Aluminum Model Toys Aluminum Model Toys ( AMT ) was the original producer of " Star Trek " model kits and acquired the license in , shortly after the premiere of . This licensing deal was brokered between Gene Roddenberry and Stephen Edward Poe , an employee of an advertising firm which had been retained by AMT for marketing and communications purposes . History . Troy , Michigan , - based AMT started out in 1948 as a manufacturer of model cars and trucks , both as model kits and as finished display pieces made for marketing purposes . Model kits became the company ' s core product line in the mid - 1960s and " Star Trek " models were the company ' s first foray into producing products other than automobile and truck kits . In a reflection of this , AMT needed a company to build both full - scale and scaled automobile mock - ups ( typically out of wood at the time ) to promotional ends , as well as to manufacture the templates or masters in order to construct the molds from which the parts for their model kits were extracted or cast . To this end they asked Gene Winfield to start and head a subsidiary company , Speed and Custom Division Shop . Set up in Phoenix Arizona , Speed & Custom Shop , the more commonly used abbreviation , started operations in 1966 . AMT ended its existence as an independent company in 1977 when it was acquired by Lesney Products , the owner of . In 1981 , the die - cast toy and model kit manufacturer Ertl Company acquired AMT from Lesney and established the AMT / Ertl brand and logo in 1982 . The AMT / Ertl brand came to an end in 1999 when the company was acquired by Racing Champions , now known as RC2 Corporation . The combined company was then re - branded as Racing Champions / ERTL . However , the acquiring company was traditionally a toy and die - cast model manufacturing company , and had no affinity with model kits , the production of which virtually halted after AMT / Ertl was taken over . The company redefined its mission in 2003 and AMT / Ertl was split into its original components , ERTL originally being a die - cast model manufacturer . In 2007 , AMT was sold to Round 2 LLC , its current owner . Since then , after the virtual hiatus of nearly a decade , AMT model kits were again released on a regular basis , though the majority of them are actually re - releases of previously released kits , with relatively few newly conceived kits sprinkled in . " Star Trek " association . AMT was given the rights in 1966 to produce models based on the show in exchange for helping out Desilu Studios with the construction of set pieces when needed . Stephen Poe was instrumental in brokering the deal , who in return was also was given free access to the studio lot which eventually resulted in the book " The Making of Star Trek " . The details of the deal were negotiated by Ed Pearlstein of Desilu and Don Beebe of AMT , and closed successfully on 1 August 1966 , starting the decades - long association between the franchise and the model kit company . For Producer Robert Justman , this was a godsend as the production costs for the upcoming episode were spiraling out of control , as he stated in a memo he sent Roddenberry , evidently relieved , " " " [ Pearlstein ] " has made what I consider a very advantageous deal and has accomplished this at a time when everyone thought all was lost . " " ( " " , 1st ed , p . 304 ) Through their subsidiary at the time , Speed & Custom Shop , AMT was called upon to construct the studio model of the " Galileo " Class F shuttlecraft as well as the full scale interior and exterior mock - ups . Also produced at the Speedshop was the studio model of the Klingon , which originated from the desire of AMT to do a follow - up of the very successful model kit – over a million copies sold at that time according to Matt Jefferies ( ) . Specifically designed for AMT by Jefferies , who also created the construction blueprints for the previous and subsequent outing in the " Star Trek " model kit line , one of the two solid wooden " master tooling models " ( templates for the molds from which the production model kits were to be cast ) fabricated , was immediately appropriated by the studio ( struggling at the time with severe budget cuts ) for use as filming model in the third season of , betraying its origin as a master for model kit manufacturing by not having internal lighting rig . The " Enterprise " and D7 model kits were the only model kits released while the series was still running , before its cancellation in . As the series began to pick up popularity in syndication , AMT , starting in the early 1970s , resumed further expansion of their " Star Trek " model kit line by releasing versions of Romulan Bird - of - Prey , a model of Spock , the " Galileo " shuttlecraft , a standard exploration set ( communicator , phaser , and tricorder ) , the bridge , and Deep Space Station K - 7 . During the period 1966 - 1972 , AMT chose not to market the " Star Trek " name outside of the US themselves . During that period , Aurora , another noted model kit company , leased AMT ' s molds and released the models outside of the US . Though the molds were the same and even the packaging was , besides the imprint , virtually identical , legally , Aurora ' s releases of the four models were not associated with AMT . The Spock figure kit originated from Aurora but a reciprocal leasing agreement gave AMT the exclusive rights to release the figure in the US . AMT bought the Spock figure ' s tooling from Aurora in 1976 . It should be noted that it was Matt Jefferies who drew up the construction plans for the first three outings in AMT ' s " Star Trek " model kit line , that of the " Galileo " included , in his spare time and in initial conjuncture with Poe , but that both men were excluded from any and all royalties arrangements resulting from their hugely successful sales . ( " " , 1997 , p . 