Second Pilot Enterprise

Gregatron · Aug 10, 2010

"We're leaving the galaxy, Mr. Mitchell! Ahead, warp factor one."

My Polar Lights 1/1000 second pilot Enterprise is done! As before, much time was taken to carefully research every last detail of this version. Although there's a good amount of reference material available, some details have been troublesome to pin down.
But, I daresay that my buildup may again be one of the most accurate builds ever done, in terms of detailing--right down to the three (!) windows on the bridge dome, the white blinker lights on the upper saucer, and the unique window pattern for this version.
And it was a REAL paint to carefully trim and splice window elements from several decal sheets to get the correct pattern of "lit" and black windows. That work nearly got my eyes to permanently cross!
This incarnation of the ship is an interesting transitional step between the first pilot and the series. Roddenberry clearly wanted more detailing, but the excessive use of black (the saucer stripes, the impulse and nacelle vents, etc.) was presumably deemed a little too busy, and was removed for the final version. This was also the first version to incorporate lights, and I must say I'm rather fond of the well-placed anti-collision strobes on this version.
This version was seen in every single episode of TOS, via stock footage (in the episodes proper, the main/end credits, or both), and so I suppose it has as solid a claim to being the "real" ship as the production version does!
The weathering on the real model appears to have been significantly toned-down from the first pilot version, no doubt because of partial repaints with the base color, since the change from painted registry markings to reversible decals was made for this version. That said, traces of the original weathering remained, and I replicated this on my build.
Also, I was bothered by the kit's stock parts--the second pilot nacelle endcaps feature a series of holes to represent the grilles--on the original, these were painted.
So, I smoothed a set of endcaps, and designed/printed my very first custom decals--and they turned out great! I think it looks much better and more authentic than painted holes on the stock parts would have.

MooCriket · Aug 10, 2010

:eekWow!!! I can't believe that I am the first to comment on this! OUTSTANDING!!! So....when are you going to make one for me?!:lol

trekriffic · Aug 10, 2010

As an original fan from the original TV days I have to say...
well done !

thumbsup:thumbsup
I think the colors you used are just right.
Very nicely done indeed !
:love

saarno · Aug 10, 2010

Talk about dead-on to the second pilot. That is excellent!!! Put it under glass.

Great job!

mobius303 · Aug 10, 2010

Great job. These ships turned out fantastic.

feek61 · Aug 10, 2010

Never realized the pylon to the primary hull was so blue. I guess I need to pay better attention. Great job; it looks amazing!!!

DrMcoy · Aug 10, 2010

WOW -- very nice. very nice.

I had NO idea the neck was light blue on this version -- it amazes me that I have seen every single episode a thousand times and have collected prop replicas and models over the past 40 years and I still stumble upon stuff I never noticed before as far as models/paint schemes and props.

Thanks for sharing the pics...and again, nice job -- when someone is looking closely enough to know exact window patterns AND which windows were white and which were black, well, now THAT'S true devotion to the craft of model making. Bravo.

Gregatron · Aug 10, 2010

The blue dorsal/bolt cover is farily clear in screencaps and photos--I think people just assumed it was the hull color all along, which it wasn't until series production began (and even then, the original color remained on the leading edge).

http://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/thu....trekcore.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=20

http://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/thu...re.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=32&page=2

http://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/thu...e.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=24&page=10

http://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/thu...re.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=79&page=9

phez · Aug 10, 2010

Oh very well done!!!

Angelus Lupus · Aug 11, 2010

The number of times I've looked at that ship and I never saw the blue!

Gregatron · Aug 11, 2010

It's still somewhat debatable--we're chatting about it on Hobbytalk right now.

But my studies indicate that the dorsal was definitely blue in the first pilot, and it still looks to be a distinictly different tone than the rest of the hull in the second pilot. Perhaps not the same shade of blue--maybe a blue-gray or gray-green--but still different.

trekman1017 · Aug 11, 2010

Holy crap blue!!!!

mobius303 · Aug 11, 2010

I always thought that the blue was a result of the reflection due to lighting the ship and the blue backround they used at the time. I never thought that it was painted a blue or anything.

Yellowjacket · Aug 11, 2010

That classic look so very well executed.

phase pistol · Aug 11, 2010

Sweet!

thumbsup

imaginager · Aug 11, 2010

Excellent work and thanks for sharing, it was very informative as I had no idea about the dorsal. Now if only there was a 350th scale kit...

TOSPHASER · Aug 11, 2010

Very nice........the blue as said many time is very interesting!:wacko 45 years and never seen the blue but here it is on the filming model.....though it was painted over for the production version! see the second pic.

Gregatron · Aug 11, 2010

Two things we pretty much know for sure at this point:

1. The entire dorsal and linear accelerator/bolt cover on top of the saucer were blue-ish for the first pilot.

2. For the series, the dorsal was repainted with the gray-green hull color, but there was still a blue-green-gray-ish stripe on the leading edge (presumably an intentional remnant from the first color scheme), and the accelerator was repainted dark gray.

The question is, what about the second pilot? I've carefully studied a wide range of screencaps and images. There's a pretty consistent tonal difference between the dorsal and the rest of the hull in a number of shots and angles, and the dorsal often looks to be a blue-gray color.

This is particularly noticable in the 35mm print used for the unaired second pilot in the TOS season 3 Blu-Ray set. The opening and closing flybys feature a distinctly blue-gray-ish dorsal. The tonal difference can be seen in full color or in B & W (I know--I've adjust my TV setting numerous times during my research!). This can also be glimpsed occasionally in the classic sideways flyby seen so often in the series--but not always. I would attribute this to inconsistent film stocks and optical printing quality.

But there's enough evidence for me to be sure that the dorsal was not the hull color in the second pilot. It therefiore stands to reason that it was either the same blue-ish of the first pilot, or a repainted blue-gray-green color (which would be less likely to interfere with the bluescreen).

trekman1017 · Aug 11, 2010

Are there any other differences in the versions of the enterprise that were not all that obvious?

Gregatron · Aug 11, 2010

I'm planning on making some kind of resource that lists all of this stuff (and describes my own model work for anyone who wants inside tips on my builds). Most of the differences are the big, obvious ones.

The less obvious ones are things like weathering, markings, and window patterns. And the dorsal color!!!!

Second Pilot Enterprise

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