That TMP documentary made me think of these shots I knew I had tucked away somewhere. The Enterprise B from “Generations” in drydock. ILM built a custom dock for this sequence. I remember vividly when Herman had crates from TMP trucked from storage to the Circle P. A third of a soundstage was filled with big crates. It was like a scene from “Raiders”. I remember peering into one of the huge crates and seeing the skeletal form of the drydock. How many decades had it patiently waited? Pieces were falling off of it, as the glue that held them had long since fallen to dust. In another box I was amazed to see “The Space Lips” from Spock’s spacewalk through V’GR. The next crate held the TMP helm, and another the hangar deck miniature from Trek V. I could never get over the fact that I was breathing this air.
Great shots! I got to see that model during the filming of it’s incarnation as the Lakota (Thanks Josh!) and MAN! what an incredibly beautiful paint job it had!
Ah, the good old days of real model shooting!
It’s amazing how they look so huge on screen yet they are these tiny pieces of plastic, paing, and wood. Truly it is magic.
Terry
Oh I LOVE the Enterprise-B and the updated Space Dock!!!
Thanks for the photos!
Somebody remind me: was the Enterprise-B a re-use of the original Excelsior model or was it built new for Generations?
It was the Excelsior cosmetically altered.
Thank you, Double D. You’re better than Wikipedia!
Jay, how does it feel to have your very own Doug Drexler just waiting to answer your geeky questions?
Nice turn around time on that one!
When I saw the Lakota model, the large Enterprise D was there alongside, but it interestingly had an “E” painted where the “D” had been. Know anything about that?
Chris, John had a post relating to the “D” with the “E” on it here…
http://johneaves.wordpress.com/2009/03/25/andys-d-goes-to-e/
I’m not sure where you saw them, but this is most likely your answer.
Yes! That’s it. Both ships had wonderful paint jobs. I saw at Image G while visiting a motion control colleague of mine.
Thank You!
(these 2 blogs are just awesome)
Isn’t that just a surreal kick in the pants to see that? It just bothers the heck out of me!
Those are great shots Doug.
If memory serves, that was the original TMP drydock, just re-dressed with the center section removed?
Do you have any photos of the dock ILM built for Generations?
Nice pics Doug. By any chance do you have pics of the TMP helm?
Ditto. Any pictures of the other stuff in the crates?
The first model kit I ever put together was the Enterprise-B. I’ve always been a fan of Bill George’s Excelsior design and John Eaves’ variant is a great model also. I just wish they’d used it more on DS9.
As far as the drydock, you really did a great job modifying Andrew Probert’s classic design. I’m really envious of you for getting to peek in all of those great crates full of Trek history (that the powers-that-be at Paramount auctioned off to the highest bidder.
)
For the love of super-cool summer surfin’ penqiuns, that’s a sweet eye-full of model-y-goodiness, eh.
Thanks, Doug!
LLP,
deg
Thanks Doug! Awesome! I love how big the B felt in that sequence.
Anybody know what that thingy sticking out of the upper left of the drydock model is?
Okay, so this is like the third time I’ve asked this question about the Enterprise-B… maybe I’ll get an answer this time
Anyway, Michael Okuda once stated that there was supposed to be a new model/design built for the Ent-B, but in the end the Excelsior model was used. Was there any study models/sketches made for the new design? Doug? Jon? Mike? Anybody??? 
Beautiful Models. Even though CGI has it’s strong points, I feel sorry those days are gone.
If my own story ever is brought to life, I’m going to have a physicial model made. Even if I have to build her myself.
It’s clear they just altered the TMP drydock. They took out the midsection, and replaced the blue light panels. That arm extending from the roof is new. It doesn’t look like they even repainted it, never knew that. They made it gray in the film.
I think they did repaint it gray, there’s just an orange-tinted spotlight shining on it for some reason (note that the Excelsior hull is also orange in the picture). You can see the gray in the shadowed portions of the dock.
Anyway, cool shots of the dock! I just love all those nurnies in the “ceiling”, although trying to replicate those in my 3D model for 2006 SOTL was hell!
And I meant Ent-B hull, of course.
I may be incorrect, but I thought this dock was not a modification of the TMP dock, but a new construction? That was after my time, but I thought the TMP dock remained intact?
