Hopefully, I’ll be able to tell you more very soon. Meanwhile, some shiny vids and photos will have to do

Let’s continue our march through the many models of Enterprise with the second most-recognizable variant to date: The Enterprise D.

In the Trek timeline, the D is the fifth model in the Enterprise line, if you count the refit as a model (which we do). In terms of order of appearance, it’s the third and perhaps most crucial as it ferried the franchise back onto TV via Star Trek: The Next Generation and into a multi-decade resurgence.

Despite holding this most-vaunted position in the line-up, among Trek hardware geeks, the Galaxy-class starship design is least-favored, mostly because of the exaggerated proportions of the saucer section versus the anemic secondary hull and warp nacelles.

However, at the recent Christie’s Star Trek auction in New York City of Trek collectibles, the original six-foot filming miniature of the Enterprise D sold for $576,000, making it the most expensive Sci Fi collectible on record. Christie’s had originally projected it would sell for around $25,000. Maybe they’re Trek hardware geeks, too?

Perhaps the most under-appreciated entry in the Trek continuum is Deep Space 9. Certainly, it was the most Firefly-like of the series, with it’s broken-down space station and darker mien. DS9 is my favorite ST spinoff, beating out even the venerable Next Generation, which was a little too antiseptic, characters a little too pristine and set design a little “Erte” for my tastes.

At the center of DS9 was, not surprisingly, the Deep Space 9 space station. Alien-built and turned over to it’s human masters as part of a treaty, DS9 was without a doubt the least Trek-like of any space-based vessel to fly a Federation flag. Heck, it didn’t even move (well, not very often, at least).

And it must have been a real challenge to design, with it’s curving pylons and blocky ring that look less alien than it does steam punk. It must be an equally challenging replica to create, so – no surprise – The FX Company made one:

There are many Anime shows I can recommend (I think Browncoats might especially appreciate Outlaw Star, the storyline of which has some rather startling similarities to our beloved Firefly); but Space Cruiser Yamato is not one of them. Not because it’s bad, but because I just haven’t gotten to see it yet (I have a long list of shows I need to watch, and this is on that list).

However, while I haven’t seen the show, as an anime fan I have certainly seen its titular ship many times. In the world of anime, Space Cruiser Yamato, known in Japan as Space Battleship Yamato, is as recognizable as the Enterprise is in the world of television Sci Fi. So it only makes sense that The FX Company would – sooner or later – add it to its impressive list of commissions.

The build below is remarkable for two reasons – one, the 23.5-inch kit it’s based on is over 15 years old and an extraordinarily rare find these days. The other is that it really looks like the cartoon ship: Breathing 3D life into a 2D pen and paint drawing may very well be the hardest thing for a replica designer to do. Without even the benefit of a digital 3D model to work off of, getting it all to fit together and look right; well, let’s just say it requires an extraordinary amount of skill and patience, as you can see below:

And speaking of looking back over a proud history, this week we bring you the next ship to hold the name “Enterprise”: The NCC-1701-C.

It would not be far from the truth to describe the “C” as the Zeppo of Enterprise models – only glimpsed briefly in Star Trek: The Next Generation, there are shuttlecraft that have seen more airtime than the Enterprise C. Its place in the panoply of Enterprises is somewhat less than stellar as well, being the only ship of that name to be destroyed in a battle it lost. It was outnumbered four-to-one at the time, so some allowances must be made. And the C’s noble sacrifice in defense of a Klingon outpost would ultimately lead to the Klingons and Federation becoming allies.

In fact, this sacrifice – and the peace that came with it – was briefly erased by a temporal rift that flung the C into the future and out of the battle that would lead to its destruction. Of course, that lucky happenstance was later undone to restore the timeline and get the Feds and Klingons to be pals again.

For it’s brief and spotty history, the Enterprise C is a beautiful ship, sleeker and more refined than the B, but considerably less Frisbee-like than the D. Thanks to The FX Company’s wonderful build, we can get an eyeful:

The team at The FX Company seem to operate on the same principal: We’ve previously covered their fabulous builds of the original (TOS), NX-01 and refit Enterprise versions. So it should come as no surprise they’ve also done builds of all the “alphabet” Enterprises – the B, C, D and E.

This week we cover the “B”, the first true redesign of the iconic starship. The Enterprise B is an Excelsior-class starship, so named for the prototype of the line, the U.S.S. Excelsior. Every time I see reference to the NX-2000, or the NC-1701-B for that matter, I’m reminded of Scotty’s timely sabotage of the Excelsior in Star Trek III. He removed what looked to me like a metal bolt from the “works”, causing the Excelsior’s experimental Transwarp drive to fail. Always was a little surprised Scotty didn’t get a court-martial for that stunt. I mean, they wanted to execute Spock just for sending messages to bulging-headed Aliens in “The Cage”.

