# TOS Bridge Colours



## Cappy1 (Jan 17, 2011)

Being that the the re-issue of the command bridge has come out.
I was wondering if there is a list of paint colours that accurately 
reflect, the colours used on the set.


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## kdaracal (Jan 24, 2009)

Cappy1 said:


> Being that the the re-issue of the command bridge has come out.
> I was wondering if there is a list of paint colours that accurately
> reflect, the colours used on the set.


Not sure about this, but Round 2 will probably have a pretty accurate list.


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## Opus Penguin (Apr 19, 2004)

They were pretty accurate on the colors of the 1:350 Enterprise but had Gary's help on that. So this one may not be quite as clear. I have started gathering pictures and other references that will help me get it as accurate as possible. I am also getting additional parts from DLM to make it more accurate as well since the kit is not as accurate as it could be.


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## Cappy1 (Jan 17, 2011)

I hope they do provide a accurate list. I know from past experience,
that is sometimes not the case. I guess the only way to be sure is to
see what they recommend and compare it to what we collectively know.

Being that I have yet to get the kit in my hands, maybe someone who has 
it can chime in on the colours Round 2 recommends, for comparison.


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## phicks (Nov 5, 2002)

And did anything change colours on the TOS bridge between seasons? Just a thought, as I recall that the TNG bridge was subtly changed each season (e.g., different coloured carpeting each season).


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## irocer (Aug 22, 2000)

The sheet does have some callouts but its not that good, you will need other references. Looks like most of the light gray are fs35414/testors mm2033, overhead panel inserts?- fs35109/ testors mm2031. Lt. sea gray fs 36307/testors mm1726 for the steps and nav/helm platform. Aircraft int. black fs37031/testors mm2040 for station floors. Russian market red-testors mm2127 for all red areas. RAF Azure blue-testors mm2048 for chairs.

The sheet says-"This paint guide supplies a suggestion for color. It is the modelers option to thoroughly research the film footage to determine more accurate color."

Hope that helps.


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## Trek Ace (Jul 8, 2001)




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## MGagen (Dec 18, 2001)

Great to hear from you again, Trek ACE; haven't noticed you posting recently.

One item you left off: The red used on the doors and railings. Some sources have reported that it was more of a pumpkin orange or terra cotta than the scarlet red it looks onscreen. Do you know what color they used?

M.


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## SFCOM1 (Sep 3, 2002)

I remember when I saw the original Captain's Chair (when it was being sold by Profiles in History) It look a very light neutral grey (of course it had faded after decades of misuse and storage). I saw one of the last remaining pieces of carpet from the bridge (the Defence Monitor station, where the giant "Alert Condition" sign was. It was as Trek Ace said a Dark Grey carpet it had some tecture with lighter grey fibers, but nothing that would have changed the color on screen!


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## Tiberious (Nov 20, 2001)

I really appreciate Trek ACE's picture and listing of colors, but I am unsure about the two carpet colors. I took an extended search throughout the web, found a place selling pieces of the carpet (dark gray) which was nice. But I THINK that the carpet is all one color, just that the center area is better lit. What do you guys think on this?

Tib


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## Cappy1 (Jan 17, 2011)

You might want to check out Mike Makkreel's youtube build videos.
I think he hits the nail on the head with his colour selections, for the floor.
Check out the episode "This side of Paradise", the part when Kirk is on the 
bridge alone. You'll see what I mean. Mike uses a textured multi colour paint
called Autumn brown for the upper deck and a bronze for the lower. Looks
pretty spot on to me.


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## Trek Ace (Jul 8, 2001)

MGagen said:


> Great to hear from you again, Trek ACE; haven't noticed you posting recently.
> 
> One item you left off: The red used on the doors and railings. Some sources have reported that it was more of a pumpkin orange or terra cotta than the scarlet red it looks onscreen. Do you know what color they used?
> 
> M.


Not the precise name of the color, but it was definitely red. Certainly not a pumpkin orange, nor a terracotta (brown-ish red). Banner Red may be close. I actually used to have a set of the paint swatches that were used by construction and paint crews for the original sets. On the backs there were mixing ratios for the colors. I wish I still had that now. 

