SOTL: Active Duty! The Collection!

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I had to think about it for a minute, but as incredible as it may seem, the Ships Of The Line calendar is fifteen years old!

We’ve shared some incredible vistas, and marveled at some awe-inspiring starships, and somehow the excitement has not faded. It’s hard to pinpoint precisely what it is that makes the erstwhile saucer\nacelle configuration so endlessly fascinating. The embodiment of humankind at it’s best, the genetic need to explore the unknown, to push that upper right hand corner of the envelope, and in doing so, discover what it means to be human.

 A couple of years back it struck me that we had a storehouse of incredible starship pages that were demanding to be lifted to that next level of cool. So was born Ships Of The Line: Active Duty! The SOTL gang responded enthusiastically. They shook out their files, wound up their starships, and warped us out of orbit. The result was breathtaking. I began posting them on my blog, The Drex Files, and not surprisingly, they were a big hit. 

 About six months back, Matt Boardman assembled a number of these animations, and I posted them for the enjoyment of fans everywhere. When Ian Spelling called me last week about featuring Active Duty! on startrek.com, Jack Marshall and I sat down and expanded on that compilation.

 The fascination surely goes beyond the obvious fun and entertainment of Star Trek, but for now, let’s just bask in that magic “I don’t know what”, which Matt Jefferies first conjured almost fifty years ago. Enjoy Ships Of The Line: Active Duty!

 Doug Drexler

North Hollywood

* Special thanks to our friend, Margaret Clark of Pocket Books, for making it all happen

SOTL 2012: 7 of 7 – Ships Of The Line “Tech Fold”

For all you subscribers to “Nacelles Monthly”, our popular new Tech Fold. It’s a tad on the lower rez size to give you a reason to buy the calendar : ) But still enough to dig it now!

I’m out! See you next time, gang!

SOTL 2012: 6 of 7 – Dan “Mad Koi Fish” Uyeno

Reprovisioning At Sea

Dan Uyeno

No kidding, this gentleman has an understanding of the starfleet design ethic that would give Leah Brahms hot flashes, Geordi La Forge an inferiority complex, and cause Scotty to wet his pants. That’s bowlin’ it right down the center, sonny. Join us as the Mad Koi himself takes us through the numbers -

 This image came from a real round about way. I started out using the cargo ship in a Kobayashi Maru like scenario with the classic face off view. I moved on because it was to flat and quite static. Many very dissimilar ideas and much feedback later I return to that cargo ship, fate. This time it is a more dynamic composition that depicts an everyday task of re-supplying a deep space explorer. I like this more than any of the other ideas I presented because it is different.

I quite enjoy working with these unseen eras of Star Trek. I keep finding I always return to them after exploring existing eras. I can explore ideas and mix known elements within the adjoining eras. These two ships allowed me to meld two ends of known design, but keep them very different in over all appearance. The cargo ship would be more of the TMP end of the spectrum, where as the Balmung falls closer to the Ambassador class in detail and time frame. But each has details that interrelate as well, depicting a continuous renewal of the fleet through the passage of time. The cargo ship should lend a feeling of a ship that was slowly updated over a long period of time utilizing older repurposed elements. The thought being cargo ships wouldn’t be the first to get all the new technology, but get what works and is reliable.

(Above) The U.S.S. Balmung with her new materials and warp coil elements. This image is still WIP so some of the smaller detail elements are missing from this image.

(Above) This is one of the work bees for the cargo ship. Since these would be small elements I did not add a lot of detail to them. The crates are all made to fit in spaces on deck and in the slots for the cargo pods.

A detail view of the inside of one of the cargo pods. It shows how they slot into the pod and are arranged on the deck of each pod. The pods are modular and can just be detached as a whole or even reconfigured internally.

A rough render of the arboretum that is located in the upper rear right side of the saucer.

A close up of the rear mess hall/bar, large room with tables and chairs, and a bit of a peek into the upper shuttle bay. You can just see the observation interior at the top of the bay.  The slots for more work bees can be seen in the upper right.

This shows the cargo ship without the crate pontoons. This is part of a modular system so that other items can be mounted to the struts.

A test render of the underside view of the U.S.S. Balmung.

