Shane Johnson (Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise)

[FalTorPan]

Johnson's contributions to Star Trek published lore are well known. Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise has been an immensely popular resource for three decades, and the Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Journal and Worlds of the Federation books are enjoyable and well thought out reads as well.

Some 15 years ago, I had the good fortune of interviewing Shane Johnson for my Trekplace website. I lost contact sometime in the mid-2000s, and I wasn't the only person who had. A couple years ago, I asked whether anyone had heard from Shane Johnson in recent years. No one had.

Within the last week, I learned of Johnson's whereabouts. Johnson has been on a difficult life journey that began many years before Mr. Scott guided us through the decks of the Enterprise. That journey continues to this day, but it has reached a critical point. Johnson needs and deserves our compassion, our understanding, and our help.

Click this link to read of Johnson's journey. If the philosophy of IDIC means anything to you, then I would encourage you to act on it and help our friend in Star Trek.

On behalf of Johnson, with whom I have been communicating, thank you.

 

[DougWare]

I don't care that Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise isn't canon. Since I was 10-12, it's been my favorite Star Trek book. I didn't get the original series Starfleet Technical Manual until a couple of years later. I remember the great diagrams, but hated that it didn't have the backstory and details that Mr Scott's Guide had. I actually own two copies of it now.

 

[Albertese]

Well, I'm glad Johnson is at least alive and I hope the surgery thing pans out. I would love to see more genre work from this creative well-spring.

--Alex

 

[Mytran]

Johnson's done some amazing work in science fiction, so this is good news! We don't want to lose more of the old Trek creative talent after everyone who's died in recent years.
I'll keep my fingers crossed for that revised Enterprise-A manual after all! ;-)

 

[Galileo7]

Shane Johnson stated:"There was a door along the corridor which had no set behind it, though one had originally been planned. It was to have led to a briefing room set, but because the first film ran so badly overbudget the room was never built. The briefing room scene was re-written for an "officer's lounge," and a set was created somewhat hastily using existing "rec deck" components."
Finally, an explanation why we never saw a Briefing Room set in Star Trek:The Motion Picture.

 

[DonIago]

IIRC there was some discussion here of a revised version of this at some point, but it never quite panned out.

I'd rather enjoy seeing that.

 

[RAMA]

Wow, surprised to hear of his/her story and I hope she can manage her health issues. It's kind of sad that the USA is a third world country in regards to it's health care system (not the care, the system) and people have to resort to this.

RAMA

 

[Richard Baker]

So glad to see Lora is still around and despite health issues is still active. She did some magnificent work that I still enjoy using for reference (canon or not, it is very well thought out and rendered.)

 

[Lora4October]

Thank you all for your kindness. It's so nice to see my work is still being enjoyed and discussed. Please feel free to ask any questions you like

Lora

 

[Mytran]

Thanks Lora, and welcome!

As you offered, here I go; are there any more of those illustrations surviving from the work you started on the Ent-A? There were a few snippets posted here some months back and they looked great! I really liked some of the inventive solutions you brought to the deck plans.

 

[Unicron]

Welcome aboard, Lora.

 

[Lora4October]

I do still have the full deck plan and elevation sets for the Enterprise Class (refit) and Constitution Class (1701-A) that we did for the proposed revision of the book. Other artists, including Tim Palgut and David Ziels, were involved in creating them.

The 1701-A was a challenge, but we figured it out (even the silly turboshaft)

 

[Albertese]

Lora, Your work is still very much appreciated! Mister Scott's Guide to the Enterprise was one of the things that really cemented me as a Star Trek fan when I was a teenager. I spent hours in that book imagining wandering the corridors of the great ship! If you ever are in a position to release any of those deck plans I for one would be eternally grateful. Even if it's just enough to explain the Star Trek V turbolift. I've always heard you came up with a clever solution and I'd love to hear it.

I'm sure I'm not alone on this.

Good luck with everything! I hope things work out well for you.

--Alex

 

[Firebird]

I do still have the full deck plan and elevation sets for the Enterprise Class (refit) and Constitution Class (1701-A) that we did for the proposed revision of the book. Other artists, including Tim Palgut and David Ziels, were involved in creating them.

The 1701-A was a challenge, but we figured it out (even the silly turboshaft)

Thanks for stopping by, Lora! Your work on Mr. Scott's Guide has been an inspiration to me ever since I was in preschool - it was my first Star Trek tech manual. I too hope that everything goes well for you!

Wasn't the work you and the other artists did for the Enterprise-A deckplans the basis for Strategic Design's release a few years back? (Samples available here: http://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/lcars/sd-constitution-ncc-1700-rebuild.php) From the test shots we saw all those years ago, they looked pretty similar.

