The Phase II Enterprise
- Thread starter Kamdan
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Andy Probert told me he took the basic Phase II design and refined the proportions to make it sleeker and more balanced. There two designs are fairly similar, but the devil's in the details, like the way the refit's secondary hull tapers, etc. The most differences are in the superstructure and the bridge atop the saucer, the impulse engines, the lighting unit around the dome on the saucer underside, the changes dorsal "neck" and torpedo deck, the shape of the three gadgets around the deflector dish housing, the aft end of the secondary hull, and the lack of the "notch" at the top aft end of each pylon. The nacelles, designed by Richard Taylor, are the really big difference, as they are much more art deco and composed of more complex intersecting shapes that the Phase II model's.
For those interested, the show in question was episode 15 "Trek to the Future", It's currently not available on any site that I can spot.
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I've always liked the Phase II design. It's tantalizingly beautiful in the Mike Minor paintings and in Matt Jefferies' blueprints.
Shame we'll probably never see a completed physical model, but Dennis' CGI version is pretty cool. (And if you're reading this, Dennis, I've written a constructive critique suggesting changes I think might further improve what's an already fantastic job.)
What intrigues me almost as much, though, is thehttp://www.ottens.co.uk/forgottentrek/images/TMP/constrefitandrewprobert.jpg early version of the TMP Enterprise model from the Robert Abel days. At that point, the ship was different from the final model in many small details, plus the original exterior decals were quite different as well (and much more extensive).
Forgotten Trek nicely illustrates this early version with various test shots and model diagramshttp://www.ottens.co.uk/forgottentrek/images/TMP/re-4.gif. Mike Minor's painting of the early TMP Enterprise (usually misclassified as a Phase II painting, under which misapprehension it's viewable here) is likewise fascinating.
I particularly like the secondary hull markings on that design... much closer to the TOS style than what we ended up getting.
Shame we'll probably never see a completed physical model, but Dennis' CGI version is pretty cool. (And if you're reading this, Dennis, I've written a constructive critique suggesting changes I think might further improve what's an already fantastic job.)
What intrigues me almost as much, though, is thehttp://www.ottens.co.uk/forgottentrek/images/TMP/constrefitandrewprobert.jpg early version of the TMP Enterprise model from the Robert Abel days. At that point, the ship was different from the final model in many small details, plus the original exterior decals were quite different as well (and much more extensive).
Forgotten Trek nicely illustrates this early version with various test shots and model diagramshttp://www.ottens.co.uk/forgottentrek/images/TMP/re-4.gif. Mike Minor's painting of the early TMP Enterprise (usually misclassified as a Phase II painting, under which misapprehension it's viewable here) is likewise fascinating.
I particularly like the secondary hull markings on that design... much closer to the TOS style than what we ended up getting.
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Ah, thanks. Problem fixed.
One of the pages you linked has a pic of the Phase II model captioned in such a way that one could construe it to be the same model as the TMP ship, which it ain't.
That lack of clarification on Drexler's part is indeed annoying and misleading (as is the Mike Minor TMP painting being on the Forgotten Trek Phase II page). Shame. (My real interest in linking that Drex Files page was with the bottom-most picture, which shows a decal sheet for the Robert Abel TMP Enterprise.)
Just to be clear, the Phase II model is distinct from the early TMP model from the Robert Abel phase, which is distinct again from the finalized TMP Enterprise with Doug Trumbull's seal of approval.
The Phase II has basically the same saucer shape as the original except for the bridge dome, while the TMP version has a larger saucer radius with more radical changes to the bridge module, impulse engines, and dorsal. The PII has a rounded torpedo tube element at the base of the dorsal with only a single opening, unlike the squared-off TMP version with two tubes. The rest is as Maurice says.
So if the PII version had been completed, you could believe it was the same ship as the original with the nacelles replaced, the torpedo assembly added, and the secondary hull filled out a bit, but with the saucer only slightly modified. Whereas the TMP refit requires a wholesale rebuilding and restructuring of the entire ship.