I hope that the viewer can find new details with each viewing of my image and can read past the visual story to a story untold. It was a joy to work with Doug on this and his simple right to the point crits really helped me decide a direction to take, to solidify my wayward attention. I apologize for not be as entertaining as other guests on the blog! Hopefully this gives a small insight into the image.

-MKF

SOTL 2012: 5 of 7 – Mark Rademaker

U.S.S. Planck  – Shakedown

Mark Rademaker

Mark has an eye for detail and an understanding of tech that goes far beyond those of mortal men. His realization of the ring ship Enterprise last year created a real stir. Thanks Mark for another demo of “starfleet clean”. Here now he details how this new ship design came to be -

U.S.S. Planck, Merian Class.

When I was reading Kirsten Beyer’s novel “Full Circle” I noticed that an expedition fleet of ships (9 in total) where outfitted with Quantum slipstream drives. Two of these where Vesta class ships. It got me thinking about the other ships. After emailing with Kirsten, we decided to put some primary specs on paper. Crewsize, class names, registry numbers and their respective role within the fleet.

For my SOTL 2012 project, I picked the U.S.S. Planck. (1 of 3 Merian class ships in this fleet.) Merian, the name rings slightly like Miranda, was meant as a replacement for this aging class.

I wanted it to be Quantum Slipstream compatible, modular to fit different mission profiles, and very easy to produce. The latter to quickly fill the gaps within the fleet, after the Destiny events.
A mild issue (for me) on the original Miranda was that the pylons where kind of “stuck” into the primary hull. I searched for a more valid solution that would provide more structural strength to the ship. It is now based on a central spine that connects the pylons and the “roll bar”.

(Above) Early 2010: Creation of the superstructure as a test for the look and feel of the overall model.

(Above) Autumn 2010: The primary hull is almost done, nacelles are still work in progress.

(Above) January 2011: Texturing/Coloring and detailing of nacelles. (98% finished) Because the crew compliment isn’t that large, I wanted to reflect a logical layout for rooms, labs and engineering on the exterior. Living/Recreation sections are on the higher decks, the lower decks are labs, research, storage etc. The rear features the double shuttle bay layout, like on the Miranda. The Planck does not use traditional thrusters, but a graviton manipulation system designed by Coridan engineers. Because of the ships small size, this maintenance friendly (but experimental) system could be used. Dimensions: Length: 218 Meters Width: 113.5 Meters Height: 47 Meters

In the future I hope to create the other 8 ships of this fleet as well. Some are simple modifications, others have to be created from scratch. It’s a lot of fun to do. The 2380 era is by far my favorite era, from there on things are mainly unexplored, both in design and near the borders of known space. I would like to thank everybody (especially Doug) for their support and I hope to see you all in 2013!

SOTL 2012: 4 of 7 – deg

Whatever this thing is, it’s big.

Douglas E. Graves

We brought deg in to work with us on “Blood And Chrome”, need I say more? Here he is now to talk his talk -

Yes, “Tomorrow Is Yesterday.” I love all TOS Trek, but that episode produced the single most compelling piece of Trek imagery ever to be impressed upon my young Trek-obsessed imagination. There was just something about seeing E up in the blue sky that somehow made Trek “real” for me, like I could actually reach out and touch that beloved universe. For years afterwards I can recall summers sitting on the front-porch with my brother and just imagining E up there in the blue sky (that and a T-Rex lumbering down our street were our two fav front-porch day-dreams).

Anywho, that TIY imagery stuck with me through all the years (and still does), so I had to see it fleshed out even more to the satisfaction of my mind’s eye. And thus was born this shot. An extra added bonus was the fact that Capt. Christopher flew an F-104, one of my all-time favorite silver-bird jets, so I didn’t have to twist me own arm to build that shiny pretty birdie (which was painstakingly researched to be accurate to Christopher’s sky-ride) .

