Picard behind the scenes round up: Ship, sets, aliens, costumes, and more

Here's a little round-up of the latest behind the scenes snippets shared by the cast and crew of Star Trek Picard since the show has begun airing. Continue below for a look at lots of characters, including both the main cast and some great background alien designs, lots of costumes and props, pictures from on set, and more.

First up, from showrunner Michael Chabon we have the clearest image so far of the gloriously colourful new hero ship of the series, La Sirena. I assume this is from concept art, but here it's been playfully reimagined as an AMT model kit box (and I dare say that will be become a reality in a year or so!).

Picard's busier locations are full of interesting aliens, and one of the most eye-catching is known as Rhomsew, played by McKenzie Westmore Tatopoulos (who shared these images), no less than the daughter of Star Trek makeup master Michael Westmore - The character is named in his honour (backwards).

Westmore Tatopoulos also shared this video of her being cast ready for the application:

View this post on Instagram

Who’s watching the all new @startrek Picard?? 🖖 😍 Keep an eye out for one of my upcoming posts! It was beyond an honor to take even the tiniest part on the show! I guarantee you won’t recognize me when my character appears! Obviously from the video and photos you can tell I got a full transformation which was such a joy!! I can’t wait to show you the final makeup in my next post! Not many know this but it all came about when @nevillepage (fellow @syfyfaceoff judge) called me and asked how I’d feel about playing an alien on the new Star Trek Picard? Of course I was over the moon! I grew up at 11/12 years of age on the set of Star Trek: TNG with @sirpatstew @the_real_marina_sirtis @jonathansfrakes @itswilwheaton #brentspiner #michaeldorn and so many others! I’d play on the back lot of paramount studios everyday after school while my dad created aliens and beauty makeups! So to join the new Picard was like coming home again! Of course I also would hang out on the set of all the Star treks including voyager with @jerilryan and @jonathandelarco (who I was obsessed with as that Borg!!!) So as Neville began to sketch out a few aliens, he would show me along the way and what he designed is just amazing! It was worth the 3-4 hours in makeup :) Sadly I had to be replaced as I was called to another project I was already under contract for. Even still the original days I got to do were worth every second and made my heart come to life for the passion I have for film and tv. So thank you @nevillepage ! Thank you @alexkurtzmanofficial and of course the man himself @sirpatstew ! Thank you @hanelleculpepper (rockstar director!) My thanks as well to @jrmackinnon @richardredlefsen @vincentvandykefx @hookuptattoos @_bob.smithson_ for making the entire process so easy! I hope you all enjoy this new generation of Star Trek! #startrekpicard #startrek #sciencefiction #aliens👽 #lifecast #sfxmakeup #sfx #cbs #cbsallaccess #love #fun #playtimefun #makeuplife #actress🎬 #actresslife🎥 #cantwaitformore #enjoy #picoftheday📸 #sirpatrickstewart #alexkurtzman #jeriryan #family #startrekvoyager #transformation #throwbackthursday #paramountstudios #hollywooddreams

A post shared by McKenzie Westmore Tatopoulos (@mwestmore) on Jan 23, 2020 at 10:56am PST

Some more familiar aliens also appear in the series, here's Douglas Tait as a Tellarite:

And David Carzell as Dahj's boyfriend, who is a  Xahean:

Brian DeRozan has shared several photos of him in makeup as a Romulan, although his character isn't around until episodes 9 and 10 apparently:

Then there's Hugh. Jonathan Del Arco shared this image contrasting his scarred visage with another troubled being:

More human, we have Ann Magnuson as Admiral Kirsten Clancy, pictured here with Michael Chabon. On Twitter Magnuson rather gloriously described her character as "Margaret Thatcher in Space!"

Isa Briones seems to be the most prolific photo sharer of the cast, but fair enough, she does play two characters! Here she is on the Borg Cube set with Chelsea Harris, who played Dr Naáshala Kunamadéstifee. Harris also posted this photo on Instagram with a loving caption:

I couldn’t contain myself when I first arrived to set — happy dancing in my trailer for a good 10 minutes. To get to be part of such an iconic universe is a major blessing. ⁣
⁣
Not to mention the production value on this show. Wow. I counted at least 100 aliens in full prosthetics and custom costumes. That’s 50+ makeup artists. Tons of wardrobe people. Stunning, massive sets. So much attention to detail. It always make my job more exciting when I can step into a world and “stay” there. ⁣
⁣
One of the most important things to note: I worked with two, badass female directors on the show. @hanelleculpepper and @majavrvilo I look forward to seeing your creations onscreen xx ⁣

Here's concept art for Soji's Borg Cube outfit, from artist Greg Hopwood:

And more Borg set antics from Briones' Instagram stories:

And of course there's some love for Dahj as well as Soji:

Coming back to Earth, Patrick Stewart shared this video of him on location at the vineyard:

#StarTrekPicard is here. The premiere episode is streaming now on @CBSAllAccess in the US and globally on Amazon Prime Video. pic.twitter.com/ZowyWjp595

— Patrick Stewart (@SirPatStew) January 24, 2020

And Michael Chabon geeked out at this moment with Star Trek legends:

On location at #chateaupicard, April 2019. Early days, not trying to front like I knew what I was doing but also not wanting to appear *totally* clueless, perched on a wooden box, on a very warm day, with #JEANLUCPICARD and #COMMANDERDATA, for fuck’s sake, and then suddenly feeling all my nervous excitement vanish as I found myself, unexpectedly—oh, *right!* a happy bystander to the sweet and affectionate reunion of two old, dear friends, catching up, enjoying a quiet moment in the shade.

Steve Auvenshine sharing the story of how he made Picard's knife shows an incredible attention to detail in the series:

This knife is carried by“ Jean-Luc Picard” in the pilot episode of Star Trek: Picard. Forged 1095hc and grapevine wood scales. Yep, grapevine wood. The props department gave me the drawing and a request that the knives appear aged but well cared for. Second pic shows them a little better. #startrekpicard @sirpatstew @combatabrasives @nj_steelbaron. EDIT: thanks to @mewells56 for find me some dried grapevines on really short notice!!

Costume concept artist Greg Hopwood shared his work on some of Picard's looks too:

Another lovely detail was revealed by the series' costume designer Christine Bieselin Clark, who shared this note on the choice of know for Picard's tie!

View this post on Instagram

For Picard’s intense GNN interview in Episode One we chose the “cape knot” for his necktie - modern, neat geometry in a classic solid color silk tie. Set Costumer Matt Jerome worked his magic in perfecting the execution! #startrekpicard #costume #design #costumedesigner #yesyouguessedcorrectly #welldone

A post shared by Christine Bieselin Clark (@christineclarkdesign) on Feb 5, 2020 at 6:34pm PST

Finally, to mark the start of the series, the Comic Con Museum in San Diego briefly hosted an exhibition of costumes. The images here from the Comic Con Museum Twitter, and CBS's John Van Citters, give an overview of what was on show: A couple of Picard outfits and something for each of the main characters in the series.

You can get a much more in depth look at the details from each costume if you head over to TrekMovie and check out their coverage. Which includes a closer look at the Romulan assassin gear, and Elnor's beautifully detailed costume (Hopwood concept art below):

I'll be keeping my eye out for further peaks behind the scenes as the series progresses.

Picard is available now on CBS All Access in the US, Bell Media services in Canada, and Amazon Prime Video in most of the rest of the world.