posted
If anyone's got a spare few tens of thousands of dollars lying around, the Ambassador filming model is up for auction right now (not the E-C model, which I think got broken?, but the later one).
On the assumption that none of us are going to get our hands on it, though, here's a video of Adam Savage taking a look at it at the auction house, and it's got some great close-up shots in there.
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
They painstakingly changed all the labels to the Excalibur’s name and registry - even that tiny little one under the shuttlebay - but then got to the ones on the nacelles and thought, Nah, fuck it… and left them as the Yamaguchi’s!
… which doesn’t actually make sense, because the Yamaguchi was the second model’s final identity. Or so I assume, since Redemption II (Excalibur) was filmed July 91, and Emissary (Yamaguchi) in August 92…
So what went on there? Did they start to change Exc to Yam then thought, why are we bothering? Nobody’ll see the name or registry! Did they decide to return it to the Exc markings, because it might be more popular at eventual auction? Bernd’s site mentions a proposed appearance in ST:GEN which didn’t happen because of the damage. It wouldn’t be a homage to the ship’s role in the New Frontiers books, because those didn’t start until 1997…
posted
Well, not now anyway - looks like all the second-hand Eaglemoss ships on eBay have gone up in price (but it now or auction starting amounts) since the company folded…
… Especially the 1701-F model since it got canonised!
posted
Depends how much you’re willing to pay, I guess. Lots in Germany, but stupid prices. This looks more reasonable - in the U.K., about $22? Plus shipping (worldwide apparently).
quote:Originally posted by Lee: They painstakingly changed all the labels to the Excalibur’s name and registry - even that tiny little one under the shuttlebay - but then got to the ones on the nacelles and thought, Nah, fuck it… and left them as the Yamaguchi’s!
… which doesn’t actually make sense, because the Yamaguchi was the second model’s final identity. Or so I assume, since Redemption II (Excalibur) was filmed July 91, and Emissary (Yamaguchi) in August 92…
So what went on there? Did they start to change Exc to Yam then thought, why are we bothering? Nobody’ll see the name or registry! Did they decide to return it to the Exc markings, because it might be more popular at eventual auction? Bernd’s site mentions a proposed appearance in ST:GEN which didn’t happen because of the damage. It wouldn’t be a homage to the ship’s role in the New Frontiers books, because those didn’t start until 1997…
Here's the history of the second Ambassador class model:
1. Started out life as the U.S.S. Zuhkov (sic) NCC-62136, supposedly a Rigel class starship to go along with the Okudagram from "Brothers" (perhaps an Ambassador variant but with enough changes to warrant a different class?), but then Okuda decided it was an Ambassador and that the registry was too high so he swapped the first two numbers in subsequent Okudagrams which listed the ship's name and registry. The ship was labeled as such because the script mentioned the ship by name, even though you couldn't see it on screen. (TNG "Data's Day")
2. Then for "Redemption," the model was labeled "U.S.S. Excalibur NCC-26517 (using the aforementioned flip-flopping of the 6 and the 2 from the Zhukov's registry). The ship was labeled as such because the script mentioned it by name, even though you couldn't see it on screen.
3. Then for DS9's "Emissary" the saucer top was relabeled "USS Yamaguchi NCC-26510" but retained the 26517 registry under the saucer and on the nacelles from the Excalibur. The ship's name was never mentioned in dialogue, but because it couldn't have been the Excalibur (since Redemption took place after BoBW even though Emissary was filmed later), they had to rename it something else. So they just did the bare minimum they had to to rename the ship and change one number on the registry.
It's actually a testament to all the hard work these guys performed on these shows that we even got all these names and registries at all. None of these examples even showed the name and registry up close, yet they changed them all anyway. They could easily have just not done anything and nobody would have been the wiser.
-------------------- "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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Shik
Starship database: completed; History of Starfleet: done; website: probably never
Member # 343
posted
*like button*
-------------------- "The French have a saying: 'mise en place'—keep everything in its fucking place!"
Registered: Jun 2000
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posted
Ok, so then they updated the nacelles too for Emissary but left the registry under the saucer the same as the Excalibur’s. The model is also labeled Yamaguchi on the upper pylons but Excalibur on the shuttlebay. Perhaps they thought the ship would only be filmed from above and in front, so they didn’t bother with the underside and the back?
-------------------- "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
This is only somewhat relevant, but I didn't think it was worth opening a whole new thread : Tested put out another video, this time with Adam Savage going to the Smithsonian to view the original TOS Enterprise model that's undergoing restoration.
Registered: Mar 1999
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