Differing exposures can cause colors like red to shift, often resulting in reds appearing to be red-orange, orange, and then yellow as the exposure increases.


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## Trek Ace (Jul 8, 2001)

Tiberious said:


> I really appreciate Trek ACE's picture and listing of colors, but I am unsure about the two carpet colors. I took an extended search throughout the web, found a place selling pieces of the carpet (dark gray) which was nice. But I THINK that the carpet is all one color, just that the center area is better lit. What do you guys think on this?
> 
> Tib


There were two carpet "colors" used on the production version of the bridge: light gray and dark gray. The light gray carpet was in the center area, and the dark gray on the upper level.

Now, the bridge floor on both pilots was just one color: light gray.

The same two carpet tones were used in the transporter room: light gray for the floor, and dark gray for the steps to the chamber. The steps often photographed as a very dark charcoal or even black, but they were the same dark gray carpet as on the upper level of the bridge. The dark gray carpet was also used on the floor of the shuttlecraft interior set.


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## MGagen (Dec 18, 2001)

TrekAce, 

Thanks for the reply on the Red color; and for the detail on the further uses of the carpets. I hadn't known about their use in the Transporter Room set.

You comments are always most informative...

M.


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## modelmaker 2001 (Sep 6, 2007)

Contact Starship Farragut or Star Trek New Voyages/Phase 2. Those guys have built bridge sets using actual original paint chips.

The turbolift doors, railing, and helm/navigation console are actually orange, sort of an "international orange" like what is used for safety cones, extension cords, and such. It's not red, terra cotta, nor a pumpkin color. Both the upper level and lower level carpet are all the same shade of grey (it looks like 2 different colors due to the lighting). Though, as the carpet got worn out and replaced, it may have changed colors. The chairs are light blue. The overhead large bridge inserts where the displays are located are a light geyish blue and the borders edging around the big overhead displays themselves are an even lighter light blue, almost white. The Captain's chair and walls are a very light neutral grey. The trim on the Captain's chair armrests is walnut. 

But contact those fan film companies to get actual color samples.


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## RSN (Jul 29, 2008)

Too many "expert", just paint your model the way your mind and memory sees and remembers if. If you paint the doors orange, but everything inside you says they are red, once the model is done, it will never look right to you. There is no right or wrong, just have fun with it, no one is going to come in your house and tell you it is not right!!


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## modelmaker 2001 (Sep 6, 2007)

Sure, go ahead and paint it whatever you colors that you want to. I thought that the question was asking about what the accurate colors of the actual bridge set were.

"I was wondering if there is a list of paint colours that accurately 
reflect, the colours used on the set."


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## Cappy1 (Jan 17, 2011)

MM2001, you are correct. That was the question. RSN, you are also correct, paint the model in neon colours if that's what you want to do. This hobby is all about having fun and being creative. For those of us where the the fun is in recreating, in miniature, a set that existed almost 50 years ago, and where and why the question was posed. I've built this model, back in my childhood and want to do it justice. I've bought the photo etch etc..,now on to the paint. For me (being a tad OCD), I won't be happy if I'm at least not very close. After modeling for more that 30 yrs, I'm having more fun than I ever have modeling, cutting it apart to put it back together. The paint is were the results will show. Then it's on to the figures.

Picked up some of the Rawcliffe pewter figures that I plan on casting in resin, then modifying, to put on the bridge. With lights, sound, plus the figures I have a bit of work ahead of me so I want to be confident moving forward (not wasting time or money in the process).


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## Trek Ace (Jul 8, 2001)

Here are some shots to illustrate what I mentioned earlier:

If you compare these frames of the transporter consoles, you can see the difference in the console face color between the original and the STC recreation:










International orange was used on the sets for second pilot, but it was deemed too bright, and was replaced with a darker shade with much more red content.

Here are some shots of the bridge floor from the second pilot, note that it is all one color - light gray.










Here is the same shot again. Look closely at the floor near the lift between these two shots comparing the 2nd pilot carpet color to the series carpet:










Next, we have a shot with closeups of the upper level carpet and the center area carpet from the series:










Finally, compare the dark carpets between the bridge and the shuttlecraft:










I'm going to take a break now, and let you youngsters battle it out amongst yourselves.


