WonderWorks Inc . WonderWorks Inc . is a and that specializes in constructing filming miniatures and props , and that has intermittently provided these services for several " Star Trek " productions . Oliver Ray " Brick " Price , a self taught modeler and designer who started out as a model maker for the " International Modeler " hobby magazine , founded the company as Brick Price Movie Miniatures in November 1977 . This was the result of an happy coincidence as Price recalled , " " I was at ILM one day when Jack Webb called Grant and asked him to do some model work . ILM was too busy , and it looked like the work would have to be delivered on too tight a schedule . So Grant recommended me . I talked to Webb . He said , " How fast can you get to my office ? " I said , " As fast as my car can carry me . " Fortunately I had a couple of models in the car , and I walked into Webb ' s office carrying them . The next morning , at 9 a . m . he put me on contract , and I was working on the first model by noon . " " ( " " , issue 20 , p . 69 ) The production Price was hired for was " Project U . F . O . " Initially thinking he could do all the model work alone , he wast already forced a few days later to hire staff , made all the more necessary as he very shortly thereafter received Gene Roddenberry ' s invitation and ultimately leading up to the establishment of his company . " Phase II " and " The Motion Picture " . It was his work for " International Modeler " that caught the attention of Gene Roddenberry , who invited him in 1977 to help out Magicam , Inc to ease the workload for the upcoming " " television project . Officially sub - contracted by Magicam in September 1977 , his yet to be formalized company was charged with the construction of the revamped studio model . Bringing along NASA wind tunnel test model maker Don Loos to do the bulk of the construction , Price ' s company started immediately with the construction of " Enterprise " model . Yet , after " Phase II " was upgraded to in mid - November 1977 , work on the model was halted the subsequent month , after it was inspected on 1 December 1977 by Post - production Supervisor Paul Rabwin , Roddenberry and Director Robert Collins , to see if it held up in theatrical big - screen resolution . With them were Robert Abel and Richard Taylor of Robert Abel & Associates ( RA & A ) to help them out with the analysis . All men realized that it did not . ( " " , p . 69 ) In early January 1978 RA & A was contracted by the studio for the visual effects of the newly conceived movie and the company started negotiations for the build of new studio models , after the decision was made to discard the " Phase II " models which were all deemed unsuitable for a theatrical motion picture production , including Price ' s three quarters complete " Enterprise " model . Price has stated , " " At one time , we were supposed to be responsible for the Work Bee s , the space station , the external V ' Ger , the " Enterprise " and possibly the San Fransisco tram . " " ( " Starlog " , issue 47 , June 1981 , p . 61 ) Initially , Visual Effects Designer Taylor , was apparently like - minded , as Price further clarified , " " We bid out many of the models at one time with limited success . Richard Taylor felt that we should do the work but an obscure arrangement with the union keeps a major from working with outside firms when the staff shop is available and able to do the job . The only way around this is to let the staff shop build the items first and duplicate the work elsewhere later . This happened frequently on the film . Magicam , by the way , is a Paramount subsidiary . " " ( " Starlog " , issue 30 , p . 8 ) Partly for these reasons , RA & A and Paramount decided to go with Magicam for the build of the new models , including that of the " Enterprise " , and Price and his team were released from the project the same month . However , six months later in mid - July 1978 , Price & co , were brought back by RA & A into the production for props manufacturing , such as phaser s , tricorder s and the like , as Magicam ' s capacity was entirely taken up with the build of the studio models . Price recalled , " " We were pulled into " Star Trek " kind of late . We started work only three weeks prior the first day of shooting . There were times when we ' d start to work at seven o ' clock in the morning and work through till three the next afternoon . I wouldn ' t want to do that again , but this is probably the only kind of job , where I ' d be willing to work those kind of hours . " " ( " Starlog " , issue 20 , p . 71 ) Aside from the props , Price & co . also started on the design and partial construction of various environmental suit s , only to have those taken from them as they were to be mostly executed by Apogee , Inc . later on . Due to their association with the unfortunate RA & A , eventually released on , Price and his team , were nearly dismissed as well . In order to save his company ' s involvement , Brick Price had to write a letter to the irate executives of Paramount Pictures , explaining what his company did and what the relationship with RA & A exactly was . That , however , paid off as his company was retained to continue building the numerous props . Although his company eventually produced over 1 , 250 props for the movie and beyond ( additional pieces for conventions and the like ) , no official credit was ever given , which Price has attributed to residual resentment towards RA & A and his former association with them . ( " Enterprise Incidents ; special edition on the technical side " , pp . 