Galileo type shuttlecraft model The " Galileo " - type shuttlecraft , representing the " Galileo " and " Copernicus " , was designed by Nilo Rodis and Andy Neskoromny , the Art Director and Set Designer for respectively . ( ) They abandoned the grand vision Andrew Probert originally had for the refit - shuttlebay , and instead revisited Matt Jefferies ' original design vision thereof and its accompanying Class F shuttlecraft that went with it , albeit in a upgraded version . Full scale exterior mock - ups . For the first and only time a full - scale " Constitution " - class shuttlebay was constructed with two accompanying full - scale mock - ups of the " Galileo " - type shuttlecraft , and tailored on Jefferies ' original vision , as the elaborate vision of Probert was not called upon . Two full - scale exterior mock - ups were built for the film , the " Galileo " and the " Copernicus " , with only the " Galileo " endowed with a fully detailed interior as well . Cinematographer Andrew Laszlo construed a key sequence with the 8 , 000 pound ( empty ) mock - up in as follows , " " We actually landed the craft by suspending it from a huge construction crane . Not only does it land on the sand dunes , but a second later , the rear hatch opens and out pop a bunch of marines , who leap over the camera , followed by the crew of the " Enterprise " . We did that in a single shot ! Everything becomes very difficult when you work in the sand – vehicles can ' t move , especially those that can transport and then lift a very large 8 , 000 pound object . Although this difficulty was foreseen , even with the greatest foresight , certain things can and will go wrong , especially in the course of a motion picture being photographed on sand dunes . Just turning the shuttlecraft around to accommodate another camera angle meant bringing the crane in , picking the craft up , turning it and having the crane clear out of the shot – it took about an hour and a half . " " ( " American Cinematographer " , issue July 1989 , p . 61 ) Stored away on the Paramount Pictures lot after use in " The Final Frontier " , one of the full scale mock - ups received a new lease of life as it was later modified to represent the Type 6 shuttlecraft in . ( ) Rick Sternbach recalled , " " Two full size shuttles were built , IIRC , with one being reworked for TNG . Chopped about six feet out of the middle , got new pods , and some side windows . Both of the original set pieces were weather damaged , but the one we used on TNG was , of course , the less trashed . Exposure to the elements has taken its toll on a number of pieces stored outside over the years ; the TMP travel pod was totally trashed by the time we got to the studio for TNG . " " The second full - scale mock - up eventually also received a refurbishment in the form of added weathering , updated signage and added cockpit side windows to represent the " Hawking " , slated for use in in a scene where Jean - Luc Picard is picked up near the end of the film . The scene however , was not used for the theatrical release . ( " Star Trek Generations ( Special Edition ) " DVD , disc 2 , deleted scene s – special ) The mock - up was retained for a while by the studio as it was stored on the back lot of Paramount Pictures for several years . At the beginning of 1998 it was very briefly considered for use as an shuttlecraft cockpit in the upcoming feature , but due to years of neglect the mock - up had deteriorated considerably and was deemed unfit for use , and the producers decided to go for a redressed cockpit set instead . ( " " , p . 234 ) Ironically , the mock - up was refurbished later that year for inclusion as a tour exhibit , re - dressed as the " Hawking " , albeit non accessible for the public , appearing in the 1998 - 1999 " Star Trek World Tour " , but has not been sighted since , having been most likely struck . Filming models . Its limited number of appearances in the " Star Trek " franchise notwithstanding , the prominent presence of the " Galileo " - type shuttle in " The Final Frontier " , eventually sparked the manufacture of more scaled studio miniatures for the type that any other type of shuttle within the franchise . Apart from the full - scale mock - ups , no less than at least six models were known to have been constructed , of which five have been used as production assets . The 2½ foot studio models . Regardless what Associates and Ferren , the company responsible for the visual effects shots for " The Final Frontier " , had in mind originally , the construction of a model for the ( space ) flight sequences of the " Galileo " - type shuttlecraft was never in doubt , as the full - scale mock - ups were simply too large and too heavy for use in the production of shots of this kind . Instead Ferren sub - contracted Gregory Jein , Inc . to construct a motion control photography studio model . Jein recalled , " " We built the 2½ foot shuttle using plexiglass slab construction . After filling it with foam and turning out a finished piece , we then molded it , even though we ended up only making one of this size . " " ( " American Cinematographer " , issue July 1989 , p . 79 ) Constructed at 1 / 12 scale ( or 32 inches ) , Dana White was among Jein ' s team who helped with the construction of the model , working from the blueprints used for the full - scale mock - ups . ( " Cinefex " , issue 42 , pp . 