original enterprise in smithsonian

Carson Dyle

Ed M. has done some restoration work for me in the past. At one point I asked him about the Enterprise restoration.

In a nutshell, Ed's marching orders were to repair the miniature for display. At no point did he receive extensive notes or "creative direction" from NASM (or anyone else) regarding such matters as weathering, paint scheme, etc.

As far the Smithsonian was concerned Ed was a vetted Star Trek expert, and as such he was given what essentially amounts to free reign to restore and refinish the Big E as he saw fit ("artistic license" is the phrase he used).

One may not agree with Ed's choices, but according to Ed they were his choices.

FWIW.

p51

Even though I’ve never lived in the area, I’ve seen the model several times, the first time was when they had that extensive Trek exhibit on the top floor of the museum (in the same place they later had the Star Wars exhibit, which I was also lucky enough to see). The model was then hung well above the floor so you had to look up at it and couldn’t see it well. I too was surprised to see it downstairs last year but I’m happy it’s even on display at all. If people truly understood how much great stuff the Smithsonian has in storage, you should all be VERY grateful they’re showing it at all. Here’s a couple of shot I took last year:


What was up with all the airbrushing to the model as currently displayed? Of the photos I’ve seen from the TV show filming it didn’t look like it had weathering done to it, did it?

Commander Max

He shouldn't complain when taking criticism. Which I saw him post on another board. I do think his choices were very poor, especially in light of the veracity of ST fans.

trekriffic

Honestly though who'sd to say what the weathering would look like under bright studio lights in front of a bluescreen?
As I recall, Ed M. explained the reason the weathering wasn't as noticeable on screen was because of the bright lighting used during photography. Too bad we can't conduct an experiment to see if Ed is correct.

feek61

No need to do an experiment; the top of the saucer for the most part is in the condition it was upon it's arrival at the Smithsonian; never having been repainted. I'm sure the pencil line grids did fade over time but the weathering was never as prominent as Ed's version.

mccordia

Id been to the Smithsonian earlier this year, and seen this model. I didnt realise it wasnt just 'any' display model. Pretty cool!

Tony

I wonder if Ed is colorblind. Maybe he didn't realize that the colors he was using were too garish.

trekriffic

Ya know if Ed had only applied one more light finishing coat over all that weathering it would have toned it down just enough to look really nice. My opinion anyway.

Commander Max

I was in process of creating the accelerator. When I came across this.

This really caught my eye. The tip closest to the bridge was not rounded before the restoration. It appears strait on the bench, then it's rounded during restoration, and that's how it is to this day(as far as I can tell).

Interesting to note the MR E, or the JK 66" E has the part strait not rounded. But the fan documents show it curved.

Whoever gets the job of re-restoring the E will really be earning their pay.

ILMwannabe

That was a great catch. I never noticed that until now. Another "unholy" modification!

I too disagree with the modifications that were done, although I do have to admit that the restoration of the clear light on the top of the saucer, near the front edge (the 12 o'clock position) was interesting. Had it not been for Ed's removal of paint over that clear area, perhaps no one would have known that it even existed. The light appears on the original Paramount drawings of the ship, but was never seen on the model during the TV show.

ewokus

My favorite ship of all...

Jedi Dade

Yep... they f'd it badly... but at least it still exists!

ILMwannabe

Correction: I recently found out that the light panel was added in 1966 but was never lit. But it was apparently there all along (just hard to see)

Mechinyun

The repainting of the E looks like it fly through a patch of diarrhea.

Totally lame, HATE it.

John Cooley

That circle was never a light, and was never meant to be seen on screen. That circle was cut into the saucer at that point when the three square holes were also cut (the fourth is just painted on) to add lighting to the saucer. That hole is directly above the three "port holes" in the bow of the saucer, and was used along with the three other squares to fish the wiring for the lights. That's why it was covered over with paint.

John

feek61

^
John is correct!

Commander Max

I never noticed that, I just took it for granted on the MR E(looks like that really needs to be repainted now). I was prepping that spot to be lite on my 66", not now. Even the Kerr drawings note that spot.

More Miarecki fallout.
What else did he trash?

feek61

Here is a shot of the top. You can see that it is painted over although you can make it out.

You can see how the top lighted areas match-up exactly where the windows on the edge are. They were as John said cut in to fish the wires through the saucer but were also access points to replace light bulbs.