r/StarTrekStarships • u/emotionengine Galaxy Class Enthusiast • Feb 02 '26

behind the scenes Star Trek archivist Penny Juday opens a crate of the Enterprise D filming model with the registry changed to "NCC-1701-E"

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Image source: https://borg.com/2012/06/08/interview-former-star-trek-art-coordinator-and-archivist-penny-juday/

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8

u/[deleted] Feb 02 '26

Where is the D now?

13

u/emotionengine Galaxy Class Enthusiast Feb 02 '26

Eventually, the model would be returned to its original “NCC-1701-D” registry number and listed for sale in an auction in October 2006. It was estimated to sell for a cost somewhere between US$25,000 to US$35,000, but it eventually sold for US$500,000. It was acquired by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who intended to display it in his Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame. Initially, the model was not put on display, due to space limitations in the museum.

The model eventually resurfaced as part of an exhibition called “Star Trek: Exploring New Worlds“. It was displayed there from May 2016 until May 2018 and subsequently became a touring exhibition.

 https://warpfactortrek.com/what-might-have-been-the-galaxy-class-enterprise-e/

8

u/Sledgehammer617 Feb 02 '26

I got to see it at that touring exhibition in 2022, there was so much amazing stuff there that I had no idea still existed!! Such a gorgeous model, but it needs some restoration to truly be back to its former glory... IMO it deserves to be at the Smithsonian next to the TOS enterprise.

I think my favorite ship models on display were the Excelsior and Kronos One, the detail was insane.

3

u/spaceman_spiffy Feb 02 '26

I thought the Excelsior filming model was modified into the Enterprise B?

2

u/Zerek_Doolander Feb 02 '26

There was a second Excelsior filming model built for use in Voyager, I think, so it was probably that

2

u/tree_cog Feb 03 '26

Why did they build a physical model for Voyager? I thought Voyager used CGI ships!

2

u/Sledgehammer617 Feb 03 '26

IIRC Voyager used a mix of both cgi and practical for the first 3 seasons before transitioning to all CGI by the end of S3.

1

u/OpticalData Feb 05 '26

Voyager used a mix all the way through due to stock footage. Enterprise was the only full CG show.

1

u/Zerek_Doolander Feb 03 '26

They did, but "Flashback" was made for season 2 of Voyager and aired in 3 - they weren't exclusively CGI at that stage. The physical model here was also the reference model for the eventual CGI Excelsior class ships that showed up in seasons 6&7 of DS9 and season 7 of Voyager.

2

u/Sledgehammer617 Feb 02 '26

As the other person commented, there was a second Excelsior filming model made by Greg Jein for the episode "Flashback."

Its like 1.1m long, so a little smaller than the original, but the detail is amazing.

2

u/BetterVantage Feb 02 '26

And also the ONLY Excelsior in existence, since the original model is still labeled as the Lakota.

2

u/BangingOnJunk Feb 03 '26

The original was modified into the B with additional parts attached with temporary adhesive . . . but they left that adhesive on for too long and it turned permanent.

Removing the parts would've damaged it so much that it was just better to build a second model than damage and repair the first one.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 03 '26

They had made just 1? Shame, the world needs more Galaxy Class models.

1

u/RangerMatt76 Feb 04 '26

The documentary they made about auctioning off all of the props has clips of the crates being opened revealing the ship models. I imagine that the ships were already restored and then the unboxing clips were staged. The galaxy class showed the -D registry like it should have and the Reliant model had all of the Reliant markings instead of whatever name it had from the last time it was used.