51 , 53 ) Jein ' s company also constructed a in - scale shuttlebay maquette that went with the model for the exterior approach shots . After its use in " The Final Frontier " , the services of the model was again called upon for usage in " Star Trek Generations " . ( " Cinefex " , issue 61 , p . 77 ) . Like its big full - scale sister , the model was modified with additional weathering , adjusted signage and added cockpit side windows to represent the " Hawking " . Unlike its big sister it did made an appearance in the theatrical release as said shuttle . The model escaped the 2006 - 2008 wave of auctions and was instead retained , as the " Hawking " , by the studio to function as a tour exhibit , appearing in tours like " Star Trek World Tour " , " " and " " as late as 2011 . A second 2½ foot model showed up as in the Profiles in History ' s " The Ultimate Sci - Fi Auction " of 26 April 2003 , estimated at $ 10 , 000 - $ 12 , 000 . That model turned out to be a copy Jein made for his own collection that was on loan to the Orlando , FL . , branch of the restaurant franchise , where it was photographed in the fall of 1996 by " Star Trek " studio model aficionado William S . McCullars , who published the pictures on his now - defunct website " The Idic Page " . The model was misrepresented in the auction catalog as " used for special effects sequences " ( p . 56 ) , since the actual model was still in the possession of the studio and since the offered - up model was endowed with the signage " 7 " ( no doubt Jein ' s subtle homage to the signage of the original Class F " Galileo " ) , instead of " 5 " , as used in " The Final Frontier " . The model was acquired by Microsoft ' s co - founder for a winning bid of $ 8 , 000 , and is currently residing in his Seattle , Washington - based . That model has never been used as a production asset , though it was featured in the 2009 - special feature , " Collecting Star Trek ' s Movie Relics " . The camera test model , aka " Guido " - II . Initially it was hoped that all the flight - deck sequences , and most notably the crash scene , could be done using the full - scale hangar deck set and the " Galileo " - type shuttlecraft mock - ups , but as cinematographer Andrew Laszlo ruefully noticed , " " To do the effect practically on stage would have involved a bit of wire work , but to try to suspend a shuttlecraft that weighed in excess of 8 , 000 pounds would have not required wires but cables , which certainly would have photographed . It would have required reinforcing the ceiling of the stage to support that weight . We thought of attaching the shuttlecraft to the boom arm of a large crane as we did for the landing on location in the desert , but unfortunately below this stage was Paramount ' s antique furniture collection which contains such valuable pieces that not even a standard crane is permitted on that studio floor . " " ( " American Cinematographer " , issue July 1989 , pp . 66 - 67 ) Reluctantly , because of problems caused by matching frame - rates involved with miniature filming and live - action ( set ) filming , the latter differing from the former , the decision was made to have the crash sequence done as miniature effects . In order to alleviate the frame - rate matching problem , a larger scaled miniature of both the shuttle as well as the shuttlebay was deemed necessary , in this case a 1 / 6 scale . Once the decision was made and commissions were sent out to have both the 1 / 6 scale shuttlebay and shuttlecraft models made , intermediate camera test model s of both shuttlebay and shuttle were constructed , in anticipation of the final products . Motion Control Expert Peter Wallach said , " " Prior to launching this $ 10 , 000 shuttle at a $ 100 , 000 shuttlebay , we built the " Guido II " – a plywood mockup of the shuttlecraft – which we fired a number of times to determine the best velocity and camera speed for the pyro as well as the scale . One of the main reasons some wanted me to shoot the crash motion control was they were concerned we ' d break the model doing it our way ( . . . ) " " ( " American Cinematographer " , issue July 1989 , p . 80 ) The " Guido " - II was embellished with warp engine s taken from AMT model kit no . 6682 . Both models and the test performed are featured on the " " DVD , " Pre - Visualization Models " special , disc 2 . The five - foot studio models . The 1 / 6 model decided upon , and of which three were eventually constructed , were mostly built by Associated and Ferren ' s own model shop headed by David Sharp , though closely supervised by Gregory Jein , Inc . and with input from some of its employees , among others Warren Riggs . The late decision left Jein no other choice as to delegate some of the work to Associates and Ferren , as he was also responsible for the construction of a like - scaled shuttlebay maquette . Jein recalled , " " We needed three of the five foot models – one for the crash sequence which required pyrotechnics and breakaway engine pods , one for motion control and one for a shot of thew craft parked in the shuttlebay of the " Enterprise " . It was only after the fact that they decided they wanted the engine pylons to break off – which wasn ' t originally budgeted – so we made a mold of that part and cast them out of rigid polyfoam so the pyrotechnics guys in New York could pack them with whatever they wanted . We used magnets to attach the pylons to the body so they would fly off from the impact of the explosion , which seemed like a quick , foolproof way to do it . The shuttles weren ' t hard to paint – they were basically one color . " " ( " American Cinematographer " , issue July 1989 , p . 