Pages from "Build the Enterprise"

[8of5]

Hi guys, I hope this is of interest/news to you. I don't normally venture out of the Trek lit section, but I had a quick look around and couldn't see any mention of it:

A little while ago Deagostini in Japan began work on a new Star Trek part-work magazine and model kit called "Build the Enterprise NCC-1701-D". It featured a large model of the Enterprise, new blueprints, and a part-work magazine with new technical diagrams, missions logs written around the technical side of the Enterprise's story, plus behind the scenes features. A test run for this was published in Japan, but only ran for seven issues before it was pulled - It was unfortunately launched about the same time as the tsunami, which didn't make for an enthusiastic market for fancy new publications.

Rick Sternbach mentioned working on it in an interview on StarTrek.com a month ago, and I got in contact with him hoping to find out more to write about it on my blog. Following that article the editor of the project Tim Leng (who also worked on the Star Trek Fact Files and Collector's Edition before) got in contact with me. Which is the part I think you might be most interested in: Tim supplied me with the English language versions of several pages from the magazine, including some very nice new cutaway diagrams. My personal favourite is the lifeboat - Previously seen in the TNG Technical Manual as a line drawing, and in a Voyager comic, the new diagrams go into lots more detail:

Rick and Tim have both suggested to me that there is a chance the print material from the project might find an alternate output - I'm hoping some sort of updated Technical Manual might come about in time for TNG's 25th next year. But until then you can see the pages Tim shared with me on my blog, enjoy

 

[Mysterion]

Spiffy! Some gorgeous artwork on those pages. I do hope they can find an outlet for this material here in the US. An updated/expanded TNG tech-manual would be a very good thing, IMO.

 

[Boris Skrbic]

Nicely executed, but they should've asked Rick to flesh out the less familiar designs such as the Prometheus, the Relativity, the Dauntless or the Equinox. The E-D has been done to death, though it's always possible to find a few interesting topics.

 

[Mysterion]

^^^
Maybe so. But I'd say there is still alot of the Ent-D unexplored, and material about the hero ship of TNG is probabyl going to get a wider audience than the lesser-known ships.

 

[Patrickivan]

Cool!

 

[Boris Skrbic]

^^^
Maybe so. But I'd say there is still alot of the Ent-D unexplored, and material about the hero ship of TNG is probabyl going to get a wider audience than the lesser-known ships.

I doubt there is much of a difference. I was a casual viewer once and you were probably one as well, so it shouldn't be hard to guess what the various types of audience are interested in. The real gap is between the casual viewers and those who analyze the tech. The same audience that is interested in a new Enterprise lifeboat would also be curious about the specifics of other classes, especially those of Starfleet and the major alien governments, since they are likely to recur in other publications as opposed to remaining ships of the week.

Just imagine: the Prometheus was seriously featured in exactly one episode (MA also mentions "Endgame" and "Azati Prime", but I doubt those eps contain any useful info), so there is only ~45 minutes of canon to remain consistent with, while the remainder can be pulled from Rick Sternbach's detailed blueprints, any available set plans and the MSD. Whatever Rick writes becomes almost as valid as the TNGTM.

 

[Mysterion]

^^^
Perhaps. But it doesn't change my opinion that the Prometheus is just a silly idea.

 

[8of5]

Nicely executed, but they should've asked Rick to flesh out the less familiar designs such as the Prometheus, the Relativity, the Dauntless or the Equinox. The E-D has been done to death, though it's always possible to find a few interesting topics.

There's currently a Star Wars part work, where each issue comes with a little model of a featured ship. I'd love to see that idea applied to Star Trek. The magazine couldn't go into as much depth as this one planned to, as it would only be one issue per ship, but could still give us some nice insights and new diagrams, and hopefully cover some ships we’ve never had models or tech info on before.

^^^
Maybe so. But I'd say there is still alot of the Ent-D unexplored, and material about the hero ship of TNG is probabyl going to get a wider audience than the lesser-known ships.

I doubt there is much of a difference. I was a casual viewer once and you were probably one as well, so it shouldn't be hard to guess what the various types of audience are interested in. The real gap is between the casual viewers and those who analyze the tech. The same audience that is interested in a new Enterprise lifeboat would also be curious about the specifics of other classes, especially those of Starfleet and the major alien governments, since they are likely to recur in other publications as opposed to remaining ships of the week.

