I still love building models. My favorites back in the seventies were the Trek kits. I prided myself on building every kit in the series. And some of the only classic images we had of these ships was what was on the boxes of the kits. The shuttlecraft had a nice painting and I wanted to see if I can come close in Corel. Obviously brush painted, I wanted to see if I could come up with a comparable one using what Corel had to offer, and I think it works.
There actually is a funny story behind this craft, which I probably posted at my other shuttlecraft pics, but stand by to be bored again. They asked Matt Jeffries to design it...the art director of the show, and the man who designed all of the ships on that show, including my favorite, the Klingon Battle Cruiser. Matt had the trade mark conning tower on top of all his ships going back to his days as a submarine designer. Anyway, the AMT model company stepped in and asked to design the ship so they can have the exclusive model kit rights. Surprisingly, the producers of the show gave them the go ahead and AMT designed this iconic craft. However, they finally put out the kit...way later and after the Enterprise and Klingon Cruiser. And it has to be the most INNACURTE model of this thing ever produced. Most trek fans hate it. It looks more like a mini van that the real shuttlecraft. The back end is terrible and lacks the sleek design and graphics that belong there. Not to mention the landing pads were rectangular, not round pads, and those are the first thing to break off the model when finished. Interesting on how those are not on the cover art. The new HD Trek resolved that. They animated the landing gear retracting into the nacells.