Tony Meininger Fredric G . Meininger ( born ) , generally credited as Tony Meininger , was a studio model maker who , as an independent contractor , operated his own modeling shop , Brazil - Fabrication & Design . While usually associated with his builds for the productions and , he was actually already involved at the very start of the spin - off television series in 1987 . He began his association with the " Star Trek " - franchise with three early single ( uncredited ) contributions as an outside subcontractor to . His very first contribution was for the title sequence of the new series . Visual Effects Coordinator Gary Hutzel recalled , " " We wanted to fly through a series of nebula s . Well remember , at that time , there were no virtual clouds . You could not just program clouds flying by or something . You had to physically shoot something . So , it was decided to make what we call the " whorehouse mattress " , which was a fiber base put over chicken wire in a frame . It was actually first created by Tony Meininger , who did many , many things for the show . He basically had spent probably what amounted to 100 man - hours . Once he had put this pad in , poking at it , and pulling it , shaping it , until it looked like a series of clouds . " " ( TNG Season 5 DVD - special features , " Departmental Briefing Year Five : Shooting Elements " ) His second contribution arrived in the form of the Delta Rana warship physical studio model for the 1989 third season episode . On this occasion , Meininger ' s input was required as the series ' regular studio model vendor , Gregory Jein , Inc . , was temporarily unavailable to the franchise . Subsequently , he build the painted fiber glass model of the spaceborne lifeform , featured in the 1990 fourth season episode . Ultimately , this was followed - up by him becoming the primary studio model vendor for the first four seasons of " Deep Space Nine " , and first two seasons of " Voyager " . It was to this end that Meininger expanded his hitherto two - men company with additional staff . He built the models of the , the ships and the Federation attack fighter as well as the miniatures for the " Voyager " pilot episode with the exception of the Maquis raider . He also modified the model for it to become the in " Deep Space Nine " s third season . Meininger ' s most notable work however , were the physical hero studio models builds of the space station Deep Space 9 and the model . His work on " Deep Space Nine " earned Meininger , under his birth name , two Emmy Award nominations . It has been under his birth name that Meininger has received his very last known motion picture credit , that of " tool person " , for ( 2013 ) . A modest and reticent man , Tony Meininger has never been one for interviews , and virtually none , not a single one whatsoever on his work for " Star Trek " in particular , are known to exist , be it in print or on tape . He was featured however in the 1994 documentary " Movie Magic " – " Models and Miniatures : A Model of Perfection " during the build of the Deep Space 9 model , but he is only seen at work , not providing any spoken commentary . Still , Meininger does have an named after him . Career outside " Star Trek " . Tony Meininger had , together with his wife Marianne , already founded his company as early as 1983 , but the extent of his or that of their company ' s work during its first decade of its existence , aside from the " Next Generation " contributions , is unknown as " Deep Space Nine " is its first recorded motion picture contribution . Outside " Star Trek " , he has , while operating his company , worked on the blockbuster movie " Titanic " ( 1997 ) . Upon completion of this project , Meininger found the services of his company no longer needed for the " Star Trek " - franchise as it had completed the full transition to the CGI visual effects technique , all but replacing the craft of physical studio model building and its filming , and he decided to close down his company . Meininger subsequently joined the visual effects company Dream Quest Images ( DQI , co - founded by Hoyt Yeatman and other former FGC employees who had worked on ) as a model shop supervisor / department manager and has , while employed by this company , worked on the science fiction comedy " My Favorite Martian " and the science fiction movies " Bicentennial Man " , ( both 1999 , but uncredited for the former ) , " Mission to Mars " and the action comedy " Shanghai Noon " ( both 2000 ) . After DQI closed its doors in 2001 , Meininger worked as an uncredited model shop / miniature construction supervisor on the science fiction films " Reign of Fire " ( 2002 ) , as an uncredited scenic key artist on " War of the Worlds " ( 2005 ) , and as a toolman on " Cowboys & Aliens " ( 2011 ) . It was during this period in time that Meininger was either credited as " Tony " or " Fredric " . Emmy Awards nominations . For his work on " Star Trek " Tony Meininger has , under his birth name , received the following Emmy Award nominations as Model Maker in the category Outstanding Achievement in Special Visual Effects :