I have to honest – from a design perspective the Enterprise B is not my favorite ship ever. But, I know there are many who admire the B’s long, clean lines, which make it look a little like a 19th Century sailing yacht.  As always, the brilliant model makers at The FX Co. have done a mighty fine job of bringing the B to life:

As Browncoats, we can perhaps feel some sympathy for the devils of old Trek. Klingons may not have been civilized, but at least they were free. Romulans my have been mysterious and clandestine, but at least no one told them what to do, what to think. Never was the story of self-righteous imperialism more purely told than in the original Star Trek, except perhaps in Firefly and Serenity. Star Trek’s optimism about limitless horizons (and resources) and almost casual “might makes right as long as its our definition of right” philoposhy sounds so suspiciously close to Alliance-think, it makes me wonder if perhaps the show still enjoys popularity on the Core Worlds as Saturday morning entertainment for the kiddies? Hmmm…

It’s also true that the original Star Trek laid considerable rail for what was to follow. Even Firefly, which went to great lengths to distance itself from the Federation’s sterile, goodie-goodie society, still needed a show like Star Trek so there was some benchmark to measure that distance.

And certainly, no show has influenced more technical innovations, inspired more scientists, and had so great and prevailing impact on the way we even think about the possibility of space exploration as Star Trek has. Name another TV vessel that had an actual, real-life spaceship named after it? It’s a very short list, indeed.

So, it is with all due reverence, respect and mild suspicion (because, as Browncoats, how could it be otherwise?), we present the flagship of the Federation: The FX Company’s build of the Enterprise NCC-1701 (no appended digit):

I think it’s hard for anyone under 30 to imagine, but there was a time when the pickins for Science Fiction fans were mighty slim. Growing up geek in the 60s and 70s meant shows like Star Trek, the original series, were just about all there was if you were seeking intelligent, well-written entertainment of the Future Tense variety. Unlike today’s incredibly rich and varied selection of Sci Fi entertainment, back in the day most speculative fare was pretty dreadful.

But if Star Trek was our Shakespeare, then Irwin Allen was our Neil Simon, churning out with surprising regularity a string of formula Sci Fi shows with just enough originality to keep those of us traversing those drought years glued to our TV screens.

And no Allen-made show did that better than Lost in Space, which, Carrot Men aside, had some of the coolest stuff to be seen in any television show of that era.

Ask anyone who knows me, I don’t “squee!” But when The FX Company sent me over these shots of their Polar Lights Jupiter 2 buildup, something suspiciously like a “squee!” was heard. It wasn’t me, of course. No, no, some other squee-worthy event must have been taking place in the office next door. Yeah. Right, that’s the ticket.

Rest-assured, this commission is on my holiday gift list. Right after Serenity, that is…

Click here to view the embedded video.

]]> http://www.fireflyshipworks.com/2008/08/fx-friday-jupiter-2/feed/ 8 http://www.fireflyshipworks.com/2008/07/fx-friday-the-cylon-raider-artisan-replica/ http://www.fireflyshipworks.com/2008/07/fx-friday-the-cylon-raider-artisan-replica/#comments Sat, 26 Jul 2008 04:39:27 +0000 admin http://www.fireflyshipworks.com/?p=293 I know we’re down at Comic-Con and, as a result, the updates have been infrequent. But I did promise you something special for this week’s FX Friday update, so here it is: QMx’s first Artisan ship replica – the limited-edition, signature-edition, Cylon Raider Artisan Replica. And for all you Core-Techs, here’s the goods:

Limited to just 500 replicas, each one of these babies is being hand built by the model-making wizards at The FX Co. The Raider measures 15″ x 9.5″ x 3″ with a total display height of 10″, including the painted, textured asteroid diorama base (which measures 12″ x 8″). From the prismatic paint that shifts color as the surrounding light changes to the Cylon’s trademark scanning electronic eye, to the heavy-duty polyeurathane “ammo” case each Raider ships in, the guys at FX have really outdone themselves on this one.

We were also extremely lucky to have just about the entire cast of Battlestar Galactica, plus Executive Producer Ron Moore, sign a bunch of the Raider plaques – every Raider will come with a signed plaque from one the BSG crew, at no extra charge. As for whose signature you’ll get if you get a Raider, well, let’s just say we’ve left that up to the Gods.

To see the complete story, you can go to www.qmxonline.com/raider. You can also check out the gallery below:

So – of course – it should come as no surprise to anyone that among the FX Company’s vast repertoire of Star Trek commissions there’d be a Warbird or two. The one pictured here is vintage Star Trek: The Next Generation and features that groovy ghoulish green glow that is the trademark of the ship. But don’t let that pervasive sppoky green detract from the hundreds of little lit windows rendered so sharply in the1/3200 scale build of a classic bad guy starship.