It seems the original episode’s blue sky E imagery struck the same wonderment chord with many other Trek fans, as “Whatever this thing is, it’s big.” has easily been the piece that I have received the most emails expressing praise and delight. Doug was easily one of its biggest fans, so I was (and am) honored that he asked me to include it in SOTL: 2012. It is a big thrill to see it immortalized like this, and I hope that all my fellow fans will enjoy it as much as I do myself.

peace & bananas | deg

SOTL 2012: 3 of 7 – Craig Buckaroohawk Frey

Reflections After Probert

Craig Frey

When I saw Craig’s version of Andy’s fabled painting, I knew we had to have it for the 2012 Ships Of The Line. Craig had captured it… the tone, the elegance, and the Probert. Craig speaks -

It all started with a painting, an image that stuck with me since childhood. The newly refitted U.S.S. Enterprise from Star Trek: The Motion Picture hovering over a crater lake in deep space, but the reflection showed the Enterprise from The Original Series. The painting was created by noted sci-fi illustrator Andrew Probert and it appeared on the cover of the magazine “Enterprise Incidents.” I thought it was just incredible; such an evocative way to represent the beauty of both ships. As a young fan in love with all things Trek, I bought a copy of the magazine solely because of that image. It was, simply, the coolest piece of Trek art I’d ever seen.

(Below) Andy’s original painting for “Enterprise Incidents”, and Criag’s first pass.

Many (many) years later, I decided to re-create that image in CGI using 3D Studio MAX. I had Dennis Bailey’sTMP Enterprise and Chris “evil_genius_180” Martin’sTOS Enterprise in my model library, so all I had to do was build the lip of the crater and its reflection, then find a suitable background. With the help of a fellow member of the scifi-meshes.com website nicknamed “rekkert”, I obtained an online version of the original painting and set to work. The result was (I believe) a suitable tribute to the original.

About a year later, I heard through the grapevine that the editor of the Star Trek Ships of the Line Calendar (our illustrious host, Doug Drexler) was looking for submissions for the 2012 edition. Another member of scifi-meshes.com, Tobias Richter, forwarded Doug’s e-mail address to me and I sent him a HUGE file full of what I considered to be my best work. Doug singled out my CGI version of Andrew’s painting for consideration. The only problem was the image wasn’t the right size for the calendar format, so I had to recreate the scene from scratch because I hadn’t been smart enough to save the original .max scene (D’oh!).

After rebuilding the scene and submitting multiple drafts, it became clear to both Doug and me that the image would not fit the calendar’s interior format. There was too much empty space and trying to fill it meant deviating too far from Andrew’s original painting for our liking. I thought that was the end of it. Close but no cigar. Try again next year. Doug, though, had other ideas and suggested that the image would work well as the cover of the calendar! After I picked myself up from the floor I did a quick test and cropped the original image to fit the cover. That still didn’t work. Part of the border and the credits on the image were visible, and the background wasn’t of high enough resolution for my taste. I went back to the new .max scene and reworked all the elements to fit the cover

Doug liked the original image, but he had a few changes. He asked me to give the crater’s reflecting pool a visible surface and ramp up the lighting on the entire scene. Changing the lighting wasn’t a problem, but getting the surface of the reflecting pool to look right proved to be a maddening conundrum. I sent Doug draft after draft, only to receive the reply “Nope. Try again” over and over. It became clear that there was no way I was going to get the look he was after using 3D Studio MAX alone.

Then I hit upon an idea. I rendered images of every element in the scene separately, then brought each of them into Photoshop and built a new version of the image layer by layer. That way I could make any changes Doug suggested without having to re-render the entire scene. Now, I’m sure many of you are saying “Well, duh! That’s how you’re supposed to do it,” but I’d never really worked extensively with Photoshop before. Up until this point I’d used it only to add simple effects to my images. This was entirely new territory for me and I had no idea if I’d be able to make it work.

I submitted a new set of drafts, worried that my inexperience with Photoshop would be all too apparent and Doug would give me the “thumbs down.” Surprisingly, he responded favorably, saying that I was getting very close. A few nudges and tweaks later, and, after three months and over 30 drafts, I finally hit the bull’s-eye! Doug accepted the image and the rest is (or, rather, hopefully will be) history.

My deepest heartfelt thanks go out to scifi-meshes.com members “rekkert” and Tobias Richter for their initial help; Dennis Bailey and Chris Martin for letting me use their incredible models; Andrew Probert for allowing me to pay tribute to his original artwork; and of course to Doug Drexler for his endless patience, support, and guidance…and for giving me, a relative noob and completely unknown CGI artist, the chance of a lifetime. I’m honored to have my contribution to Star Trek stand beside the work of artists who have been an inspiration to me for years. I hope you all enjoy the Star Trek Ships of the Line 2012 Calendar. Live Long and Prosper!

