Here's some more pictures for you to salivate over, from a contributor who wishes to remain anonymous. However, they did give me a lengthy email summation about the models:
"I’m a starship nut like you guys are! You all did a great job at Ex-Astris-Scientia with the Wolf 359 page. Very impressive work. So now let me tell you about my models for the Deep Space Nine season premiere.
"There were a lot of Reliant, Excelsior, and movie Enterprise kits around, and those were what most people used to build their models. I wanted to be different. I was inspired by the Cheyenne class from the Trek trading cards, so I was originally going to build the same ship for my kitbash. There were a couple of the old 3-Enterprise kits and some of the larger kits with the removable saucer, so I was able to start building the design using the trading card picture as a reference. However, I didn’t have the highlighter pens for the engines or the struts, so I had to improvise with what I had, and I eventually ended up making a different ship. I didn’t really have any specific design in mind; I just made it up as I went along, and I eventually came up with a design I liked. I used some parts from the sub models used on the Ptolemy as sensor pallets like on Voyager, because that’s what they resembled. I used the large bridge, impulse engines and captain’s yacht, drew large windows, and cut out escape pods from sheet styrene to make the ship smaller like the Cheyenne.
"I labeled the ship ‘Tolstoy’ as an in-joke. I thought it would be humorous if one of the ships from “Best of Both Worlds” survived only to end up getting destroyed a second time in DS9. The only ships that were mentioned in the episode were the Tolstoy, Kyushu and Melbourne. Since the Melbourne was destroyed in Emissary, and we already knew what the Kyushu looked like thanks to the pics in the Encyclopedia, I chose the Tolstoy (and ironically, thanks to the Ex-Astris-Scientia site, I found out later that there was no original Tolstoy in the episode ). But no one would have been able to see the ship’s name anyway.
"The second ship was inspired by the old Starfleet Technical Manual from TOS. Basically it’s a Galaxy-style Ptolemy transport. I combined another Enterprise kit with some submarine kits lying around. At first the model was going to have the same configuration as the Ptolemy, but I found that I liked the upside-down orientation better. The engine pylons are the subs’ control towers, and the sub hull is the transport container. I was originally going to glue the stand-alone container you see in the pics to the saucer, but because I had an extra sub with an extra tower, I glued a third warp engine to it, and then glued that sub to the saucer instead. Consider it something like a starliner like in the old manual, that can detach itself from the main ship and fly on its own power if necessary.
"Alas, unfortunately I wasn’t able to finish the models in time for the shot. In retrospect, I probably shouldn’t have taken all the time I did in being meticulous in my designs and painting and labeling the models, since they were only going to be shown in the far background. Or maybe I should have just built one ship instead of two. Most of the models were literally slapped together and painted quickly (or not at all) because there wasn’t a whole lot of time, and even though a bunch of people built kitbashes, I think only one or two of them ever made it to the screen. I was hoping that they might be shown in a later episode, but by the end of the series they were pretty much using only CG models, even for damaged ships."
I have a few more pics of the models, which I'll post later today, but I thought at least these will get some good discussion flowing.
-------------------- "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
Thanks a lot for digging up these lost gems of ship kitbashing! It's amazing how there are still new starships to be discovered after all those years.
I just checked in the first scene of "A Time to Stand", and I could swear the Tolstoy can be seen in the background, in the upper left corner. Anyone concur with me? The Tolstoy, canon at last!!!
Also, the Ptolemy is a real classic, it has the potential to become my favorite canon ship design - that is, if we are able to confirm it was on screen somewhere. I think there's hope - a lot is possible on a day like this one.
-------------------- Bernd Schneider
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
Just great models surfacing at last! And I for one think there´s absolutely nothing remotely suspicious about which day they´re seeing the light of day...
-------------------- "The Starships of the Federation are the physical, tangible manifestations of Humanity´s stubborn insistence that life does indeed mean something." Spock to Leonard McCoy in "Final Frontier"
Registered: Jan 2000
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Shik
Starship database: completed; History of Starfleet: done; website: probably never
Member # 343
posted
I can totally see that Tolstoy as being usable for a Rigel -class design. The hanging of the nacelles is much like my own Navajo -class .
Registered: Jun 2000
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posted
Something's rotten in the state of Denmark. There's something about these models that seems off, like they couldn't have possibly been made for the show, and are some sort of amateurish piece of fanwank. I want further proof, that its Aprils fool today and that the guy doesn't want to talk makes them look suspect.
Edit: Also why are the nacelle grills and bussard collectors painted? I don't recall that being a common practice on studio models, even unlit ones like the DS9 kitbashes.
Registered: Feb 2005
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-------------------- "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
That Tolstoy would be kinda cool if the nacelles swept back- sorta like the New Orleans' do....or just straight out in a "T". What the hell is under that nacelle pylon part though? There's something boxy between the pylon part and the second Galaxy "neck" extending upwards like the Chyenne's does...
Huh. Anyone want an old fashioned Flare Challenge? Take these oddities and make 'em look cool with minor moodification- and someone think up plausible fleet roles/operational descriptions for them....like WTF is that sub part supposed to be?!?
