Here's a blast from the past. I was going through my old models the other day and found my model of the 'standard shuttle' from Shane Johnsons 'Mr Scotts guide...' book. I thought it might be fun to update it now that I can use Lightwave a little better, and I found out that the book is about the only place that version was seen, so I decided to make the full-on Vulcan version complete with warp sled.
I'm about 50% there, been using blueprints from www.shipschematics.net and photos from Mr Proberts site as reference, along with screencaps from Reverend for added help. It's a bit different from the standard stuff we see on Trek, and is really the first Vulcan tech we got to see. Just thought I'd share this little adventure with you all, you'd probably forgotten it even existed.
Posted by The Red Admiral (Member # 602) on :
I never forgot it existed, real nice Kenny. Now what about a cool little separation animation....? Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
So in light of the revisionist history of later Treks... would the top part the 'habitable' part be "Starfleet" and the warp sled - Vulcan?
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Lookin' nice....you should pose a skater on that blank incline of the shuttle's fore.
I never understood whay it didint have any windows: from a design POV, it would've established the shuttle's rather large scale.
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
quote:I never forgot it existed, real nice Kenny. Now what about a cool little separation animation....?
That would be great. Actually while taking the screencaps for Kenny, I saw that the whole docking sequence is allot more elaborate and well thought out than I had previously suspected. Things I took for running lights are actually RCS thrusters and they light up according to the movments of the ship(s), from a breaking manoeuvre by the warpsled, to the shuttle's 'flip' as it orientates itself and gradual slow down as it approaches the airlock.
quote:So in light of the revisionist history of later Treks... would the top part the 'habitable' part be "Starfleet" and the warp sled - Vulcan?
I shouldn't think so. For one thing the markings on both sections are consistantly Vulcan, for another this design has never been seen used in Starfleet service beyond some eary draft paintings and then from a plot point of view, Spock was inbound from Vulcan and Chekov had to scan it to know it was a courier, so he obviously didn't recognise the design.
quote:I never understood whay it didint have any windows: from a design POV, it would've established the shuttle's rather large scale.
There are windows, two on each side and one to the port side of the docking tube. It is strange that there are no windows for the pilot, so I suppose he's running on sensors alone. Does anyone know why Probert chose to omit them? Perhaps the front part was meant to be a heat shield for emergency re-entry, but that's just speculation.
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
Maybe they just used a screen like on the bridge?
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
Like I said, sensors alone.
Posted by MarianLH (Member # 1102) on :
It may not be true that the design only appeared as a Starfleet shuttle in early drafts. Mr. Scott's Guide has a photo of the cargo deck scene (where Kirk first comes aboard), and one of those shuttles is clearly visible in the hanger alcove underneath the flight deck. The photo's on page 93.
I don't know if that particular shot is in the final film though, and I don't have a copy of TMP to check. I do have a still from the movie from some web site or another, and the people on the cargo deck floor are in very different positions than in the Guide photo.
As for Chekov's dialogue, it doesn't necessarily mean he doesn't recognise the design, just that he doesn't know why it's intercepting them.
Either way, nice work on the image. I like the detail on the docking collar.
Marian
Posted by MrNeutron (Member # 524) on :
quote:Originally posted by MarianLH: It may not be true that the design only appeared as a Starfleet shuttle in early drafts. Mr. Scott's Guide has a photo of the cargo deck scene (where Kirk first comes aboard), and one of those shuttles is clearly visible in the hanger alcove underneath the flight deck. The photo's on page 93.
I don't know if that particular shot is in the final film though....
The image with the shuttles and work bees in the Enterprise bay is Andy Probert's matte layout. The final matte painting omitted them.
Posted by MarianLH (Member # 1102) on :
It must have been used at some point though, because in the Guide photo there are actors on the set.
Marian
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
The footage of people milling around with the cargo carriers was filmed before the matt painting was done, in fact the arrangement of that small set dictated the design of the cargo bay itself. As I understand it, the process of making a matt painting requires that the artist have a single frame of the shot to work from, in order to accurately extend the set. So all drafts of this set-up would have the same people in it, even the one with the stupidly huge window if I recall.
Take a look at Probert's site for a more complete picture of how it was done.
Posted by Axeman 3D (Member # 1050) on :
Hi all, started working on this again after a small break. I got much better blueprints from a friend at the ASDB and I've had to go back and alter the shape of the engines and sled to better reflect the real model. I too made the mistake of taking 'Mr Scotts Guide...' at face value and asumed those shots with the shuttles in view made it canon, but as Rev pointed out they were never used in the end and it became a purely Vulcan design.
As for doing an animation with it, well i suppose I could for a laugh. I lways thought the scene in ST:TMP was one of the best around, very realistic and interesting to watch the lighting synch and stuff like that. I have a nice model of the refit Enterprise but I'll have to check it's upper docking bay to see if it's up to the job.
Posted by Axeman 3D (Member # 1050) on :
Here we go, getting there now. Some image maps from Reverend, some my own that need replaced by Rev's better ones. The shuttle is almost complete, the sled is at about 50% and rising...
Posted by Mark Nguyen (Member # 469) on :
Fantastic. The lighting really works.
My one criticism would be the docking collar - are we sure its see-through like that? I thought it was more like this.
The only critisisum I can make of Kenny's docking collar is that (on watching the travel pod sequence again) the 'hooks' shouldn't be visible on the inner side of the ring and the inner surface itself should be the same colour as the door. Other possible tweeks include the addition of a black gasket on the end of the collar itself, presumably to protect it from wear and tear and/or to act as an air-seal. It's hard to tell at this resolution but I can't see any 'gripper' ports on the doors and the doors themselves look a little thin...again compared to the travel pod so all these points may be mute since this is a different vessel. Perhaps a closeup of the collar Kenny? to compare it to the DVD cap?
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
Could we get a shot looking out those windows??
That'd be cool.
Posted by Axeman 3D (Member # 1050) on :
Out of what windows?
My docking collar was loosly based on the drawings in the 'Mr Scotts guide..." and has the rotating docking hooks which turn out to engage. I've thickened up the doors and the side parts where the grabbers engage to open them, but it's tough to make them any thicker without changing the length of the docking tunnel itself. A black gasket is east though, I'll add that.
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