SOTL 2012: 2 of 7 – D.M. Phoenix

The Terminal Descent Of Allegiance

D.M. Phoenix

When I first saw the original version of this image by the enigmatic D.M. Phoenix, it inspired a sense of fear, and pity, that is hard to forget. Haunting, dramatic, and beautiful to look at. It captures that horrific moment in life when you realize that you are the bears dinner. 

Hello, I am D.M. Phoenix, CG artist and occasional Puerile Video editor. This is my entry for SOTL 2012, a project I had a lot of fun working on. This work is a modernization of a similar scene I did back in 2003. In order for it to stand up to high resolution viewing, the majority of the scene required reworking…

The planetary background is a composite of two renders: A simple spherical planetary render of Mars, and a high detail procedurally generated terrain. The latter required a 30 hour render at maximum resolution.

This vessel is the U.S.S Allegiance, a Federation Starship. I designed it back in 2003 as a hybrid of the Galaxy and Sovereign classes, suggesting a transition between the classes

The flame, and the smoke effects, were rendered in a separate pass using FumeFX. I also added some flames from oil well fires, along with some hand painted debris, stock explosions, and battle damage to increase the effect

The Borg cube consists of only three visible sides. The innermost layer was a simple plane set to illuminate a texture from within while the outermost layers were packed with irregular geometry. Later, I cut out large swathes of the surface during the battle damage pass

Lastly, some final atmospheric streaks and trails were added to give the scene motion. A J. J. Abrams-esque lensflare served to draw the eye forward and complete the image.

Thanks again to Doug Drexler for the opportunity to work on SOTL alongside these great artists. – D.M. Phoenix

SOTL 2012: 1 of 7 – Tobias Richter

Ambassador Class Sea Trials

Tobias Richter

What drew me to Tobias was that his shots of the JJ Abrahms Enterprise looked light years better than any of the publicity images I had seen come from the studio. I immediately contacted him about contributing to The Ships Of The Line.  The guy is a brilliant 3D artist and an astonishing modeler. He also seems to live in a dimensional plane where there are at least 72 hours in a day. How else does he manage to produce all this fun work, and still hold a full time job? Take it away, Tobias -

Most of you will certainly remember the TNG episode “Yesterdays Enterprise” – an all time favourite. In that epsiode, the “Enterprise C” is one of the stars. Back when the show was produced, all the effects work was done using models, so every new model had to be designed and painstakingly built – time and budget was an issue.
When the script came up and it was clear a new ship was needed, Andrew Probert came up with a sketch. A beautiful starship, very sleek and elegant – the lines following in between the shapes of the Enterprise B and the Enterprise D.

In the art department, Rick Sternbach was also designing a version of the ship – also elegant and functional, but maybe a bit easier to build for the modelmakers. I do not know the exact reason why, but it was Ricks version that ended up being built for the screen.So when Andrew asked me last summer if I´d be interested in building his version of the Ambassador, I was all in. I knew the sketch and loved the design. Andrew once had started himself to do a 3D model, but never completed it. Unfortunately, a sketch does not solve all technical issues. What works in a sketch does not always look good in three dimensions.
While the saucer and the warp nacelles proved no problem, the secondary hull was rather problematic. We were in constant contact to get the basic shape (and later the details) right. We did about 20 iterations of the secondary hull til we found a solution that is close to the sketch, while still looking good in 3D.

Since I wanted to really do Andrews version of the ships and not cheat around and make something that just looks similar, the whole process took a couple of months til the model was done. Andrew had very specific ideas about this ship, most areas were designed with a technical purpose. E.g. behind the bridge is a warp engine structure with retractable nacelles hidden beneath panel lines.

It was also the first time that I did model all the windows on a TNG-era ship. For the large windows, we also have some interiors – lounges and stuff like that. But I refrained to model interiors for all windows (at least for now…)

Since I imagined this vessel to be an explorer rather than a battleship, the picture for the “Ships of the Line” calendar should reflect that. Showing the ship charting the unknown, exploring some unknown solar system with two gas giants close by. It´s that sense of wonder that is one of the strong points of Science Fiction – and hopefully in Trek soon again.

