Another interesting feature I see on the "Tribbles" model is the rear nacelle endcaps have balls on them. The Long Box kits had no such feature (I shot pictures of the end-caps for the article, but I guess they got lost for the re-posting) as the rear nacelles were featureless back there. The bottom picture doesn't show any, like the original kit. I am pretty sure the bottom picture is not of the same model, although it is a Long Box AMT kit obviously. I think it might have been an Enterprise model built for a scene in a Viewmaster story disk as I remember having a disk for the episode "Omega Glory" and the exterior shots of the Enterprise and Exeter were of what appeared to be AMT models, not the effects shots from the episode. The rear nacelle balls on this model also look more accurate to the bigger studio models while the ones on the small box kits are too small.
Only one of the models in the Viewmaster shots was an AMT model... not both.
As an example, here is my model built from my 33 inch plans posed like the closer model in the Viewmaster images...
... and I don't believe my model looks like an AMT model.
But here is the basis for thinking that the AMT model in the Viewmaster shots might be the same model as seen in
Tribbles...
If we assume that the model in Paul Allen's museum (auctioned off by Jefferies' estate as I recall) is the actual model from
Tribbles, then the model survived long after that episode (sorry for stating the obvious here). The Viewmaster images were taken at the same time that
Omega Glory was being made, which was quite a few weeks after
Tribbles was finished. Which means the
Tribbles model was around at the same time that the 33 inch Enterprise was shot with an AMT model for the Viewmaster images.
Is it the same model?
I don't know. But why run out and buy another $2.50 model, build and paint it if you already have a built/painted model on hand?
Here is another question... is the model in Paul Allen's museum really the same model used in
Tribbles?
I don't know. But it seems odd that the Allen model seem design to be lit from within while the model seen in
Tribbles isn't lit.
Here is something else to consider... the 33 inch model had been retired after it's use in
Tomorrow Is Yesterday (mainly because it was solid wood and couldn't be lit), and the 11 foot model was never filmed again after shots done for
Tribbles. Could another AMT model been put together (with the intent to light it from within) for use in the later second season and third season? Could the Allen model be such a model? Or maybe the
Tribbles model was later modified to play a more extensive role.. but didn't.
Like the light elements not showing up in
Tribbles, it is hard to tell (even with HD screen caps) if those rear nacelle domes were on the model during the filming. Or was that something added later?
The fact that (other than the use of the 33 inch model in
Requiem) both of the original filming models were retired by the first half of the second season begs the question of what the art department might have kept on hand for a back up. They must have known that effects shots were going to be made for the third season (after all, Jefferies had designed the Klingon and two models were being built), how could they have been sure that the stock footage on hand would be enough for the Enterprise?
The role of the AMT model in TOS production is a very interesting subject... and one that really deserves more research.
Shaw, I know that you made some very nice plans of the 33 inch model, How did you do that, because I think it would be intriguing to make some for the AMT model.
Well, in the case of the 33 inch model, I got some really good reference data and spent a few months reverse engineering plans from the existing photos (with the help of a little geometry). I then drew up the plans in an illustration application (I used one made by a friend of mine).
The AMT model should be a lot easier because you can still find them around. I've seen a few on ebay, and even badly assembled old models would work for getting data. The primary hull curves could be gotten by cutting the model down the center line.
The noticeable differences are: Larger deflector dish, different deflector mount, and nacelle end caps without balls. These seem to be easily corrected.
JMChladek's article is the best reference for the differences I know of.
I had built an LB2 version--with the orange bussards--in 1969 as kid. Actually my cousin who was about 17 built it. And I remember the pylon mounts became a nightmare to assemble--or more accurately, to stabilize. Eventually, use of too much glue dissolved the plastic and both nacelle assemblies sank and drooped to the floor. :cry
The one long box model I had (made for me by my brother) lasted a day... but I don't blame the kit design as much as myself for using it as a toy rather than as a model. :eek
