Shaw

Thanks! This project had stalled a bit, but I hope to make some more progress on it soon. I did finally get some silicone rubber, and made molds of the Enterprise parts. With those molds ready, I figured I'd test how all the parts fit together by assembling the masters. Here is how that test turned out... I also really wanted to see one of the lifting body designs completed, so I decided to throw together the masters of the X-24A (as it is the one I was least invested in). Here is how it turned out... This is the model right after painting...

So this is a rebuild/upgrade of my second study model based on the 33 inch studio model. This project is similar to the rebuild/upgrade I did to my first study model (here), except that this model is meant to replicate the studio model as it looked towards the end of the original series. I mainly wanted to get this model to look like my 2019 studio scale Enterprise (here), only at two-thirds studio scale. While working on this model I put together this comparison with an image of the original from around 1979... What is interesting to note is that both models a

Along time ago... STAR WARS! So when Star Wars came out, I wasn't as taken with it as much as most of my friends. I've always been into Star Trek and Star Wars didn't seem to speak to me in the same way. Fast forward to December of 1979, and my friends camped out with me to catch the first showing of Star Trek The Motion Picture. Naturally I did the same for them a few months later for the Empire Strikes Back... and I fell in love with that movie! After the opening showing I rushed back in line to watch it again. And by the end of the opening weekend I had seen it four times.

I figured I'd share my study model of the Phase II Enterprise from the canceled Star Trek II TV series. The project started out in 2007 with my cleaning up Jefferies' plans for the new Enterprise (here), and by 2012 I realized I had enough information on how the design was intended to look that I could build a reasonable representation of the ship. I had always intended to build another one of these, so with this first one when I came across differences between Jefferies' intent and the studio model being built by Price and Loos, I went with Jefferies' version of the details. The diffe

Thanks guys! Yeah, I know that the refit is a lot of people's favorite... I haven't gotten around to finishing mine yet. But here is my unfinished pre-TMP refit with my pilot model... And here is a couple group shots of some of them. In these shots we have the starships Columbia, my pilot Enterprise and my pre-TMP Enterprise. And below them is my shuttlecraft Columbus and a test assembly of the masters of my scratch built space shuttle Enterprise. I had made molds of all the space shuttle parts, but I'm no where near getting the

Backstory In 2007 I drafted my first plans of the 33 inch Enterprise model. I knew that they had errors and that the only way to find them was to build a model based on the plans and compare it to existing photos of the original model. Not being much of a model maker, I had hoped that by making the plans available that someone with real talent might take a stab at it. In 2009 I decided I may as well give it a try, and I built my first two-thirds scale study model. Because it was a daunting project and I really hadn't built any models since the mid 1990s, it was made with a lot of com

Here is a collection of shots of my model (all taken with day light in my apartment). And here is a comparison of my model with an image of the original model taken back in 1968. Slightly off topic... Back in 2019, when I finished this model, I decided that I wanted to (at some future date) modify/upgrade my study models to incorporate many of the details of my final model that were inaccurate or missing on the earlier models. I started by disassembling my

Thanks guys! So, full disclosure, I've never seen a 1/350 model in person. I have seen the boxed kit at a hobby shop, and I assume that the completed model weighs about the same or less. I bring this up because my model is pretty heavy, and the gooseneck arm has a hard time supporting the weight. I had put a thin (quarter inch diameter) wood rod inside the arm to help re-enforce it, but after about a year displaying it that way, the rod snapped and the model fell over. I believe that most of the damage to the original model between the first season and the end of

Thanks guys! My reservations weren't just me doubting my abilities. By 2007 I had seen a number of people attempt a 1/350 scale version with mixed results. The worst being the Unobtainium models which generally ended up like these... What changed my mind was watching Thomas Sasser work on a 1/350 scale model in 2007 and Steve Neill working on a half-studio scale model in 2010. Between what I learned from them and a few strategies I had come up with, I figured I might have a chance at building a decent model. One tool I developed was an alignment box. I used

Introduction This is going to be a little backwards... I'll start with images of the finished model (completed back in 2019), and then I'll hit on some of the interesting aspects of building it. It should be noted that I had tried out a lot of the techniques I used on smaller models to make sure that they would actually work before trying with this one (models like my USS Columbia and Phase II Enterprise). The project itself started out more as reverse engineering plans of the original 33 inch model (back in 2007), mostly in the hope that someone with some real talent would att

Thanks a ton for the encouragement guys!

Introduction This is more or less a snapshot of my understanding of this subject, an understanding which is evolving with each day I spend researching this topic. This research started in ernest in 2007, but my passion for this model goes back to my first viewing of "Requiem for Methuselah". Throughout the 70's, 80's and 90's, all my models of the Enterprise were measured against the image of the 33 inch model on the table in Flint's lab (and they always fell short). While my main focus in this thread is on the 33 inch model of the Enterprise, the broader subject at hand is all

This looks stunning! I'm wondering... in your research have you come across the reason for modifying this area on the original model for the NCC version? The images I have of the model when filmed for TNG don't show any damage to this area that might require repair/modification... and the changes weren't all that visible in STVI. Just curious if you had heard anything about it.

Still waiting on some stuff I need, but here are a few shots of my progress on the Enterprise...

So the one-sixth scale and 1/500 scale were chosen mostly for mathematical convenience. The primary hull of the large studio model is approximately 60" in diameter, and my model's primary hull is 10" in diameter... making it one-sixth the size. The fictional starship's primary hull is 5004" in diameter, which means my model is also about 1/500 scale (so the Enterprise would be just under 23" long). Because I wanted to make the model match the real life studio model (missing elements and all), yes, I've entertained the idea of making a diorama with effects and camera crew members workin