Studio model A studio model ( or filming model , as it is also referred to ) is a type of scale miniature used in the " Star Trek " live - action television series and to represent various ( inanimate ) objects , craft or ships . Strictly speaking , the term is applicable to all the types hereafter mentioned . As production asset , a studio model is currently understood to be a ( VFX ) element . Filming model . In practice , both expressions " studio model " and " filming model " ( the latter of which is more applicable to this case ) have been habitually reserved to indicate those miniatures that served as the primary models used for second - unit filming in productions . As far as repetitive productions were concerned , a further distinction was sometimes made in : In some cases , footage of a model was reused as a stock element , and simply referred to as a different ship . Time and cost considerations were the primary reason for such reuse . According to model maker Gregory Jein ( in an interview appearing in TNG Season 3 DVD - special features ) , the art , and visual effects departments typically had three to four weeks to design and create each model , during the run of a series – sometimes less time . It should be noted that on these occasions , detailing and finishing quality of the filming models would rarely have gotten the seal of approval of professional model makers of , for example , display models for museums . Professional modeler Jason Eaton , who restored the " McKinley " - type studio model for the auction winner of the model , has noted in this respect , " " ( . . . ) it NEVER ceases to shock me how rough some of these models are , under close scrutiny . I know they ' re made under impossible deadlines , but man , some of those seam lines and bubbles in the castings made me cringe , when I left things untouched . . . you have to match what you ' re making to what exists ! ! " " The practical reason for this was that in the pre - High Definition television age , a high level of quality detailing would have taken up more time , and thus more money , and was not necessary anyway , as possible shortcomings would not have been discernible on - screen . Model and prop maker Ed Miarecki , formerly of Science Fiction Modelmaking Associates and Industrial Light & Magic ( ILM ) , has even put it more crassly when he stated , " " These models were never meant to last . They were only designed for one thing , then they become dumpster fodder . " " ( " FanAddicts ! " , Season 1 , Episode 3 : Star Trek ) The build of a ( hero ) model during the pre - production stage of a television series ( due to the larger amount of expected close - ups ) , or a model for a movie ( due to the greater demands made of the model for big screen requirements ) , was a different story altogether , typically taking up considerably more time . The six - foot USS " Enterprise " - D model for example , took three months to build , discounting the design stage , whereas the movie " Enterprise " took a whopping 14 months to complete from start to finish . ( " " , p . 207 ) The fleeting nature of studio models Miarecki referred to as " dumpster fodder " , was in particular applicable to the Ship - of - the - Week models , especially those which were from the start intended to make an unique appearance as a deep background element only , most notably the below mentioned " kit - bash " models . This had practical and economical reasons as Production Illustrator Doug Drexler explained , " " When you work on a television show for many years , especially one like Star Trek , and particularly at the time that we did , you end up with all kinds of stuff that would otherwise have been thrown away . I know a statement like that . . . " stuff that would have otherwise been thrown away " . . . usually starts a firestorm of criticism of the studio . You don ' t need to say that today " [ note : referring to CGI models ] " . Looky , you know what a geek I am about this stuff , yet I understand that the studio cannot save everything from all of their productions . Also remember that at the time , auctions where fans could own a piece of the show were non - existent . Storing stuff was not economically feasible . Sometimes just building a crate to store something costs more than the model did ! Not to mention renting a place to keep it all . Star Trek at it ' s peak had huge storage north of LA . That adds up . Not everything could be saved . Thankfully , peeps like Gary couldn ' t bear to see stuff go into the crusher . So into personal storage it would go , and some of it not to see the light of day again for over twenty years . " " Aside from Gary Hutzel , Drexler himself , VFX Supervisor Adam Buckner and VFX Producer Dan Curry were among those production staff ers who habitually saved one - time use items after their production use , like these models , for their own collections , some of them to offer them up later at auction . Although , as Drexler already indicated in his statement above , the term " studio model " traditionally has been used to refer to physical miniatures , the advent of Computer Generated Imaging ( CGI for short ) in the 1990s ( most notably thanks to the series " Babylon 5 " ) , meant that the definition had to be expanded to include CGI models as well " Building a physical filming model . There were basically two methods of building used in the movie industry of constructing filming miniatures and both have been used in the " Star Trek " franchise : Costs of building a physical filming model . Usually , Hollywood production companies are loathe to publicly divulge details on costs of productions . While aggregates are often published , details such as specific costs of , for example , studio models are not . The " Star Trek " franchise therein is no exception . Yet , over the years , some figures of studio model construction costs have come to light and , as happenstance had it , of arguably the three most signature vessels of the franchise , coincidentally spanning a period of twenty years plus , providing some insight into the development of technique advancement and the differences between a model for television productions or feature productions . Traditionally , studios , those of he " Star Trek " franchise included , have habitually balked at the cost incurred by the construction of physical studio models , perceived as ( too ) high since it was labor intensive manual work . As repartee to this , Matthew Grazner of Hunter / Grazner Industries , responsible for the construction of break - away models for the Son ' a collector model , decided upon at the eleventh hour , has dryly postulated , " " I always say that visual effects are not expensive – it is the lack of decision making regarding visual effects that is expensive . " " ( " Cinefex " , issue 77 , p . 92 ) Grazner did have a point in his assessment , as the history of the " Star Trek " franchise is rife with examples of this , the construction , apart from Grazner ' s Son ' a break - away models , of the eight - foot movie " Enterprise " model being a prime example . Building a CGI filming model . In a remark , reminiscent of the one that Jein made in regard to physicals studio models , John Gross of Eden FX , stated that it took on average two - to four weeks to construct a new CGI studio model for an ongoing " Star Trek " television production . For further information , Studio model types other than filming models . Aside from the filming models that were primarily used for the actual filming of a production , there were several other types of studio models in use in the industry , constructed on occasion to specific ends . Study model . A study model or concept model , as it is also sometimes referred to , is behind - the - scenes nomenclature for a rough miniature built to study how a particular design might look in three dimensions and will normally lead up to the full - fledged studio models . Study models could be extremely crude , sometimes made of illustration or foam core board , or sometimes cobbled together from found objects , or sculpted from foam or other substances . Often crudely detailed , they were not meant to be used in actual productions , but to evaluate a design from all angles , before moving forward with or scrapping the design . However , they could be detailed enough for them to occasionally end up on camera when a need arose in a pinch of having them appear in the background of a shot where their limitations would not be apparent , such as the proto - " Nebula " - class and the various proto - " Excelsior " s . The earliest " Star Trek " study model , was the four - inch balsa wooden evaluation model of the " Enterprise " , Matt Jefferies constructed in 1964 for the NBC executives to mull over . ( ) Even in the CGI age , study models are occasionally constructed as a visual aid for designers and programmers and / or as a scanning model for digitizing . Examples were the study model built for of the " T ' Plana - Hath " and the Federation holoship model and Son ' a collector for . Daren Dochterman elaborated in this respect , " " Physical models are often built even when the final product will be CG . . . in some cases , it ' s to show producers and others the item in question in a real world context because sometimes a picture on a screen just doesn ' t make an impact like a real life item does . . . and on other occasions , it ' s done to give an in - house model crew something to do to justify billing the production company for it . . . and to maintain its existence . I ' m not saying that was the case here , as I really just don ' t know . . . but when I was on , we had an in - house model crew led by the great Greg Jein building models of all the ships that we were designing for 3d . . . the impact of having them in real life was very inspiring for both the crew , and the studio head . . . " " Jim Key added , when he wrote up an article on the making of " Insurrection " , " " I was equally comforted by another comment that both Jim Rygiel and Carlyle Livingston made to me – essentially how they both strive to have maquettes built for pre - visualization , and the importance of study models and / or scanning models . Though many times now the finished form may be in CG , these physical representations still serve their purpose when seeking approvals , since they hide nothing and reveal nook and cranny . " " ( " Sci - Fi & Fantasy Models " , issue 34 , p . 