Original 11' Star Trek Enterprise Model Being Restored Again

NormalVisual (565491) writes The original 11-foot U.S.S. Enterprise studio model from the original series has gone back into the shop again. The Smithsonian owns the model and has had it on display in a gift shop at the National Air and Space Museum for the last 13 years, but will be placed on display in the Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall in 2016, to coincide with the museum's 40th anniversary. In the meantime, the model will be undergoing its fourth restoration to address a number of issues. The last restoration in 1991 was performed by Ed Miarecki, a professional modelmaker well known for his work in "Star Trek: The Next Generation", as well as films such as "Event Horizon". This previous restoration had Trek fans up in arms owing to the paint job, which many feel doesn't represent the way the model looked originally. Hopefully this next restoration will bring her back to her former glory.

Comments

Saw it at the Smithsonian a few years ago

[dpilot]

We took the family to DC for a vacation, and of course one of the things I had to see was Smithsonian Air and Space. I didn't know that the original Enterprise model was there, and was surprised to see it on the lower floor.

The next surprise was that the model was never finished. One side had all of the lights, striping, and everything. The other side had a little striping, and was otherwise pretty much blank. I remembered reading that in one of those books, and how all shots were of the finished side, or mirrored in post-processing.

Re:Saw it at the Smithsonian a few years ago

[Teresita]

If Lucas had created Star Trek rather than Roddenberry, then the Original Series model at the Smithsonian would have DS9 era warp nacelles ret-conned on it and the phasers could never be fired until the shields were below 50% strength because of course Kirk never shoots first.

Re:Saw it at the Smithsonian a few years ago

[plopez]

If Lucas had created Star Trek; Uhura would've have been a northern European princess, Chekov a darkside villain, Kirk a 20 something whiny white boy, Spock a droid, and Scotty an ethnically insulting alien based on Mexican stereo types.

Re:Saw it at the Smithsonian a few years ago

[FatdogHaiku]

...Kirk never shoots first.

Uhura might have something to say about that...

Kirk: This sort of thing . . . has never . . . happened . . . to me . . . before!
Uhura: I just wish you could have held out until I removed my uniform...

Zoolander

[ArcadeMan]

What is this? A spaceship for ANTS?!

Cecilia Gimenez

[wylderide]

She took a crack at restoring it, but it was deemed to be not entirely successful.

Event Horizon

[ArcadeMan]

One of the best science-fiction movie ever made, if you stop watching before it all goes to hell.

Re:Event Horizon

[NEDHead]

Or, perhaps more objectively, one of the worst movies of all time.

Crude?

[fnj]

Judging from STTOS on TV, the original model was almost toy-like crude. The STTNG model was much more convincing, and that one already looks pretty crude compared to a good movie. The modelwork in 2001: A Space Odyssey stll impresses.

Re:optimistic vision of a future

[Beamboom]

whose "optimistic vision of a future" includes women wearing mini skirts and gogo boots.

To be fair, for a good many that's close to the very definition of an "optimistic vision".