Tallywhacker

[Metryq]

Shortly before TOS-R was released, I ran into a post on another forum about the CGI model having a "tellywhacker" (as that poster put it) on the underside of the saucer. The tiny army tank-like turret and barrel can be seen in this screen cap from the TOS-R "Changeling."

I have never seen such a feature on the TOS Enterprise prior to the Revision, er, Remastered episodes. That lower cap has always been fully lit (no dark pimple in the middle), and no diagrams have ever shown that—whatever it is. I saw the original model at the National Air And Space Museum around 1979 or 1980. Considering other threads on the reconditioning of that model and the state it was in when NASM first received it, I don't know if such a tiny detail existed on the original.

Does anyone know? After all, one of Kirk's lines in "The Naked Time" is "Now I know why it's called 'she.'" It would be a shock after all this time to learn that the Enterprise is a stallion.

 

[Forbin]

Yes, it was there. Polar Lights faithfully includes in in there 1/350 model kit, researched by Gary Kerr. What it is, is up for grabs. Some think the intent was that it be the phaser turret.

 

[Draculasaurus]

Maybe it's a sticky space lolly pop got stuck on the dome.
That's probably what happened.

 

[Metryq]

Yes, it was there. Polar Lights faithfully includes in in there 1/350 model kit

I just downloaded the PDF assembly instructions. That kit also has various interior parts, such as a shuttle bay with shuttlecraft. As much as I enjoyed physical model kits as a kid, I no longer have the storage/display space. And there are various other advantages to CGI modeling—which didn't exist when I was a kid. (Actually, CAD did exist before I was born, but I wouldn't have had any access to it as a kid. Video of Sketchpad in action.)

"A keyboard. How quaint!"

 

[F. King Daniel]

It's where it comes out when they flush.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Seriously, according to the old USS Enterprise Officer's Manual Treknical fanzine, it was the infamous Ion Pod from "Court Martial"

Diagram HERE.

 

[marksound]

I call BS.

It was never seen in TOS, so it's utter BS.

 

[jayrath]

Children, this feature was always on the early AMT model kits, overseen by Jeffries, which were based on the small studio model besides the 11-footer.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

...this feature was always on the early AMT model kits, overseen by Jeffries, which were based on the small studio model besides the 11-footer.

Beat me to it. I recall a little button on lower sensor dome of the 18-inch AMT model.

I think I can kind of see it here

http://www.atpm.com/7.01/washington-dc/images/enterprise-front.jpg

but who knows if that's the original equipment. The main deflector dish and the nacelle domes were replaced, so maybe this was too.

Edit: this looks definitive:

http://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/3x18hd/thelightsofzetarhd0006.jpg

 

[scotpens]

Children, this feature was always on the early AMT model kits, overseen by Jeffries, which were based on the small studio model besides the 11-footer.

Yes, on the AMT 18-incher, going back to the original 1967 issue, the "nipple" on the lower sensor dome was always there. I didn't lose sleep over what its function might be.

 

[Melakon]

Just from the thread title, I thought this was going to be about that rock Kirk pulls from the cave ceiling in "What are Little Girls Made Of?"

 

[plynch]

Bump or turret? That seems quite a difference.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

Bump or turret? That seems quite a difference.

The gun barrel in that Remastered frame is a new invention, no argument there.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I call BS.

It was never seen in TOS, so it's utter BS.

Yes, it was seen on screen in TOS.

Here's a nice close up of the E from Let That Be Your Last Battlefield, original effects.

http://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/3x15/Let_That_Be_Your_Last_Battlefield_034.JPG
http://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/3x15/Let_That_Be_Your_Last_Battlefield_035.JPG

http://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=90&page=2

This should settle it.

Great thread title, by the way, even if not entirely accurate.

 

[marksound]

I call BS.

It was never seen in TOS, so it's utter BS.

Yes, it was seen on screen in TOS.

Here's a nice close up of the E from Let That Be Your Last Battlefield, original effects.

http://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/3x15/Let_That_Be_Your_Last_Battlefield_034.JPG
http://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/3x15/Let_That_Be_Your_Last_Battlefield_035.JPG

http://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=90&page=2

This should settle it.

Great thread title, by the way, even if not entirely accurate.

All I see is a little dot. BS, I say.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

 

[Maurice]

 

[Metryq]

Thanks, Maurice. That's definitive—it can't be mistaken for a trick of light, or spot of shmutz on the film. But now I'm wondering about that bump on the circular riser. Is that the lock point where the Starfleet engineers at space dock can apply the wrench to remove the lower dome?

 

[scotpens]

. . . But now I'm wondering about that bump on the circular riser. Is that the lock point where the Starfleet engineers at space dock can apply the wrench to remove the lower dome?

It's an alignment point for unlocking and removing the dome for maintenance, like the caps on those childproof medicine bottles.

 

[Lance]

Yes, it was there. Polar Lights faithfully includes in in there 1/350 model kit, researched by Gary Kerr. What it is, is up for grabs. Some think the intent was that it be the phaser turret.

I just checked, and the "tallywhacker" is definitely there on the Art Asylum model too.

It seems to be transparent on the AA model. I never noticed it before either, but it must always have been there. I think it just stands out a bit more in the screencap posted in the OP because it's colored red.

Maybe it's a sticky space lolly pop got stuck on the dome.
That's probably what happened.

Captain Robert April had a sweet tooth.