First Pilot Enterprise Diagrams by Agatha Chamberlain
Version 1.0 8/7/98
(Click on the images to see larger versions)
NOTES ON THE 1st PILOT ENTERPRISE
These are a little more “iffy” in accuracy then the drawings for the Production version of the Enterprise. This is due, in large part, to the fact that these versions no longer exist. Because of that, the only sources to draw on are a few very old photographs done by people that had no idea that they were recording for future generations of model builders, so ended up neglecting to get the really good detail pictures that we thrive on. And, of course, the episodes. The version from the second pilot (Where No Man Has Gone Before) shows up in most episodes. It is the one with the spiked warp endcaps and no white ball on the aft end. The version from the first pilot (The Cage) is a different matter. It is only seen at the very beginning and the very end of the episode.
GENERAL NOTES
The most obvious difference between the Production version and the Pilot versions are the number of windows. The Production was slightly weathered while the pilot versions were not. The Pilot version also has a glossy finish.
Speaking of running lights, there were no lights shown in the first pilot. The reasons for this is open to conjecture. For my part, I would imagine that a “real” ship would have them no matter what.
A few of the notes deal with what is missing that was later added.
TOP VIEW
1) I know what you’re thinking! What are THOSE doing there? Well, take a look at the middle picture of the Enterprise that is on the first page of the article in “Famous Spaceships etc.” It has the spiked caps so it is a picture of the pilot model. The forward rim has only two windows. This is consistent with the “Cage” version and not the second pilot. Now look at the hull windows. Both pilot models had slightly different patterns. This picture has a row of five rectangular windows with round ones fore and aft along with a singular rectangular one up near the base of the hull pylon. These patterns seem to be unique to the “Cage” model. Now got to the picture on the IDIC page of the two guys mounting the warp pylon on the hull. The window pattern is the same as the “Cage” model and crosshatching is clearly evident. When painting, simply do not emphasize them like you might in the Production version.
2) The kit required massive reshaping of the superstructure. The little square is yellow with red border.
3) Note the slightly different font. There are no serifs on the “1”s and a different “7” and “R” (see the diagram below by Petri Blomqvist).
4) As best as I can determine, this is the way this markings look. The T shaped marking seems to be the same dark grey as the side bands and the this arcs look like the could be red the forward rectangle is yellow.
PROFILE
5) Square off the slanted sides. I reinforced the inside with putty. Be careful and apply a little at a time. The putty that I used (Squadron Green) softened and distorted the plastic when done too heavily.
6) The intercoolers in “The Cage” do not have the screening.
7) No crosshatching in the groove of the warp engines.
8 ) The forward flat piece should be flush against or at least very close to the engine as well as being wider and having two raised dots on it.
9) The well known spiked endcaps . The caps always looked a solid deep red to me. Charles Adam’s article in FSM describe them as being the same metallic bronze as the sensor dish and the spikes are silver. I really liked those spikes!
10) The bridge is much taller. The marking is just line with no fill color.
11) These are of five little numbers that run along the lower hull. The one at the fantail is 1837 with a small vertical line above it. The one up by the warp pylon is 1364, the next lower one is 1300 then 705 and 102 up at the forward end.
12) The pennant panels are recessed just like the Production version but lack the two ridges and the pinstriping.
13)The front piece projects past the rim of the hull.
14) Larger dish.
15) The front edge of the secondary hull is chamfered.
16) This is a more accurate view of the contour of the underside of the saucer. Note that the flat rim is not there and that the leading edge is more at an angle. Notice that the shape of the lower saucer is a bit flatter than subsequent models. You have no idea how difficult this was to redo on the kit!
UNDERSIDE
17) Corrected shape of fantail. The hull in the kit tapers a bit too much. As near as I can tell the fantail width should be approximately two thirds that of the width of the forward hull.
18) Red with no fill color.
19) White with red border.
20) White with black border.
21) Medium grey with dark grey border.
22) Yellow with red border. From the ESTES decal sheet.
These markings are somewhat of a puzzle. Of course they have always been. The ones under the fantail and the warp engines are seen in TV footage. It is the ones along the keel that are a mystery. There is a picture of Spock holding the 3 foot miniature and the yellow circle can just barely be seen. The presence of it implies the rest. Of course the three footer is notoriously inconsistent. One scene in “The Cage”, and as far as I can tell the only one in the entire series, actually shows these markings.
23) The “NCC-1701” is larger, stretching from the rings all the way to the rim.
24) In the pictures of the Enterprise as she exists now at the Smithsonian has only one of these panels on each engine. There are supposed to be three but some were lost.
AFT
25) The endcaps in “The Cage” has the vertical vents shown on the side. Thomas Models carries them.
26) Other than the round end piece, absolutely no detail whatsoever.
27) The three horizontal bars are red, green, and black. The vertical ones are red & black.
28) If you look closely, you will see that the pylon joins the warp engine much lower than the kit has it.
FRONT
29) Note the markings on the front of the bridge. The three lower squares are light grey.
