The other TOS filming models

[Harry]

With the recent interest in the 'big' models like the Enterprise(s), the Shuttle, the Klingon ship and the DY-100, I'm getting curious about the other filming and effects models that are rarely mentioned and have presumably all disappeared. I wonder what bits of information are known about these models.

Fesarius
A behind-the-scenes image is available here. Not really a 'model', more like an 'effect'. I assume they dumped it right after use.

Romulan Bird of Prey
This is more interesting. "Designed and built by Wah Chang" is about the only information ever given about this craft, in the TOS Sketchbook (wich also features the only background shot of the delicate looking model that I know of). You'd think it would have deserved a similar role as the Klingon Battlecruiser, but it was only used once.

Doomsday Machine
I don't know anything about this, apart from some vague story about the intention for it to be 'bristling with weapons' or something.

Tholian ship
Obviously a very simplistic model designed (by Jefferies, IIRC) and built on a strict budget. Was re-used once. Photos exist of the model, I even vaguely remember that they showed it on display somewhere.. but that may have been a replica.

Eymorg ion drive
Complete mystery to me. Doesn't look particularly detailed or even particularly 'Star Trek'-ish to me.

There are probably people that are more informed about these things than I am.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Harry said:
Fesarius
I assume they dumped it right after use.

Made of ping pong (table tennis) balls!

Romulan Bird of Prey
the delicate looking model; You'd think it would have deserved a similar role as the Klingon Battlecruiser, but it was only used once.

Because it went missing/stolen. I also heard it was made of plaster, and was dropped.

 

[Christopher]

There's also the K-7 space station, which was modified from a NASA space-module miniature; there's a photo or two of the original version on Richard Datin's site.

I read somewhere that the Doomsday Machine model was made from a toilet paper roll. That's probably an exaggeration, but if you look closely at a photo of the model, it does look like its glistening surface is made out of strips of clear packing tape or something. I doubt it was a very sturdy construct, and it probably wasn't preserved.

 

[Plum]

^^^
I still love the look of the original planet killer... it's skin seemed translucent, it's odd form unfathomable. To me, it's practically an H.P. Lovecraft creature.

And I don't think I've ever seen a thread on this topic... interesting.

 

[MGagen]

I'm with you on the original planet killer. I was disappointed that the Remastered version wasn't more colorful and somewhat crystalline in appearance.

The Remastered Tholians left something to be desired, too. The colored lighting of the originals always suggested some kind of exotic metal used in their hulls; or perhaps a field effect of their propulsion systems.

M.

 

[Harry]

How could I forget the K-7.. it was basically my reason to start this post

It seems apparent that K-7 was also dumped or lost, as Greg Jein had to rely on the TOS effect shots to recreate his version.

 

[Plum]

There is a photo of the Romulan ship near the bottom of this page. No material details are given but you can see what size the model was, and how it was filmed.

startrekhistory link

 

[Sulu_Love_child]

Cool stuff. Thx for posting

 

[Gorn66]

Starlog once ran an article with photos of the TOS items the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum did not have on public display, and the Tholian model was among them. IIRC, it still had the nacelles that were added for "The Way To Eden" episode.

 

[Warped9]

Plum said:
I still love the look of the original planet killer... it's skin seemed translucent, it's odd form unfathomable. To me, it's practically an H.P. Lovecraft creature.

And I don't think I've ever seen a thread on this topic... interesting.

I still appreciate its odd rough hewn appearance. It looked very alien.

 

[Ronald Held]

Which was what it was suppose to look like after large number of years on the job.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

The Doomsday Machine might be just a silly cone of paper mache, but it really gets across the idea that it's a machine of implacable destruction: the smooth exterior looks impervious to attack, the battered appearance implies eons of unsuccessful attacks (not to mention meteor strikes or debris from planets hitting it), and the shape is reminiscent of a Great White Whale for obvious thematic reasons. People who try to "update" it ignore the reasons why it looked like it did, and I've never seen an update that comes close to matching the original.

 

[Christopher]

The one thing that bugs me, though, is: if it's only a mile or so long, how does it eat whole planets? That's like a dust mite eating a blue whale.

 

[Therin of Andor]

^ "Never eat anything bigger than the size of your head."

(Dunno who said it first.)

 

[Mallory]

Christopher said:
The one thing that bugs me, though, is: if it's only a mile or so long, how does it eat whole planets? That's like a dust mite eating a blue whale.

I think I can deal with that one by figuring that the bite size pieces are destroyed almost instantaneously once they sail down that maw. Now cutting a planet up into pieces that small would seem like it would take a very long time to me.

 

[Turbo]

Christopher said:
The one thing that bugs me, though, is: if it's only a mile or so long, how does it eat whole planets? That's like a dust mite eating a blue whale.

I thought that Decker said it was miles long...?

 

[Ronald Held]

It annihilates most of the matter with its antiproton beam and stores the energy somehow?

 

[Masao]

Christopher said:
The one thing that bugs me, though, is: if it's only a mile or so long, how does it eat whole planets? That's like a dust mite eating a blue whale.

It's about 9 times the length of Enterprise. Therefore, 9 x 947 feet = 8523 feet = 1.6 miles.

 

[Christopher]

Mallory said:

Christopher said:
The one thing that bugs me, though, is: if it's only a mile or so long, how does it eat whole planets? That's like a dust mite eating a blue whale.

I think I can deal with that one by figuring that the bite size pieces are destroyed almost instantaneously once they sail down that maw. Now cutting a planet up into pieces that small would seem like it would take a very long time to me.

Define "destroyed," though. Generally it just means broken down into constituent matter and redistributed -- the matter still exists, though, and doesn't just disappear. It can be made to disappear if it's annihilated with an equal amount of antimatter, but that would require the planetkiller to have an infinitely replenished supply of antimatter available to it, and that just complicates the problem even more.

Personally, I suspect that what Spinrad had in mind was far huger than what we got.

 

[Mallory]

I just assume that that chunks are converted to energy as they're consumed. Assuming (I know, bad idea) that the planet killer lack any kind of matter/anti-matter reactor I always figured it produced energy by consuming planets and then stored it in batteries or something to be used when traveling inter-system.

But then I'll admit that I never have given it much thought and have no problem with you pointing out the flaws in my theory. I find discussions of that type educational.