Registered: Aug 2002
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Teh PW
Self Impossed Exile (This Space for rent)
Member # 1203
posted
i still think those are fakes, for April Fool's Day, they look too new and painted nothing like the way the offical DS9 kits were painted in house.
that aside, they look... good ideas but need work. the nacelles on the versions where they are close to the ship's hull, should be either placed back more or taller from the hull. also the phaser strips need to be removed from the angles where clearly they would be dangerous to fire from, in terms of nacelle placement (strips either on top of the nacelles or side strips on pylons, which the model pieces already posess)
the pic with the secondary hull on top, makes its blatantly April fool's because the Kelvin was the first cannon or noncannon (that i know of) ship to do that....
posted
Man... I don't know on one hand it was April 1st and there for it doesn't meet the smell test.
However, with all the models/artwork that has been found over the past couple of years it wouldn't surprise me either.
Registered: Mar 2000
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posted
Well, I have a photograph of the anonymous person who built the models, and it turns out that it was CHARLIE SHEEN!!!
Seriously though, you guys are just too darn smart. I was hoping I'd fool at least one person. I should have posted this at the TrekBBS. Some guy posted about an interview with Damon Lindelof about a new Trek TV series, complete with fake Youtube video link that takes you nowhere. People were buying it left and right
Anyway, here's the skinny: I built the models. Although Adam Buckner's Bradford kitbash is the real deal (and hopefully the Curry as well if Dan ever finds it), I though it'd be funny if I built a fake kitbash for April Fools Day to post along with the Bradford. I actually was going to build another Cheyenne, and I even found some actual marker pens like the original. However, I learned that I couldn't cut sheet styrene for crap, so I couldn't make the pylons.
So I went with what was in the two 3-Enterprise kits I had, but then I accidentally screwed up. I built a ship that looks like the Tolstoy, but with several differences (since I didn't have the large Ent-D kit at the time for the bridge, impulse engines and captain's yacht). I glued the top of the Ent-A saucer to the top of the ship since I had no other bridge to glue to it, and I made photon torpedo cannons out of the halves of the TOS Enterprise secondary hulls, and some pieces from an airplane kit, to give it that "kludge" look like the other DS9 kitbashes had. I screwed up because I bought the wrong spraypaint for it. I bought Testor's Light Gloss Blue, and it made the model this bright shiny blue color, which I really didn't like.
I was toying with the idea that I'd name it one of the conjectural classes, and I originally picked the "Akagi" because I decided it was going to be the Rigel class. I had ordered some name/registry decals for Galaxy and Nebula class ships, and the second thing I learned was how much of a pain in the ass it is to apply water-based decals. But I eventually applied the Akagi's registry and its name (which was horrendously difficult because I had to cut each number and letter separately, and they were ridiculously small to begin with).
And to top it all off, once I was done with the model, I realized that I just didn't like it. I know it was just supposed to be a prank, but I realized that I was starting to enjoy kitbashing, and I found that I didn't want to build a model that was supposed to intentionally look like shit (to mimic the DS9 kitbashes). I decided that I wanted my ship to look like the BoBW kitbashes instead, even if it gave it away that it wasn't a real studio model (and it wasn't my intention to "really" fool you guys anyway). So I decided I was going to start over again and buy some new model kits, even though now April 1st was coming up soon.
-------------------- "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
So I bought a bunch of models off eBay, and bought paint, glue, styrene, blades and files etc., and went to work on my new model. I had since discovered that I needed Tamiya's Light Ghost Gray for the primer instead of the Testor's Light Gloss Blue.
As I started re-building a new Rigel class model, I also had another idea that was cooking on the back burner. I had always wanted to build a kitbash using a Galaxy saucer and a submarine for the secondary hull. I found a small Typhoon sub kit online for like 6 dollars. I originally wanted the sub to blend into the saucer, but that was just too much work for an amateur like me, so I settled for gluing the sub to the Galaxy neck. I was going to just make it a one-nacelled ship, with the nacelle on top of the conning tower, but I starting thinking about FJ's Ptolemy tug, and got a better idea. I ordered two more sub kits just to get their conning towers for the nacelle pylons (although I did use one sub hull as another transport container as you see in the pics). I experimented with making it look like the original Ptolemy, but as I stated in my faux email, I liked it better upside-down. The top of the Galaxy saucer is now the bottom of the Ptolemy saucer. I cut off the bridge and covered the hole with the bottom of the captain's yacht I used on the Tolstoy. It's basically a big sensor dome since the Ptolemy doesn't have a navigational deflector (I'll post a pic of the underside too). The connecting arms on each side of the sub's front are actually the nacelle pylons from the TOS Enterprise. The registry is one number short from the Yorkshire-class U.S.S. Denver, which was described as a transport ship, so basically this is my version of the Yorkshire class.
More on the Tolstoy tomorrow...
-------------------- "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
Your big giveaway in the pics is the quality of the models- they just would not look that shiney and new after more than a decade.
Smart to use a sub model, though it would have worked better as a BOBW fake.
I still say we make something in-universe from there designs...
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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![[Smile]](smile.gif)
). But no one would have been able to see the ship’s name anyway.![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
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