As for the asteroid ring, a fellow artist came up with a setup to use a combination of modelled asteroids and Maya fluids to get that mixture of hard elements in a dusty environment. Of course it required some finishing touches in Photoship, but it turned out nicely. The sun setting on the edge of the ring gives the whole picture a beautiful mood.

There will be some renderings of the Ambassador shown in the centerfold as well, so you´ll be able to see some more of that ship. The collaboration with Andrew was really great – I learned a lot in that time – and I hope I made a model that he can be proud of.

SOTL 2012 Is A Go!

SOTL – Landing Party -  Max Rem

In the works and going full bore. Roughs are due on the first of the year.

That Thing Wants To Be Us

Ships of the Line -”Thing From Another World” – John Teska

2011 SOTL Closeup – Mark Rademaker– “Enterprise XCV – The Great Experiment”

(Above) Mark Rademaker brings an unrealized classic to life. Click for a good rez!

When Andrew Probert suggested to me that I should create the “Ringship” for the calendar I could only say yes. While I’m used to flashy 24th century stuff, I wanted to prove that no matter the shape it still can look futuristic. My goal from that moment on was to bring this almost 50 year old design of Matt Jefferies back in 2010. I collected a lot of reference material and studied the blueprints until I had the general idea and feel, then I started the modeling work:

Phase 1: Modeling the basic shape:
This was pretty straight forward work, this is also the part where I thought: well this is going to be an easy ride. (Ha! I was so wrong there!)

Phase 2: Modeling the Enviropod:
The “Enviropod” or “command module” is probably one of the more complex shapes that I have done. I created a placeholder for it, and later redid it from scratch. I spent as much time on this single part as I did on the entire basic shape. The fact that there is a modular sensor dome on one side added to the challenge.

Phase 3: Modeling the details:
I always love to add details and because this was a rather “small” ship (approx. 120 meters) I  felt that I really could push this a bit. When I decided to model the panel lines, I knew that I would also need to model the slots that keep the panels onto the ship.
This is the point where you realize that the “easy ride” is not so valid anymore. I added about 2000 slots all over the ship. They are 1×3 centimeters in size, but still visible on the calendar image. Andrew once again gave lots of feedback on all these tiny parts, and that really helped.

Phase 4: Applying paint and texture:
With the modeling phase done it was time to add paint and textures. I asked Mike Okuda if I could use his XCV-330 insignia on the side of the ship and before I knew it I had a new blue version of it in the mail! Thanks Mike, that really made my day! Doug was kind enough to sent me an early Starfleet pennant that I could add onto the neck, it really is a finishing touch. I wanted the rest of the ship to be mainly white and glossy, like porcelain. I also decided to avoid using too much contrast, with exception of the sub light engine. I made it a very dark color to make it look heavy, that way it could counterbalance the long neck.

Phase 5: Environment and post processing:
I have been experimenting with 2 different idea’s for the calendar. One that actually showed the deflector pushing away a lot of tiny debris or a beauty shot near an asteroid. I picked the second option because it would give a better view of the ship itself. The asteroid is 100% artificial, it’s a challenge to create a piece of rock on a computer and make it look good at the resolution of the calendar. Most rocks loose there sense of “crispness” on these formats. I think I experimented for 8 hours to get it the way I wanted. After the final render was done I added some post effects to boost realism a bit.

(Above) Wireframe view of Enterprise XCV, and the Lord of the Rings.

I loved to work on this ship and I want to dedicate this image to Matt Jefferies because without him our universe would not have been the same.

- Mark

2011 SOTL Closeup – deg– “High Voltage Paint Scraper”

(Above) deg adds the sizzle. Click for a closer look!

Heya Drex Gang! I recall it like tomorrow is yesterday; Stardate: 02.20.2009: There I was, having just found the Drex Files a week or so before, I was in a complete state of unbridled anaphylactic Trekker BTS geek-glee! as never before, as I spent me last few days swingin’ on the fun-vine o’ life gobbling up and reading every single day of Doug’s backlog entries on the Files up to that point. But I wasn’t only reading, no, I can’t keep me chimpy-joy all pent up inside all unexpressed like some un-peeled banana, so I was commenting on every single day-entry as well, in my innate (non)sense brand of chimpy-loony.

(Below) A deg in his natural habitat.

