by C.M. RICHARDS
Pictured on this page are several authentic STAR TREK props and costumes. One of the most spellbinding aspects of the series was its Well-thought-out gear and expertly handled special effects and optical.
Most of the props and special effects were designed by James Rugg and Matt Jeffries. Special effects are out of the ordinary on the-set effects, as differentiated from “opticals” or darkroom magic. Matt Jeffries designed most of the running tools of the Federation; the phasers, tricorders, communicators, and (as series art director) the entire Starship Enterprise.
Jeffries worked in collaboration with James Rugg to produce one working model of each prop, and simple molded-plastic non-moving hulls of the various props for photographing, out of closeup.
As a matter of fact, the phaser shown here is one of the nonworking kind … sadly. But, as you see, it greatly resembles and appears to the functioning model you see on the show.
We also have pictured here a. bogus prop – a Tricorder, handcrafted from cardboard and graced with a magic-tape strap. Richard Van Treuren, whose nifty hand-sculpted models of Federation starships and shuttlecraft that appear on page 22 of this issue, produced this very lifelike tricorder – which is worn, incidentally, by the more than lifelike winsome Joani Winston. Joani by the way, is one of the country’s most avid STAR TREK fans and modeled in these pictures with graciously rabid enthusiasm, thankfully.
As for the actual costume you see here; the Captain’s shirt – is actually not a shirt at all, but a one-piece wrap-around garment. It’s worn (curiously enough) pretty much like a straight jacket. There’s a strap which comes across the front and joins the two halves of the garments together.
This is officially called (in wardrobe-talk) the Captain’s Fatigue Shirt.
The shirt was created in the second season. Among the episodes the shirt was worn were “Trouble With Tribbles,” “The Apple,” and “Wolf in the Fold.”
The emblems on the shirt are slightly larger than those which were commercially sold … and had to be hand-sewn on the garments, and, being non-washable, had to be taken off the costumes every dry-cleaning.
In the episode “The Enemy Within” you see Kirk walking about with no emblem on his shirt in a couple of scenes (in case you noticed) because someone had forgotten to sew it back on. See the fantastic info you can get in THE MONSTER TIMES, gang?
Mr. Spock’s ears were made by one of the STAR TREK head makeup men, Fred Philips, over a mold of Leonard Nimoy’s ears done in plaster of paris. The ears themselves were made of latex, and looked most organic when fitted over Nimoy’s real ears … joined cleverly on the inside crease.
Also, right here on our page, we present an authentic Tribble – from the comedy episode, “The Trouble with Tribbles” – as a matter of pertinent note, this Tribble is the genuine actual history-making Tribble which Captain Kirk, commander of the Starship Enterprise, and Plenipotentiary Representative of the Galactic Federation charged to establish Diplomatic Relations with New Cultures – actually sat down upon.
This Kirk-Sat-Upon Tribble was the only Tribble which was sat upon in the entire episode. Remember – You Saw It In THE MONSTER TIMES!