Constellation class model The was created before actually began shooting , though its designation was only established later on . The need arose in pre - production from the desire to have Captain Picard ' s ready room dressed with some set pieces , among others , a desktop model of his previous command as mentioned in the The Writer ' s Bible for the show or as Rick Sternbach recalled , " " Andy Probert and I began fleshing out the " Stargazer " during the pre - production phase of " Star Trek : The Next Generation " , based on a mention of Captain Picard ' s previous command in the TNG writer ' s bible . We likely had some words with set decorator John Dwyer about a model of the ship for Picard ' s ready room , along with the collaborative painting of the " Galaxy " class " Enterprise " to fill up a big empty spot over the sofa . Probert and I discussed the general configuration of the " Stargazer " , did a number of quick pencil and marker doodles of the major assemblies , and settled on using four nacelles to suggest that the " Stargazer " was a fast science vessel . Kitbashing the display model could have made use of the plastic parts from a couple of " Original Series " " Enterprise " hobby kits , but the historical era could have a bit too old . I don ' t believe a kit of the , eventually to become the , had been released by that time , so we got to work playing with pieces from two NCC - 1701 Refit kits . " " Desktop model . Picard ' s display , or desktop model was co - designed by Probert and Sternbach , the latter also being the one who constructed the model . Probert noted on the design , " " Now , Gene dictated that there are no three - engine starship s and no single - engine starships . When I was first designing the new " Enterprise " he said , " The Federation ship ' s engines always are co - dependent " . It is the same as to say they always worked in twos . So that ' s why when Sternbach and I came up with the " Stargazer " , it had two sets of twos . And then I started thinking that , back in World War II , all the nations that had fighter aircraft and airplanes did the same thing : they took off , they flew , they landed , they maneuvered . They usually had one engine , two wings , two tailwings – so they all had the same components , but they all looked different . There was a national design bias to each aircraft , but technically they all did the same thing . So my thinking was in " Star Trek " – since the " Enterprise " used to have two engines – I came up with the idea that the engines had to reach out to each other in order to work co - dependently . In other words , there would be no obstructions between the engines to disrupt the energy fields or connecting forces between them . " " The model was mostly kit - bashed from commercially available refit - " Enterprise " AMT / Ertl model kits ( No . 6675 ) augmented with custom made parts from styrene sheets for the enlarged saucer section . According to Sternbach , the desktop model was further detailed with several kits from the " Super Dimension Fortress Macross " , , " Gundam " , and " Crusher Joe " . The largest of these model kit details were the wings and wing box assemblies of a VF - 1 " Valkyrie " model kit from Macross . The desktop model was finished in a dark desert yellow with blue accents and could subsequently been seen as a desktop model in Picard ' s ready room in numerous episodes of the show . A registry number NCC - 7100 was applied to the model , but no name , possibly indicating a generic model of the class . The model first appeared in " " and , ironically , was absent during the first official appearance of a " Constellation " - class ship in " " , replaced with a model of a modified refit - " Constitution " - class ship , as the USS " Stargazer " was originally intended to be a member of that class . Probert and Sternbach later persuaded the producers to build a new , full - fledged filming miniature for the " Stargazer " and the desktop model remained absent for additional episodes as it was needed at Gregory Jein , Inc . for reference during the construction of the motion - control model . This later four - foot ( 120 cm ) shooting model used parts tooled from scratch to replicate the model kit parts used in the desktop model , with the exception of the VF - 1 " Valkyrie " parts , since equivalent parts were found from a larger - scale kit . The yellow model ' s registry was accomplished by rearranging the " NCC - 1700 " registry decal available in the " Constitution " - class models . In reality , the registry numbers intended for use on the " Constellation " - type vessels might have been that high , but the number NCC - 2893 had already been used on the ship ' s plaque from the script ( although at that time the ship was intended to be a refitted " Constitution " ) . Rick Sternback ' s perspective on the model , from the , " " It ' s like Camelot , it ' s only a model . Pretend the NCC - 7100 isn ' t there , and it ' s exactly like a corporate desk model of , say , an F - 22 with generic markings and no specific tail number . Yes , the model represents the USS " Stargazer " , and if we knew back