Star Trek thing is someone else’s dream Gene Roddenberry’s, but we fell in love with it and in whatever way was possible made it part of our own.
:wtf:

I'm sorry... was there a point to this?

Porsche is the dream of the Piëch and Porsche families. Apple was the dream of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. So what?

This seems like a rather odd statement... Are you saying that people shouldn't follow their interests? I'm not doing any of this stuff for money, I've shared everything I've come up with... this isn't even my main area of interest.

I most likely will lose interest in Star Trek again in a few years (in the same way I lost interest in it back around 1994). My main area of interest is mathematics, and what I do there is totally of my own creation. But today I enjoy Star Trek, and can tell you things about these models that most people don't know. For example, between the second and third seasons the 33 inch Enterprise was damaged (most likely dropped), and I made notes of what aspects of the model were damaged (and in some cases, incorrectly repaired). I like knowing these things, but someone who just wants to see a model on a shelf most likely doesn't.

But I enjoy studying the history of things like Porsche, Apple and Star Trek. I enjoy finding out about things that aren't easy to find out (after all, if it was easy, I wouldn't care about them). To study history you have to have a separation from it. I can't really study the history of anything I've done as I was part of it... I can (generally) give my accounting of those events. But assembling history from clues... that is quite fun in my book. And new clues don't generally pop up in information distilled by others (and the MR Enterprise is a distillation of someone else's work).

So again, what was your point with the Roddenberry comment?
 
But I enjoy studying the history of things like Porsche, Apple and Star Trek. I enjoy finding out about things that aren't easy to find out (after all, if it was easy, I wouldn't care about them). To study history you have to have a separation from it. I can't really study the history of anything I've done as I was part of it... I can (generally) give my accounting of those events. But assembling history from clues... that is quite fun in my book. And new clues don't generally pop up in information distilled by others

(and the MR Enterprise is a distillation of someone else's work).


As are the original 33inch and 11 foot studio models. My point being that there is noting wrong with enjoying someone else’s creations, that is what I meant by my Roddenberry comment.

I mean you no disrespect Shaw, in fact I share your ideas of deeply studying the things that catch our interest. As a portrait artist I am interested in so much more than just painting images of my clients. There is however, one draw back, the net of what intrigues me is cast wide and because time and resources are limited I carefully pick and choose just how deeply I will delve into any given interest. Star Trek is one I keep on a tight rein. Purchasing the MR Enterprise scratched an itch I had since I was a kid. As an adult I take great pleasure in lighting and photographing that model and then artistically putting it into a space environment. Each day when I enter my studio to begin the days regular painting sessions, I look at that ship (which is perched not far from my easel) and smile.

What you said about the original 33inch model was news to me, I have heard that it was lost years ago but had never heard about it being damaged and repaired. I am impressed that you were able to find documentation of those repairs. How bad was the damage and do you know if she was ever found?
 
Actually, there is no documentation of the accident... but there is the dramatic physical changes to the model itself. I've collected quite a few images of it from the time of it's creation (November of 1964) through to the end of Star Trek. Arranging those images in a timeline I can see where and when physical aspects changed.

In this case, a number of changes happened between the second and third season images. these include the port nacelle sagging (where they had been closer to parallel prior), the reattachment of the intercoolers on the starboard nacelle with the starboard one being put back on backwards and the port one incorrectly aligned (and later falling off again altogether), and the loss of the hangar doors.

I've cataloged many scars and birth marks of the 33 inch model, mainly because it would be important to know if someone attempts to come forward with a model claiming that it is the original. There needs to be a means for authenticating such a thing... specially as I'm attempting to create accurate plans of that model (my 22 inch study model being an aid in my endeavor to improve my original plans).

And sadly no, I have no idea where the original model is. Considering that so few people were aware that there was more than one model (and that the 11 foot model was actually the second), there is the real possibility that the model was disposed of as just another model of the Enterprise. As Majel Barrett once said, that model would be priceless today.

As for the original models being distillations as well, you are quite right which is why I took the time to attempt to recreate the original Jefferies construction plans used for building both models.

And as I said before, I've attempted to share most of what I've found out in all these cases (like here and here, and somewhat here). The whole thing is a very interesting and entertaining puzzle to me (above and beyond enjoying just seeing the Enterprise).
 
I was lucky enough to win a few K at Las Vagas 6 months ago (I spent about $10 on a slot). Immediatly, I purchased a MR Enterprise and ordered a custom build Refit from the FX Modeler (they built the new movie Enterprise for QMx). I think my Enterprise belongs to the last batch that MR made. I used the remains from LV to purchased some home automation devises to work with this beauty. I can turn it on and off with a Windows Mobile phone. Beside it is VERY noicy, I like this Enterprise a lot (until the Refit arrives). If you have the extra $, get one. To me this Enterprise is like a childhood dream come true!
 
I like the idea of building my own, and I can envision it, but I'm unsure whether I can pull it off to the calibre I'd like.

I also love the idea of being able to photograph the TOS E in still images as well as short video to create my own scenes.

No, the MR replica wouldn't be perfect, but then neither was the original 11ft. filming miniature (which didn't even have anywhere near a complete left side), but it would serve quite nicely for what I'd like to do.
 
And as I said before, I've attempted to share most of what I've found out in all these cases (like here and here, and somewhat here). The whole thing is a very interesting and entertaining puzzle to me (above and beyond enjoying just seeing the Enterprise).


Shaw, Fabulous work! You are a kind of detail man after my own heart. My greater interests, besides portrait painting and teaching art (privately) are in the area of Ancient Egypt. It is there that I shine and work on reconstructions of temples, shattered sculpture and most recently the Sphinx at Giza. Researching these things can get rather intense but I am quite captivated by the entire enterprise –chuckle, as I am by your work.

Such things are of course a labor of love and they are a serious effort to study and visualize, as accurately as possible, the original genius behind them.

As time will allow I shall take a longer look at those links you have provided and the work you so generously share with the members on this forum. From what I have seen so far I am very impressed! :techman:
 
I like the idea of building my own, and I can envision it, but I'm unsure whether I can pull it off to the calibre I'd like.

So you learn as you go. Yes, the process is slow and reminds you that you're only human, but them's the breaks.
 
I just picked up a Master Replicas Enterprise and I love it …it works perfect . But it is true there are some lemons out there!. While on the subject of Master Replicas , can anyone help me in tracking down a TOS Tricorder and TOS Communicator ?….I can't seem to find anyone willing to sell one of these and I especially want the Tricorder. I would appreciate any help I can get in tracking these hard to find items down …Thanks , John :vulcan:
 
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top