posted
Well the Centaur did have the greeblies underneath the saucer and on the underside of the weapons pod.
I emailed Rick Sternbach about the models, but he had no information whatsoever other than that he really didn't like the concept of kitbashing. He did not consider these models to be true starships (i.e. good quality models made by Jein, Meininger, etc.)
And IIRC, the only fan-built starship model ever used was the Pasteur, and even that ship was built by someone who had built previous models for Star Trek in the past: Bill George.
[ August 16, 2001: Message edited by: Dukhat ]
-------------------- "A film made in 2008 isn't going to look like a TV series from 1966 if it wants to make any money. As long as the characters act the same way, and the spirit of the story remains the same then it's "real" Star Trek. Everything else is window dressing." -StCoop
Registered: Jun 2000
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posted
It looks to me like a pretty standard Connie-refit engineering hull, just stretched a little and melded with the Intrepid aft-end.
-------------------- The flaws we find most objectionable in others are often those we recognize in ourselves.
Registered: Jun 2001
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Gammera
Ex-Member
posted
YA know the tug looks kinda klingon to me, any one think of that!
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OnToMars
Now on to the making of films!
Member # 621
posted
What I'm wondering is why they went to the trouble of cutting up a Voyager model for background shots instead of just using a Voyager model? What's the big deal with a regular Intrepid class? Or take a Cheyenne or New Orleans and use that for background!
Goddamn - WHY ARE PEOPLE SO STUPID?
-------------------- If God didn't want us to fly, he wouldn't have given us Bernoulli's Principle.
posted
I suspect somebody at first thought it would be a good idea to kitbash a lot of new designs to give the war fleets some "depth". Eager amateurs then got into it. And the somebody who had ordered the kitbashing was so appalled by the poor quality that he or she ordered the ships to be filmed only on the distant background. He or she just didn't want to outright throw away the models so as not to insult the well-meaning co-workers.
I wonder if it is easier to film a kitbash today than it was during TNG. You don't necessarily have to build in the lighting now - you can add it in post-production with computers. The Centaur model, even though seen up close, may have been a very simple empty shell of plastic.
It could also be that at that point, the best way to show a damaged ship (say, the "Frederickson" Excelsior under tow) was to build an inexpensive kit, damage it, and film it with some CGI add-on lighting effects. While the modelers were at it, they decided they could use the leftover parts of all the kits they had bought to create some new designs...
posted
Gammera: Yes. Everyone's thought of that. The tug is probably Klingon. However, the Fact Files make it look like it's a Federation ship. On screen it appears to have a greenish color, and I'm almost positive that the "nacelles" it has are either Rommie Warbird nacelles or K'tinga nacelles.
Oh, and I think the reason for not using Intrepids or Sovvies in DS9 had alot to do with the studio. They didn't want to use Voyager's or TNG's ship on DS9 for whatever dumb reason. I don't know how they got permission to make the Bellerophon an Intrepid.
posted
From what I read in the DS9 Companion, they were originally going to re-use the Defiant as the Bellerophon, a la the Valiant. However, someone wanted the ship to be more "stately" per its mision into Romulan space, so they asked the Voyager crew for their permission to use the Intrepid CGI model.
-------------------- "A film made in 2008 isn't going to look like a TV series from 1966 if it wants to make any money. As long as the characters act the same way, and the spirit of the story remains the same then it's "real" Star Trek. Everything else is window dressing." -StCoop
Registered: Jun 2000
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posted
OK, PAYING people for their ships would be a nightmare - what about a limited donation - no strings attached... why would someone lending their model to the Star Trek production mean that there would be any fans on set - moreover there'd probably end up being a fan at Image G - or where ever they ended up doing the model filming later in DS9.
-------------------- "Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica." - Jim Halpert. (The Office)
posted
You'd still have to spend the time finding the ships to use, hoping that they were actually high enough quality (if you're talking about physical models), and dealing with people that you have no control over.
The approval process (i.e. the studio asks for minor changes in the model) would be an absolute nightmare. Basically, there's no way they're going to deal with a situation that they don't have control over from start to finish.
Plus you'd probably have union issues on top of all that.
This is just me talking. I really have no insight into the industry. It's just my guess.
Shik
Starship database: completed; History of Starfleet: done; website: probably never
Member # 343
posted
A filming model is INfinitely different than one built by a fan, even the lighted ones. The composition, light source, power source, & structural tolerances are SO completely different between the 2.
-------------------- "The French have a saying: 'mise en place'—keep everything in its fucking place!"
Registered: Jun 2000
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posted
Fans could always have Bill George make their models for them. The again it would cost an arm and a leg then.
-------------------- "It speaks to some basic human needs: that there is a tomorrow, it's not all going to be over with a big splash and a bomb, that the human race is improving, that we have things to be proud of as humans." -Gene Roddenberry about Star Trek
Registered: May 1999
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The tug is probably Klingon. However, the Fact Files make it look like it's a Federation ship. On screen it appears to have a greenish color, and I'm almost positive that the "nacelles" it has are either Rommie Warbird nacelles or K'tinga nacelles.
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