This is a shot of the actual filming miniature as it was taken apart for refurbishment... the upper saucer shows a lot of streaks, greenish discoloration, the rust ring, and of course the infamous gridlines.
Why Weather Your TOS Enterprise?
- Thread starter Rahn420
- Start date
Zombie_61
Master Member
It's almost a shame that they did so much detail painting on the filming model, but you rarely saw it on screen. Even now when I watch the original series (not the remastered episodes) the Enterprise looks show-room fresh compared to that.
CaptainDave1701
Well-Known Member
Now that is a blast from the past as I have a good friend that has since retired from NASA Langley that worked as a machinist on that satellite. He rode the thing down on a barge on the Intercoastal Waterway and loaded the payload from the clean room. True...it did show space weathering on the materials. Wonder who got the tomato seeds.
Cadeus
Sr Member
That is a really good point. The ionized hull plating should have protected the hull from discoloration. The heat would have dispersed along the field. Unfortunately, most people in this forum are more worried about "canon" than reality... The guys that built the SS model had no clue how things like that worked; (plasma and energy fields are something scientists are only now beginning to play with), so they made their best guess and produced a beautiful model that represented their best guess of how it should look. I am not as picky about weathering as some, so I think both versions have their merits.
For me the best reason to weather is to make it look less like a plastic model on my shelf. :lol
I'll probably do a little light weathering to my PL kit.
I'll probably do a little light weathering to my PL kit.
Zuiun
Sr Member
^^^This!!
And sometimes it's both the lack of weathering and the specifics of the color scheme.
Example: Voyager.
I love that ship, but a lot of builds I've seen of it just can't get away from the "plastic model" look - more so than other Trek models. And I don't in any way mean that as an insult to the builders. There's just something about the specifics of the color schemes going on that, to me, makes it look fake.
I don't know what I'll do when I finally get around to building mine...
Rick H
Well-Known Member
I have kept coming back to this thread over the last couple of days. Debating if I should make this post or not.
After calming down and thinking it through, I felt I should say something about model building and personnel choices.
Just so its clear. What I am going to post had nothing to do with the RPF. And did not happen here.
My Grandson just completed his first Star Trek build and posted a picture on the web…. Where he was immediately attacked by a 40 year old Know it all smart ass. For a grow man to rip apart a 15 year olds build because it was not what HE felt was a true representation of the Enterprise is very disturbing. To say that I am disappointed in some of these so called “experts” is an understatement.
This is a hobby for most people. Why is it that some people feel they have to take it to extremes?
To see the disappointment in he’s eyes is heart breaking. I have spoken to him about how some people are. And that this should not discourage him on building models.
Its all a matter of personnel choice. He could have built the thing inside out and painted it purple. I still would be proud that he stuck to it and completed it.
This is my personnel opinion and I have not posted this to offend anyone.
End of rant.
After calming down and thinking it through, I felt I should say something about model building and personnel choices.
Just so its clear. What I am going to post had nothing to do with the RPF. And did not happen here.
My Grandson just completed his first Star Trek build and posted a picture on the web…. Where he was immediately attacked by a 40 year old Know it all smart ass. For a grow man to rip apart a 15 year olds build because it was not what HE felt was a true representation of the Enterprise is very disturbing. To say that I am disappointed in some of these so called “experts” is an understatement.
This is a hobby for most people. Why is it that some people feel they have to take it to extremes?
To see the disappointment in he’s eyes is heart breaking. I have spoken to him about how some people are. And that this should not discourage him on building models.
Its all a matter of personnel choice. He could have built the thing inside out and painted it purple. I still would be proud that he stuck to it and completed it.
This is my personnel opinion and I have not posted this to offend anyone.
End of rant.
Rick H, that sickens me. I hate when people bash other's work no matter how crappy or non-screen accurate or interpretative it is. Do these 'pro' builders feel so insecure they have to pick on little guys and new builders? Do they feel threatened because there is someone new out there with a paint brush? Dear god, a 15 year old painting a model to his liking and being proud of it. The horror.
You should go out and buy him a different ship and say, "Here you go! I love your work so keep on building."
You should go out and buy him a different ship and say, "Here you go! I love your work so keep on building."
Here here! Your hobby is about building to your own standards, not of someone else's. All my Enterprise models as a kid were painted gloss white. :lol
Rahn420
Well-Known Member
Lol... mine were light baby blue.
