I have spent the last couple of hours on Google trying to find a diagram of the TOS turbolift that shows the layout of the walls. Even though the turbolift is roughly circular, the walls appear to be a series of flat surfaces. Does anyone know of a "top down" shot of the turbolift or a blueprint that shows how the walls are laid out?
TOS turbolift layout
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There is a good set of deck by deck plans of the TOS Enterprise- it shows the saucer turbolifts in concentric rings with radial and vertical connections. A top down would be dependent on which deck you are looking at- it changes per level some.
EDIT- the plans were of NCC-1700 Constitution with the note each ship did have some unique changes during construction.
EDIT- the plans were of NCC-1700 Constitution with the note each ship did have some unique changes during construction.
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There are always the Mike McMaster blueprints: http://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/lcars/uss-enterprise-bridge.php
I seem to remember a shot from above in the turbolift from the episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before" that may help.
My bad, the shot was from above but outside the turbolift, but you can see in that shot that the walls are a series of flat panels about 1 1/2 to 2 ft. wide and not curved.
That's what I think I see, too. The McMaster blueprints show the walls being slightly curved, but they don't look curved to me.
The realities of budget constraints and building materials available when the sets were built would indicate flat panels over curved panels, easier to build.That's what I think I see, too. The McMaster blueprints show the walls being slightly curved, but they don't look curved to me.
Putting aside the curved walls vs. flat walls discussion for a minute, just how big would this diorama end up being if built around the 7" Art Asylum TOS figures? Bigger than I thought!
Using the McMaster bridge blueprints and screen captures as a guide, I came up with the following:
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The cutting mat is 12" x 12" and the wall behind Kirk is 8.5" tall. The doorway is 4" wide. (The camera angle makes the door opening appear taller than it is in relationship to Kirk. The actual gap between the top of his head and the top of the door is about .75".) The alcove is around 10.5" wide at its widest point.
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The width of the alcove is wide enough that the doors could be made to slide out to either side and still be hidden behind the alcove walls.
The interior diameter of the turbolift car is 8.25" at its widest point.
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How much of the interior of the car could you see through the door? More than I expected.
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And here's a screencap for reference. When I recreated this with the 7" figure everything looked in proportion.
Using the McMaster bridge blueprints and screen captures as a guide, I came up with the following:
The cutting mat is 12" x 12" and the wall behind Kirk is 8.5" tall. The doorway is 4" wide. (The camera angle makes the door opening appear taller than it is in relationship to Kirk. The actual gap between the top of his head and the top of the door is about .75".) The alcove is around 10.5" wide at its widest point.
The width of the alcove is wide enough that the doors could be made to slide out to either side and still be hidden behind the alcove walls.
The interior diameter of the turbolift car is 8.25" at its widest point.
How much of the interior of the car could you see through the door? More than I expected.
And here's a screencap for reference. When I recreated this with the 7" figure everything looked in proportion.
Getting back to the angled walls now...
I added red lines to the drawing to show where I think I'd have to put the walls to match what was seen onscreen. The shallow angles on the back walls look pretty correct to me. The two nearest the door are a bit steeper but we never really saw those walls in any shots, so they certainly could be at more of an angle and we'd never know it.
Thoughts?
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I added red lines to the drawing to show where I think I'd have to put the walls to match what was seen onscreen. The shallow angles on the back walls look pretty correct to me. The two nearest the door are a bit steeper but we never really saw those walls in any shots, so they certainly could be at more of an angle and we'd never know it.
Thoughts?
That makes sense to me, looks right.Getting back to the angled walls now...
I added red lines to the drawing to show where I think I'd have to put the walls to match what was seen onscreen. The shallow angles on the back walls look pretty correct to me. The two nearest the door are a bit steeper but we never really saw those walls in any shots, so they certainly could be at more of an angle and we'd never know it.
Thoughts?
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Hmmm. The bend in the individual panels would be rather shallow...they could appear to be flat on screen.
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If one assumes that the walls of the turbolift are 'wild' (as they had to be, given the various shots in the show) then slight curves are not an impossible construction issue.
OTOH that Matt Jefferies was a clever fellow, the curve might be clever use of paint!
But it sure LOOKS curved and like all things, ya gotta choose, do you build it as like a TV stage set with 1960s craft and material limitations, or build what you see (and think you see ) on-screen, or build what it WOULD be if it were a real thing?
No matter what I can't wait to see what you come up with! I was always sad that Art Asylum/DST let the failure of the 'Enterprise' figures/bridge parts toys lead them to the idea that 'classic' Enterprise bridge parts would fail to sell. That's not ipso facto as every Star Trek has its own challenges when it comes to perception and interest.
OTOH that Matt Jefferies was a clever fellow, the curve might be clever use of paint!
But it sure LOOKS curved and like all things, ya gotta choose, do you build it as like a TV stage set with 1960s craft and material limitations, or build what you see (and think you see
) on-screen, or build what it WOULD be if it were a real thing?No matter what I can't wait to see what you come up with! I was always sad that Art Asylum/DST let the failure of the 'Enterprise' figures/bridge parts toys lead them to the idea that 'classic' Enterprise bridge parts would fail to sell. That's not ipso facto as every Star Trek has its own challenges when it comes to perception and interest.
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Especially since TOS appears to always sell, at top price, too.
When was the last time you saw a TOS item on clearance?
When was the last time you saw a TOS item on clearance?
Well, I did get my Communicator and Science Tricorder on redticket at Toys R Us, but it took a LONG time to get to even the 25% off level and I don't think I ever saw them hit 50% off. Pretty much the DST Classic Trek stuff got caught up in the JJTrek flushing. Man, they must have gotten a horrible return allowance on the JJTrek toys, they STILL have stuff on the clearance endcaps!
I'm still upset that the Medical Tricorder got shifted to a store exclusive and never got a wide release.
Blah blah blah toys.
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