by Tony Robinson
In 2012 Paul Olsen and I attended the DSTL convention held at the Excel Centre in London's Dockland area. Paul was hired to give up to seven talks over a three day period and the prospect of being there was very exciting. I say exciting because this convention was the first of the truly huge events involving over 40 major film and TV stars. It was attended by 30,000 Star Trek fans and even made the Guinness Book of Records by having the most fans dressed in a Star Trek uniform at the same time in one complete gathering. You had to be there!
In 2012 Paul Olsen and I attended the DSTL convention held at the Excel Centre in London's Dockland area. Paul was hired to give up to seven talks over a three day period and the prospect of being there was very exciting. I say exciting because this convention was the first of the truly huge events involving over 40 major film and TV stars. It was attended by 30,000 Star Trek fans and even made the Guinness Book of Records by having the most fans dressed in a Star Trek uniform at the same time in one complete gathering. You had to be there!
At the end of the three day event Paul was so overwhelmed by the reaction of the fan's interest in his connection to the ENTERPRISE he decided to write a book detailing the account of how he landed one of the most important jobs in Star Trek history. He wrote a book entitled "Star Trek : Creating The Enterprise"
The book generated a lot of interest from the sci-fi modeling community and in the months following its publication an idea began to emerge based on finding out just exactly what had happened to the studio model since it last appeared in Star Trek : The Undiscovered Country. The idea was to re-unite the ENTERPRISE with it's creators and have them fully restore it to its original glorious condition. In the fifteen or so years since its appearance in Star Trek : The Motion Picture the model had pretty much been knocked around, chipped and generally mishandled, leaving it in a terrible and sorrowful condition.
The last known public sighting of our beloved starship was at the infamous Christies Star Trek Auction held in New York in 2006. It was purchased by an anonymous buyer for $240,000. The conventional thought from that moment onward was that it was now owned by Paul Allen the co-founder of Microsoft along with Bill Gates, but this was incorrect. The model is now in someone else's private hands
A question was eventually raised that asked "What happens to the model if it is restored?" and you know, it was a very good question!. The work to restore the model will take 14 to 16 months of extremely elaborate and technical work, but then what? The model would disappear back into private ownership never to be seen by the public again. So the "1701 Rebuild Project" was born from a suggestion from Boyd Crompton at Trekworks. Let a new model built by the original Magicam team be made and let all willing Star Trek fans around the world participate to make it happen. The model when finished will be made available to fans globally and for the first time since Star Trek : The Motion Picture was released the USS ENTERPRISE will wow everyone with her radiant beauty.
The 1701 Rebuild Project is now fully under way and it requires your participation. All fans who decide to "make it so" will be designated as Prime Movers and will have their names engraved on a specially commissioned sculpture designed by Richard Taylor and Paul Olsen. The sculpture will travel with the ENTERPRISE and the Prime Mover names on it will be honored by Star Trek fans everywhere it is displayed. So if you truly would like to be a part of future history then visit www.1701rebuild.com and join the crew!
The book generated a lot of interest from the sci-fi modeling community and in the months following its publication an idea began to emerge based on finding out just exactly what had happened to the studio model since it last appeared in Star Trek : The Undiscovered Country. The idea was to re-unite the ENTERPRISE with it's creators and have them fully restore it to its original glorious condition. In the fifteen or so years since its appearance in Star Trek : The Motion Picture the model had pretty much been knocked around, chipped and generally mishandled, leaving it in a terrible and sorrowful condition.
The last known public sighting of our beloved starship was at the infamous Christies Star Trek Auction held in New York in 2006. It was purchased by an anonymous buyer for $240,000. The conventional thought from that moment onward was that it was now owned by Paul Allen the co-founder of Microsoft along with Bill Gates, but this was incorrect. The model is now in someone else's private hands
A question was eventually raised that asked "What happens to the model if it is restored?" and you know, it was a very good question!. The work to restore the model will take 14 to 16 months of extremely elaborate and technical work, but then what? The model would disappear back into private ownership never to be seen by the public again. So the "1701 Rebuild Project" was born from a suggestion from Boyd Crompton at Trekworks. Let a new model built by the original Magicam team be made and let all willing Star Trek fans around the world participate to make it happen. The model when finished will be made available to fans globally and for the first time since Star Trek : The Motion Picture was released the USS ENTERPRISE will wow everyone with her radiant beauty.
The 1701 Rebuild Project is now fully under way and it requires your participation. All fans who decide to "make it so" will be designated as Prime Movers and will have their names engraved on a specially commissioned sculpture designed by Richard Taylor and Paul Olsen. The sculpture will travel with the ENTERPRISE and the Prime Mover names on it will be honored by Star Trek fans everywhere it is displayed. So if you truly would like to be a part of future history then visit www.1701rebuild.com and join the crew!
No comments:
Post a Comment