HOME | DD

Description

Ported to OBJ from the high-poly, filming quality CG model created by Dave Metlesits. Based on the revised form of the K-7 Deep Space Station as recreated and slightly modified by Greg Jein for Deep Space 9 (DS9) from the original TOS design by Matthew Jeffries. Preview picture posed in XNALara XPS. Dave has two different takes on the original TOS version, which you can download at the links below:

This is the only canon Federation space station or other spaceborne facility of any kind ever seen in TOS. It's described as a deep space station and there are seventeen (17) of them strung along the border between the Federation and the Klingons. This was featured as an AMT model kit back at the time (I had one myself) and was the subject of one of the first-ever fan blueprinting efforts, done by uber classic Trek tech-head Geoffery Mandel (Star Fleet Handbook, USS Enterprise Officer's Manual, Star Trek Maps, Star Trek Star Charts, et al). The original filming model has long since disappeared; however, master modelmaker and longtime Trek fan Greg Jein did a painstaking recreation of it for use in the DS9 episode "Trials and Tribble-ations," which was that show's homage to TOS. His only changes were to add some minor details (such as the detailing in the small craft bay on the underside) and to make the protuberance at the back of the station's main saucer dome a tack-on storage hold for the grain shipment that it was keeping for delivery to Sherman's Planet. This is never seen clearly in TOS "The Trouble with Tribbles" and the only guide from the days of TOS that now exists is the old AMT model kit, which is known to be inaccurate in several respects (it made that a starship spacedock and thus got the scaling off, for example). I can't think of anybody who has an issue with Mr. Jein's recreation and since it does appear on screen in both DS9 and the later TOS-R digital revamp of "The Trouble with Tribbles" (in CG form), then his version of K-7 is now canon as far as the Franchise is concerned. BTW the K-class space stations were in existence in the late pre-TOS era (DSC gives a date if you're a fan of its timeline) and either they or their replacements/descendants are still in existence in the TNG/DS9/VOY era per multiple on-screen references. Understandable, given the importance of that particular part of space.

One thing that I'd like to point out that rarely gets mentioned is the way the four saucer domes are made. If you look closely at them, you'll see that their sections were made so they could pivot inside each other. This provides us a design clue as to how these space stations might have been built. They were probably made in prefabricated sections, hauled out to wherever they were going to be put via Starfleet transport/tugs and transport containers, and then quickly assembled on the spot. The saucer domes would have shipped in sections "folded up" and then unfolded at their destination for placement on the station's frame as appropriate. Once the frame was in place and everything properly attached to it, that's when they probably began building and filling its insides so it wouldn't be just a shell. This process of putting together a TOS era K-class space station might make a good subject for those of you with CG animation skills.

Live long and prosper.

ASIDE - It is legitimate to use this to represent Federation space stations in other locations by the so-called "on-screen rule," just as was done in the original TOS version of "The Ultimate Computer." This got replaced in TOS-R but prints of the original TOS episode are still around for you to view and see for yourself. It's a sensible thing to do given how the K-class space stations are built.

TRIVIA - Here's a link to scanned images of the old Geoffery Mandel fan blueprints, courtesy of the Cygnus X-1 website. Please keep in mind that these were based on the old AMT model kit (because that was the best reference at the time) and thus contain several inaccuracies.

www.cygnus-x1.net/links/lcars/…

Description

Ported to OBJ from the high-poly, filming quality CG model created by Dave Metlesits. Based on the revised form of the K-7 Deep Space Station as recreated and slightly modified by Greg Jein for Deep Space 9 (DS9) from the original TOS design by Matthew Jeffries. Preview picture posed in XNALara XPS. Dave has two different takes on the original TOS version, which you can download at the links below:

This is the only canon Federation space station or other spaceborne facility of any kind ever seen in TOS. It's described as a deep space station and there are seventeen (17) of them strung along the border between the Federation and the Klingons. This was featured as an AMT model kit back at the time (I had one myself) and was the subject of one of the first-ever fan blueprinting efforts, done by uber classic Trek tech-head Geoffery Mandel (Star Fleet Handbook, USS Enterprise Officer's Manual, Star Trek Maps, Star Trek Star Charts, et al). The original filming model has long since disappeared; however, master modelmaker and longtime Trek fan Greg Jein did a painstaking recreation of it for use in the DS9 episode "Trials and Tribble-ations," which was that show's homage to TOS. His only changes were to add some minor details (such as the detailing in the small craft bay on the underside) and to make the protuberance at the back of the station's main saucer dome a tack-on storage hold for the grain shipment that it was keeping for delivery to Sherman's Planet. This is never seen clearly in TOS "The Trouble with Tribbles" and the only guide from the days of TOS that now exists is the old AMT model kit, which is known to be inaccurate in several respects (it made that a starship spacedock and thus got the scaling off, for example). I can't think of anybody who has an issue with Mr. Jein's recreation and since it does appear on screen in both DS9 and the later TOS-R digital revamp of "The Trouble with Tribbles" (in CG form), then his version of K-7 is now canon as far as the Franchise is concerned. BTW the K-class space stations were in existence in the late pre-TOS era (DSC gives a date if you're a fan of its timeline) and either they or their replacements/descendants are still in existence in the TNG/DS9/VOY era per multiple on-screen references. Understandable, given the importance of that particular part of space.

One thing that I'd like to point out that rarely gets mentioned is the way the four saucer domes are made. If you look closely at them, you'll see that their sections were made so they could pivot inside each other. This provides us a design clue as to how these space stations might have been built. They were probably made in prefabricated sections, hauled out to wherever they were going to be put via Starfleet transport/tugs and transport containers, and then quickly assembled on the spot. The saucer domes would have shipped in sections "folded up" and then unfolded at their destination for placement on the station's frame as appropriate. Once the frame was in place and everything properly attached to it, that's when they probably began building and filling its insides so it wouldn't be just a shell. This process of putting together a TOS era K-class space station might make a good subject for those of you with CG animation skills.

Live long and prosper.

ASIDE - It is legitimate to use this to represent Federation space stations in other locations by the so-called "on-screen rule," just as was done in the original TOS version of "The Ultimate Computer." This got replaced in TOS-R but prints of the original TOS episode are still around for you to view and see for yourself. It's a sensible thing to do given how the K-class space stations are built.

TRIVIA - Here's a link to scanned images of the old Geoffery Mandel fan blueprints, courtesy of the Cygnus X-1 website. Please keep in mind that these were based on the old AMT model kit (because that was the best reference at the time) and thus contain several inaccuracies.

www.cygnus-x1.net/links/lcars/…