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## Cappy1 (Jan 17, 2011)

Trek Ace:

Thanks for the comparison shot. Those are extremely helpful and certainly illustrate your
point on colour biases created by the lighting. Its funny because, when I was viewing the episode I mentioned, I thought to my self yup thats the colour. Turns out my choice was way off. Glad I haven't thrown down any paint yet.


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## Trek Ace (Jul 8, 2001)

One last set of frames for comparison.

To the left is the bridge as it was in the second pilot. Look past Kelso at the helm and you can clearly see that the carpet on both levels of the bridge are the same color. On the right is a series bridge shot clearly showing that there are two different shades of gray, with the upper level being much darker than the lower, center area, which is light gray. This is not based on any perceived lighting differences, but in the fact that there were indeed two different shades of gray used.


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## ClubTepes (Jul 31, 2002)

Trek Ace,

Great shots. Thank you.

A question though, since it seems you may have worked on the series.

Since any change costs money, changes can be made based on aesthetics determined by the production designer (or a change of production designers in some cases) or out of necessity.

From a lighting persons standpoint, I could see the darker carpet being used on the upper levels to reflect less light onto the set walls, increasing some contrast. And leaving the lighter carpet in the center area giving more bounce light for the actors (don't need to insert a bounce card or anything-speeding up the lighting process).

I wonder, if there might be any truth to this line of thinking.


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## Bay7 (Nov 8, 1999)

Can I just mention a slightly off topic observation that the 2nd pilot bridge appears to be offset with the view screen being at the 11 o'clock position from the helm?

I've never noticed that before.

steve


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## ClubTepes (Jul 31, 2002)

Bay7 said:


> Can I just mention a slightly off topic observation that the 2nd pilot bridge appears to be offset with the view screen being at the 11 o'clock position from the helm?
> 
> I've never noticed that before.
> 
> steve


I've noticed that myself before.

The most likely explanation, is that the center platform was movable, and for some reason it was 'cheated' off to the right for some reason for frame composition.


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## Trek Ace (Jul 8, 2001)

The second pilot bridge center and railings were unique in that they were offset at about 18 degrees from center, as opposed to the 36 degrees from the first pilot and series. This resulted in having to 'cheat' the POV of the helm to the screen. On screen, they look straight ahead to the view the main screen. While on the set, they would have had to look to their left.

As to Club's earlier question, the darker carpet did add contrast to the bridge, as well as looking more aesthetically pleasing. The lighter carpet would bounce more light up from the floor, thereby adding to the base light, but there were still a lot of bounce cards and scrims used for fill.

I know this has been discussed before, but the colors that appear as they are on screen are not necessarily the colors or values that are on the actual sets, costumes or props. I have lost count as to how many supposed 'experts' claimed that the phaser pistols were 'blue' or the bridge screen insets were 'blue' or 'bluegray' when, in fact they were just gray. Or that the floor of the bridge was 'brown' or 'tan', or that the set walls were 'white'. I greatly applaud the folks who are passionate enough to sink a considerable amount of time, resources and money into recreating the physical standing sets, costumes and props from the original show. But, they often make the mistake of assuming that the colors that the originals appeared on screen were the same that they actually were painted. Those who paint the recreations with the colors that they appeared on screen always look incorrect when they are then photographed, like with the bright 'orange' transporter console replica in the comparison image earlier on.


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## Cappy1 (Jan 17, 2011)

A great many thanks to all that have chimed in on this subject. It has been extremely helpful. For me and my build anyway. One of the things I picked out, from the images, was confirmation that the chair bases were a dark grey. Many of us would just paint them black.

So here is the direction I'm considering for paint colours.
Tamiya AS-16 (usaf lt. grey) for the walls.
Tamiya semi gloss black for the consoles, plat form and helm trim etc
MM Chevy engine red for turbo lift door, helm, rails console edges.
Rustoleum aged iron multi texture spray for the upper deck carpet.

This is my working list so far and not set in stone. If any one wants to advise, that would be appreciiated as I'm a little red deficient. So I see colours differently.

