Film studio models Chronological list of studio model s in the . Orbital office complex . The model was originally built as the orbital office complex for . The model was turned upside down for , TNG and DS9 . It would later become a CGI model based on the original studio model for later seasons of DS9 and for a display graphic on VOY . Original use : First modification : Second modification : " Merchantman " . This model was originally designed by Nilo Rodis and built by ILM to represent the " Merchantman " in . In VOY the ship appeared as both a physical model and CGI model . SD - 103 . The studio model of the , built especially for " The Undiscovered Country " was a purely Industrial Light & Magic ( ILM ) , the company contracted to do the visual effects for the movie , initiative , since of the movie script did not foresee in one . The concept originated from the brain of ILM ' s Visual Effects Art Director Bill George , when he was conceiving a visual effects shot for the movie . He clarified , " " When Kirk and the others head up to the spacedock to reboard their ship , we really wanted to open the film up and show the grandeur of space . Immediately I thought of – in particular , the docking sequence between the " Orion " space clipper and the double - wheeled " Space Station One " . I also got the bug in my mind to do an angle on the spacedock that hadn ' t been done before . I looked at at the model from all angles , and eventually ended up lying down on the ground to look up at it before I realized that was the perfect shot – it hadn ' t been done before , plus it was the natural angle of approach if you were coming up from Earth . " " George decided to beef out the shot with a new shuttle model . While Paramount Pictures had shuttle models available from the previous outings , " The Search for Spock " and " The Final Frontier " , George decided nevertheless to have a new one built . This was partly due of George being a consummate modelmaker ( he had started out at ILM as such ) and , though it was strictly speaking not his job anymore , he could not refrain himself from building another one , as studio model requirements were very light for ILM on this particular outing . All other models featured in the movie , including some on which George himself had previously participated in their builds , were reuses from earlier productions . He had John Goodson design one , and together they build the model , or as he has put it , " " We designed and constructed a new shuttlecraft model just for this shot , the only new model we got to do this time . It was done very quickly – in a week – and was about sixteen inches long . " " ( " Cinefex " , issue 49 , p . 48 ) George and Goodman embellished the model by endowing the ventral side with several add - ons that had their origins in AMT / Ertl " Star Trek " model kits . So did the model feature two nacelle caps with Bussard collector s of the " Enterprise " - D model kit ( No . 6619 ) as well as warp nacelle from the Romulan warbird model kit ( No . 6858 ) . Unfortunately for them , no dorsal views were seen of their model in the movie , though the tips of the " Enterprise " Bussard collectors were . The model made a reappearance in as two unnamed SD - 103 type shuttlecraft from the , sent down to the surface of Veridian III to pick up the survivors of the crashed . However , since the actual model was by that time already modified and altered , the shot of the shuttle in flight was actually stock footage from " The Undiscovered Country " , but flopped and altered in post - production by adding the blue " Farragut " signage . The one seen on the saucer of the crashed " Enterprise " - D was not even a model but part of the matte painting that was done at ILM for the scene . ( " Cinefex " , issue 61 , p . 77 ) Still , a second model was in effect constructed for the movie , albeit a tiny one . It was built to go with the modified NAR - 30974 spacedock model , carried over from " The Motion Picture " , as atmosphere , and it could be seen , though only just barely , parked , when the left spacedock at the beginning of the movie . In between the two movies , the original model itself was heavily modified by Greg Jein , who added warp engine s to the model , with components derived from the and models , and given the look of a full starship with several decks , to appear as the . ( , text commentary ; TNG Season 6 DVD - special feature , " Departmental Briefing Year Six - Production " ) Jein also extensively refurbished the dorsal side by endowing the original smoother surface by adding the bridge and deflector crystal assembly modules , as well as the ventral side by removing George ' s original add - ons and replacing them with add - ons in order to convey the sense of the model being a larger scaled ship . The now model initially appeared as , though Jein or one of his modelers actually mislabeled the ship as " " Jenolin " " , in , where the misspelled name however , was never clearly discernible ( that was until 2014 , when the episode was remastered and where it could be discerned that the name was not digitally corrected ) . Later , the model appeared , flipped over and relabeled , as the in the episodes " Playing God " ( season 2 ) , " Accession " ( Season 4 ) , " Trials and Tribble - ations " ( Season 5 ) and " Chrysalis " ( Season 7 ) . As usual with the television appearances of studio models , footage of this model for its appearances in both series was shot at Image G , the company were Erik Nash worked as motion control camera operator , and whose name was given to the model for its " Deep Space Nine " appearances . ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol 25 # 6 / Vol 26 # 1 , p . 