This Klingon concept was originally drawn in the DS9 days when an early version of a script asked for a new BOP design, after this drawing was done the new ship was written out so this one got shelved. It surfaced again as an alternate design also for “Unexpected” Well we all know the end results of this topic and it would go to various other meetings as an alternate but never did anything more than go for the ride.
My friends, Barry and Brian from Master Replicas, were on the verge of starting their own replica company called “eFX Collectibles”, and they wanted to create the internals to a very popular Star Wars prop. This first illustration is a very simplified concept using smoke, mirrors and lenses as the driving force to the mechanics that create the saber’s light blade. Version two is much more heavy in detail and design with a massive crystal magnifier to create the blade. After all was said and done, Barry worked his magic to scale the operating pieces into an opening saber. My final illustration rounds off his fine work.
Following are pictures from Shadow to show the final piece beautifully photographed. The Lightsabre was presented at Comicon 2008, and the reception was huge.
saber 1
saber 2
final saber
Shadow's comicon picture #1
Shadow's pic. 2
Shadow's pic. 3
Howdy all, and welcome to my new blog page! First of all, I have to thank the ever and all talented master of media and VFX illusionist, Doug Drexler, for encouraging me to get off my fat butt and finally start a fun blog page!!! I have always wanted to have place to share the fun and adventures of those glorious movie and Star Trek days with friends, coworkers and fans of the films and shows. You’re invited to come on over and be a part of all the fun that we had behind the scenes. Every day was full of laughs, crushed bones, pranks and completely unreal scenarios that could only happen in Hollywood and would be completly banned in Phoenix Arizona!!!
To start this page off right, we have to go back 30 years to the pre release of Star Trek the Motion Picture. It was my senior year in High School and everyone was abuzz about what the movie would hold in it’s December release. I was most anxious to see what the new models were going to look like, and the Klingon battle cruiser was the one I could not wait to see. No disappointments when that baby rolled onto the screen with that dizzying flyby in the opening of the film.
Working at Apogee many years later, I came across the files of photos shot during the film’s VFX filming days, and shown here is a beauty shot of the unfinished model. This image was presented to the producers who were approving the model’s look as they progressed. In this shot, the bridge area is void of details. Early conversations had this part of the ship clean as was with the original series model. John Dykstra started the discussion of highly detailing this part of the ship because of the shots that would so highly feature this part of the model. At that time, Star Wars had changed all we knew about the look of movie models, and the more the detail, the bigger the scale. After all was said and done, this one stands out as one of the most beautiful of all movie models next to the incredible odel of the Enterprise also from The Motion Picture. The two pictures at the top of the page are of the same model, but reworked by the model making geniuses at ILM for Star Trek VI…note all the beautiful brass work.
pic 1
#2
what a beauty!
Eavesdropping with Johnny 
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