What's the point of Aztec-ing on the hull?

[Kamen Rider Blade]

Why did the modelers apply "Aztec-ing" patterns onto the hull?

What's the logical point of it?

It's not quite Digital Camoflage.

So why not go for a different paint scheme / look?

 

[saddestmoon]

Good quesion:

off the top of my head - from a design POV, visually it breaks up and creates interest within what can be perceived as the hulls surface ‘blank space’.

From the POV of making the 1701 Refit appear more realistic - aztecing conveys a sense of the hull being made up of smaller component plating - detailing which makes sense if one is trying to achieve a more realistic finish.

It also simply differentiates the surfaces of the TOS 1701 - from the Refit - which is maybe what the artists wanted to do.

More budget = more potential to change things up visually from what had gone before?

In universe: - polarising armour (it was that simply a much later Enterprise-Era idea?)

 

[Nightfall to-Ennien]

Speaking from a metallurgical perspective, it could be to have the crystalline lattice of the metal in different orientations so as to prevent crack propagation

 

[CorporalCaptain]

By having barely resolvable detail in wider shots, it makes it look bigger, or in other words not as much like a model.

 

[Tenacity]

In universe, I figure it's part of the close to the hull shields.

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

I've always like the new car look with smooth glossy clear coat over paint =D

 

[Christopher]

From the POV of making the 1701 Refit appear more realistic - aztecing conveys a sense of the hull being made up of smaller component plating - detailing which makes sense if one is trying to achieve a more realistic finish.

Yes, exactly. Since they were making TMP for the big screen, they wanted the new miniature to be far more detailed than the original, so they painted it to look like the hull was assembled from thousands of individual plates. It was mainly about giving it an interesting visual texture. Star Wars and other films tended to do that by sticking all sorts of kitbashed greebly details on the hulls, but that wouldn't have fit the Starfleet aesthetic.

Speaking from a metallurgical perspective, it could be to have the crystalline lattice of the metal in different orientations so as to prevent crack propagation

I think I used that explanation in my post-TMP novel Ex Machina 15 years ago.

 

[Gepard]

By having barely resolvable detail in wider shits, it makes it look bigger, or in other words not as much like a model.

It's this. This is the answer.

 

[publiusr]

...so they painted it to look like the hull was assembled from thousands of plates

You can see that for real with China’s FAST array.

 

[NCC-73515]

barely resolvable detail in wider shits

I hope to never see any detail of that

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Star Wars and other films tended to do that by sticking all sorts of kitbashed greebly details on the hulls, but that wouldn't have fit the Starfleet aesthetic.

Now starting to picture to 1701 with greeblies all over the hull

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I hope to never see any detail of that

Some days, you can't make even one post without an embarrassing typo!

 

[valkyrie013]

What other series has clean ships and uses paint to convey complexity? There are a few out there, but mainly Trek.
As said, most use Greebles to convey size and complexity.
Some ships in B5 like, well B5 and the excalibur, maybe shadow vessels use texture to convey complexity.
Plus It looks Freaking Cool!

 

[Forbin]

Now starting to picture to 1701 with greeblies all over the hull

The Stargazer and the Bozeman were victims of that trend.

 

[FalTorPan]

Why did the modelers apply "Aztec-ing" patterns onto the hull?

What's the logical point of it?

It's not quite Digital Camoflage.

So why not go for a different paint scheme / look?

To make many Star Trek model kits look like they have skin rashes.

 

[Albertese]

Recall too that the Space shuttle was just coming on line when TMP was being made. The ceramic tiles and thermal blankets of the real life vehicle give it a textured look that the model builders of the ship wanted to evoke. It also (as mentioned above) makes the thing look bigger on screen. (Regarding Greeblies... look at the ILM ships in TWOK and TSFS. The Reliant, the Merchantman, and Bird of Prey and even the Excelsior and Grissom all have their begreebled sections. ILM does love themselves some greeblies!)

In universe, it was suggested in Mister Scott's Guide to the Enterprise (p.13) that the TOS ship had a similarly azteced hull surface but this was painted over in a layer of gray thermal coat paint which was omitted from the refit as a substantial mass savings.

--Alex

 

[137th Gebirg]

^^^ IIRC, this is the real-world reason for why this was done. Everything was all about the Space Shuttle back then.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Lora Johnson's explanation from Mr. Scott's Guide was that they simply never painted the rebuilt Enterprise like they did the original version.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Recall too that the Space shuttle was just coming on line when TMP was being made. The ceramic tiles and thermal blankets of the real life vehicle give it a textured look that the model builders of the ship wanted to evoke.

That's a great observation.

 

[David cgc]

In universe, it was suggested in Mister Scott's Guide to the Enterprise (p.13) that the TOS ship had a similarly azteced hull surface but this was painted over in a layer of gray thermal coat paint which was omitted from the refit as a substantial mass savings.

Something also inspired by the Space Shuttle, where the orange external fuel tank was initially painted white to protect the tank from being damaged sitting out in the harsh Florida sun for days before launch, but after the first couple flights, more testing of the material covering tank was completed, which confirmed it wasn't especially vulnerable to UV rays and the paint was unnecessary.