Thanks a bunch


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## robn1 (Nov 17, 2012)

Cappy1 said:


> ...So here is the direction I'm considering for paint colours.
> Tamiya AS-16 (usaf lt. grey) for the walls.
> Tamiya semi gloss black for the consoles, plat form and helm trim etc
> MM Chevy engine red for turbo lift door, helm, rails console edges.
> Rustoleum aged iron multi texture spray for the upper deck carpet...


I'd use flocking powder to create the carpet texture.
http://www.hobbylinc.com/detail-master-velour-flocking-light-gray-plastic-model-vehicle-accessory-kit-1:24-1:25-scale-1603

http://www.hobbylinc.com/htm/dtm/dtm1605.htm

Car modelers use it to simulate interior fabrics, and Steve Neill used it for the velour upholstery on his Time Machine model a couple years ago.


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## modelmaker 2001 (Sep 6, 2007)

Thanks for the side-by-side photos, TrekAce. I definitely stand corrected!


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## Tiberious (Nov 20, 2001)

Wow, this is great information! I am planning to use a fairly dark gray primer for the upper carpet, And a light gray for the center floor! Thanks so much all, especially Trek Ace. It seems you could put out a paint guide and profit from your experience and knowledge of TOS! I know we are all profiting from your insight, so thanks again!

Tib


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## Cappy1 (Jan 17, 2011)

That was the whole point of starting this thread. There has been a lot of talk on the 
colour of the outside of the Enterprise. Not very much about the inside (recently anyway).
So I was hoping for those type of meaningful conversations to occur, on this subject.
We are certainly on our way. Just a side note on the AS-16 colour I mentioned.
Don't pay any attention to Tamiya's little colour swatch, on their web site. The colour 
is different in person (a whole lot lighter). There are some images of the can on the web. The top is a lot closer to what is in the can for paint.


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## Tiberious (Nov 20, 2001)

This has been a very helpful topic for me, particularly Trek Ace's input. My AMT Bridge is starting, had to mix the light blue for the chairs, nothing comes close that I can find. The Walls, screen inserts, etc. will be trial and error. Thanks again all for the great discussion!
Tib


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## Tiberious (Nov 20, 2001)

I hate following up on my own question, but does someone have a good spray match for the bulkheads (walls) in the bridge? The directions are useless and I wasn't sure if Light Gray is a generalization or the correct color.

Thanks,
Tib.


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## jimkirk (May 27, 2010)

I ended up mixing my own for the walls.
I first sprayed them Neutral Grey but it turned out way too dark.
I added a bunch of white to it till I got a shade I liked.
It was flat so I sprayed semi gloss clear on them. 
I am using sky blue for the chairs and trim on the overhead screens.
It's close enough for me.


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## Cappy1 (Jan 17, 2011)

Tiberious:

Next time your at your LHS, take a look at Tamiya AS-16 usaf light gray spray.
I'm kinda liking that colour. Has a nice sheen as well. Thats the one I selected.
Looks really good from the test spray I did. Sorry no pictures to post. Still fiddling 
with the layout and photo etch. The only real painting I've done thus far is to see what some of the paint I've selected, looks like dry and on plastic.


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## Tiberious (Nov 20, 2001)

Thanks guys! As I'm horrible with the airbrush I'll probably try the Tamiya out if they have it! I mixed my own paint for the chairs as they didn't have the sky blue, will check again since I'll be making another trip out there, last look everything seemed too blue.

Thanks again,

Tib


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## RSN (Jul 29, 2008)

Some people were confused about the viewscreen not lining up with the navigation console, this shot ought to throw you for a loop. The captains chair and helm and navigation are directly in front of the elevator, not off-set in any way in front of the communication console. Anyone build their lower bridge section on a lazy Susan?!!


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## StarCruiser (Sep 28, 1999)

Hmmm - what if the command section was capable of rotating?


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## RSN (Jul 29, 2008)

StarCruiser said:


> Hmmm - what if the command section was capable of rotating?


Also notice the plate on the floor in front of the elevator door that was the activator to let the lift know someone wanted to enter!


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## jlwshere (Mar 30, 2007)

On the HD blu ray version I noticed that the interior elevator carpet was green. It's been a while since I watched those eps (season 2) but I remember it really stood out to me as something I had not noticed before.


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