31 ) As to underscore Key ' s comment , it was only when the producers were presented with the scanning model of the " Federation Holoship " , that a design flaw was detected . Kit - bash . The term " kit - bash " is a behind - the - scenes term used to describe a ship , station or any other model , created by the from already existing parts of other ship , and station studio models , additional model kits ( not necessarily " Star Trek " - related ) , and / or any and all items at hand during the time of building , deemed appropriate for application . On occasion the related term " kludge " was also used to designate such builds . " Star Trek " Scenic Artist Anthony Fredickson was considered especially adept in the technique of kit - bashing by his colleagues , as they have endowed him with the nickname " King of Kludge " Kit - bashing has been a common method for creating filming models in the science fiction genre , such as in the movie , where they served as the hero models . An early example of kit - bashing ( or rather a modification , strictly speaking ) in " Star Trek " is the " Aurora " in , which was the reuse of one of the two models , previously featured in , complete with Constitution class nacelles and D7 - class pylons , they originating from their respective AMT " Star Trek " model kits ( No ' s S951 and S952 ) . In later incarnations of " Star Trek " , however , kit - bash models served primarily as ( deep ) background elements , the method lending itself for quick and cheap assembly when additional elements were required in a very short time . The vast majority of ships seen in the aftermath of Battle of Wolf 359 , in " The Next Generation " s two - part episodes , and at the Surplus Depot Z15 , in , were kit - bashes . Among the Federation classes shown there that are designated ' kit - bashes ' were the " New Orleans " - class , " Springfield " - class , " Cheyenne " - class and the proto - " Nebula " , using parts from various model kits , whereas the " Freedom " - class and " Niagara " - class were kit - bashed from parts derived from Gregory Jein , Inc . ' s own , already existing production assets . Several other kit - bashes were also built for several " Deep Space Nine " episodes , most notably ( including the " Centaur " - type , and " Yeager " - type ) , again using parts from model kits . Kit - bashing has also expanded to CGI . Examples of CGI kit - bashes were the " Intrepid " - type and " Nebula " - class , which were constructed out of existing parts of the CGI - and CGI - " Galaxy " - class respectively . In addition to designs seen on screen , non - canon " Star Trek " games featured kit - bashed designs . Breakaway model . A breakaway model is a model specifically built for on - screen destruction . Models of this kind were typically built for destruction scenes , when it was felt that a convincing destruction could not be achieved through various procedures in post - production , like matting stock footage of explosions over shots of studio models , and when it was deemed that the master models were too valuable for destruction . Normally built at a smaller scale with lighter materials and constructed in such a way through pre - scoring or pre - cutting , that debris would fly off easily , these models were packed with pyrotechnics to be detonated at the directors will . Normal procedure was that those models were suspended from the ceiling and that shots of them were taken by a high - speed camera directly underneath , to emulate normal dispersion of explosions , when the shot footage was played back at at lower frame rate . Typically , several models were made , in order to have the best shot possible . Break - away models for " Star Trek " included the " Miranda " - class ( ) , the " Galaxy " - class ( " Cause and Effect " ) and both versions of the Borg cube ( " The Best of Both Worlds , Part II " and " First Contact " ) . Advances in CGI have made breakaway models increasingly obsolete . Camera test model . A camera test model , also known as a pre - visualization model , is a model usually made out of cheap material like paper , cardboard , wood or Styrofoam in particular , loosely modeled after existing studio models . Detailing varied from very crude to moderate , since they were never intended to appear on - screen . They were typically used by VFX coordinators / supervisors and camera teams as visual aids to set up camera shots in pre - production planning before final shooting . Advantages using test models were that the production staff did not have to handle the usually heavier filming models , or as Doug Drexler once jokingly put it , " " You only pulled