The Enterprise...sorta...

[Warped9]

Back to a pre TOS era. I'm thinking this could be my next subject, no?



One thing I appreciate about this is there's a scale indicated, which is something I never really noticed before. While next to nothing has really been definitively established about this design I do see some things. One, we know this ship was named Enterprise before the TOS E. Two, it's a good indication of what the technology was in that era. Three, the apparent size of the vessel might indicate the general size of major spacecraft in that era.

After that I think there's a fair bit of room to speculate and extrapolate. It's interesting in a way because unless there are more detailed Matt Jefferies' drawings out there somewhere there's a fair amount of room for interpretation. I might even play with the scale a bit.

 

[Kaiser]

its up to you but we have a version of it in the Calenders

 

[B.J.]

Interesting callouts in that drawing - Centriverter, Centridyne, Enviropod, Metafier. (Metafier?!?) Sounds very '60s era terminology to me, but who's to say that won't come back around again?

 

[Warped9]

its up to you but we have a version of it in the Calenders

And this is established as definitive? And we have onscreen evidence to cooroborate it?

Something of note. If you study the somewhat blurred image of the ringship used on TMP the pod on the side of the forward hull is oblong rather than a sphere as seen in the orthographic drawings. The orthos are identified for a ship for a series idea GR had called Starship while the image in TMP is definitely supposed to be an Enterprise. From that the resin model from Fantastic Plastic is actually more correct than the version Mark Rademaker has, in that single detail anyway. I admit I find the oblong shaped pod more aesthetically pleasing as it seems to be more well integrated with the rest of the design.

 

[Kaiser]

Well the calenders are not canon far as i know but you dont have to listen to me just do what you want to

 

[Warped9]

Well the calenders are not canon far as i know but you dont have to listen to me just do what you want to

Well that is my essential point. The calendars are not canon, not official. And neither is the resin kit from Fantstic Plastic. So if I deviate from those interpretations no one can really cry foul and say I'm wrong. It's quite different than deviating from a design that has been clearly established onscreen.

 

[Warped9]

I'm starting to draw out some of the major components and I have reiterate that how the original drawings are done leaves a lot unclear. That leaves a fair degree of leeway for interpretation. MJ configured this in a general sense, but unless there are more detailed drawings out there somewhere then he might not have appreciated how his basic concept could be a challenge as a physical model (or 3D model for the matter). This does happen that something you initially envision doesn't quite work in three dimensions. Now I've looked how the resin model and the Mark Rademaker design seems to have interpreted certain issues and I can't say I really care for either. And so seeing as there is no definitive to do it I will address the issues in my own way while trying to hew as closely as possible to what MJ seemed to have mind.

 

[Albertese]

I'd love to see your take on this. I will follow with interest!

--Alex

 

[Warped9]

So we begin...

 

[Patrickivan]

So we begin...

Clearly not a Jewish design.

 

[Professor Moriarty]

^^^ snort!

 

[DaveyNY]

Personally, I'm seeing it more in terms of a 'red-bellied sap-sucker' than a 'heat-seeking moisture missile'.

 

[Warped9]

Some progress. A bit more of the forward section as well as the central boom and the aft engine section. Some of the surface detailing is my speculation since the drawings don't specify any such detail. Other than the general configuration as well as size and shape of the major components there is essentially next to no detail on the drawings.

 

[Warped9]

There is a funkiness to this design I rather like and it has me thinking of a variant. I can't help but feel that properly done this design would have looked better with one ring instead of two. At some point I'd like to try that. It certainly gives me ideas as to what might have come before and after this design in terms of starship evolution.

One ring would look tidier and more robust I think. I've long felt the two ring setup looked overly complicated and more fragile.



I'm glad that GR and the TMP production crew chose to include this design in Trek's prehistory. It breaks the mold of the familiar nacelles and saucer concept in terms of starship evolution. It points to something different and a different era from the familiar 23rd century and beyond. That's partly why I was so disappointed with the Cochrane prototype in FC and the NX-01 of ENT because they simply tweaked the familiar rather than trying for something more interesting. I found that to be a truly sad lack of creativity.

I look at the potential of this ringship design (as I've alluded to above) and see how a comparatively small ship of new design (in universe) with a smaller crew finding new adventures and stories. But instead the creators of ENT copped out and played it safe and stale. Perhaps to some the design of the ship is basically irrelevant, but just as MJ's concept for the TOS E was ideally representative of TOS' overall approach to SF adventure/drama a more distinctive ship design for ENT might have signalled some fresh thinking.

But then again the same crowd was running the show so how visionary could they be expected to be.

 

[Warped9]

I mentioned I was starting over from scratch and here we are. I'm a little further along than where I had left off. I've finished the transition from central boom section to the forward pods as well as added the auxiliary pod where the auxiliary craft or shuttlecraft will be bertheed. I'm still trying to decide exactly what kind of hangar door I want.



The changes I made are generally moderate and likely hard for anyone but me to spot if you don't know what I had done differently before.

 

[Patrickivan]

Why did you decide to deviate from the plans, removing the protuding "Metafier", and replacing it with a clyndical type pod? Just curious.

Also, are making the connecting boom tapered, like in the drawing? It's hard to tell with the perspective in your images.

Looking good so far!

 

[Warped9]

Yes, the boom is tapered like the drawing. It's more obvious on the drawing and I did follow the drawing.

The original drawing was MJ's concept for GR's series idea Starship that never panned out. Curiously, though, the illustration of the ringship E seen in TMP doesn't have a Metaflyer pod but rather an oblong shaped pod. Well I am trying to do the ringship E and so I leaned toward that interpretation in that detail.

Truth is, too, that those drawings are lacking in a lot of detail. Indeed beyond shape and proportions of major elements the design is very much a blank canvas. Unless more detailed original drawings were found it appears MJ never got that far with this concept. So essentially I am as free to interpret the design as much as Mark Rademaker and Fantastic Plastic did.

 

[Patrickivan]

I assume you meant Metafier, not Metaflyer... Whatever the heck that was supposed to be. Beyound "something"... Mark's was a phenomenal interpretation of the drawing.

 

[Warped9]

It is a nice interpretation but since it never appeared on any of the Trek series then it's not "official." If anything the illustration seen briefly in TMP is more authentic because it's actually onscreen.


For the record:

- I tweaked the surface detailing on the aft engine cowl and housing.
- I narrowed the thickness of the large ring support structure.
- I rounded the edges of the main elements of the ring support section aft of the central boom.
- the winglet like structures on either side of the aft structure now have rounded edges and the points curve in a smaller radius.
- redesigned the transition section between the central boom and the forward pods.
- where the control boom meets the aft section the intersecting surface has been tweaked for a better integration.

From here I'm thinking of exploring two versions of this ship: the original two-ring configuration and a conjectural single-ring refit version.

 

[Albertese]

I'm not sure I've ever seen a good picture of the TMP painting... or the one that showed up in Enterprise. Do you have a good image of it?

All I've seen is Sternbach's painting from the Spaceflight Chronology...

--Alex