Constitution class

From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference

Constitution-class Original configuration
The USS Enterprise in original configuration The USS Enterprise in original configuration
Affiliation:	Federation Starfleet, Terran Empire
Type:	Class I Heavy Cruiser
Active:	2240s - 2270s
Length:	289 m
Mass:	990, 000 gross tons
Decks:	21
Crew complement:	430
Speed:	Warp 9 (vessel maximum) Warp 14.1 (imposed by outside forces)
Armament:	~12 phaser banks and at least 6 photon torpedo launchers
Defenses:	Deflector shields

Constitution-class Refit configuration
The USS Enterprise-A, a refit Constitution class The USS Enterprise-A, a refit Constitution class
Affiliation:	Federation Starfleet
Type:	Heavy cruiser
Active:	2270s - 2290s
Length:	305 m
Mass:	990, 000 gross tons
Crew complement:	432 (in 2272); 300 (in 2293)
Armament:	18 phaser emitters, 2 photon torpedo launchers
Defenses:	Deflector shields and defense fields

For the alternate version of the Constitution-class created following Nero's incursion, see Constitution class (alternate reality)

The Constitution-class starships, which were also known as Starship-class or Class I Heavy Cruisers, were the premier front-line Starfleet vessels in the latter half of the 23rd century. They were designed for long duration missions with minimal outside support and are best known for their celebrated missions of galactic exploration and diplomacy which typically lasted up to five years.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Refit history 2 Technical data 2.1 Physical arrangement 2.2 Command and control systems 2.2.1 Upgrades 2.3 Propulsion systems 2.3.1 Main engineering 2.4 Tactical systems 2.5 Transporter systems 2.6 Airlocks 2.7 Landing bay and cargo facilities 2.8 Crew support systems 2.8.1 Medical systems 2.8.2 Crew quarters 2.8.3 Recreational facilities 2.8.3.1 Officers' lounge 3 Ships commissioned 4 Appendices 4.1 Appearances 4.2 Background 4.2.1 Design 4.2.2 Registry Number 4.2.3 Designing the bridge 4.2.4 An Enterprise that never was 4.2.5 Creating a Motion Picture Enterprise 4.3 Studio Models 4.3.1 The three-foot studio model 4.3.2 The eleven-foot studio model 4.3.3 The four inch studio model 4.3.4 The AMT studio models 4.3.5 The Trials and Tribble-ations studio model 4.3.6 The CG studio models 4.3.7 The "Planet of the Titans" study models 4.3.8 The "Phase II" studio model 4.3.9 The Refit eight-foot studio model 4.3.10 The Refit-AMT studio model 4.3.11 The Refit-Battle Damaged studio model 4.3.12 The Refit-CG studio model 4.4 Apocrypha 4.4.1 Constitution-class registry 4.5 Footnotes 4.6 See also 5 External links

[edit] History

The Constitution-class lineage was launched some time prior to 2245, and served as Starfleet's front-line vessels for the rest of the century. The Constitution-class also served as a mighty deterrent to both the Klingon Empire and the Romulan Star Empire, several times taking part in combat actions which determined the fate of the entire Federation if not the Alpha Quadrant itself. (Star Trek Encyclopedia)

In 2267, there were around twelve¹ Constitution-class starships in the fleet. (TOS: "Tomorrow is Yesterday") These included the NCC-1700, the USS Constellation, the USS Defiant, the USS Enterprise, the USS Excalibur, the USS Exeter, the USS Hood, the USS Intrepid, USS Lexington, and the USS Potemkin.

The most famous Constitution-class starship was the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), launched under the command of Captain Robert April in 2245. The Enterprise gained its reputation during its historic five year mission (2265-2270) under the command of Captain James T. Kirk. (VOY: "Q2")

In 2266, on stardate 1709, the Enterprise was instrumental in preventing a war between the Federation and the Romulan Star Empire. When a Romulan Bird-of-Prey crossed the Romulan Neutral Zone and destroyed several Earth Outpost Stations, Captain Kirk barely managed to outwit the enemy commander and stop his vessel from returning to Romulus and reporting on the Federation's weakness. (TOS: "Balance of Terror")

In late-2268, Excalibur, Hood, Lexington, and Potemkin took part in the disastrous testing of the M-5 computer, which had been placed in control of the Enterprise. The Excalibur was severely damaged, with all hands lost. The Lexington also was brutally assaulted by the M-5 computer when the unit became unstable. (TOS: "The Ultimate Computer")

Later that year, Defiant responded to a distress call from an unexplored sector of space, claimed by the Tholian Assembly. Shortly upon entering the region, the Defiant crew began experiencing sensory distortion, and insanity quickly spread throughout the ship. The ship's surgeon was unable to determine what was happening, and eventually the insanity induced by the phenomenon lead the crew to kill each other.