35 - 56 ) Understandably , Price has expressed mixed feelings about his company ' s involvement with the first " Star Trek " feature at the time , " " There were myriad problems with the film , but I really feel that it will become a classic of the genre . I wouldn ' t have said that a few months ago because everything looked so schizoid . Nothing looked cohesive because there were so many factions doing battle and trying to have a hand in the look . Now everything is coming together and it looks wonderful . I regret that Dow gave away such a major part of the script , but it ' s still being changed so I doubt that much harm was done . I ' m sorry that more of the deserving people won ' t be getting credit . I know we won ' t because we were told as much at the outset . The 20 or so people of mine who worked dozens of hours for the last year on hundreds of props will probably fade into the woodwork . Most of them are somewhat thankful now but they may not feel that way when the smoke clears . They ' re just weary . " " ( " Starlog " , issue 30 , p . 8 ) Planet Hollywood . Although Price has asserted on occasions that he retained the " Phase II Enterprise " model , among others to " Star Trek " aficionado William S . McCullars on his now - defunct website " The Idic Page " , and in the documentary series " Hollywood Treasure " ( season 1 , episode 15 , " Trek to the Future " , broadcast 8 June 2011 ) , his company ' s model was discarded by Paramount Pictures after the upgrade to the movie project , as was confirmed by Jim Dow ( " American Cinematographer " , January 1980 , p . 153 ) and Paul Olsen ( " " , p . 46 ) . Nevertheless , he did retain the molds of the model and years later produced from them copies for the " " restaurant franchise , among others the New York City location in the early 1990s . The saucer section and torpedo launchers were heavily adjusted to reflect the appearance of the refit " Enterprise " has in the movies . The nacelles , secondary hull , and the upper dorsal retained its original " Phase II " design , resulting in an unfamiliar looking hybrid between the " Phase II " and the movie ' s " Enterprise " . . It was the New York City model Price presented to McCullars as being the original . " " The model was built from parts pulled from the phase II molds . A lot of models were duplicated so that they could be displayed at more than one Planet Hollywood " " , John Eaves later contradicted . American collector Adam Schneider provided additional confirmation of the existence of copies , as he acquired one and had it converted to approximate the " The Motion Picture " appearance as a companion piece to the actual drydock studio model he owned . Further confirmation was provided in the " Hollywood Treasure " documentary series episode , in which Brick Price himself presented the molds and partial casts of the model . In it could be discerned that some of the molds were at least partially modified and that the castings were not those of the original model . Being WonderWorks , Inc . . Around the turn of 1986 - 1987 Brick Price changed the name of the company to " WonderWorks , Inc . " and continued to provide special and visual effects assets for several movies . Motion picture productions the company has worked upon after the " Star Trek " movie included , while still being called " Brick Price Movie Miniatures " , " Captive " ( 1980 ) , " Lifepod " ( 1981 ) , " Starflight : The Plane That Couldn ' t Land " ( 1983 ) , and " SpaceCamp " ( 1986 ) . As " WonderWorks , Inc . " the company has provided props , sets and miniatures for productions such as , " Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future " ( 1987 ) , " The Incredible Hulk Returns " ( 1988 ) , " Apollo 13 " ( 1995 ) , the science fiction blockbuster movies " Deep Impact " and " Armageddon " ( both 1998 ) , " Counter Measures " ( 1998 ) , and " Fallout " ( 1999 ) . The 21st century productions the company has contributed to were " Race to Space " ( 2001 ) , " The Day After Tomorrow " and " Space Odyssey : Voyage to the Planets " ( both 2004 ) , " Deep Rescue " and the television series episode " Space Cadets : Episode # 1 . 6 " ( both 2005 ) , with " The Astronaut Farmer " of 2006 its most recent recorded credit . Aside from motion picture productions , the company also provided numerous models for NASA ( reciprocally brought in at the time by Don Loos ) , museums , theme parks , the military , and corporations ( such as the aforementioned Planet Hollywood franchise ) , thereby somewhat cushioning the impact the advent of computer generated imagery had on visual effects companies that solely relied on producing them by utilizing traditional , physical methods . In 1991 , the company embarked upon a small side - project for the " Star Trek " franchise , when they built the small eight inch diameter turbolift shaft maquette , used for perspective shots in s fifth season episode . ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol 23 # 2 / 3 , 1992 , p . 41 ) In 1994 WonderWorks was again reacquainted with the franchise , now somewhat more substantially , when it was called in to help out in a time when the production staff of " Star Trek " was spread thin while preparing the final episode of , the season 2 ending of " " , the production of , the documentary " " , and the pre - production of " " . Wonderworks was charged with building the physical studio models of the two Kazon starship classes . Staff . There have been a number of staffers and people that have worked closely with the group over the years , including :