The size, shapes and proportions of the TMP Enterprise and the Phase II ship (as drawn by Jefferies) are almost identical as far as the saucer and engineering hulls are concerned, as you can see:
The major difference in the engineering hull is that the TMP ship's is longer, extending further backward.
The engines, as noted by others, are the most different in shape and size and certainly in detail.
Both ships vary a great deal from the original TOS design in specific lines and proportions.
The major difference in the engineering hull is that the TMP ship's is longer, extending further backward.
The engines, as noted by others, are the most different in shape and size and certainly in detail.
Both ships vary a great deal from the original TOS design in specific lines and proportions.
Some of the way the Loos model appears in those photos has to do with camera lenses, yeah. The saucer looks much more like the TMP design when sighting from back to front through the nacelles, as in the drydock picture, than it does head-on.
You can probably get a better sense of the overall saucer shape from a photo of the Phase II model as it was converted later to resemble the TMP ship:
http://wonderworksweb.com/ftpfolder/Photo/pictures/image137.jpg
I doubt that major alterations were done to the contours unless absolutely necessary - the point of finishing and selling it was to turn a profit, after all, and those kind of alterations would be time consuming (note the lack of attention to properly finishing off the hangar bay area). Also, the rounding on the upper and lower edges of the saucer rim is somewhat different than on the TMP model, which will affect the visually apparent thickness.
http://wonderworksweb.com/ftpfolder/Photo/pictures/image137.jpg
I doubt that major alterations were done to the contours unless absolutely necessary - the point of finishing and selling it was to turn a profit, after all, and those kind of alterations would be time consuming (note the lack of attention to properly finishing off the hangar bay area). Also, the rounding on the upper and lower edges of the saucer rim is somewhat different than on the TMP model, which will affect the visually apparent thickness.
antiquityscion
Commander
Hey, I thought this was the Phase II Enterprise? Please explain!
*note how it has the same basic silhouette as the Enterprise D, and uses the same color as the Cardassian ships!
*note how it has the same basic silhouette as the Enterprise D, and uses the same color as the Cardassian ships!
^^ That was early conceptual work when they were throwing around the idea of having a new design for the ship rather than choosing to go with something more familiar. You can also clearly see the Star Wars influence and it certainly does look like it would have been more at home in that universe than Star Trek.
I'm one of the few who have never cared much for the PII design, most particularly the nacelles and support pylons. I think the TMP design was a huge improvement although I would have liked some more substance in the nacelles width wise as I felt they were too narrow.
I'm one of the few who have never cared much for the PII design, most particularly the nacelles and support pylons. I think the TMP design was a huge improvement although I would have liked some more substance in the nacelles width wise as I felt they were too narrow.
antiquityscion
Commander
Yeah, I do see the star wars influence, and I thought the pics I posted were the final proposal, before they cancelled phase 2, and moved onto TMP. Thanks for clearing that up! 
Personally, I think the TMP version of the refit Enterprise is just fine. In fact, I have always liked the TMP version over the TOS version, though I do like both. Probably my only complaint is that the warp nacelles don't glow in most of the movies. Compared to TNG era, as well as Star Trek Enterprise, they look out of place a little.
Now, I am not an advocate for re-edits and so forth (IE the many versions of Star Wars SE, Blade Runner, etc), but when they retouched TMP, I would not have minded a mild glow added to the nacelles.
Personally, I think the TMP version of the refit Enterprise is just fine. In fact, I have always liked the TMP version over the TOS version, though I do like both. Probably my only complaint is that the warp nacelles don't glow in most of the movies. Compared to TNG era, as well as Star Trek Enterprise, they look out of place a little.
Now, I am not an advocate for re-edits and so forth (IE the many versions of Star Wars SE, Blade Runner, etc), but when they retouched TMP, I would not have minded a mild glow added to the nacelles.
I've never been all that fond of all the extra lighting they've added to later Trek ships. Yes, it started in TMP, but there it was more subtle. In TNG and later it became a regular practice and didn't look more high tech to me at all even though it was meant to convey exotic and highly advanced technology. I just thought it looked gimmicky and less serious in terms of design.
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