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Original E-D Blueprints

Albertus

Lieutenant
Red Shirt
Hi, all.

Back in 2005 I interviewed Ed Whitefire about his involvement in producing the original blueprints for the 1701-D. Ed's work preceeds Rick Sternbach's (indeed, it could be said that Sternbach's blueprints are realy Whitefire blueprints without the vision.) and in my opinion, Ed's work shows a greater understanding of what the Galaxy Class ship was all about and how a 30-year-mission would actually work.

The interview can be found at http://www.trekplace.com/

Regards

Albertus
 
Are the Whitefire blueprints available to see or buy? I suspect the E-D blueprints on ebay are the Sternbach ones...
 
Rick Sternbach, Andy Probert, and I all spent quite a bit of time with Ed when he was developing his blueprints for the Enterprise-D. We gave him access to a lot of reference material (including a lot of Andy's conceptual drawings), we discussed at length our thoughts behind the design and operation of the ship, and we offered notes on how the sets built on a soundstage at Paramount might "really" fit into a starship. We even took him around the actual sets so he could get a better sense of the layout of the ship. All of us have a great deal of respect for Ed and his work, and we did whatever we could to encourage him. It's therefore not at all surprising that Ed's work resembles Rick's.

-Mike
 
Rick Sternbach, Andy Probert, and I all spent quite a bit of time with Ed when he was developing his blueprints for the Enterprise-D. We gave him access to a lot of reference material (including a lot of Andy's conceptual drawings), and discussed at length our thoughts behind the design and operation of the ship, and we offered notes on how the sets built on a soundstage at Paramount might "really" fit into a starship. All of us have a great deal of respect for Ed and his work, and we did whatever we could to encourage him. It's therefore not at all surprising that Ed's work resembles Rick's.

-Mike
I can't believe it! I just quoted Mike Okuda! The man. I'm honored to post in the same thread as you, Sir.
 
I remember really disliking the E when I first saw it.
Some L shaped pylons like the Ent-C would have made it look better, but at least it had a decent bridge that didn't look like a living room as the Ds did.
 
I remember really disliking the E when I first saw it.
Some L shaped pylons like the Ent-C would have made it look better, but at least it had a decent bridge that didn't look like a living room as the Ds did.

Remember the proposed mission - TEN YEARS away from home, exploring (although it didnt work out that way on the show). Would you want a comfortable working environment?
 
Im on board with the comfy chairs on the bridge (and love the rest of the ships design) just think they should have had more compuers for a starship, the upgrades for generations fixed that problem
 
and we offered notes on how the sets built on a soundstage at Paramount might "really" fit into a starship. We even took him around the actual sets so he could get a better sense of the layout of the ship.
-Mike
I think that's important. Sometimes the show wasn't able to articulate just how big and massive this ship was. The blueprints tie everything in together for me.
Thanks Mike for all you have contributed to the wonderful world of trek. Good job with the Christie's auction! I wish i could have afforded some of it!:techman:
 
Im on board with the comfy chairs on the bridge (and love the rest of the ships design) just think they should have had more compuers for a starship, the upgrades for generations fixed that problem


I dunno-I wish the ship had seemed a bit more...military. I like the more gritty interiors of the NX-01 and the TOS 1701. Seems a bit more realistic for a spaceship (even one of exploration) that is staffed by military officers and armed to the teeth.
 
They're not military officers tho and starfleets not a military orgnansiation.

They have the dual role of exploration and defence but theyre ot "military" per say.

Historically space exploration has been intentionally seperated from the military, Eisenhower was very worried about the Militarization of space which is why NASA was created seperate from the Military.
 
I appreciate both Ed Whitefire and Rick Sternbach's glimpses into possible interiors of the Enterprise-D.

Thanks for posting the link, Albertus.
 
i picked up the TNg Technical manual in October 1991. I still have it somewhere. I looked through the actual blue prints in a bookstore once in the late 1990s. It was like an apartment complex in outer space how it was designed.
 
I love the Okuda's text commentaries on the films. Nice to see you pop in, Mike!
Thanks for the interview link, Albertus. When not working on my own creative endeavors, I love hearing about other artists doing their thing.
 
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