SwissArmyTin said:
I have no lifeGreat observations! I’ve always loved this area of the production and also spend hours pouring over books like Mr. Scott’s Guide. If you are really interested in knowing the extent they went to during the production of that movie, pick up the following books.
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NjQ4WDUwNA==/z/GsgAAOSwstxVEdZ8/$_35.JPG
This has been the most in depth look at TMP’s production that I have ever found. It’s essential to anyone who enjoys film making.
http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/images/2/24/Making_of_ST_TMP.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/270?cb=20060305075857&path-prefix=en
In depth production information and another must have.https://tse4.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.oZAuTmbeXV7SCIiC8agbXACwEs&pid=15.1
Not as essential but still an enjoyable (yet filtered) look at what on-set life was like.http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6VPzVlB8N28/SupHGY0spSI/AAAAAAAABUY/vAXY6cjKQHk/w1200-h630-p-k-nu/TREKLOSTYEARS.JPG
Contains information about the aborted second T.V. series that became TMP.http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100119195932/memoryalpha/en/images/thumb/1/1c/PhaseIIbook_cover.jpg/500px-PhaseIIbook_cover.jpg
Another book about the aborted second T.V. series that became TMP. This one has great un-used on-set photos and story treatments.
Huh, some of those are fairly hard to find and kinda on the pricey side. I’m curious, how in-depth do some of them go (mainly the first one) on the model making of the film? There’s one particular point of contention that’s piqued my interest lately, and that’s of the main Enterprise model itself.
In this pic, you can see the unfinished and unpainted model being test fit for the spacedock model:
It still has the TOS-styled sensor dome, an earlier and later scraped torpedo launcher design (as seen in this concept art: http://i.imgur.com/DuFFE8Z.png), but everything else is identical with the final model, even the nacelles and cut-out panels on the underside of the saucer.
That leads straight into this next picture, which to most is just looks like a normal promotional image of the final model:
However, this is where it gets interesting. Look at the bridge dome and the B/C deck assembly. It still uses the TOS-style dome and deck, with an added docking port on the rear and windows for the crew lounge (as seen in the upper-left concept art: http://i.imgur.com/kFzYMhB.png). If you look really hard, you can even see the copious amount of pin striping (the rings around the inner saucer, in-line with the phaser banks, around the warp grills on the nacelles, along the outer edge of the saucer, in-line with the thrusters, and along various places on the secondary hull).
The part that’s up for debate is what caused the pin striping to be removed and the bridge dome to be replaced. One popular theory is the Air conditioner leak, where water dripped on the model, and the bridge assembly, being made of wood, warped and cracked, and was replaced with the new design by Probert. The model was then repainted.
Another theory is that when Douglas Trumbull signed onto the SFX team, he wanted to convert the model to use a self-illumination style of lighting, so the bridge dome (and the TOS-style sensor dome) were redesigned and replaced with ones containing floodlights to help illuminate the saucer. After that was finished, then the A/C leak occurred, forcing the model to be repainted (and the pin stripes removed).
However, there’s this picture:
The model clearly has the new bridge dome and B/C deck assembly, but still has the pin striping (look at the inner saucer) and the registry is missing. The arrowhead insignia is also missing from the secondary hull, so it’s obvious the model is in the middle of a re-paint, but was this before or after the a/c accident? If it’s before the a/c accident, why is the registry missing? It was clearly applied in the earlier promo test picture. If it’s after the a/c accident, then why are the pin stripes still there, and when was the dome replaced? It’s an odd beast that neither confirms or denies either theory.
It’s all a confusing mess with multiple conflicting accounts from crew members, articles, and books, and it seems nobody’s ever been able to get it straight.
Edit:
He said a set of the decals were tested and looked great, then peeled off when the painters went to work doing the pearlescent paintjob.
now I’m even more conflicted.