The DC
That’s what I call “elegant machinery”
Seeing the setup of the shots like this with “B” on her stand, showing off her paint job, are pure gold. Is there a reason I can’t click to a bigger picture on this one?
This is one of those moments when I’m just dying to pop the movie in and look at it…but alas, I don’t have it! My mental storage playback isn’t working so well; must get the movie!
deg, have you been sneaking out to watch the penguins again?
interestingly, on the officesection on this dock someone actually took the trouble to make a tiny executive shuttle standing on the pad, it can, barely, be seen in the movie!
I miss the hexagonal spotlights.
Very cool, though.
Cool pictures indeed. I can only imagine what it must be like to peer in crates fully of admired models, props etc. I assume my two days at the PIMA ASM come close to that feeling, only that those Trek things are more rare than a B-52 or a F-104. Especially after they got auctioned off.
Cheers
Thorsten
Great photos, thanks for sharing. The effects work on Generations is probably my favorite – some great miniature work, especially with the lighting.
And the breakout of ILM’s CG-Enterprise-D which despite reports of it being a low quality model (only 20,000 polys! 1K Texture maps!!) it looked absolutely gorgeous on screen! That sequence of the ‘D’ warping out after the stellar cartography scene is one of my favourite CG-shots of all!
Oh it was a mistake to kill her off!
I never could figure out why they killed the “D”. Especially since the original idea for “First Contact” was to have the “E” as a Galaxy-class ship until Jonathan Frakes and the art dept. insisted on a brand new design.
Hey Doug,is there a pic of ’space lips’ about? lol!!
!!
Again ,awesome goodies
Paramount saved the removed drydock sections and this has recently been restored back to it’s TMP configuration. This piece is HUGE.
Brilliant! The detail on the “ceiling” of the drydock is amazing and I really like this lighting set up. The more bluish lighting in the movie makes sense, though, as it’d create a better contrast once the B approached the fiery coloured nexus. Still, something like this might’ve looked snazzy.
Doug, I don’t suppose you have any photos of the Trek V shuttlebay model, but it’d be great to hear more about it. What sort of size was it? Presumably it had smaller scale models of the shuttles than we’ve seen (the ones that went to auction were all a few feet long, I think)?
Jay
“Thank you, Double D. You’re better than Wikipedia!”
>Yes, Jay. He is accurate!!!!
And Dea, Jay’s questions are not ‘geeky’…they are detailed…
Geeky wiould be caught wearing a costume on the net…
The DC
Oh, well I guess it depends on what your definition of geek is…my tech school newsletter is G33K 411, and we’re proud of it! I have another term or two for those folks…oh, wait, isn’t Doug wearing a costume in his avatar?
(Yes, I realize that Doug in an NX uniform is *totally* different and actually very se…cool!!!)
Jay is, of course, cool, too!!
In my defense, my girlfriend at the time (and with whom I went to that Halloween party) thought I was a sex bomb in that outfit.
And I was.
I like the starfleet uniforms myself
, and I think it’s fun to see people in Storm Trooper, Klingon, etc. costumes at movies and conventions. Those, I wouldn’t be “caught wearing…on the net” or really anywhere, as The DC says. 
You are a handsome devil in that TNG uniform, Jay!
I’m not bad out of it either, young lady. grrrrrowl!
Woo! Love the models! The details that were put into these things never ceased to amaze me.
I always loved the Excelsior and really dug the changes they made for the Enterprise-B. Wish we’d gotten more opportunity to see more of that ship outside of Generations and the episodes of DS9 featuring the Lakota.
Beautiful pictures. The way the light rakes across the surface details of both models, adds a realism that can sometimes be lacking in sci-fi… If you copy and zoom in, elliminating all the non-model details in the background, you’d swear this was a shot of a real ship orbiting some planet in some distant solar system…
It’s inspired me to take some pictures of my models (employing dramatic lighting) to post in my next blog entry!
Thanks for posting these pictures and for the inspiration!
Beautiful. Very nice scene to open the movie… until Tuesday.
…and if anybody is interested what ever happened to the physical model of the drydock, after being sold at Christie’s; Apparently it is in good hands now, judging from the website of the current owner, he at least is vindicating Mike Okuda’s belief that the models will be lovingly taken care of…
http://www.ncc1701.us/18.html
I wonder what happened to the physical model of the Spacedock that was sold for about $65,000 at Christie’s…..