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Original 11' Star Trek Enterprise Model Being Restored Again

Posted by samzenpus on from the to-brightly-go-where-no-man-has-gone-before dept.

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.

5 of 99 comments (clear)

  1. Saw it at the Smithsonian a few years ago by dpilot · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.

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    The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
    1. Re:Saw it at the Smithsonian a few years ago by Teresita · · Score: 5, Funny

      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.

    2. Re:Saw it at the Smithsonian a few years ago by plopez · · Score: 5, Funny

      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.

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      putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
  2. Cecilia Gimenez by wylderide · · Score: 5, Funny

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

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    This is the best restaurant I ever eat in
  3. Re:optimistic vision of a future by Beamboom · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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".