Well, this bouncing flurry of deg posting, unbeknownst to me, I guess piqued Doug’s interest in just who this “deg” goof-ball was, and next thing I know; what this?! Kirk and E be praised! An email from the Drex-Man himself in my in-box!!! And it wasn’t one asking me to leave the blog due to me nuttiness! No, Doug is actually asking me if he could feature me TOS.5 E on his blog! And as if that’s not enough Drex-y goodness right there, oh my frakin’ stars and garters!, he also asks me if I would be interested in doing a shot for SOTL: 2011! CROM, wha wha wha’d, he say? The room starts to spin a bit… Honee, I need a banana quick to stabilize me aped-systems… Well, you know my default response when Trek Masters come a’knockin’: YES PLEASE!!!

So, fast-forward to Stardate: 12.26.09, in-comes the email to commence design. I submit a concept that I had in mind with the two ships cruising along-side each other, kinda like in ST:VI. It was meant to be a “Day of the Dove” homage to peace. Ships are too small and far away, Doug kindly shares. I rework it. Not enough sizzle, Doug kindly shares. I rework it again. Still not doin’ it for me, Doug again oh-so-kindly shares. Still not working for me either really. Doug loves me F-104 pacing E shot. We considered using that (perhaps in the future if Doug asks me back, as I love that shot as well). But I wanted something deg-freshy-fresh for me debut and I had just finished Johnny’s D4 design that I really really love. So I start thinkin’ about a Trek game of starship chicken, and how that would play out to me; how me (our) man!

(Above) Wireframe of deg’s in progress interstellar altercation. Klingon driver! Double-dumbass!

Kirk, being Kirk in his Kirky-Kirk-iness could even stare and back down a mighty confrontation-obsessed Klingon captain (without the use of a Flying Two-Footed Kirk Drop-Kick™ or the Kirk-Chop™), and thus was born this shot. And Doug shared: “That’s the stuff!” Yea! And there was much rejoicing! And then I composed the pulse-fire as Kirk slappin’ the K-cap’n on the arse out the door, not at all meaning to actually hit the D4, just a cocky-Kirk-ism in effect sayin’; Yeah, that’s right, bee-ach, you’re the one that veered off, and I’m James T-i-b-e-r-i-u-s Kirk! *SMACK**

Some words about production; not counting me mesh build-time, about 2 weeks back-and-forth for us to come up with the composition, and about three days to get it all executed after that, IIRC. Doug asked me to animate it for “SOTL: ACTIVE DUTY!”, and, what was my response? Then I started thinkin’ about it. Actual movement, no prob. But that pulse-fire efx, I have no idea how to animate that as I’ve never done that type o’ work before. I’ll just have to figure that part out, hopefully… Bear with me, dug! Thanks to you, for havin’ me (on everything so far!), and to all the Drex Gang! Hope you all enjoy the shot as much as I enjoyed creating it with Doug’s awesome and kind help and his eye for what works best. Hey, it’s what he does!

peace and long life & bananas – deg

drex-TV 01

Full HD! Blow it up full screen!

Finally!

The plan is to make this a monthly thing. Hope you dig! Below is the article that accompanies this V-blog on the relaunched, refitted startrek.com -

Drex Files Video Addendum!
We’ve only explored 2% of the Galaxy!

I was a fan from the first glimmer of black and white cathode ray over forty years ago, and am still hip deep. I’m in the enviable position of having worked on Star Trek for nearly two decades and have probably worked in more capacities than anyone in the history of the show… makeup artist, scenic artist, illustrator, and visual effects artist, and you now what? I’ve never been able to get enough!

Many of you know me from my blog, “The Drex Files”. Man, I poured a lot of stuff into that site. When Ian Spellin of suggested my putting together a column for startrek.com, I was dubious. Would a year and a half on Drex Files leave me anything to explore? Watch this!

Andygram!
We look at one of Trek’s sleekest and sexiest unrealized designs, The sphinx shuttle.

Whenever I think of Andy Probert I think of that scene in “The Right Stuff” where a reporter asks Gordo Cooper who’s the best pilot he’s ever seen. I’m one of Andy Probert’s biggest fans, and for me he is the best look for Star Trek. His sense of logic and aesthetics has never been equaled. One of my favorite Probert designs is the unrealized “Sphinx” shuttle, a cousin of the classic workbee. We’ve rustled you up a heapin’ helpin’ of the man himself, and Douglas “Deg” Graves brings it to life with his newly minted 3D version of the fabled conveyance. A classic Trek design. Why would anyone make Star Trek without Probert attached?