173 ) From this it could be inferred that the " Galileo " model kit was slated for a release during the production of the " Original Series " , but that its cancellation had postponed the release until its renewed popularity in syndication . The company retained the license through the 1970s , and , at the time owned by Lesney ( 1977 - 1981 ) , eventually produced kits for . In , the company was bought by Ertl , becoming AMT / Ertl . In 1984 , after having renegotiated the license the previous year , the new combination began releasing " Star Trek " model kits , starting with reissues of some of the previously marketed kits under a new numbering system . The company began a true expansion of their " Star Trek " line with kits based on . models followed in the 1990s , as well as more ships from the subsequent eight motion pictures . The company did not acquire the license for , which went to Revell - Monogram . The last new kits were released by . Later that year the company was acquired by Racing Champions . Releases of " Star Trek " model kits went dormant as the new parent company was trying to decide in what direction it would evolve . A half - hearted attempt to revive the line occurred when re - releases were announced , of which only four were marketed in 2005 under its original brand " AMT / Ertl " , though the company by that time was already split up in its two original components . Those four kits were the only releases of the AMT line that were marketed in eight years . However , in 2007 , AMT changed hands yet again , this time acquired by Round 2 under whose ownership AMT ( sporting the original imprint of AMT ) started the run of re - releases in 2008 with a commemorative edition of its very first " Enterprise " model kit – ( though the Enterprise kit was not a reissue of the original kit , but was instead a reissue of the model from much later renditions of the tooling , and was substantially different from the original AMT Enterprise model from 1966 . ) For reasons , as of yet undisclosed , Round 2 sub - licensed in 2010 the manufacture of four former AMT / Ertl " Star Trek " model kits , representing the " Enterprise " s B through E , as limited editions for the Japanese market only , to model kit company Platz Co . , Ltd . . The four kits eventually produced , were that year marketed as " Platz - AMT / ERTL " products , and were , remarkably , released prior to AMT / Round 2 ' s own re - issues that started one year later . To date , Platz has been the only company that has been given an international model kit sub - license , as Round 2 LLC administers the international marketing of their products themselves . Trivia . The " Leif Ericson " . In 1974 AMT included an " Interplanetary U . F . O . Mystery Ship " into the " Star Trek " line , thereby suggesting that the design was part of the " Star Trek " universe , though it was not , its combined advertising on the box sides , pamphlets and catalogs of the time notwithstanding . It however had , as one contemporary " Star Trek " collector put it in later live , " " ( . . . ) confused the heck out of me as a kid . " " Nevertheless , it " did " have some behind - the - scenes " Star Trek " connections . Firstly , the " U . F . O . Mystery Ship " was originally designed as the " Leif Ericson " by " Original Series " Art Director Matt Jefferies ( with the forward bridge module having more than a passing resemblance of the conning tower of his ) for an abandoned science fiction project named " Strategic Space Command . " The concept was thought up by Jefferies together with his friend Stephen Edward Poe . AMT ' s idea behind backing the project was – buoyed on by the success of their first " Star Trek " model kits – to release a series of science fiction kits accompanied by a worked - out " mini " background story and eventually create a Strategic Space Command universe , beefed out with an accompanying line of model kits . AMT eventually released the model in 1968 as kit No . S954 . When released , AMT had music recording studio Auravision even record a soundtrack as " Sounds of Outer Space " with a narrator speaking over futuristic sound effects with poetic lines like , " " To be afraid and not care that you are afraid is the courage of which astronauts are made " " , and which came as a cardboard record with the initial release of the model . Nevertheless , the original kit was considered a commercial failure and the project fell apart . Secondly , according to Michael Okuda the design , being a Jefferies design , was seriously considered to be part of the " Star Trek " universe when it was briefly considered to make an appearance in , already showing up in several preliminary story boards . In a ploy to recuperate their investments , AMT re - released the model kit twice , now designated " Interplanetary U . F . O . Mystery Ship " , molded in phosphorescent plastic to achieve a glow - in - the - dark effect . The first re - release was an attempt to marry the ship into the " Star Trek " franchise through combined advertising , and was timed to coincide with the airing of the " The Animated Series " , though its appearance there never came to fruition . Still , AMT ' s latest owner , Round 2 LLC , opted to re - release the kit , starting in 2009 with the 1975 - issue as a retro edition . Jefferies himself , though , appeared to have been quite taken with his " Leif Ericson " and was not yet ready to let go of his design when he resubmitted it in 1973 as the " hyperspace carrier " " Pegasus " while working as production designer for legendary science fiction movie maker for his proposed " War of the Worlds " television series , an intended follow - up of his classic 1953 Paramount Pictures " War of the Worlds " movie . Unfortunately , like the Strategic Space Command concept , the proposed series did not come to fruition , even though the series was briefly reconsidered four years later by Paramount for its projected fourth television network as a backup for " " , which was to serve as its flagship and on which Jefferies was now working . ( " Star Trek Movie Memories " , 1995 , p . 59 ; ) For this occasion he redesigned the shuttlecraft that came with the original model kit , and its redesigned configuration served as the basis for the refit - " " shuttlecraft design for the ultimately abandoned " Phase II " television project . However , it too did not come to fruition as " Enterprise " shuttlecraft were not featured in the first four . Additionally , according to Doug Drexler , the design of the " Leif Ericson " was a co - influence on the design of the , " " The " Conestoga " is a colony transport ship with a slight design echo of the old DY - 100 , Greg Jein ’ s ship , the " Valiant " , and the Poe \ Jefferies " Lief " [ sic . ] " Erickson " . " " In 2014 though , Drexler , a huge admirer of Jefferies , seized upon the opportunity to have the design finally featured in a live - action production , when he , together with Gabriel Koerner , built a CGI model of the design which was featured as an Orion ship in the second episode " Lolani " of the fan film series " Star Trek Continues " . Koerner used his co - build a year later for his May entry in the 2015 calendar , appropriately called " " Leif Ericson " " , finally introducing the design into the official franchise in a licensed print production .