out the big models once you pretty much knew what you needed " " , and that wear and tear to those models was reduced . Most of the " Star Trek " filming models had one or more test model counterparts . Licensed , commercially available models and model kits were known to have fulfilled this role , as well . ( ) Examples of these were the AMT " Star Trek " model kits of the , two of which being sold at auction . Too rudimentary to serve as filming models , camera test models have nevertheless been on at least one occasion used as such . Though the pre - visualization technique had already been firmly established by the time Glenn Neufeld was brought aboard the franchise as VFX supervisor during the latter half of " Deep Space Nine " s first season , it was Neufeld in particular who embraced the technique and it was he who took the very unusual step of using them as filming models when the production of the second season episode came up . The episode featured a huge fleet of Skrreea n refugee ships arriving at Deep Space 9 , and Neufeld realized there was no practical way to have each ship individually shot and edited in post - production . He recalled , " " We had to to create all the ships they arrive in . The script read " There are more than ships at the station than we have ever seen before , a ship in every docking port and hundreds more lined up waiting to dock . " As soon as you read something like that , you know you ' re in for a lot of late nights . We called in our foam fleet . We put them on C - stands , arranged them and shot them six to ten at a time . We ' d made marks on the monitor to show where they were , then we ' d rearrange them , move the camera further back to make them smaller and shoot them again . When we were finally finished we had this of ships going off in the distance . " " How unusual his approach was at the time , was realized by him when he got a call from post - production editing , " " They told me the negative was covered in scratches , and I thought , my goodness , my shot ' s been ruined . It turned out to be the background ships . Some of them were so small that the people at the lab thought they were dirt . " " ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol 25 # 6 / Vol 26 # 1 , p . 100 ) A very closely related use of these models , was their use in the so - called " animatics " . Animatics was a behind - the - scenes term used to denominate short clippings of footage especially shot at the behest of directors and / or VFX supervisors for evaluation purposes . This footage was normally shot for ascertaining if storyboarded sequences , typically VFX scenes , came across on - screen as intended . As this footage was essentially only intended for evaluation purposes , VFX were stripped to their barest necessities , and as such physical models were only marginally required to approximate the appearances of their filming model counterparts in the final production . It was in this specific use that " pre - visualization model " has become the more commonly used terminology . The advent of CGI has not abolished the use of animatics , they being a too valuable tool for directors and supervisors . On the contrary , CGI has made it easier to employ the tool . The moment the bare essentials of a CGI model is assembled , " i . e . " the , " light " versions of the model were typically employed for these pre - evaluation purposes . " Light " , as in light RAM - memory computer requirements , in this respect typically meant , basic versions of CGI models as later employed in productions , but without the heavy computer processor usage for detailed texturing , rendering or lighting , often preliminary wire - frame models , clad with a non - nondescript skin . Not only a very useful aid for camera teams , directors , and VFX supervisors in the pre - CGI age , physical test models were also useful aids for post - production compositors of VFX shots . As physical filming models were very rarely built in scale to each other , test models were often quickly built in scale with the filming model of the week they were supposed to interact with . Footage was shot with these in - scale models relative to each other in pre - production evaluation filming . The footage was then handed over to the compositors as visual aid in compositing the final shots , by superimposing appropriately scaled footage of the corresponding studio model over the footage of the test model . The more commonly used " Star Trek " models had several variously scaled test model counterparts . With respect to whichever filming model they were supposed to interact with , test models were occasionally annotated with remarks such as " Scale to . . . " on the test models themselves , as was evidenced on several of the numerous test models that were sold in the 2006 – 2008 wave of " Star Trek " auctions . Several styrofoam test models were also constructed of interior sets – prior to definitive , full - scale construction – throughout the run of the " Star Trek " franchise . Apart from being an aid in establishing camera angles , they were also an aid in evaluating a set design and , as such , in these cases , the functions of a test model and study model greatly overlapped . Examples of interior set test models were the models for the bridge , the interiors of Deep Space 9 , stellar cartography , and the bridge , among others . The oldest known such model , was the ( cardboard ) pre - visualization model Matt Jefferies constructed in 1966 of the interiors sets for the original " Enterprise " as an orientation aid for directors and cameramen . ( " " , pp . 