Talk:Galaxy class model

Rumors of CGI have been greatly exaggerated

Regarding this:

For some years a persistent rumour had been circulating among fan circles that the Enterprise-D facing off a Sheliak colony ship in TNG: "The Ensigns of Command" was an early trial CGI version.[1] Yet, to date no behind-the-scenes confirmation has ever been forthcoming and, as per Stipes' remarks CGI was still very expensive and time consuming at that time, it is more than likely that the scene was still a traditional post-production composite shot with use of footage of the 2-foot physical studio model. As a result the claim has been hotly challenged.

I don't think it's within MA's scope to point out random fan rumors. At least one that is only referenced to in message board posts and youtube comments (which were all I could find for this claim). If, say, this was stated in a reference work, or a production staff member took the effort to explicitly deny it, it might be worthy of note. Otherwise we're just perpetuating the rumor. One of the message board threads I read referenced us, since we had it without citation on the "Ensigns of Command" page for awhile. No doubt some message board denizens will point to the note on this page to say it's still "hotly challenged".–Cleanse ^{( talk | contribs )} 00:36, May 28, 2011 (UTC)

USS Trinculo

PNA/Merge

I'm debating on making this a "merge with", because as the Background section states: "It's possible the nomenclature was solely devised as a redecoration of the model for the display, but some fans theorize it might have been filmed as the Trinculo, possibly as one of the Galaxy-class starships that participated in the Dominion War.". While the particular history of the model bearing this name is of interest, the ship itself was never known to exist in the star trek universe, only speculation, leading my to think that perhaps it belongs in the background section of Template:ShipClass. --Alan del Beccio 17:07, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

I agree with a merge as suggested by Alan. Apart from the fact that the ship is non-canon, No Trinculo pics are available on the net at the time although there are rumors abound. The year the author mentioned, 1995 of the model being displayed at a Planet Hollywood restaurant coincides with the last use of the Four-foot model in "Way of the Warrior" when it was labeled as the USS Venture. I have pictures of the model on display around that time, still wearing these labels, coming from McCullars "IDIC"-page, taken by him personally in October of that year. If indeed it was labeled Trinculo, it must have been at a later date. Furthermore the author states that it is "one of the four-foot models". I have yet to read somewhere that there were indeed more than one made. The model is now back in the possession of Paramount and has been on tour recently. Pictures of the now weathered model on tour show clearly that the decals have been replaced by the Enterprise-D again, but is impossible to tell which previous decals they replaced--Sennim 15:03, November 27, 2009 (UTC)

Right, I've now done an official suggestion of a merge with the Apocryphaa section of the Galaxy class, based on my observations of the above--Sennim 23:19, November 27, 2009 (UTC)

I object, on the basis that it seems somewhat unlikely they'd give the model a random name for a restaurant display -- whether or not the model was seen onscreen with this designation is immaterial -- this article is presented as a 'real world article' about the model itself on the basis that no known onscreen use exists that could make this an 'in-universe' article. it is not disputed that the model was labeled this, thus it is acceptable and normal to have an article about the model that bore this name. -- Captain MKB 23:35, November 27, 2009 (UTC)

Support merge. Without proof there was more than one model made, this information should be merged with the article about the model(in this case, the article Alan suggested).--31dot 23:57, November 27, 2009 (UTC)

Granted, the model may well have been represented as the Trinculo in on or another display (and I'm still waiting for confirmation of this), still it is non-canon (as it in this guise has never appeared, nor mentioned on screen) and thus should be relegated to let's say to an Apocryphal-section...And by the by they DID give random names to studio models for exhibition purposes only before, i.e the Constellation class USS Valkyrie, which Rick Sternbach himself had to explain in a article Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 3, Issue 9 after the fact. I'm still going for the merge--Sennim 00:09, November 28, 2009 (UTC)

Though I support a merge, no one has claimed that it is canon, as the article is a real-world one, and it is currently categorized as "unreferenced material".--31dot 00:35, November 28, 2009 (UTC)

Again, a valid point, however even as prove would eventually surface, the point remains that the Trinculo is non-canon, no matter which way you turn it...Quite frankly it is becoming an Urban Legend, since nobobody seems to be able to provide prove of the Trinculo...As far as I'm concerned the MERGE still stands. Show me where I go wrong in the so-called 'in-universe' article or "unreferenced material" and I'll stand down.--Sennim 01:02, November 28, 2009 (UTC)

