Nebula class model First appearing as a prototype kit - bash studio model in the debris field of ' s episode , the design of the was upgraded to a full - fledged studio model , to represent a major class of starship in . As Michael Okuda explained on Doug Drexler ' s blog , " " The original concept for the Nebula - class ship was to develop a design that was in the style that Andy Probert had so brilliantly established for the Enterprise - D . ( You may recall that every other Federation starship in early TNG episodes was made with recycled movie ships . ) Our initial hope was that Greg could use the same molds from the 4 ' Enterprise - D , but that he could add a bigger bridge and give it bigger windows . The idea was to suggest that this ship was a contemporary of the E - D , but it was a smaller vessel . " " The BoBW kit - bash models . Ed Miarecki designed and built two " Nebula " - class vessels to appear in the debris field of the " The Best of Both Worlds " - episode . Okuda remembered , " " Nebula - class USS Melbourne . The original version of the " Nebula " . Ed made us two nearly - identical " Melbourne " models . I destroyed one of them to create a battle - damaged ship for BOBW2 . ( I recall being up in the art department one evening , Dremel tool in hand , cutting up the ship , while Patrick Stewart , in Borg costume , came upstairs to use the Xerox machine . He asked me what I was doing . I showed him the model and said something like , " See what you did ! " ) Rick Sternbach helped with the battle damage , too . And Greg Jein contributed quite a bit of wreckage as well . The other Nebula model ended up on one of the side tables in Sisko ' s office in DS9 . I think it was labeled " Melbourne , " too . " " The models , built from parts of AMT Star Trek model kits , No ' s 6618 and 6619 , differed from its later definitive appearance in that they sported two smaller warp nacelles where the sensor pod was to be positioned and that the secondary hull was more elongated . Captain Benjamin Sisko ' s desk top model ( having made two early appearances as desktop model in ) , representing the destroyed " Melbourne " was retrofitted with the redesigned sensor pod after its first few appearances in . For , the producers decided to use the more detailed studio model to represent the , thus robbing the proto - " Nebula " from its name and registry . Stock footage of the now nameless distressed model is present in the episode ( seen in the window of Benjamin Sisko ' s escape pod , just as it leaves the doomed ) , making it the only studio model , besides the original Borg cube model , to appear in both depictions of the Battle of Wolf 359 and its aftermath . Aside from the two Wolf 359 appearances , the footage of Miarecki ' s former " Melbourne " wreck model was reused to represent another wreck at the Surplus Depot Z15 in the " The Next Generation " fifth season episode , . The physical studio model . The design upgrades for the " Nebula " - class were done by Mike Okuda and Rick Sternbach and the model was built by Greg Jein . In Drexler ' s blog , Okuda elaborated further : " " As so often happens with this kind of project , we didn ' t give Greg enough time to accomplish this , so we decided to retain the original scale of the " Galaxy " - class ship saucer . I suggested the original ' AWACS ' pod in response to a producer ' s observation that the ship might otherwise appear unbalanced . Unfortunately , the AWACS pod didn ' t look as elegant as we had hoped in " The Wounded " . Rick Sternbach came to the rescue with the cool triangular pod that we used in later episodes . " " The time constraints could also explain why the is not equipped with reaction control thruster assemblies . Fortunately , Jein was indeed able to save some time by using the molds of the recently constructed four - foot " Enterprise " - D studio model to cast the saucer section and the nacelles , though he was not able to carry over Okuda ' s original notion of altering details to make it appear as a smaller vessel . As to the apparent lack of impulse thruster on the model Sternbach commented in the same blog , " " One of the rationalizations I imagined ages ago for having no obvious impulse grilles involved capturing and compressing the impulse fusion reaction exhaust and later releasing it from special non - propulsive ports . If the " Nebula " - class was employed in a stealthy surveillance mode , it would be smart to minimize all overboard emissions . Since most all ' modern ' impulse engines involve little or no pure rocket thrust , but more of a sub - warp drive , one could say that the familiar orange Starfleet glowy exhausts could be modified or eliminated . " " When the shape of the sensor pod was reconsidered after the first use of the studio model , Scenic Artist Doug Drexler was also asked to come up with an alternative , " " At one point , Dan Curry called Mike indicating that we may need an AWAC pod variant . We obliged by kludging one together . We ultimately did not use it . " " , Drexler remembered , who used amongst others , parts of a " Miranda " class model kit and computer keyboards . Instead the producers followed Sternbach ' s re - design . Drexler ' s part , measuring 12 " x11 " x6 " , turned up on 8 August 2010 as Lot 76 in the Propworx ' " Star Trek Prop and Costume Auction " , estimated at US $ 600 - $ 800 , where it sold for US $ 350 ( including buyer ' s premium ) . The model was used extensively , redressed in the scenic art department ( mostly by Drexler and Okuda ) several times to represent other class vessels in later seasons of " The Next Generation " and the first three seasons of " Deep Space Nine " . In 1994 the model underwent extensive refurbishment done at the Industrial Light & Magic workshop by modeler Larry Tan , supervised by modeler John Goodson for . The model was totally stripped from its original paint scheme ( white - blue with duck - egg blue highlights , a scheme carried over from the original paint scheme of the six - foot " Galaxay " - class studio model ) and a new more detailed paint scheme , necessary to meet big screen requirements , was applied ( blue - gray with metallic blue highlights ) to represent the ( " Cinefex " , No . 