79 ) Jein ' s remark notwithstanding , it did belie the time - stress he and his company were under , as he also solicited help from an acquaintance , David Merriman , Jr . , to help out with the construction of the five - feet " Galileo " - type breakaway nacelles . Merriman recalled , " " I was instructed to make the warp engine s thin walled " [ = glass reinforced plastic , otherwise known as fiberglass ] " structures . Our work was to conform to the details outlined in an information package Greg was overnighting to our location . I didn ' t know it at the time , but the parts we produced would be packed with explosives and weakened in specific areas to break upon impact with the hangar deck . ( . . . ) . Our task was three - fold : produce a master ( an upper and lower half ) of the warp engine , produce a production mold - tool from which to make the warp engine model parts , and produce three sets ( six units ) of shuttle warp engines . " " Merriman continued to describe how he managed to construct the asked for parts under extreme time pressure out of sugar pine , Bondo and assorted plastics . It was Merriman ' s very first uncredited ( being sub - contracted by Jein ) contribution to the " Star Trek " franchise . He added , " Late the next morning a Fedex package arrived from Greg and Ellie and I sat down to examine the blueprints . However , there were no drawings at all , not even a sketch ! Just an unusual small scale shuttle warp engine with a post - it - note stuck to its top saying : " build 2X " . That was it ! Build the things twice the sample provided . . . period . " I lofted off the dimensions of the sample model with proportional dividers and quickly had a working drawing of the warp engine laid out to the correct size . A trip to the local lumber retailer secured a nice piece of kiln dried Sugar Pine . We were ready to Rock ! By evening time we had the wood cut to rough shape and we set about contouring thew ends with rasp and sandpaper . Not much of a challenge at that point , but there was the matter of the recessed details on the ends and sides of the master to contend with . Those would take a few days to work out . Within those areas of the master that received the ridged ' ripple ' pattern , I first routed out a suitable sized cavity and then laid in lengths of acrylic rod . The perimeter of the recessed areas were framed with suitable cut pieces of plastic sheet . All seams were filled with Bondo automotive putty ( . . . ) and worked smooth with file and paper . " The upper and lower wooded shuttle craft warp engines masters were then given liberal amounts of " Fill N " Sand Gray 131S auto primer ( . . . ) , sanding between each coat . When finally worked to an unblemished finish , the wooden masters were mounted on a board and a set of fiberglass tools laid up . These tools later formed the GRP copies needed by Greg and his crew to complete the big shuttle craft miniatures then being assembled in Los Angeles . " ( " Sci - Fi & Fantasy Models " , issue 29 , pp . 54 - 55 ) When it came to filming the sequence Wallach commented , " " Though we did some 75 shots using motion control , it was my belief you can ' t do a crash convincingly using motion control , so we built a giant slingshot made from two 22 ' rails and a sled with roller - skate wheels on it . One has to be flexible with motion control and realize that there ' s a time to use it and a time not to . One should never lose sight of the fact that a simple rubber band can be a lifesaver . In this case the " rubber band " was a couple of two ton garage door springs cocked back by a three and a half ton winch . We pulled this slingshot back varying distances . ( . . . ) My attitude was just to put a little more fiberglass in it and catch it so it wouldn ' t break . We were having so much fun doing it , we wound up doing six takes in all , and in six takes there was no damage to the model . It was just a paint job away from being ready for the next take . We only needed about 45 minutes between takes . " " ( " American Cinematographer " , issue July 1989 , p . 80 ) Yet it did not came off without a hitch , as Merriman reiterated , " " As it later turned out , the first two attempts to get the shot failed and two of the miniature shuttles " [ sic : what he meant were the pair of nacelle models ] " were badly damaged . Only on the last take - using the last model shuttle built for the shot - did they get the desired results . " " ( " Sci - Fi & Fantasy Models " , issue 29 , p . 54 ) None of the three five - foot models , constructed out of cast resin and glass fiber with plastic details , measuring 60×27×16 inches ( without engines ) , were ever used again as production assets . The " Copernicus " model , retained by the studio ever since , was almost immediately afterwards released for public relation purposes , making its debut in the " " of 1995 , and has been included in every exhibition from then forth , as late as of 2012 . The two other five - foot models were less fortunate and eventually turned up in 2006 as auction items . Both were offered up for sale in the 2006 Christie ' s , New York , " " auction . One , the model without its detachable engines , was offered as , estimated at US $ 1 , 500 - $ 2 , 500 . It sold on 7 October 2006 for US $ 12 , 000 ( $ 14 , 400 with premium ) . The five - foot complete " Galileo " was auctioned off the same day as , estimated at US $ 2 , 000 - $ 3 , 000 , selling for US $ 9 , 000 ( $ 10 , 800 with premium ) .