33 inch TOS Enterprise - Studio Scale Replica (Pic heavy)

[Shaw]

Thanks guys!


A few more test assembly shots... this time with both nacelle dome assemblies in place and deflector assembly (with most of the parts) attached. The first set is slightly higher resolution (but missing the deflector assembly)...


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The next set is at my normal resolution...



One of the things I noticed is that the nacelles seem better balanced with the dome assembly elements in place.

The next big step will be bringing the secondary hull together (rather than have the pieces taped together as they are right now). What I'll need to do to start that is build an alignment box much like the one I built for the Phase II Enterprise...



This well help me make sure that the nacelles align with the primary hull, which is done via the secondary hull. The nacelles only need to be partly assembled and the primary hull is mostly assembled for these parts to correctly align the dorsal and nacelle support pylons in the secondary hull as I bring it together.

[Shaw]

The last few sets of images had been bothering me because the rear nacelle end caps weren't matching up with the reference images of the original model. This seemed really odd since the parts were based on measurements from those same images.

I took the last couple days to walk through all the steps I had used to make the original master and spotted a mistake I had made... I inverted the curve. That is to say, if you applied the curve to a cylinder and cut along it, you'd end up with a part that was correctly shaped and one that wasn't... when making my template for cutting the parts, I arranged it to use the wrong side of the curve.

I started making a new nacelle end cap master and I'm nearly done. I should be able to pour a new mold this week and make up two new parts that are the correct shape.

This is part of the reason for some of the shots I take of the model seeming like they are being repeated, they are repeating because they're at angles that match some of my reference images and it lets me do comparisons.

Anyways, here is my progress on that new master...

[Shaw]

I figured I'd start giving the model a chance to stand on it's own. These are some shots of the nacelles, support pylons and secondary hull, just slot fitted together...



Considering the fact that I left some play in the attachment points to adjust the alignment later on, these parts are holding their positions quite nicely. And there doesn't seem to be any issues holding the weight, so that is one less thing to worry about.

I did a bit more work on the secondary hull, mainly making sure that the two sides aligned correctly and then that they were together securely enough to support the model's weight (because everything branches out from this one part). I also finally got around to making a new mold for the rear nacelle end caps and made the new parts.



Most of my efforts have been in making sure that everything fits together correctly and looks like it should. The next major effort will be bringing the nacelle body halves together.

[Shaw]

Worked a bit more on casting the intercoolers and the lower sensor dome platform, and still working on the overall arrangement of the parts (before I lock myself into that arrangement with the alignment box)...

[Shaw]

Thanks a ton! Specially for the Feynman reference, that was awesome!


I did a bit more work on the secondary hull...



Sometimes I forget just how far away from being finished I am while taking these shots.

When I think about everything that is needed to finish it can get a bit overwhelming. I just keep reminding myself that this will be the first time since 1978 that this version of the Enterprise has existed and the first time a studio scale replica of the original Enterprise has ever been made.

Hopefully I won't screw it up.

[Moongrim]

Sometimes I forget just how far away from being finished I am while taking these shots.
--------------

Yes you are taking a while. But that's not a bad thing.

What you're going for- is authenticity.

Which, I'm sad to say, is often lacking in many commercial kit producers. Impatience- will inevitably lead to a poor product.
Take your time, and keep up the Excellent Quality Work!

[Shaw]

I dusted off the parts for this model recently and took a few shots of her. I'll be getting back to work on her as soon as I finish two models of the Galileo I'm working on.

In the mean time, I realized I hadn't posted a few additional shots from earlier, so here are those...






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The reason for putting the parts together was to illustrate the size of the 33 inch Enterprise compared to the 18 inch AMT model. I had put together this example a long time ago...



... but I thought that this might be a better illustration...



And a nicer view of one of those shots...


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The model is actually about 34 inches long (compared to 32.4 inches for the 1/350 TOS Enterprise kit) and she currently weighs in at about 10 pounds.

The nice thing about this test assembly is that she is free standing and able to support her own weight even though she isn't glued together yet. The alignment issues shouldn't be a problem when finally put together as I completed the alignment box for her. Here she is in that box next to the (unfinished) Columbia using the alignment box I made for my Phase II Enterprise...


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I was able to use the Phase II Enterprise's alignment box for the Columbia because both models are 1/500 scale. The 33 inch Enterprise is about 1/333 scale.

[Shaw]

Even though this is the final model, it is still serving the same function that the two earlier study models (at two-thirds studio scale) had... that of a research tool into the history of the Enterprise models. And yeah, all the models used in TOS that played the Enterprise on screen (the 11 foot model, 33 inch model, 18 inch AMT model and the two 3 inch models). It has been interesting to not only note some of there differences, but also to try to figure out where those differences might have originated.

One of the things that I took away from my study of Jefferies original plans (both the October and November 1964 versions) was that they seemed to be a better representation of the 11 foot model than the 33 inch model. Here is a quick-n-dirty comparison (using some of my unfinished drawings) of the 1964 plans, 11 foot model, 33 inch model and 18 inch AMT model (which was designed by Jefferies)...



... and here is the latest version of my plans for the 3 inch models...


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And even though I already posted this in another thread, here is the latest collection of notes of those 1964 plans...


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One of the first things I noticed was that the contours of the secondary hulls of both the 33 inch and 11 foot models were based more on the October plans...


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This was understandable for the 33 inch model as it was started before the November plans had been completed. It was interesting that it was also used on the 11 foot model.

While studying the curves of the November plans for the primary hull I noticed that the forward upper contour was more like that of the 33 inch model, while the rear contour was more like that of the 11 foot model (and the contours shown in the October plans)...


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I'm still trying to find out what might have led to the contour of the underside of the primary hull of the 33 inch model.

And as the subject of the thread is the 33 inch model, here are a few more shots (with comparison images of the original model)...


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[Shaw]

So I was working on one of my other projects (priming and sculpting masters, and hopefully soon making molds) and figured I'd throw in a hand full of smaller parts from the Enterprise that hadn't been primered yet. I know spraying parts with primer isn't exactly progress and I'm not trying to tease that anything has actually happened with this model (yes, I know it's been almost 9 months since the last significant progress on it was made), but having most of the model the same color helps to show how far along it is. I'm really hoping that once this model moves back to being the prime project again it'll move rather quickly towards completion.

Anyways, a couple quick shots...


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... everything is essentially taped in place, nothing is glued together yet (I'm no where near the point where I want to permanently attach any parts).

[Shaw]

A few more shots... in case anyone reads this thread.


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My wife suggested that I haven't actually made it clear what this model represents, so here is a quick description... this is the first ever studio scale TOS Enterprise replica model. It is also going to be the last as I'll be destroying the masters and molds once the model is finished (and maybe the plans and notes too). When finished this model should look as though it had been swiped from Gene Roddenberry's desk back in 1978 (yes, I'm actually going to be building in most of the original model's flaws).

9 years of research, drafting plans and making revisions, teaching myself how to scratch build models (I hadn't built any models since the early 1990's before this project), all for this one model.

Oh well.