Don Pennington Donald " Don " Bannerman Pennington was a prop and studio model creator who has contributed as such to three " Star Trek " live - action productions , though he has only received official credit for one of them . Don Pennington started out his motion picture model making career , when he received a call from a friend , which happened to be Gregory Jein , in 1979 , asking him if he was interested to work on a movie for a day . Pennington jumped at the opportunity , having stated , " So I went over and worked 18 straight hours on " . Only a hobby model maker up until then , Pennington ' s visual effects coordinator , impressed by his abilities , hired him full time , and his one - day job turned into a two - month engagement . ( " The Spokesman - Review and Spokane Chronicle " , Wednesday , 24 October 1990 , p . C5 ) Fifteen years later , Pennington received his only official " Star Trek " credit for his work on the pilot episode , . At the time , " Star Trek " s regular production staff was spread thin , due to the fact that several other productions , aside from the " Voyager " production , were concurrently in various stages of development , which were the final episode of , the season 2 ending of " " , the production of , and the documentary " " . Several outside vendors had to be brought in to alleviate the pressure on the regular production staff , Don Pennington being one of them . Pennington ' s main responsibility was the construction of the breakaway model of the Caretaker ' s array ( the main model being built by Brazil - Fabrication & Design ) , blown up for the episode ' s finale . Some of the debris of that model was signed by Pennington when they showed up in a 2008 auction . In 1996 , Visual Effects Supervisor David Stipes needed a physical model for close - up shots of the newly conceived Jem ' Hadar battle cruiser , which made its debut in s fifth season episode . By then however , hitherto regular studio model vendor , Brazil - Fabrication & Design , had wound down its association with the " Star Trek " franchise , partly due to the fact that the franchise was in the midst of a full transition to computer generated imagery , causing their services to be rarely required anymore , and partly due to the fact that Brazil was unavailable to the franchise at the time as it was knee - deep involved with the block buster movie " Titannic " ( 1997 ) . Production Designer Richard James , who had worked with Don Pennington on the Afghan war movie " The Beast of War " ( 1988 , and for which Pennington had built the Russian tank , albeit uncredited ) , brought the latter to Stipes ' attention . Though concurrently likewise heavily involved with " Titanic " , Pennington was nevertheless able to free up capacity to serve the " Star Trek " franchise . Considered by his peers an expert in constructing models out of glass reinforced plastic , commonly known as fiberglass , it has always remained Pennington ' s method of choice , even though colleagues had already started to use newer and lighter composite resin materials . The Jem ' Hadar battle cruiser model he eventually constructed was therefore quite heavy compared to contemporary products , or as Stipes himself had , only half - jokingly , put it , " " The model was very large and with traditional materials it became very heavy . It took three to four people to safely lift and turn the model over for various shots . It was affectionately dubbed the " Lead Hadar " . ( The nick - name was earned ; I know first hand as I got to help turn it over once . ) " " . Though a signature contribution , Pennington has not received official credit for it . Apart from the live - action productions , Pennington has also contributed to the special effects sequences of the video game , " " ( 1996 ) . Career outside " Star Trek " . Don Pennington was a relative latecomer in the motion picture industry , already in his mid thirties when he got his position on " The Motion Picture " , but has remained ever since . Preferring to operate as an independent contractor , he started his own company , Don Pennington , Inc . , under which flag he has plied his trade . Projects he , sometimes uncredited , has worked on were , " WarGames " ( 1983 ) , " Ghost Busters " and " Splash " ( both 1984 , constructing Darryl Hannah ' s fishtail for the latter ) , " Cocoon " ( 1985 , in which he also dabbled as a stunt man ) , " Where the River Runs Black " ( 1986 ) , and " Harry and the Hendersons " ( 1987 ) . In the 1990s Pennington has worked on the television series " Lois & Clark : The New Adventures of Superman " ( 1993 ) , as well as on the movie features " Flight of the Intruder " ( 1991 , Vietnam landscape maquettes , filmed by Image G ) , " In Search of Dr . Seuss " and " True Lies " ( both 1994 , and the latter of which he provided the Harrier jet model for ) , the documentary " Michael & Janet Jackson : Scream - History in the Making " ( 1995 ) , " Sgt . Bilko " ( 1996 ) , the video game " The Journeyman Project 3 : Legacy of Time " ( 1998 ) , " The Thirteenth Year " ( 1999 ) , and " Hollow Man " ( 2000 ) . The production that brought Don Pennington renown however , was James Cameron ' s blockbuster movie " Titanic " from 1997 . For that production he and his company constructed the large , highly detailed 1 : 4 and 1 : 6 scaled sinking models of the " Titanic " . It has earned his company an individual 1997 Visual Effects Society Award , aside from helping win that movie its slew of Academy Awards . An indepth interview with Pennington on his " Titanic " builds has been featured in the British " Effects Special " magazine , issue 1 . 1 . His last recorded motion picture credit was the 2005 movie " End of the Spear " . Apart from providing models and props for the motion picture industry , Don Pennington , Inc . also constructed models for display purposes , including replicas of famous science fiction productions , such as the " Discovery " from the classic " 2001 " . It was one of these , a copy of the Jem ' Hadar battle cruiser , that has stirred up some controversy in 2010 , when it , through a private collector , was offered up for auction as Lot 1487 in the Profiles in History " Hollywood Auction 40 " of 12 June of that year , estimated at US $ 6 , 000 - $ 8 , 000 , and misrepresented as a screen - used studio model . Profiles was forced to pull the model from the auction at the last minute , when aficionado Alec Peters proved that the claim was a falsehood . Don Pennington currently enjoys retirement , and his company is no longer in operation .