Three weeks later, Starfleet ordered the Enterprise to mount a search mission to locate the Defiant. On stardate 5693.2, the Enterprise located her adrift, lost between universes in a space warp. As a result of a later phaser exchange between the Enterprise and several Tholian vessels, a hole was created through the spatial interphase, pushing the Defiant into the mirror universe. (TOS: "The Tholian Web")

Unknown to history in the "prime" universe, the Defiant emerged in the 22nd century mirror universe, where the Tholians of that universe had created the interphase rift by detonating a tricobalt warhead within the gravity well of a dead star. (ENT: "In a Mirror, Darkly") The Defiant would seemingly go on to play a major role in Empress Sato's rule over the Earth. (ENT: "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II")

It is unclear whether, following the events of ENT: "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II", Sato's bid to become Empress actually succeeded, or what the final disposition of the Defiant in that universe was, as the mirror universe of the 23rd century, as can be seen in TOS: "Mirror, Mirror", exhibits no significant advances in technology nor any evidence of knowledge of the "real" universe.

[edit] Refit history

From 2254, or earlier, to 2265 Constitution-class vessels featured a large deflector dish, a large bridge dome of semi-spherical shape, and an antenna spike protruding from the Bussard collector cap on each warp nacelle. The impulse drive had two exhaust vents in 2254, and as many as eight smaller vents in 2265. (TOS: "The Cage", "Where No Man Has Gone Before")

Sometime between 2265 and 2266 the vessels underwent a major overhaul: the old deflector dish was replaced by a significantly smaller model, the spikes on the Bussard collectors were removed, a smaller bridge dome of flatter curvature was installed, the aft caps on the warp nacelles were each equipped with a spherical attachment, and the impulse drive now had only two large exhausts. (TOS: "The Corbomite Maneuver")

The changes to the impulse drive section may indicate that completely new impulse engines were installed. It is unclear whether the warp nacelles were merely modified or completely replaced.

The interior passageways, main bridge interior and briefing room were already redesigned sometime between 2254 and 2265, and new intercoms were installed.

In 2266, the interior passageways were again modified, the briefing room was completely redesigned, and the overhauled main bridge featured an enlarged main viewscreen and upgrades to the control interfaces and station arrangement, but the overall appearance of the bridge remained relatively unchanged as compared to 2265. (TOS: "The Corbomite Maneuver")

The crew quarters of the 2254 configuration had the capability of carrying slightly more than 200 crewmembers. (TOS: "The Cage") In the 2266 configuration, crew quarters could hold a crew complement of over 400. (TOS: "Charlie X")

In the late 2260s to early 2270s, the Constitution-class starships underwent their final major refit program. The actual refitting took eighteen months of work and essentially a new vessel was built onto the bones of the old, replacing virtually every major system. Thus, the Constitution-class continued in service for a further twenty years.

Essential upgrades were made to the Constitution-class' warp systems; the old cylindrical nacelles were replaced with new angular ones, and also the warp nacelle struts were new, as they were connected to the engineering hull much closer to the neck than before. The engineering hull roughly retained its original shape – while the original hull was essentially a conical cylinder, the refit was much more rounded.

The deflector dish was upgraded, doing away with the "satellite" dish architecture. As for the interior of the hull, the most obvious upgrades were the enlargement of the shuttle deck and landing bay, as well as the addition of a horizontal matter-antimatter reaction assembly and a vertical intermix chamber.

New also was the installment of the double photon torpedo launcher with its rectangular housing in the neck of the vessel. Also, the phaser configuration was changed to channel energy though the warp core. Furthermore, the saucer section was considerably extended (almost 20 meters), while the rest of the surface remained about the same.