They’re the Juggernaut, bitch!
Ode to the Mararthon Mill Construction  crew.

One of the most thrilling things about working on Star Trek was watching the construction gang in the Marathon Mill take our sketches and blueprints and make them real… and like magic, sets would seemingly coalesce from thin air.

When Mike Westmore piped me aboard the Enterprise D as a a makeup artist, I got my first closeup look at those classiest of starship sets. Buddy, I was like a kid in a candy store, free to wander the 23rd century and marvel at the magnificent designs and incredible craftsmanship that went into even the smallest detail.

There is a saying in the makeup department… first to get there, last to leave. But there were days when I would finish up at 2am, pack my kit, head across the Paramount lot to the parking structure, and be blown away that the construction guys would still be at it full tilt. Later, when I made the jump from the makeup department to art department, I would learn who this amazing powerhouse of a gang was. Not only would I be privy to their world and particular brand of magic, but I would now be working with them hand in hand. I would not only be wowed by their incredible talent and skill, but by the unique characters and personalities that drove the Trek construction juggernaut. Heady days, my friend.

A rough and tumble world of pneumatic nail guns, saber saws and testosterone. The “Marathon Mill” was a wild and woolly pirate ship that demanded a thick skin and a sense of humor to successfully navigate.  Working with construction was one of the funnest, coolest and most satisfying experiences of my widely varied life in Hollywood. Our Star Trek machine was well oiled, and in it’s veins flowed trust, affection, and admiration. I don’t believe that I have ever worked on another show where cooperation between departments was so powerful.

During construction of the NX sets I kept a video record, and this stuff’ll knock your socks off. The first installment makes maximum montage of the construction of the NX warp core and engineering department. Hey you know it, and I know it: A cool engineering department is central to a starship, and we were especially proud of this one. It’s a remarkable document of a very ambitious Star Trek set, and baby you are there!

Le Voyage dans la lune!

When I was thirteen years old, four of the sexiest women on Earth were Raquel Welch, Brigette Bardot, Ursula Andress, and BarBara Luna. When I saw Luna as the Captain’s woman in the classic Trek episode “Mirror, Mirror” she was IT. She still has more of IT than any two women have a right to have of IT. How does she do it? A few weeks back, me, Dorth, Jimmy, and Luna went to see “CHIPs: The Musical” (no, I’m not kidding!) at Gary Marshall’s Eagle Theater in Tolucca Lake (It was hysterical, but that’s another story). I brought my video camera and captured some classic Luna. She’s silly and zany and adorable. Scamp, vixen, brat, comedian, artist, and legend. It’s silly for me to go on and on trying to impart the fun of BarBara Luna. Watch the video already!

Ship’s Of The Line: Active Duty!
This wild idea more than anything else gave me the impetus to create this vid\mag\column for startrek.com

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary… what could I do to make this column special? Then it hit me like a ton of neutronium! Oh you beautiful Galaxy! There were a hundred shots already set up for Ship’s of the Line that were dying to be animated! So I grabbed a bunch of my own pages, talked to Tobias, called Mark, shot up a flare to Rob… and in less than a week we had something special! Check your inertial dampers, fasten your seat belts, and be sure you’ve got your extra heavy reinforced Depends on because this is gold, Jerry! See the launch of the refit NX and Matt Jefferies iconic ringship taking flight! “SOTL: Active Duty” is the kick in the PTC you have been yearning for!

Hey, that was fun! I hope you got a kick out of the Drex Files Video Addendum! Fire a green flare if you’d like to see more, and in the meantime I’ll be fighting killer robots!

In fact I’m working tomorrow, but I’ll be off on Sunday and will be posting! Dugout!

Let The Countdown Begin! 2011 SOTL – Sneak Peek 03- Drexler\Drolet

“Enterprise NX-01 – Back and Packin’” – Drexler\Drolet

2011 Ships of The Line Calendar from Pocket Books – On Sale August!

Let The Countdown Begin! 2011 SOTL – Sneak Peek 02- Mark Rademaker

“Enterprise XCV – The Great Experiment” – Mark Rademaker

2011 Ships of The Line Calendar from Pocket Books – On Sale August!

Mark Rademaker knocks it out of the ballpark with this fully realized render of the Matt Jefferies ring ship!

