Dauntless class model Conceived well into the CGI era , when it had become more cost effective , the vessel was never envisioned to be executed as a physical studio model , but rather as a CGI build . " " There wasn ' t time to build a physical model . Also , the " Dauntless " needs to distort when it goes into the slipstream , and that ' s really hard to do with a model . " " , Ronald B . Moore further elaborated . ( " " , p . 81 ) Design . The description of the " Dauntless " in the script which read , " " It shows a STARSHIP , glowing with power , hanging in space . It ' s sleek , bullet - shaped , as though built for speed . And it ' s roughly half the size of " Voyager " was the starting point for Rick Sternbach to design the studio model of the " Dauntless " class . He later recalled , " " The U . S . S . " Dauntless " , NX - 01 - A , was another one of those tempting bits of get - home technology that turned out to be too good to be true for the " Voyager " crew . Actually an alien ship disguised by the crafty Arturis ( whose name is almost , but not quite , entirely unlike the name of the star Arcturus ) , the " Dauntless " was to be used against the humans as revenge for not wiping out the Borg when they had the chance , setting Arturis ' people free . The phony " Dauntless " employed a variation on the different super - duper drives that had been tried but were not repeatable due to micro - plot fractures , thus ensuring that " Voyager " would take seven seasons to get back to Sector 001 . The design of the " Dauntless " was described as being advanced , but still recognizable as Starfleet , hence the hull plating and thrusters and nacelles and so on . The basic division of shapes was the same , forward hull , engineering hull - type extension , and the nacelles , though the new " addition " was that of the slipstream drive emitter underneath . Remember the ? No similarity whatsoever . Probably because of the art tasks required by other episodes , I didn ' t go much beyond the line drawings seen here . It wasn ' t a terribly complicated design , though the blended quality of the hull might have presented some unique CG model challenges back then , and I ' ll let Brandon speak to that . " " In late February 1998 , Sternbach submitted a sheet with preliminary hull shape designs for approval to supervising producer for the episode , Peter Lauritson , which was returned to him on 4 March with a design chosen and with the request to eliminate a bridge module . " " This is a tentative approval for this design . As I look at this , I wonder what it is about this particular drawing that the producers liked enough to circle it . I know they want the bridge module shaved off the top , so I ' ll smooth that over . But the first thing that I have to do is rough out a cross - sectional view for [ Scenic Artist ] Wendy Drapanas so she can create some backlit graphic designs . I ' ll rough in some interesting hardware shapes and get this to Wendy in twenty minutes or less , " " Sternbach commented at the time . ( " " , p . 43 ) . Drapanas went on to create the master systems display featured in engineering . The following day , Sternbach completed a set of two sheets with orthographic views . " " I ' ve been given orders to proceed with the top , view , bottom view , side view , and for and aft views of the " Dauntless " . I notice that I stepped the bridge in a couple of places . And there ' s little thruster and impulse vents , and some little chevron shapes on the nacelles . I ' ll reproduce all of the very vague details in a much cleaner form so it can be used by the the computer graphic people " " , Sternbach continued . ( " " , p . 46 ) The blueprints were submitted to effects supervisors Ronald B . Moore and Dan Curry for final approval . Sternbach later added , " " The surface details were Starfleet , so those were well known . I suggested to Ron Moore ( Ron B . Moore , that is ) that we go with a warmer tone to the " new " hull , like a coppery color , to distinguish it from the cooler " Voyager " surface . And so it came to be . " " Sternbach ' s final design sketches were later sold on 8 August 2010 as Lot # 398 in the Propworx " The official STAR TREK prop and costume auction " , estimated at US $ 100 - $ 200 , where they sold for US $ 120 ( including buyer ' s premium ) , whereas a set of seven sheets of preliminary design sketches was sold on eBay for $ 111 . 50 on 8 May 2011 . CGI model . After final approval the orthographic views were sent to Foundation Imaging , where computer graphic imaging director Adam " Mojo " Lebowitz was tasked to translate the design into a CGI model , closely supervised by Moore . " " The sketches really only show us one angle of the ship , so I told Mojo to generate a 3 - D computer model with some sort of skin on it . I don ' t care what kind of skin , but I want to see what the ship looks like rotating around " " , Moore elaborated . After remarking that in this stage a detailed was not yet necessary , Lebowitz added , " " My first step is to create a rough outline of the ship . Building a computer - generated model is the same as building a physical model kit . If you start with a big block of wood , you start shaving off pieces until you ' ve got a shape you ' re happy with . I used a cube and basically modified the shape , shaving pieces off or stretching it out until I had the shape Ron was happy with . Of course , using the computer is better than assembling a physical kit , because I can use the " undo button " " . " ( " " , pp . 45 , 47 ) Once the basic shape was decided upon , Lebowitz had Brandon MacDougall build a detailed in the software as starting point for finalizing the model . " " After we finished building the computer model , it had to be painted and detailed , just like a physical model . You add details to it , airbrush it , put windows in and add lights to it , and big engines that glow " " , Lebowitz elaborated , explaining the rendering stage of the build . ( " " , p . 79 ) A particular difficult decision was the color of the hull . " " We don ' t know the texture yet , " " Moore said at the time , " " and we probably won ' t have an approved color until sometime in May . We have narrowed our choices down to five , copper dark , copper gloss , copper light , gray gloss and gray . The gray gloss is the most traditional , but I feel that the ship should be a bit more radical . After all , it may " look " like a very , very modern Starfleet vessel , but it ' s actual alien technology . Copper light is the one I like " " , Moore concluded , taking the cue Sternbach provided him with a couple of days earlier . ( " " , p . 77 ) The final color that was chosen was a gray with a copper hue . Moore proved to be right in his assessment of the time it would take to have the model approved . Whereas Sternbach needed four days to design the " Dauntless " class , Foundation , from start to finish , needed seven weeks to arrive at a final version of the model .