I would go with the merge, as this information is about the model. Whether or not it's accurate is a topic for a different time. The information on the model is on the Galaxy-class page, and this is information on the model. - Archduk3:talk 13:36, December 13, 2009 (UTC)

Okay, as for now I've pieced this together: The very last time the four-footer was used was in "The Way of the Warrior" as USS Venture. The model went on loan almost immediately afterwards to a "Planet Hollywood" restaurant in Beverly Hills as was reported by William McCullars on his now defunct IDIC-website. He posted two pictures of the model still wearing the Venture-markings, taken by him in Oktober 1995. (I saved those, thus that much is confirmed). Apparently, the studio, get this..., lost track of the model as was revealed by Penny L. Juday (who couldn't find the model in her cataloguing efforts) in her interview on the TNG Season 2 DVD, Inside the Star Trek Archives-section (disc 7). The model was surreptitiously returned to the studio by a conscientious former employee of "Planet Hollywood", when that restaurant went belly-up in 2000. The model however, as was shown in the special was in dire straits, covered in dust and grease and its starboard nacelle broken off, giving credence to some reports on blogs that the model had been sighted suspended in a kitchen [2] At the time of return the model was still endowed with a registry other than NCC-1701-D, most likely still wearing Venture's registry [3] as discerned by people with far more better eyesight than I have. What is certain, is that the model, more or less repaired, was retained by the studio and has been on tour on the more recently Star Trek exhibitions where it sports re-applied decals reading NCC-1701-D. Still, around that same time a four-footer, whether or not sporting the Trinculo-markings has been allegedly spotted in other "Planet Hollywood"-restaurants and on tour (Star Trek: The Exhibition}[4], giving credence to an unsubstantiated claim that more casts were made from the original molds of the 4-footer before being destroyed.[5]...So my preliminary findings on this one are:

• After "Way of the Warrior", the studio sent out the four-footer for public relation purposes still wearing the Venture-markings.
• However, they lost track of the model and commissioned another one, possibly wearing the Trinculo-markings, appearing in the UK-version of Star Trek: The Exhibition and previous or posterior appearances in Planet Hollywood restaurants around 1996.
• It is possible that this model was irretrievably damaged during customs control (which would coincide with the damage done to the K't'inga studio model as reported by Dan Curry).
• It is extremely unlikely that the original 4-footer was ever labeled "Trinculo" or that she ever appeared in an episode, since David Stipes has confirmed that the next appearance of a Galaxy class-ship after Warrior ("Call to Arms") was already as CGI.

But frankly, I think the only one who is able to give a definitive answer about this one is Gregory Jein, unfortunately, he doesn't blog.--Sennim 19:07, May 15, 2010 (UTC)

Merge target change

So according to Sennim, there's enough information on the models of the Galaxy-class to form another article like the Constitution-class one, so I suggest this be merged with that when it's created, since it is about a model. A redirect should be kept so it's still as easy to find. - Archduk3 04:23, May 18, 2011 (UTC)

Haynes Manual info

In the Haynes Enterprise Owners' Workshop Manual (2010) there's a list of Galaxy-class ships which does include the USS Trinculo NCC-71867. It would seem that the book was reviewed by the Okudas, so they possibly agree with this or even provided the information themselves. I don't think this affects the article (it doesn't prove that the ship was ever seen on-screen, or that the Trinculo markings were applied to the original 4-foot model) but it's interesting to see that this ship is viewed as somewhat official. Maybe it's just a nod of the authors to previous fan inquiries. By the way, what would be the status of the Haynes Manual in the canon/non-canon hierarchy? --ANdRu 11:17, January 21, 2011 (UTC)

Haynes manual is non-canon. It's not on screen, it's a reference book. -- sulfur 11:41, January 21, 2011 (UTC)

I know, but I was referring to the canon policy on reference materials. Some are accepted for background information, others not. I was wondering if the Haynes Manual had been discussed in that regard. --ANdRu 12:08, January 21, 2011 (UTC)

At best, section 4 on that list. Non-staff writers. -- sulfur 12:33, January 21, 2011 (UTC)