in early 1987 what the actual reg number would turn out to be , we would have used that . Just keep saying : ' There is no 7100 . . . there is no 7100 ' . " " Portions of the " " , co - written by the designers / builders who worked on the model itself , include descriptions of starship prototype phases when new ships are painted with a yellow overcoat to reveal warp field stresses . Sternbach , who built the model , later commented on the color , " " The yellow color harmonized with the overall scheme for the ready room , and could be rationalized in a pinch as being a specialized hull coating used in initial warp field tests . Yeah , that ' s the ticket . " " Some fans have interpreted that Picard kept the model because the starship NCC - 7100 ' s test flight was important to him in some way . This starship was still referred to as the " Stargazer " by some members of the writing staff , notably in the script for . Interestingly , the very first commercially available model of this class , the gaming miniature sized micro machine from Galoob ( issue 66106 , 3rd edition ) , was in this color scheme , and although given the name and registry number of the " Stargazer " , the producers were probably being confused by early publicized photos . Filming model . The producers did not make the decision to build a full scale filming , or studio model , of the " Stargazer " until after the episode was filmed with both Wil Wheaton and LeVar Burton calling it a " Constitution " . The choice of the name " Constellation " was based largely on the fact that it could be dubbed over La Forge ' s line since the two words are so similar . ( " " , 2003 , p . 41 ) The task of building the full scale , four - foot , model fell to Gregory Jein , using the equivalent parts from larger - scaled VF - 1 " Valkyrie " model kits . The " Stargazer " was the first new Federation starship design seen by audiences since the introduction of the and remained so until the introduction of the in the third season ' s . It is also one of the very few starship designs that originally started out as a prop , but was upgraded to function as a full - fledged filming model . All the footage shot of the model was done at Image G . The model was eventually labeled the USS " Valkyrie " ( an in - joke of the production staff , as it referred to the " Valkyrie " parts they used in constructing the model ) for tour displays such as " " , " Star Trek World Tour " , and " " , complete with the registry NCC - 2590 . Established as an older design , the model ' s use as a production asset was played out early on , and the studio released it very soon afterwards for public relation purposes , probably having been on tour more than any other model , the 1994 " Exhibition " tour being its first . The faded name has been observed on this model underneath the " Valkyrie " decal , the only time the vessel was relabeled ( later appearances being stock footage ) . As of 2011 , the studio model itself , having escaped the " " , and " It ' s A Wrap ! sale and auction " s , is still in the possession of CBS Television Studios and has been on tour as late as 2011 . CGI models . Since the " Constellation " - class has already been considered an obsolete vessel in the early TNG era , no CGI model was ever constructed for live - action production purposes until 2012 , and has therefore not been visually present in any of the other " Star Trek " series . Still , a CGI model was eventually constructed by Doug Drexler , when he was asked to do the cover for Michael Jan Friedman ' s ( licensed ) novel " Enigma " in 2004 . Drexler remembered on his , " " Usually covers like this don ' t come with a lot of lead time , and the budget does not provide for building models , so I set to work converting the Directors Cut TMP CG " Enterprise " . Margaret Clark had spotted a cover of a novel that showed a WWII Hellcat dive bomber double exposed over the ocean blended with a map . She sparked to that and thought it was just the thing to hang the " Enigma " cover on . I grabbed a starmap that I had been admiring which Alan Kobayashi had made for Mike to hang in Captain Archer ' s cabin . That was the cover , and a real nice one too ! Someone wrote me a note asking if I could run some " Stargazer " orthos . I had never made any for the blog because it was such a quickie kitbash , I figured it wouldn ' t hold up . " " Missing some of the details found on the physical models ( especially on the ventral side ) , the CGI version found its way on other licensed products as well , such as the " Ships of the Line " book and " " calendar . In 2012 a new CGI model was constructed at CBS Digital of the " Constellation " - class for use in the aft shot of the in the 2012 remastered version of , simply because , " " Some footage was just plain missing " [ remark : for upgrading the footage to High Definition ] " . The only time we felt justified to replace an element . " " , as Doug Drexler put it , adding , " " The " Constellation " was built by Sean Jackson " " . Jackson was a former Eden FX digital artist who had worked on , having received an Emmy Award nomination for that series ' episode .