# Tos Enterprise refurb.



## swhite228 (Dec 31, 2003)

Kurt Kuhn has posted a lot of TOS Enterprise pictures from the Smithsonian Refurbishment done by Ed M.
http://www.modelermagic.com/?p=8672

There are also picts of the Klingon D7 and the Tholian\Aurora ships.


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## Carson Dyle (May 7, 2003)

Nice to see these are finally being made public.

A friendly request from your kindly moderator: The Smithsonian restoration of the TOS Enterprise is a controversial subject amongst TOS fans, and one that tends to generate strong emotions. Kurt Kuhn and swhite228 have been kind enough to share these images with us, and I respectfully ask that we refrain from turning this thread into yet another restoration bash-fest. We all know what the issues are, they've been discussed at length, so let's try to give the negative comments a rest and stay focused on the positive -- which in this case happens to be a pretty amazing archival documentation of the most famous spaceship miniature in history.

On behalf of TOS fans everywhere, thanks for sharing!


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## Carson Dyle (May 7, 2003)

BTW, someone needs to tell Kurt the redressed Tholian ship miniature, aka the _Aurora,_ was used to ferry 3rd season space hippies in "The Way To Eden," and never served time as "Harry Mudd's vessel" as the caption on Kurt's MMM site seems to...

Nevermind.


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## marcus welby (Sep 2, 2007)

Thanks to Kurt for letting these out.

Image 56 - Airfix Astronauts were involved in the restoration! Always knew holding on to that pack would come in handy. Heh Heh.

Bookmarked already, and I'll use these with my "restoration".


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## Lou Dalmaso (Jul 13, 2004)

and....
right click and "save as"

repeat as needed

a bucket of thanks for making these available!:woohoo:


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Looks like the engineering hull was built plank-on frame!


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## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

Drat! I really could have used these a month or so ago while I was doing up the new exterior etch set.

Ain't it always the way? 

Very cool stuf! Thanks for sharing.


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## StarshipClass (Aug 13, 2003)

This particular refit has its own cool factors so I'm very fond of it and very much appreciate the release of the photo-documentation of the refit process. :thumbsup:


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## swhite228 (Dec 31, 2003)

There are more photos taken at the same time posted at Trek Prop Zone.
Together there are around 150 different photos of the E from the restoration that have been posted 

It is interesting how they built the ship! I was impressed by the way they added the lighting by using plexi rods as light pipes.

John P:the engineering hull was built like a barrel then turned to smooth it.


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## Richard38 (Apr 16, 2002)

John P said:


> Looks like the engineering hull was built plank-on frame!


John,

And it was turned on a very large industrial lathe so it is a true conical shape unlike the Jeffries plans and the refit secondary hull

Richard


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## Jim NCC1701A (Nov 6, 2000)

Oh wow.

Those are great "pull apart" photos of the old girl.

Thanks for posting the link.:thumbsup:


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## Lloyd Collins (Sep 25, 2004)

Is this the 18 inch kit?
I still wonder how rust can get on the saucer in space.:freak:

Thanks for the link, I can't get enought of the Grand Lady of Space!


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## mb1k (May 6, 2002)

swhite228 said:


> There are more photos taken at the same time posted at Trek Prop Zone.
> Together there are around 150 different photos of the E from the restoration that have been posted


Guess they're in the forum? I don't see them in the gallery. Suppose I have to join then?


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## Joeysaddress (Jun 16, 2006)

Any way to see the photos on the Trek Prop Zone without joinin the forum?


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## Joeysaddress (Jun 16, 2006)

Tried to register, no longer taking new members! Any ideas on how to see the 150 other photos of this refurb?


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## pagni (Mar 20, 1999)

Amazing !!!!!!!!!
Thanks for posting these


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## WarpCore Breach (Apr 27, 2005)

Agreed!! Seeing how the filming model was constructed is fascinating.

I was suddenly struck with some insight for the Rebellion Creations 1/350 Heavy Cruiser module sets; perhaps some idea as to why the model was broken down the way it was....

In any case, thanks for the opportunity to see this rarely-seen process!


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## Captain April (May 1, 2004)

A little something I noticed that might settle an old debate...