There's also a balance to be struck between casual magazine buyers and being willing to invest in something long term. This magazine would have required an audience to commit for the full 100 issues, or they have a model of the Enterprise with holes in. But by the same token if you didn't jump in at the start you're never going to bother with another issue.

The variety of small ship models idea I mentioned above wouldn't give the publisher as committed a subscriber base maybe, but would allow more casual buyers to dip in when a ship that interests them came along.

 

[SchwEnt]

This project must be brought to fruition and brought to market. It's one of the most unique and exciting creations in almost 50 years of ST stuff. Of all the tech manuals, toys, blueprints, software, models, artwork... I've never seen anything quite like this project. Amazing.

 

[Rick Sternbach]

Spiffy! Some gorgeous artwork on those pages. I do hope they can find an outlet for this material here in the US. An updated/expanded TNG tech-manual would be a very good thing, IMO.

I was astounded when I saw the renders; this could have been an outstanding product, had it gone to completion. I'm happy to have been able to provide enough detailed sketches to have made the renders turn out as crisp'n'clean as they did.

Without intending to make this sound crass and commercial, I am offering the complete package of original lifeboat sketches; look for seller intrep74656 on ebay, good for another day or so. The 1/24 scale foamcore mockup of the lifeboat is also one of the lots.

One of these days, some project like this will get funded and done; it's just a matter of when and by whom.

Thanks to 8of5 for posting the page pix.

Rick

 

[Boris Skrbic]

I recommend The Binder.

 

[Mysterion]

So, which coprprate entity should we be directing our clammoring at to get this thing to happen?

 

[Boris Skrbic]

Why do you think that it would help?

 

[Mysterion]

Could it hurt if we fans asked for what we want, rather than just wait for whatever is spoon-fed to us?

 

[Boris Skrbic]

But why do you think that CBS/Paramount don't know what you want? They aren't exactly luddites; I'm sure Pocket is reading the boards, but the numbers simply aren't working out. They don't need a fan campaign to help them gauge interest.

Remember, not even a major event such as Star Trek (2009) was able to generate such merchandise. There was talk of a model kit and a detailed tech manual, but nothing happened.

 

[Rick Sternbach]

But why do you think that CBS/Paramount don't know what you want? They aren't exactly luddites; I'm sure Pocket is reading the boards, but the numbers simply aren't working out. They don't need a fan campaign to help them gauge interest.

Remember, not even a major event such as Star Trek (2009) was able to generate such merchandise. There was talk of a model kit and a detailed tech manual, but nothing happened.

Yeah, the 2009 movie might have been a major event, but there really wasn't a lot of meat on it to generate items like a tech manual like there was back when we did TNG. Even if there were, the publishing game is so changed and so cash-strapped that outfits like Simon & Schuster probably figure they won't make their investment back. As to the model kit, it may be a similar picture, and maybe they're waiting until the second movie comes out to try marketing that one again. We'll just have to wait and see.

Rick

 

[Patrickivan]

Well that's interesting... I post something about ebay- not a link- just the seller name, and I get my link closed... I mention that no mod got back to my email about asking if it's okay- and I cite that Rick did the very same thing here. Yet his remains and mine got shut down.

 

[Forbin]

What I heard from someone in the model kit industry about the 2009 Enterprise was that Polar Lights, after starting the project, determined that there "wasn't enough interest" to spend the money making the kit. I imagine that had something to do with a lack of sufficient pre-orders from distributors to guarantee a profit.

I'm told by friends in retail that the abysmal sales of ST:2009 toys bears this decision out. Stores currently seem to be blowing out the toys at ridiculously low prices to clear the shelves.

 

[QuinnTV]

Rick and Tim have both suggested to me that there is a chance the print material from the project might find an alternate output...

I really hope this is the case. I saw Tim's YouTube videos and came away impressed with the model and the "paperwork". I cross my fingers that we get to see more of it someday.

 

[Mysterion]

Rick and Tim have both suggested to me that there is a chance the print material from the project might find an alternate output...

I really hope this is the case. I saw Tim's YouTube videos and came away impressed with the model and the "paperwork". I cross my fingers that we get to see more of it someday.

Ditto.