It's been a dream of mine to see the updated version of Mr. Scott's guide to see publication. The samples of the Refit Enterprise plans are tantalizing. I've always wanted to see that level of detail of internal schematics for my favorite iteration of the ship.

 

[BillJ]

Thank you all for your kindness. It's so nice to see my work is still being enjoyed and discussed. Please feel free to ask any questions you like

Lora

Welcome to the asylum!

I still keep a copy of Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise on my desk, along with the Starfleet Technical Manual by Franz Joseph and the Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual by Sternbach and Okuda. Definitely a great reference book even though a few details are no longer accurate due to the changing nature of the franchise.

 

[RAMA]

Mr Scott's Guide is right there in my bookcase after all these years. Nice work Lora!

 

[Lora4October]

Thanks for stopping by, Lora! Your work on Mr. Scott's Guide has been an inspiration to me ever since I was in preschool - it was my first Star Trek tech manual. I too hope that everything goes well for you!

Wasn't the work you and the other artists did for the Enterprise-A deckplans the basis for Strategic Design's release a few years back? (Samples available here: http://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/lcars/sd-constitution-ncc-1700-rebuild.php) From the test shots we saw all those years ago, they looked pretty similar.

It's been a dream of mine to see the updated version of Mr. Scott's guide to see publication. The samples of the Refit Enterprise plans are tantalizing. I've always wanted to see that level of detail of internal schematics for my favorite iteration of the ship.

Yes, the SD set was based on the deck plans we did for the proposed book revision, but they differ in many key areas. I wanted very much to make sure that the drawings in the book matched what was seen on-screen and represented canon to the greatest possible extent, while David, for his later release, placed a higher priority on showing more consistency between the Enterprise and Constitution classes. He did an amazing job on those.

I spent a lot of time studying every internal ship shot. We managed to create sets of plans that showed every single location seen -- every room, every corner turned, every little everything. In the case of 1701-A it was a huge challenge at times, as the ship seen in V and VI bore no real internal resemblance to the refit and varied quite a bit from previous set designs. David, Tim (1701-A) and David Ziels (refit) helped bring to life what I believe are the best possible deck plan representations of those two ships. I consulted directly with Andy Probert, who was kind enough to sit down with me over lunch and study the plans in-progress. He gave me his input to help ensure we presented the ship he had originally intended, and I was honored to have him tell me that, as far as he was concerned, our drawings were the official layout for the Enterprise Class.

Lora

 

[Mytran]

Thanks for answering, this is all very tantalising! Is there any chance at all of this work seeing the light of day, even in digital form?

 

[Lora4October]

Lora, Your work is still very much appreciated! Mister Scott's Guide to the Enterprise was one of the things that really cemented me as a Star Trek fan when I was a teenager. I spent hours in that book imagining wandering the corridors of the great ship! If you ever are in a position to release any of those deck plans I for one would be eternally grateful. Even if it's just enough to explain the Star Trek V turbolift. I've always heard you came up with a clever solution and I'd love to hear it.

I'm sure I'm not alone on this.

Good luck with everything! I hope things work out well for you.

--Alex

Okay, here goes

In reality, of course, the shaft in question came about due to directorial preferences. The art department, as I understand it, had already created proper deck level labels for the walls of the shaft but were overridden by the director, who did not feel that the fourteen or so decks allowed by the ship's exterior provided a sufficient sense of peril. So, new signage was created and decks numbered per the director's wishes. The art department folks weren't happy about the decision and knew they would hear about the numbering from fans, but also knew that the director's decisions are final and a part of the completed tapestry of a film. That's just the way Hollywood works.

Fictionally, the spot that allows for the tallest turboshaft in the 1701-A is at the forward base of the dorsal, where the vertical intermix stood in the refit. The primary and secondary hulls have differing average deck heights, creating an unbroken space of about fourteen decks in that location. The main vertical intermix was moved aftward to accommodate and stopped short of the deflection crystal assembly since it was no longer centered on it.

The explanation for the deck labeling, in my revised text, would have been as follows: since the Constitution Class 1701-A was a new build and not a refit, many examples of new technology were present in its construction. Externally very similar to the Enterprise Class, it varied widely inside. The vessel was rushed into service as evidenced in ST V, with even some very basic systems incomplete and not yet spaceready. In order to save a great deal of time and bypass standing contract timelines, turboshaft segments fabricated for new spacedock construction, and already delivered, were re-purposed and installed aboard the Enterprise. The numbers seen on the walls reflected segments installed in random order, since the labeling had nothing to do with the starship's deck structure, and were originally intended to represent spacedock levels. There were, in actuality, only the fourteen or so decks in that one shaft, though the now-meaningless labels read otherwise.

Mike Okuda once told me by phone that this explanation worked for him, so that's my story and I'm sticking with it.

Lora

 

[Lora4October]

Welcome aboard, Lora.

Thank you...it's nice to be here