I'm thinking that the area under the bridge is one of the very few areas that hasn't been subjected to almost 45 years of general wear, tear, abuse, neglect, and other unpleasantness, so the paint there is the only samples that wouldn't be oxidized, faded, or otherwise significantly different than when it was applied in '64.

So, are we looking at the actual color of the ship?


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## Lou Dalmaso (Jul 13, 2004)

more likely it was a primer coat to help seal the grain of the wood


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## mb1k (May 6, 2002)

I second that query!


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## Dale Jackson (Feb 25, 2009)

Lou Dalmaso said:


> more likely it was a primer coat to help seal the grain of the wood


I concur. Primer coat.


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## pagni (Mar 20, 1999)

Primer coat.
And not to open a new can of worms but... I have a number of shots of the Enterprise on the soundstage in all of its incarnations and the original color was much closer to stark white than it was to "concrete grey"


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## marc111 (Nov 10, 2005)

pagni said:


> And not to open a new can of worms but... I have a number of shots of the Enterprise on the soundstage in all of its incarnations and the original color was much closer to stark white than it was to "concrete grey"


Pagni, Any chance yu could share those shots in case we have not seen them before?

Thanks,
Mark


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## pagni (Mar 20, 1999)

Yes eventually will when a certain website gets back up and running....(if I dont launch my own first)


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## swhite228 (Dec 31, 2003)

mb1k said:


> Guess they're in the forum? I don't see them in the gallery. Suppose I have to join then?


Yep!



Joeysaddress said:


> Tried to register, no longer taking new members! Any ideas on how to see the 150 other photos of this refurb?


There are only 150 total that are public (that I know of!).

The registration at TPZ is hit and miss so I don't have any idea when it will open again. 
TPZ logs each photo download and watermark the photo so if they get posted without permission you get banned, so those members that have them will probably not be posting them. However I have asked Kurt if he would post the others and passed the original poster his email so they can talk. Hopefully it will happen.


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## sunburn800 (Nov 24, 2006)

I think she was white too, in all the pics i have seen of her over the years she looked white to me in fact every model i have ever built of her i painted her plain white, but that might not work for you. In what ever color you see her in she is a beautiful ship.


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## Joeysaddress (Jun 16, 2006)

If the 150 photos that are out there are public, could they be found anywhere else? I'm dying to see them!


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## swhite228 (Dec 31, 2003)

Joeysaddress said:


> If the 150 photos that are out there are public, could they be found anywhere else? I'm dying to see them!


Trek Prop Zone and Kurt's site are the only 2 sites I know of that have posted them.


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## lunadude (Oct 21, 2006)

Lou Dalmaso said:


> and....
> right click and "save as"
> 
> repeat as needed...


I use a Firefox plugin, called DownThemAll!. Just right click anywhere on the page, select DownThemAll!, select the directory you want them in, and hit OK. It harvests them for you, saving a lot of manual repeats.


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## bigjimslade (Oct 9, 2005)

swhite228 said:


> Kurt Kuhn has posted a lot of TOS Enterprise pictures from the Smithsonian Refurbishment done by Ed M.
> http://www.modelermagic.com/?p=8672
> 
> There are also picts of the Klingon D7 and the TholianAurora ships.



Any reason why, when I click on the thumbnails, I get no picture?


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## swhite228 (Dec 31, 2003)

bigjimslade said:


> Any reason why, when I click on the thumbnails, I get no picture?


I clicked the link from your post and I was able to get the large versions by clicking on the thumbs.

You could cheat and type in the address of each picture as follows:

http://www.modelermagic.com/wordpre...03/kg_star-trek_tos_1701_studio_model-001.jpg

to

http://www.modelermagic.com/wordpre...03/kg_star-trek_tos_1701_studio_model-094.jpg

just change the number to the next .


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## Captain April (May 1, 2004)

pagni said:


> Primer coat.
> And not to open a new can of worms but... I have a number of shots of the Enterprise on the soundstage in all of its incarnations and the original color was much closer to stark white than it was to "concrete grey"


I think it's safe to say that the ship was never white.

It was rather drastically lit for the second pilot, but still gray.


