Larry Albright Larry Winston Albright ( born ) was a neon lighting specialist , who has contributed to two " Star Trek " live - action productions , helping studio model makers out by providing their productions with internal lighting rigs . In 1978 he was sub - contracted by Magicam to oversee the installation of the internal lighting rig of the refit - " Enterprise " studio model and the drydock model for , when it was decided upon to have that executed as neon lighting . His supervisor , Jim Dow has noted in this respect , " " Larry Albright and Paul Turner designed the lighting systems for the ship ; Larry , the high voltage neon and Paul , the incandescent . Neon was chosen because of the impracticality of the use of fiber optics , due to the armaturing system ( five - way ) and its ability to throw a great deal of light without the attendant heat , as with incandescents . It was used wherever there was a light source in an inaccessible area and for longevity . The tiny point sources of incandescents were used where needed . " " ( " American Cinematographer " , February 1980 , pp . 178 , 186 ) Turner was Magicam ' s model electronics and lighting engineer , and has praised his co - worker , " " The neon incidentally , was specially fabricated by Larry Albright who did most of the neon in Spielberg ' s " 1941 " and the special effects pylons that were used in " Star Wars " and " Close Encounters of the Third Kind " . Most of the special neon that ' s used in science fiction films has been done by Larry Albright . Excellent man all the way around . You can call him up and say , Gee Larry , I broke a tube and we have to have this thing by tomorrow , and he would bend one up from prior descriptions that you ' d given him or you give him new descriptions and he ' d bend one up and go through the whole complicated process of making that tube , and you ' d could send someone out in a couple of hours and pick up that tube . Larry Albright saved us on a number of occasions . " " ( " Enterprise Incidents " , issue 13 , pp . 23 - 24 ) For " The Motion Picture " , Albright has received an official credit . Eighteen years later , Albright was shortly re - acquainted with the " Star Trek " franchise , as Gregory Jein , Inc . sought out his assistance in lighting the retro - models for the fifth season homage episode . ( " " , pp . 37 - 39 ) For this production , Albright has remained uncredited . Career outside " Star Trek " . A self - taught artist , living in Venice , Ca . whose specialty was the manufacture of sculptures , Larry Albright started out with making sculptures and toys from steel . In the early 1970s he switched to making neon light sculptures and has since then produced neon and plasma light objects both to commercial ends as well as to artistic ends , producing art and display objects . A relatively new technique at the time , with Albright as one of its pioneers , made his expertise with working with neon lighting a sought after commodity for motion picture productions from the mid - 1970s onward , as neon lighting became the method of choice for lighting physical studio models . Neon lighting had the advantage over lighting methods and products used up until then of greater longevity and lower heat emissions . He has provided services on the studio models used in productions like " Star Wars " ( 1977 ) , " Close Encounters of the Third Kind " ( 1977 , supervised by Douglas Trumbull ) , " 1941 " ( 1979 , with Greg Jein ) , " Bladerunner " ( 1982 , supervised by Trumbull and Richard Yuricich , and working with Mark Stetson and Chris Ross ) , and " Con Air " ( 1997 ) . Until his retirement , Albright was opertating his business as " Larry Albright & Associates " and " Plasma - Art " . Albright has been a mentor and friend to ILM staffer Bill Concannon , who has followed into Albright ' s steps .