94 - 112 ) With the advent of CGI , the physical test model did became a redundant aid . Maquette . Occasionally used to refer to all other types of studio models , the French - derived term " is usually reserved to signify scaled models of immobile structures , such as interiors and buildings , landscape miniatures or planet miniatures , intended specifically for on - screen use . As such , they are not to be confused with camera test models of interiors ( not for on - screen use ) and / or sets ( full scale constructions for actors to interact with , in real time ) . Typically , they are constructed out of time and / or budgetary considerations or if an intended setting is deemed too imaginary to realize using existing sets or real life settings . While perhaps not being perceived as " glamorous " as their starship counterparts , and thus less publicized about , maquettes have been utilized throughout most of the run of the " Star Trek " franchise . One of the earliest , if not the earliest , examples of such models used in the franchise was Richard C . Datin ' s model of the ' s shuttlebay . He constructed this model in 1966 , for the TOS episode . Greg Jein repeated this in 1989 with the shuttlebay for the refit - configuration for use in . As for buildings , generic futuristic - looking building models were often constructed to be positioned in front of a matte painting , to give the scene additional depth on - screen when filmed , as was the case in the Mars vista scene in . Some of those models were featured in the TNG Season 2 DVD special feature : " Inside Starfleet Archives " , and in it , it was discerned that they were usually built with whatever materials were on hand . Other examples were the models of Starfleet Headquarters ( ) and the building blown up in . Though well into the CGI age , that building was built because , as Dan Curry explained , " " When it comes to blowing up buildings , models still look far more convincing than CGI , simply because there ' s so many details to be included in such a sequence . This is why , for the " Voyager " Nazi episode , we built a 15 - foot miniature building to blow up . " " ( ) Numerous building models were sold during the 2006 - 2008 wave of " Star Trek " auctions . Planet miniatures were a rarity within the " Star Trek " franchise as ( full view ) planets were traditionally executed either as matte paintings or , from the mid - 1990s onward as CGI - effects . They have been used occasionally on " The Original Series " , most notably by the Westheimer Effects Company ( " American Cinematographer " , October 1967 , p . 716 ) , but rarely afterwards . Still , those rare instances involved ILM , who used physical studio models to represent celestial bodies , the in , and the and Earth ( night , and day view ) models in being the prime examples . As far as landscape miniatures were concerned , they were also utilized in the " Star Trek " franchise . Though long views were usually executed as matte - painting effects , there were instances where the producers felt that the added three - dimensionality of a model could enhance an intended effect of depth perception . One of the earliest examples was the Deneb IV , or rather Farpoint Station , landscape model for . This maquette was constructed by Greg Jein . Though he is usually associated with his starship studio model builds , landscape miniatures were actually a specialty of his . As a matter of fact , his work on a fairground maquette in the film won him a " Best Visual Effects Academy Award " nomination . Jein and his company also constructed the landscape miniature of the barren landscape Sisko experienced , after entering the Bajoran wormhole , in . ( " Movie Magic ( TV series ) " , " Models and Miniatures : A Model of Perfection " – documentary ) To come across believably on - screen , landscape miniatures and ( for that matter ) the other interior maquette types tend to be quite large , and due to their size , none of these are known to have survived , to date . Curry ' s remark in the regard of the " The Killing Game , Part II " maquette notwithstanding , by 2011 , the maquette has been superseded by CGI , as far as television and movie productions are concerned . Display models . Display models , or simply model s , are scaled miniatures intended for on - screen use for actors to interact with . Typically , they were most commonly employed as adornments of sets where first unit filming with actors took place . While strictly speaking they confirm to the definition of " studio models " , as set dressings , these models were in practice treated and considered as props and therefore understood to be a element . Nevertheless , actual filming models as well as study models are known to have fulfilled the role of set dressing such as the Class F shuttlecraft studio model , the three - foot " Enterprise " model , the Epsilon IX station models and the proto - " Nebula " - class . However , the by far most utilized display models originated from commercially available model kits , the products from AMT / ERTL in particular . An especially noteworthy category of display models were the reference models Greg Jein built , originally intended for representation in the and reference book s . Never meant to function as filming models , as they were only intended to fill in gaps in " Star Trek " - lore to represent ships that were otherwise not seen on - screen in the franchise , and therefore not outfitted with internal lighting , some of these nevertheless showed up on - screen as display models . Examples of these were the " Daedalus " - class model , " DY - 100 " - class display model and the " Bonaventure " ( C1 - 21 ) model . On very rare occasions , such as the Malcorian warp ship or Jonathan Archer ' s Remote controlled model spaceship , a design was conceived to be a model in the first place . Yet , on at least one occasion , in the case of the " Constellation " - class model , while the design started out as a display model , it eventually spawned a full - fledged filming model . Demise of the physical studio model . As touched upon in the previous sections , the craft of physical studio model building has been increasingly relegated to the fringes in the motion picture business , due to versatility , increased sophistication , and the cost effectiveness of CGI . For the " Star Trek " franchise , the years 1997 to 1998 ( during which DS9 Season 6 , VOY Season 4 and were produced ) marked the completion of the full transition from physical studio model building to CGI studio model building . In 2004 , Senior Illustrator and Designer Doug Drexler summarized , " " Having been one of the poor slobs once covered with paint and glue , there is a wonderfulness to actually seeing something that you have created right there in front of you . But it ' s ultimately not worth it . Physical models fall apart , age poorly and their surfaces are not infinitely and nearly instantly adjustable . To look realistic , they need to be enormous and therefore unwieldly . Their lighting systems break down and are not easily repaired , their electrical systems can short out and often create interference messing up motion control equipment ; seriously , the list goes on and on . Finally , miniatures just can ' t match CGI for visual quality . Even the expensive and gigantic " Enterprise " - E model had problems ; in " First Contact " , I could make out tooling marks on the hull . Meanwhile , in many shots of the large " Enterprise " - D model , you can see the bumps in the paint . " " ( ) While there is no denying the arguments stated by Drexler , " Star Trek " visual effects staff members , born and bred with the traditional methods , have met the introduction of the new technology with mixed feelings , as numerous production staffers have commented upon , some of them expressing their own motivations : The hopes of the production staffers that physical models would somehow remain in a niche capacity notwithstanding , by 2010 , the craft had all but disappeared from the motion picture and television industry for filming purposes , though it has remained in existence for the fabrication of display models for institutions such as museums , corporations , defense contractors , and even for motion picture productions when the need for one is perceived . In regard to the latter , and as if to underscore the sentiment of some of the above quoted production staffers , it was ILM that " did " reintroduce them – after a near two decades long absence in major movie productions – in the 2015 seventh movie installment of the " Star Wars " franchise , " The Force Awakens " , in order to achieve exactly that ; the " feel " of physical studio models which had made the original first 1977 movie installment so memorable . Having broken nearly every record in the book , " The Force Awakens " has more than validated the hunch and subsequent decision of the producers to go significantly " old - school " , alongside the on par significant use of CGI . Nevertheless , the sudden onslaught of CGI from 1993 onward , caught quite a few ( traditional ) visual effects houses , with a heavy physical studio model emphasis , unawares . While ILM was a pioneering company in the new technique and thus making the transition gracefully , Image G for example , nearly folded , but managed to cope with the transition eventually , with another well known effects house of the time , Boss Film Studios , being caught off guard and forced to close its doors .