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## NTRPRZ (Feb 23, 1999)

*Red Lines?*

Has anyone ever speculated what those red arcs are on the bottom of the saucer?

They're probably just there for the sake of being there, but I've wondered non the less.


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## EAGLE_01 (Sep 10, 2008)

NTRPRZ said:


> Has anyone ever speculated what those red arcs are on the bottom of the saucer?
> 
> They're probably just there for the sake of being there, but I've wondered non the less.



I always wondered that too, as with the rest of the markings around the ship- all the circles, rectangles and such on the bottom of the Secondary hull, and the numbers around the sides..most likely just put there to break up the blandness of the hull without them, to make it look like a real ship that gets worked on and maintained...


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## Steve Mavronis (Oct 14, 2001)

I've always wondered what the 2 triagular wedges were under the saucer. There is those ridge bumps at the bottoms that remind me kind of like an early version of the ST:TNG phaser arrays.


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## Carson Dyle (May 7, 2003)

Steve Mavronis said:


> I've always wondered what the 2 triagular wedges were under the saucer.


Yeah, for some reason that same detail has always fascinated me. 

Laugh away, but part of me (the silly part) wonders if the original intent was for a series of wedge-shaped landing struts for the saucer section (the third member of the tri-pod being concealed within the dorsal cavity).

As you say, the _real_ intention probably falls within the "because it looks good" category, but it's fun to daydream.


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## Steve Mavronis (Oct 14, 2001)

When I was a kid I thought the same thing!


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## mb1k (May 6, 2002)

Steve Mavronis said:


> When I was a kid I thought the same thing!


As a kid I was sorely disappointed that the AMT kit didn't have the decal for that detail. Even at age 8, I new I was doomed to a life time of detail obsession.


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## Dale Jackson (Feb 25, 2009)

mb1k said:


> As a kid I was sorely disappointed that the AMT kit didn't have the decal for that detail. Even at age 8, I new I was doomed to a life time of detail obsession.


And now you can even get your own decal paper and print on your own inkjet printer. :woohoo:


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## Prowler901 (Jun 27, 2005)

lunadude said:


> I use a Firefox plugin, called DownThemAll!. Just right click anywhere on the page, select DownThemAll!, select the directory you want them in, and hit OK. It harvests them for you, saving a lot of manual repeats.


DUDE! Thanks for that. :thumbsup: Awesome little tool


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## pagni (Mar 20, 1999)

Captain April said:


> I think it's safe to say that the ship was never white.
> 
> It was rather drastically lit for the second pilot, but still gray.


I'll eventually get around to posting shots from the first/ second pilots on soundstage with closeups that show the hull clearly white.


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## Lou Dalmaso (Jul 13, 2004)

Carson Dyle said:


> Yeah, for some reason that same detail has always fascinated me.
> 
> Laugh away, but part of me (the silly part) wonders if the original intent was for a series of wedge-shaped landing struts for the saucer section (the third member of the tri-pod being concealed within the dorsal cavity).
> 
> As you say, the _real_ intention probably falls within the "because it looks good" category, but it's fun to daydream.


It's not just you. I remember that from somewhere as well. maybe a set of bluprints or a tech manual said it.

that third "leg" would really be in the way of the turbo shafts in the neck, but any-hoo..


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## Roguepink (Sep 18, 2003)

pagni said:


> I'll eventually get around to posting shots from the first/ second pilots on soundstage with closeups that show the hull clearly white.


I'm interested to see that.


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## feek61 (Aug 26, 2006)

mb1k said:


> As a kid I was sorely disappointed that the AMT kit didn't have the decal for that detail. Even at age 8, I new I was doomed to a life time of detail obsession.


Me too! I love the photos of my favorite ship! Nice to finally see the details that I've read about for so many years. Also, I think originally in the first pilot that the ship was painted white and then darkened up for the series. I'll try to confirm that but some vauge memory tells me that's what happened.

Will


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## feek61 (Aug 26, 2006)

pagni said:


> I'll eventually get around to posting shots from the first/ second pilots on soundstage with closeups that show the hull clearly white.


The pilot version was was white but was painted gray for production.

BTW, registration for the TPZ is open right now!


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