Three Klingon K'Tinga-Class Battlecruisers in attack Formation 1979

ATTENTION ESTEEMED STAR TREK ARTISTS: For Doug Trumbull, Rick Sternback, Andy Probert, Tobias Richter, John Eves, Doug Drexler and the spirit of the late and much-beloved Matthew Walter Jeffreys along with all you other amazing pros associated with the "Ships of the Line" calendars, the films and all the new series: Some of us fans were drawing by hand with office supplies many of our favorite starships and FTL-capable spacecraft from memory in our high school classes. These were drawn all the way back in 1979. FROM MEMORY.

THE CLASS ASSIGNMENT: Art teacher Ernesto Guerrero stated the assignment:

"For End-of-the-Semester Extra-Credit, everybody in this, the advanced class, sit down and you have three full class periods this week to draw out or at least rough-out a vehicle conveyance of some kind. It can be a plane, train, boat, automobile, funny car, racing car, truck, helicopter, or even a spacecraft. It can be fictional or real, but must be a machine system conveying an operator and passengers or crew. You may use your pens, pencils, paints or inks--but no straight edges, French curls, templates or other assistance. Your drawing must be totally free hand and FROM MEMORY. Military vehicles are of course allowed."

He then proceeded to show my Klingon D7 Battlecruiser Transitional Refit along with the three other advanced examples done the Friday before. My drawings were the only science fiction spacecraft renders in the room. Another guy had drawn a circus funny car filled full of clowns whose bodies were all twisted up like contortionists.

DRAWING LOCATION: Ernesto Guerrero's Art Class tables at Dana Hills High School, Dana Point, California.

RENDER METHOD: Drawn freehand from memory on high school hot-pressed drawing paper with no model kit materials or pictures of the Klingon Battlecruiser on hand. My render was executed with with blue and black BIC pens, one non-photo blue Prisma pencil and Pentel colored ink felt-tip pens. I also needed some white correction ink and white acrylic for a few boo-boos.

RENDER DATE: Monday Morning 10 DECEMBER 1979.

MODELS: A collection of photo images and a number of the Classic AMT Klingon Battlecruiser model kits at my parents' home.

SUBJECT: The film's opening sequence with three Klingon K'Tinga Battlecruisers approaching the "VGER" energy cloud.

MOVIE: "Star Trek: The Motion Picture," distributed by the Paramount Pictures Corporation.

OFFICIAL RELEASE DATE: Thursday night, 06 DECEMBER 1979

DIRECTOR: Robert Wise.