66" T.O.S. Starship Enterprise

Modeling Subjects Science Fiction
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Greetings all-
Hey all you Star Trek fans! Here is another day job-related project (www.customreplicas.com) we’re building for a client, a 66" long original series (T.O.S.) Enterprise. The large components are made of fiberglass, with resin detail parts, acrylic armature, and LED lighting. This is an exact reproduction of the original filming miniature used in the original Star Trek series (the original series filming model was 11 feel long, and made mostly of wood). The “assembled” photos show a preliminary test fitting of the major components onto the secondary hull, which is the central (and most complex) part of the ship. I’ll be posting more pics as progress is made. Enjoy-

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Wow!

Is it the original-original or the remastered-original that you are making?

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That is one heck of a project. It looks like it is coming along great!

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I’d like to submit my job aplication with you now.

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That’s pretty cool. Where are you going to park it when its finished? Its own hangar?

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This is the reworked original (after the pilot show).

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Thanks. It will be parked on a lovely stand, on someone’s coffee table, most likely.

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Wow, that’s awesome! Thanks for sharing your photos.

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How are you controlling or going to control the proverbial warp engine sag and twist out of alignment that seems to plague any TOS Enterprise model? Metal internal frame work? However, what I’ve seen so far is extremely nice work. Magoo

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Excellent work, Mark, and your usual high standard!

Now, will you cut out a circle of plywood and airbrush it for a planet in the background for the Enterprise to orbit? [:D]

Best regards,

Brad

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This is your day job…do they pay you too? Or do you pay them to be able to do this kind of work? Lucky dog!!

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Thank you. The ship has internal metal and acrylic bracing in various strategic locations. There is some flex, but virtually no sag.

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Thanks Brad. There will indeed be a planet, but it is a hemispherical acrylic dome (painted as a planet), which sits at the base of the stand. It will be very nice looking.

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That is flippin’ amazing. WOW.

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Yes, surprisingly, this is a paying gig. It is work, we definitely have deadlines that must be met, but it can also be quite fun and interesting.

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That is too awesome! Please keep posting your build.

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ModelNerd, Thanks for the information. For me TOS was a kick in my imagination that has never died. The real star, in my opinion was the ship and its technology. In a time when most science fiction shows were apt to show a saucer or some kind of aerodynamic finned rocket Star Trek had a ship. Although it had a saucer section it had other major parts. The show from time to time showed you other parts of the ship like the shuttle bay or the theater. The Turbo Lift as well gave you a since of great size. The ship was the star of the show giving the crew a comfortable ride with quality air, food, water, and gravity while affording the crew some leisure time as well. The job you are doing on this model is out standing and should do the original modelers of the original series proud. Magoo

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ModelNerd, I got to thinking with an model this big you could build out of clear Lucite or something leaving the floors and walls clear. Then painting tables, consoles, chairs, and crew you could lift each deck off giving you a look at each one to see where everything was in the ship. If you went with three shifts you would have a third on duty, a third off duty, and a third asleep. This would be a monumental undertaking but way cool. The original 11 foot model was close to 1/72 scale (sorry going off of memory) that could afford some real detail but it would be very heavy. Any thoughts (anyone) on building a clear see/through/view ?, what a group build but we would all have to plan vacations and all work on one model!!! Magoo

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at that scale, it should have at least had a few rooms behind the windows and a bridge.

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Wow, it’s looking fantastic right now. Please keep us updated, heading over to see your website now to make sure you’re holding out on us with the pics!