One of the most radical experiments in early Earth starship design was the Enterprise XCV.  Unlike the traditional nacelle-and-saucer configuration, the XCV uses an annular propulsion system, based on Vulcan vehicle designs.  This ship however, employed cyclotron accelerators to create a high-energy proton flux.  The protons circled through the massive outer rings of verterium gallenide segments, generating a symmetrical subspace field.  Each of the two coleopter ring structures contained two counter-rotating cyclotrons.  The cyclotrons in each ring operated slightly out of phase with each other, generating the propulsive field imbalance that carried the ship through subspace at warp speeds.  – Mike Okuda

Let The Countdown Begin! 2011 SOTL – Sneak Peek 01- Andrew Probert

“Long Range Confirmation” – Andrew Probert

2011 Ships of The Line Calendar from Pocket Books – On Sale August!

Get ready, ’cause the amazing Andy Probert has turned the 2011 Ships of the Line calendar on it’s end!  That’s right! Andy is the first artist to take advantage of the calendar as a vertical format! No surprise there… Andy has been shaking the Star Trek Universe up pretty regularly, and he has done it again. Man, when this baby arrived my jaw hit the deck. Positively stunning! We used to think the standard Romulan Warbird was huge. This Romulan super ship redefines things a little. You’ll have to wait awhile longer for a full rez look, but it the meantime this ought to get your juices going! Look for the SOTL 2011 Calendar a little earlier this year, it’s slated to arrive in in stores this August.

SOTL Flashback – 08

Girlfriends – Doug Drexler

SOTL 2010 – On Sale Now – From Simon & Schuster.

2011 SOTL Technofold – Sneak Peek

A SOTL  bonus next year will be a tech manual style centerfold featuring a couple of the more unusual additions:  the NX-01 refit, and Matt Jefferies revolutionary ringship, the XCV-330. Above is  the rough blocking out of the page with spaceholder text. The final image will be fully rendered with tech by Mike Okuda. Mark Rademaker is doing an awesome job fleshing out Matt’s novel design, and we can’t wait to get a look at the final.

SOTL Coffee Book Cover

SOTL Book Cover

It looks teeny weenie here, but give it a click and finally  see it at a nice big size.

This is not the final-final cover, as later I added J-ship concepts to the outer edges.

SOTL Flashback 07

The Battle of Cardassia – Mike Stetson

SOTL 2010 – On Sale Now – From Simon & Schuster.

SOTL Flashback – 06

Solar Obs – Fred Pienkos

SOTL 2010 – On Sale Now – From Simon & Schuster.

SOTL Flashback – 05

Neutral Zone – Jose Perez

SOTL 2010 – On Sale Now – From Simon & Schuster.

SOTL Flashback – 05

Mark Rademaker’s conceptual art visualizing a scientific scoutship. Mark’s well loved  2010 calendar image was the original starship “Aventine”.  It was designed for the Pocket novel series of the same name. Click for a better look.

http://drexfiles.wordpress.com/2009/07/02/2010-sotl-closeup-%E2%80%93-mark-rademaker%E2%80%93-%E2%80%9Caventine%E2%80%9D/

Mark returns for the 2011 SOTL with something rather special. More on that later.

SOTL 2010 – On Sale Now – From Simon & Schuster.

Plans For NX-01 Refit Completed

As reported last weekend, Pierre Drolet and I will be refitting the NX-01 to a Fifth Season configuration for the 2011 SOTL calendar. I took advantage of the long holiday weekend to get the plans together for Pierre, and we are both excited at the prospect of carrying on the ships evolution toward the 1701.

Bulletin! John Eaves joins the 2011 SOTL  staff.

SOTL Flashback -2009 – Behind the Scenes

Andy Probert’s 2009 offering for the SOTL Calendar is one of my all time favorites. When I saw it it took my breath away. THIS is Star Trek, and man do I miss it! The black and white study you see above was the rough Andy sent me before going ahead with his magnificent final.

Andy Probert and his hand painted piece of eyecandy.