As a kid I never bothered to paint them and thought they looked fine! LOL
Oh well, now we are picky picky picky.
Oh well, now we are picky picky picky.
Zombie_61
Master Member
This is apalling. I sincerely hope your Grandson listened to what you said, realizes Mr. "Know it all smart ass"'s comments were unwarranted and improper, and continues to pursue model building as a hobby if he wants to.
metal wood
Well-Known Member
...why take showers or brush your teeth...
Soooooo.... whether you weather depends on the weather.
I personally weathered my 1/350 Enterprise. Why? Because I wanted it to look more like the filming model. BEFORE the "restorations".
I agree that you should build it for yourself and not the "Know it alls". If you don't want the weathering, Don't add it. THE most important part is...to have FUN!
I agree that you should build it for yourself and not the "Know it alls". If you don't want the weathering, Don't add it. THE most important part is...to have FUN!
JMChladek
Sr Member
LDEF isn't the only thing in real life to show space weathering. Skylab, the ISS and the Soviet stations (Mir primarily since it was up so long) all showed the effects. UV exposure altered colorings a little bit and interaction with atomic oxygen also discolored things in spots. The current astronauts on the ISS when they do EVAs also have to do periodic glove checks for tears and snags because although work was done before the modules flew to minimize sharp corners, micrometeoroid impacts can pit the surface of parts that were originally smooth and the ISS has been up for pretty long. In fact, some of the science done on the ISS includes periodically exposing new material samples to space to see how they fare.
Granted, this is all mainly due to the stations being in Earth orbit and I imagine deep space would be different. But the Enterprise certainly saw several hazards in its life. Lets see, it got WAY close to the Denevan sun in one episode, did a light speed breakaway around Earth's sun twice, penetrated the Galactic Barrier three times, penetrated a giant space amoeba once, got shot at by everything from the Klingons, Romulans (including a nuke going off next to the ship at point blank range), NOMAD and the Doomsday Machine, I imagine SOMETHING would leave a mark. We never did see the storage room on the ship that had third technician Dave Lister and all those cans of Fed Gray paint for him to apply during maintenance periods.
But it will always come down to a judgement call whether to add it or not. At least the Enterprise didn't end up like the Constellation.
Granted, this is all mainly due to the stations being in Earth orbit and I imagine deep space would be different. But the Enterprise certainly saw several hazards in its life. Lets see, it got WAY close to the Denevan sun in one episode, did a light speed breakaway around Earth's sun twice, penetrated the Galactic Barrier three times, penetrated a giant space amoeba once, got shot at by everything from the Klingons, Romulans (including a nuke going off next to the ship at point blank range), NOMAD and the Doomsday Machine, I imagine SOMETHING would leave a mark.
We never did see the storage room on the ship that had third technician Dave Lister and all those cans of Fed Gray paint for him to apply during maintenance periods. But it will always come down to a judgement call whether to add it or not. At least the Enterprise didn't end up like the Constellation.
Rick H
Well-Known Member
Thank you for those that posted support for my boy. It seems he took it better then I did. His overall response about the whole thing was…. Well maybe that guy has too much time on his hands. As with any teen I doubt this will effect him too much. He’s at that age where he wants to do everything. And then there’s high school and girls.
I know we have several professional prop builders here, along with some members that should be working for the studios. But for the most part, this is just a hobby for the majority of us. It is great that some members go that extra step to bring there builds up to screen accurate, and devote the time and energy in this pursuit. They set the standard to which I want my builds to meet.
Also my hat’s off to the scratch build members like Katsu, Nylon Gag and others. I can only hope my Viper turns out half as good as there builds.
But unless the build is a commission, your going for screen accurate, or doing a reconstruction on a movie prop, its all a matter of personnel choice.
Just my opinion….. Thanks again all
I know we have several professional prop builders here, along with some members that should be working for the studios. But for the most part, this is just a hobby for the majority of us. It is great that some members go that extra step to bring there builds up to screen accurate, and devote the time and energy in this pursuit. They set the standard to which I want my builds to meet.
Also my hat’s off to the scratch build members like Katsu, Nylon Gag and others. I can only hope my Viper turns out half as good as there builds.
But unless the build is a commission, your going for screen accurate, or doing a reconstruction on a movie prop, its all a matter of personnel choice.
Just my opinion….. Thanks again all
