Rick Sternbach said:
Greg Jein built a physical miniature about 14" in length. There was no major CG version that I know of aside from five tiny diagramatic ships, and I suspect that anyone who attempted a CG mesh without a copy of the studio model, ortho-shot photos, or the ortho drawings, probably got something wrong. Most of the fan guesses at ortho drawings are close but no cigar. There are a few castings out in the world; on display or in collections, so determined enthusiasts could produce a wicked good mesh or finished model. I completed a raw casting given to me by Greg, creating a set of hull graphics in the process, which have been scaled down to fit the new kit coming out.
In cases like some of the later Voyager ships, like the Delta Flyer and Equinox and a few others, CG meshes have not surprisingly squirreled their way into rapid prototyping to produce models; happens every day with that sort of technology and we're likely to see a lot more in the hobby area in the next few years. It all starts with a design, though.
Rick
www.spacemodelsystems.com
Thanks for all the great info!
On the CGmesh/rapid prototyping issue, with so few companies around like the old AMT ERTL with pockets deep enough to pay $100 grand + a year licensing fees, there may soon come a day when 3D to rapid prototyping becomes the primary way people make new physical models whether for themselves or for garage kitting.
It's a crying shame that licensing fees have gotten greater and greater as the hobby of modeling has shrunk and shrunk.
Those two worlds have seemingly collided and devasted one another of late.
At least in the world outside of the Armor and car kit building crowd. And while I've built a jet airplane or two myself in the past, just how many tanks, cars, and F-16's can one build before getting sick to death of the mundane subject?
It seems that the fictional subjects like Star Trek and even some comic figure subjects are licensing models of their subjects out of existence with ridiculously high fees. How do they expect to make any fees if they are so high that companies either can't afford to buy the license in the first place or paint themselves into a corner and can't make enough profit to exist comfortably?
None of this is your fault, of course, Mr. Sternbach, you're a great artist doing a great job. I do hope, however, that perhaps eventually people such as yourself might get the message through to Paramount and others that their licensing fee levels are killing scifi and comic figure modeling.
They thought they had problems with fan produced products in the 1970's. Soon that is the only type product that will be left!
Oh well, stepping down from the soapbox for the moment...
Once again, thanks for the great info!
I've also got a set of enhanced decals coming out for the Fantastic Plastic kit. From the Space Model Systems Inc. website:
