Why The Aztek Pattern On The Enterprise

[Tralfaz]

I've been working on a Star Trek animation with some of the models I've made, and when I was watching one of the scenes render, a question popped into my head.

Assuming Star Trek is real, why is there an Aztek pattern on the surface of the Enterprise?  Was it actually different types of panels?  Was it painted on like the bird on the underside of the bird of prey?  Did they have an actual purpose?

Wondering what your thoughts are on this.

[scifidude79]

I had pretty much the same internal debate when I was doing my TOS ship a while back and deciding if I wanted to do paneling. I finally decided it doesn't need to be there, so I decided to just paint the ship solid gray. Of course, we know the real world reason for it to exist, but I don't see why it needs to be there in the fictional world on the TMP and newer ships.

[scifieric]

Assuming Star Trek is real, why is there an Aztek pattern on the surface of the Enterprise?  Was it actually different types of panels?  Was it painted on like the bird on the underside of the bird of prey?  Did they have an actual purpose?

Yep, there was an actual purpose ... but the purpose was really to not-be-noticed.  Why does a model often look like a model?  Why does a new car look like a toy?

Wear and tear.  Tiny details.  A ship the size of the Enterprise needs scale.  For 1960's through 2020's audiences, we expect a large ship to be made of smaller parts.

They didn't really bother too much with this sort of thing in the original series, but for The Motion Picture, they went all the way.  The Enterprise was painted with a dozen SLIGHTLY different shades.  There were also differences in reflectivity.  The whole idea was to make the model appear larger.

Now, Star Wars models have something similar.  Actual plates.  The Millennium Falcon is made out of lots of plates, all strewn with tinier parts.  Think of the Nostromo from Alien.  LOTS and LOTS of model parts to try to impart scale.

But Star Trek has a specific design style for Federation Starships.  They are to appear big, but SLEEK.  Not a lot of detail on the outside.  This stemmed from Matt Jefferies' thought that a star ship would keep all its equipment on the inside, where it is safe and easy to repair.  Going out on the ship's hull is dangerous!

So, how to give the same effect, make the model look large and NOT populate the hull with a lot of parts?  Panels.

I've included an image that is fairly far away from a bunch of ships.  If you look at the sides of the ships, you can BARELY see panels.  This is the intended effect.

[scifidude79]

Seriously, we need a "Like" button for posts here.

In lieu of that: I like your post, Eric.

[scifieric]

Seriously, we need a "Like" button for posts here.

In lieu of that: I like your post, Eric.

Thank you, Chris!  I've often thought of putting in some sort of "Like" button.  I didn't know if anyone else was interested!

[Tralfaz]

Thanks very much for your help guys.  I understand the use of the panels to add detail and scale to the model, but if the Enterprise was a real ship, what functionality would the Aztek pattern have?  Would the individual panels be used to help with the deflectors, etc?  And why the pattern?  I just have a hard time picturing Star Fleet engineers spending the time and effort to apply panels in a specific pattern if they didn't have a purpose.

Sorry guys, just being anal.

[scifidude79]

Well, there's no reason why it has to be an Aztec pattern. Any pattern of individual panels would have the same effect. The Aztec pattern and varying shine levels were just done because someone on the TMP model crew liked them. in fact, the longer the ship is in service, the less sense the Aztec pattern makes. As panels wear out or are damaged and replaced, thepattern would become less consistent.

[Freak]

I always put it down to that the way the designer designed the ship.
Having smaller panels to replace is far easier than replacing one large panel and not as much waste.

Beside the Aztec pattern look good on the classic saucer design, not so much on ship from Frist Contact onwards.

Eric, Yeah a like button would be great.

[scifieric]

Thanks very much for your help guys.  I understand the use of the panels to add detail and scale to the model, but if the Enterprise was a real ship, what functionality would the Aztek pattern have?  Would the individual panels be used to help with the deflectors, etc?  And why the pattern?  I just have a hard time picturing Star Fleet engineers spending the time and effort to apply panels in a specific pattern if they didn't have a purpose.

Sorry guys, just being anal.

Don't be sorry.  I misunderstood your question.

There is no functionality as far as Starfleet is concerned.  It was an approach by the model builders to create something that (when filmed) would look like a random pattern.  That was the whole point.  Lots of panels that are subtly different.

To my knowledge, the only purpose was to indicate scale.  Starfleet design had nothing to do with it.

[Tralfaz]

Thanks once again.  This had really been bugging me.  I can sleep easier at night now.

[scifieric]

I'm happy to help if I can!

[Freak]

I was talking about in universe. LOL
As for the model builder, Like Eric said to show scale and it looks cool.