SciPubTech

Real world article

(written from a production point of view)

The in 1994 incorporated SciPubTech is an American publisher headquartered in Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan and specialized in releasing technical cut-away artwork, that originated predominantly from entertainment franchises, Star Wars and Star Trek in particular.

While the company is no longer actively producing, it was as of 2019 still selling posters from its remaining stock as one of its former illustrators has confirmed in the below referenced interview, and which explains its official website still being live.

Star Trek association[]

SciPubTech has published highly detailed cutaway posters of vessels that have appeared in the Star Trek and Star Wars franchises. Headed by Martin X. Petz, its first publication was the cut-away poster of the USS Enterprise-D in 1991. The two artists responsible for the artwork were brothers Chris and Matt Cushman. Chris Cushman was inspired by the cut-away poster David A. Kimble had done of the USS Enterprise-refit for "Mind's Eye Press" in 1986, based on his The Motion Picture Blueprints. As he recalled on his blog:

"In 1987, The Next Generation had debuted on TV and the world of Star Trek was re-born and in my mind the thought of getting involved in Star Trek was possible. In 1990 providence/fate and the opportunity presented it self or should I say himself. While sitting in the lobby of the Cadillac Fleetwood Plant waiting for and engineering meeting I happen to overhear a gentleman introduce himself to the receptionist in a way as if she should know who he was. It was David Kimble himself. Not wanting to miss an opportunity to meet this famous illustrator I walked up and introduced myself. I told him I was an illustrator with GM and that I had really enjoyed his work including most of all the Enterprise Poster! He asked if he could stop by my office the next day as he was headed to the GM Tech Center where I worked and asked if he could see some of my work! Some of my work! Wow I was very excited and I went home that day picking out a few choice pieces I had worked on as well I took a sketch of the Enterprise-D from the Next Gen that I had drawn as I wanted to get his opinion.

"The next day David stopped by and looked at my portfolio, and asked me on the spot if I would be interested in doing freelance work for him. He explained all the details and the level of work he would be needing which was to a very high standard. I asked him what he thought of the Enterprise illustration I had started and he loved it, I pushed the conversation into the direction of a possible collaboration figuring he had the contacts at Paramount. He looked less than happy when I mentioned that explaining that he had not profited from the first poster very well and preferred not to work with them again.

"He sensed my disappointment and immediately offered up to put me in contact with someone at Paramount. I sent a letter and a copy of the illustration to the person he suggested who contacted me back stating they did not work with individuals but loved the work and suggested that I find a licensed Star Trek product company who might take my piece to the next level. Undaunted I sent letters to many of the companies on the list Paramount provided me and within a few weeks I had gotten shot down with five or six responses. I was working freelance for a company called JDT Associates in Rochester, Michigan and one day I shared my story and illustration with the owner. She immediately saw the value in the property and set out to become a licensee of Paramount. Within a year the project was on and I began to take the illustration to the next level. Paramount began to provide substantive input to my illustration with advanced galleys of a new book they were producing, the Next Gen Technical Manual. As well comments from Mike Okuda from the Star Trek art department started to flow in. To accommodate the level of detail the drawing was enlarged to 77 inches in length as this would allow me to draw the details of each deck." [1]

While the Enterprise-D was initially released in 1991 by JDT and Associates, SciPubTech purchased a great deal of their stock when the company folded. SciPubTech's first official product was the TOS Enterprise. Each poster went through rigorous feedback and approvals from the Star Trek production team. Doug Drexler recalled on his blog in regard to the upcoming cut-away poster of the original USS Enterprise, "The SciPubTech cutaway came along first, but was run through the art department, where we gave extensive notes. Their original version had Main Engineering in the primary hull, and no big Engineering dept in the secondary hull. We asked them to change that. They were more than happy to." [2]^(X).

In 1996, Suzie Domnick, then-VP of Paramount product licensing, said that SciPubTech was the rare non-filmed product that not only was canon but extended canon for the show. [3] Her assertions to the contrary notwithstanding, the SciPub releases remain however apocryphal, pursuant the Star Trek franchise's re-evalution of its in-universe reference works in March 2002. (Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 2, Issue 11, p. 71) 1996 incidentally, was a fruitful year as it saw the release of no less than three Star Trek cut-away posters in celebration of the franchise's 30th anniversary and the release of Star Trek: First Contact.

Several others followed, as well as three from the Star Wars franchise and one completed, but not released, from the Wing Commander franchise. [4] But after the release of the USS Voyager cut-away poster in 1999, no further posters were released, though one of the USS Defiant had been slated for release in 2000. The latter got a second lease on life however, when it was finished for inclusion as the centerfold of the 2023 edition of the Star Trek: Ships of the Line calendar series. That initially cancelled Defiant cut-away poster was actually based off a blueprint Chris Cushman had already created for inclusion in a Playmates Toys starship toy (No. 16140) back in 1997. [5]

Star Trek releases[]

Star Trek Posters
Item	Year	Size	Notes
USS Enterprise-D	1991	48" x 25"	With technical call-outs
USS Enterprise-D	1991	48" x 25"	Art edition
USS Enterprise	1995	36" x 24"	With technical call-outs
USS Enterprise	1995	36" x 24"	Ltd. edition (2,500pc); signed by artists: with Certificate of Authenticity
USS Enterprise-E	1996	36" x 24"	With technical call-outs
USS Enterprise-E		36" x 24"	Ltd. edition (2,500pc); signed by artists: with Certificate of Authenticity
Phoenix		17" x 11"	With technical call-outs
Deep Space 9		24" x 36"	With technical call-outs
Deep Space 9		24" x 36"	Ltd. edition (2,500pc); signed by artists: with Certificate of Authenticity
Klingon Bird-of-Prey	1998	36" x 24"	With technical call-outs
Klingon Bird-of-Prey	1998	36" x 24"	Ltd. edition (2,500pc); signed by artists: with Certificate of Authenticity
USS Voyager	1999	36" x 24"	With technical call-outs
USS Voyager	1999	36" x 24"	Ltd. edition (2,500pc); signed by artists: with Certificate of Authenticity
Cancelled
USS Defiant	2000	n/a