61 , 1994 , page 69 ) . In its new livery the model was used to represent the , for the upgraded opening title sequence of the last four seasons of " DS9 " . Since no dorsal shots were made for this sequence , the " Farragut " decals on top of the saucer were not replaced . The last time the model was shot , was for a battle scene in as an unnamed vessel ( although the model was still wearing the " Farragut / Leeds " decals , the shot was composed in a way that name and registry were not discernible ) . The physical studio model itself , worn and damaged from years of intensive handling , and showing its age , has escaped the and It ' s A Wrap ! sale and auction s , and is still in the possession of CBS Television Studios , having been on tour as late as 2011 . After closure of the Star Trek The Exhibition tour at the Kennedy Space Center , Florida , on 31 October 2011 , the model was pulled from the tour circuit and remanded in the temporary custody of CBS archivist Alec Peters of Propworx , Inc . Damaged from years of intensive handling on the tour circuit , Peters stated in private correspondence with that , " " It will be restored and then who knows where it will wind up , but won ' t be sold . It is part of the CBS archive now ! I have already contacted Greg Jein about restoring it . " " The CGI model . For appearances in the later seasons of " Deep Space Nine " and a CGI model was built at Foundation Imaging in 1997 by Robert Bonchune . In a ploy that was reminiscent of what Jein had done in constructing the physical model , Bonchune said , using the actual physical " Nebula " - class studio model as reference , " " I got to have as reference , sitting at the front of my desk , the actual filming miniature ! It was a good 4 feet across . " " Still stoked , Bonchune has years later enthused , " " I had wanted to build a classic starship for awhile , so I was thrilled . This was also the beginning of adding some of the classic " Star Trek " ships to the ever growing CG inventory . It was going to happen eventually and the producers felt this was the episode to move ahead with it . To my amazement , Paramount delivered the actual full size filming miniature to our facility for me to reference . Since our facility was not huge , they just set it up right in front of my desk . " " Nevertheless , he had to concede that , " " In the effort to be expedient , I did " kitbash " existing parts of the CG USS " Enterprise " - D , but it still needed completely new parts and major changes to existing maps to match the miniature , " " . ( " Sci - Fi & Fantasy Models " , issue 32 , 1998 , p . 54 ; " " , issue 23 , p . 15 ) The utilization of the parts of the " Galaxy " model went a long way explaining why the CGI " Nebula " differed slightly in appearance from its physical counterpart in that both the center line section of the secondary hull and the saucer rim were slimmer , suggesting , on screen at least , one deck less each . The most significant difference was the change of the shape of the navigational deflector dish housing to an oval shape akin to the " Galaxy " - class . Also , the CGI " Enterprise " - D sported the original gray - blue / duck - egg blue paint scheme , mapped onto that model from high resolution pictures taken from her four - foot physical counterpart , which was also transferred onto the " Nebula " model instead of the new paint scheme applied at ILM . The CGI model made its debut as the ( NCC - 70915 , the registry being a play on Bonchune ' s birthday , 9 / 15 / 1970 ) in " Voyager " s season four episode , though not identified in dialogue and as Bonchune tells it , a " kind of " a mistake , or as he himself had put it , " " Well , the ship did exist in the episode Message in a Bottle . It was kinda a mistake , however , it got into the show . It was my name ( obviously ) and the dates of my birthday . If you get a screen grab and look very closely , you can see it . However , it was a mix between the and the Bonchune . Honestly , so many years afterwards , I can ' t remember exactly . " " ( " " ) Nevertheless , from then on it was the CGI model that was used , among others as the USS " Honshu " ( as it was originally slated to be ) and the , appearing for the last time as the " Bonchune " in " Voyager " s final episode . Long after " Voyager " had wrapped , Bonchune ' s model made one last , admittedly very fleeting , surprising reappearance in a live - action production , when it was featured in the closing scenes of the film portion in the 2004 " Borg Invasion 4D " - ride at the " " - attraction . Bonchune ' s former Foundation Visual Effects Supervisor Adam Lebowitz , now serving in a similar function at Threshold Digital Research Labs for the film , had access to the digital database of previously used CGI live - action production starship models , and had several of these featured – mostly as scenic backdrops in the opening and closing scenes – in the film , including that of Bonchune . Nevertheless , his model went on to make several more prominent appearances in and onto licensed " Star Trek " publications , most notably in the " " calendars and their book derivatives .