A tale of two Excelsiors (excluding the Enterprise "B")

Here is the 6' long first model built by ILM for 1984's Trek III. I HATE THOSE MEN IN THE PIC FOR BEING THERE (just kidding)! Behind the simple domed bridge structure in the middle of the saucer, is a singular and centered "Impulse Deflection Crystal". The bridge dome, the deflector crystal, and another dome-like structure behind the warp pylon connector are 3 of the more noticeable changes on the 2nd model.

The ILM model's coloring is also less severe, with a soft soldier blue decoration.

The second and smaller 2' model for Trek VI. I HATE HER (just joking)!

The newer bridge is smaller and more complex. There are two smaller deflector crystals replacing the one larger one. The plating, now blue AND yellow, surrounding the bridge area is more pronounced. The blue markings around the ship are a richer turquoise color in the newer model. While hard to see in these pics, that dome behind the warp pylon connector has been replaced with a curvy but more squared structure.

All of these pics come from another way cooler blog, BRUCE'S DOMAIN. If you like Star Trek and Starship model building, I recommend his blog. It's very thorough.

My friends: The Great Experiment (kind of)

So I acquired from a seller on eBay, AMT's 1/1000 scale U.S.S. Excelsior at a really good knock 'em dead price. Stalking eBay is definitely worth one's time. But anyway, I had never even seen one of these models in person so I was really excited to finally get one. But I was surprised to see it's not the NX-2000 from 1984's The Search for Spock as I expected.

Instead it's the NCC-2000 from 1991's The Undiscovered Country. After seeing the decal sheet with the "NCC" call letters on it I then had to examine the small details on the model and realized it's molded after the 2nd studio model!

Which is fine by me, I just don't know why it wasn't based on the first and significantly larger model. 6ft vs 2ft, quite a difference! This has led me to wonder if the first model was damaged in storage. I know Probert's TMP Enterprise had some damages done it to while in dry-dock, err, I mean "storage", which is just one reason it had about two or 3 repaints done to it.

I'll explain and document some of the different details in the next post above with some pics of the studio models! Model-wise, the parts seem straight and crisp and seem to fit together quite well. There's some simple grid detailing on the secondary hull and underside of the nacelles I'm not thrilled about and I'm sure isn't accurate but can easily be taken care of.

The saucer section has teeny tiny portholes molded on its edge! It's going to be a great while before I can make this one tho, I've still got 5 more starship models to finish first!