Memory Alpha
Memory Alpha
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| Awards for Trek =
 
| Awards for Trek =
 
| Roles = [[:Category:Production staff|Production staff]], [[:Category:Special and Visual effects staff|Special and Visual effects staff]]
 
| Roles = [[:Category:Production staff|Production staff]], [[:Category:Special and Visual effects staff|Special and Visual effects staff]]
| image2 = USS Enterprise eleven foot model.jpg
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| image2 = Richard C. Datin in front of the eleven foot model at the Smithonian.jpg
| imagecap2 = Datin (l) takes delivery of the 11-foot studio model
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| imagecap2 = ...posing with plaque and 11-foot model at NASM ca. 2005
| image3 = Richard C. Datin in front of the eleven foot model at the Smithonian.jpg
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| image3 = USS Enterprise eleven foot model.jpg
| imagecap3 = Posing with the plaque and 11-foot model at NASM ca. 2005
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| imagecap3 = ...taking (l) delivery of the 11-foot studio model, 1964
 
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'''Richard "Dick" C. Datin, Jr.''' {{born|10|October|1929|died|24|January|2011}} was the one who was called in by the [[Howard Anderson Company]] to construct the [[Constitution class model (original)#Three-foot model|three-foot ''Enterprise'' model]] designed by [[Matt Jefferies]] in 1964, and thereby becoming the very first [[studio model]] maker for the ''[[Star Trek]]'' franchise.
 
'''Richard "Dick" C. Datin, Jr.''' {{born|10|October|1929|died|24|January|2011}} was the one who was called in by the [[Howard Anderson Company]] to construct the [[Constitution class model (original)#Three-foot model|three-foot ''Enterprise'' model]] designed by [[Matt Jefferies]] in 1964, and thereby becoming the very first [[studio model]] maker for the ''[[Star Trek]]'' franchise.

Revision as of 21:44, 3 January 2014

Template:Realworld

Richard "Dick" C. Datin, Jr. (10 October 192924 January 2011; age 81) was the one who was called in by the Howard Anderson Company to construct the three-foot Enterprise model designed by Matt Jefferies in 1964, and thereby becoming the very first studio model maker for the Star Trek franchise.

Pursuant the three-foot Enterprise studio model, other contributions Datin was called upon to make for the Original Series were:

The Space Station K-7 was Datin's last contribution to the Star Trek franchise, but his signature contributions went unacknowledged for the next few decades.

Almost forgotten as being the first model maker for Star Trek, Datin had an uphill struggle to regain recognition as such, the Smithonian for example, flat-out refusing to believe his claim on the occasion of the 1992 Star Trek Smithsonian Exhibit. Yet, a 1996 article by Dan Fiebiger in Cinefantastique Magazine, and more specifically, the assistance of Star Trek studio model aficionado William S. McCullars, has made his work known. In particular, the in-depth interviews with him by McCullars, published as a two-part article in Star Trek: Communicator (2001), has provided some insightful information into the art of model-making of the 1960s, due to Datin's meticulous record-keeping. He has also been acknowledged by his former boss, Howard Anderson, Jr., in the TV series Movie Magic, Season 1, Episode 11: "Models and Miniatures: A Model of Perfection", of which Datin was exceedingly proud, and in which he himself made a brief appearance. Pursuant the 2001 interview, McCullars sent a print with accompanying text of the photograph of Datin taking delivery of the 11-foot model, to the Smithonian's National Air and Space Museum, at their own request, thereby reversing their 1992 position, where it was added as a plaque to the permanent display of the original studio model. This act finally gave Datin, as well as the other builders of the eleven-foot Enterprise model, the acknowledgment for their contributions, something Datin himself had vainly tried to get for years.

Career outside Star Trek

Richard Datin was a 1950 Architectural and Structural Technology graduate of New York Institute of Applied Arts & Sciences of Brooklyn NY, was a professional model maker who built scale models for various Hollywood studios and TV commercials beginning in 1955.

In 1979, Datin changed careers and became the founding curator of the Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City. During this time and after his retirement in 1989 he has also written several history books about his hometown of Reno, Nevada.

Richard Datin passed away Jan 24, 2011 in Reno, Nevada.

Further reading

External links