102 ) It ' s accompanying registry number though , " NCC - 2010 - 5 " , harkened back to the one the model was endowed with in its previous use as the " Jenolan " , " NCC - 2010 " , and as far as in - universe usage of the Starfleet registry numbering system went , an odd one at that , as this was the only time that a ship was given a number of another class vessel addended with what appeared to be a follow number . Actually , since " Deep Space Nine " was already in pre - production at the time of " Relics " , the modified model was seriously considered by Production Designer Herman Zimmerman and the producers to serve as the regular runabout shuttlecraft for the namesake station . Yet , it was ultimately decided to pass over the model in favor of the , though the model served as a starting point for its design . ( ) The " Sydney " - class model ( measuring 16½ " × 11 " × 4 " ) was listed as in the " " auction with an estimated sale price of US $ 4 , 000 - $ 6 , 000 ; it sold on 7 October 2006 for US $ 22 , 000 ( $ 26 , 400 with premium ) . The tiny SD - 103 type model was of course part of the spacedock model , which sold as in the same auction on the same day for US $ 8 , 000 ( $ 9 , 600 with premium ) , originally estimated at US $ 3 , 000 - $ 5 , 000 . That model was acquired by American collector Adam Schneider , who managed to acquire several models from the auction . " Steamrunner " class . The starship was designed by Alex Jaeger at ILM . The , featured in " First Contact " , was apparently intended to be named " " Streamrunner " " originally , as based on the name appearing in Jaeger ' s sketch of the revamped " USS " Streamrunner " , " dated . This name was a homage to a song by the band . The reasoning for the name change to " Appalachia " is unknown , and was subsequently adapted ( or adopted ) by the and " " , but the original name , albeit misspelled , was retained as class designation . Jaeger , in far more detail , recalled in 2009 , " Here ' s a bit of background on the " Steamrunner " : As one person pointed out , it was originally to be called the " StReamrunner " . This was the name of a song from a band called ' Fold Zandura ' ( formerly ' Mortal ' ) It had a sci - fi feel to it and I thought it made a cool ship class name . But somewhere in the process the ' R ' got dropped in one of the approval pages and it became the " Steamrunner " , which is still kinda cool retro - steampunk sounding . So the name stuck . Also on the design , it is actually the merging of two different designs I did . The front saucer section of one ship combined with the catamaran nacelles and boom section of another . The boom section of the second ship was then flipped upside down so the deflector was underneath . The first design had a secondary hull , but instead of struts to hold the nacelles , they where instead mounted to the saucer section and then cowled over . There was even a 3rd version with 4 nacelles , two on the top and two more attached to the lower secondary hull . " The second design was more to my liking , it was a bit more ' automotive ' in its design shapes . It featured the catamaran nacelles , but instead of being mounted on top of the saucer , they were mounted underneath and the saucer sort of bent around them . The Deflector dish boom was then mounted more like the boom on the " Akira " class only this wasn ' t a weapons pod per say . In the end I was asked to combine the front of # 1 with the tail of # 2 and after some adjustments , bam the " Steamrunner " as it appears in First Contact . Some of the more angular features were also a result of the rough model as well . So the more rounded # 2 design would ' ve been less economical from a VFX standpoint too . " The model was render ed as a computer - generated model and built by Larry Tan and Paul Theren . According to designer Jaeger , the software used to build the models consisted of software package combo , elaborating , " " ( . . . ) ILM was using for animation and for the models of these ships back then . " " A year later ILM was requested by Paramount Pictures to hand over their models made for , amongst them the " Appalachia " , to Digital Muse in preparation for use in the upcoming episode . Due to Muse ' s use of different software , the model had to be largely re - rendered in and was remapped at a higher resolution in the process , but was completed early enough to be already showcased in . Visual Effects Supervisor David Stipes said that an overall length of 800 feet ( 243 . 8 meters ) was generally used for its " Deep Space Nine " on - screen appearances . The apparently unaltered model made a near unnoticeable , but surprising nonetheless , reappearance as a presumably unrelated – considering the anachronistic nature of its reappearance – 22nd century class of ship used by the United Earth Starfleet hundreds of years before the " Steamrunner " - class , in the season four episode . The model was again re - rendered in LightWave 3D by Fabio Passaro for use in its 2015 outing of the " " from Eaglemoss Collections , featuring an even higher polygon count , higher resolution textures , and updated hull detailing , including the addition of visible fore and aft torpedo launchers , two shuttlebays on the aft part of the saucer , and impulse engines . This model was later added as a graphic in the , replacing graphics of the class , created by Doug Drexler for previous editions , aside from having these originally featured in the above mentioned " Deep Space Nine Technical Manual " . These models were computer - generated at ILM . This list is based on one generated at . Many of these ships were designed by Ryan Church .