Major changes were made to the interior of the Constitution-class starships; many new systems were added and existing ones upgraded. Summarizing, only the internal structure of the saucer and very little of the engineering hull and neck may have survived the 2270s refit. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture)

Some refit configurations had the warp nacelles rotated 90 degrees and included additional hatches along both sides of the saucer. (TNG: "Booby Trap")

[edit] Technical data

[edit] Physical arrangement

The Constitution-class featured the saucer section-engineering section-warp nacelle layout common to most Starfleet vessels. (TOS: "The Cage"; Star Trek: The Motion Picture; etc.)

The redesigned Enterprise has a sleeker, more modern look compared to the original configuration in the TOS era. However it still maintains the original saucer section-engineering section-warp nacelle layout. The saucer section seems to reflect the design of the TOS-Movie Era design, especially with the exterior bridge design.

Various science labs, numbering fourteen in all, (TOS: "Operation -- Annihilate!") were located in the primary hull in the class' original configuration. An officer's lounge and dining area would be located in the aft superstructure beneath the bridge after the 2270s refit. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture)

The modular design of the Constitution-class allowed for component separation in times of crisis. The primary and secondary hulls could separate where the connecting "neck" joined the saucer, allowing either section to serve as a lifeboat if the other was too badly damaged. If an emergency was confined to the warp engine nacelles, it was theoretically possible to disengage and jettison them while keeping the bulk of the vessel intact. Any hull separation was considered a dangerous procedure and not always an option.(TOS: "The Apple", "The Savage Curtain")

Though not an aerodynamic craft, in emergencies, Constitution-class vessels were able to break orbit and enter a Class M planet's upper atmosphere (and maintain attitude control while passing through it) for a limited period of time, conditional on the ship's ability to re-achieve escape velocity. (TOS: "Tomorrow is Yesterday")

Front view of the primary hull

Aft view of secondary hull

In an atmosphere

[edit] Command and control systems

The Constitution-class's primary command center, the main bridge, was located on top of the vessel's primary hull, on Deck 1. From here, the commanding officer supervised the entire starship's operation.

The command chair was located in the recessed area at the center of the room, in a direct line with the main viewer. This position was equidistant from all the control consoles that operated specific areas of the ship. Consequently, the captain could be immediately updated on the condition of the vessel or its crew during missions, and orders could be given clearly with a minimum of effort.

The chair was mounted on a circular pillar, attached to a rectangular footplate that was directly anchored to the deck, giving it considerable support during an attack. It was designed to swivel on the support so that the captain could turn to any member of the bridge crew.

Main bridge of the USS Enterprise (2254)

Main bridge of the USS Enterprise (2267)

Main bridge of the USS Defiant (2268)

Piloting and navigation functions were carried out at the helm console, located in the center of the room, positioned in front of the command chair. This panel consisted of three main sections.

On the left was a compartment which opened automatically to permit operation of the targeting scanner. Next to this was the main control panel, which operated maneuvering thrusters, impulse engines, and fired the ship's weapons. Directly below this panel was a row of eight flip-switches provided to set warp flight speeds.

The central section of the conn panel was fitted with a number of sensor monitor lights, and was dominated by two main features: the alert indicator and the astrogator, which was used for long-range course plotting.

The navigator's station had a control panel for entering course and heading data and the flight path indicator, and supplied information on any deviations or course corrections in progress. It also had controls for the weapons systems.

Other stations on the bridge were provided for communications, engineering, weapons control, gravity control, damage control, environmental engineering, science and library computer, and internal security. All stations were normally manned at all times.

Mounted into the room's forward bulkhead was the main viewscreen. Visual sensor pickups located at various points on the Constitution-class' outer hull were capable of image magnification and allowed a varied choice of viewing angles.

The computer systems aboard the Constitution-class starship were duotronic based. (TOS: "The Ultimate Computer"; DS9: "Trials and Tribble-ations")

The science station on the Constitution-class Defiant

A duotronic-based control interface

[edit] Upgrades

Only one turbolift serviced the bridge of the original configuration Constitution-class ship. In the late 2260s, some were refit with a second lift on the port forward section of the bridge. (TAS: "Beyond the Farthest Star") After the major refit in the early 2270s, the bridge aboard Constitution-class vessels would continue to utilize two turbolifts, but both would be located behind the command chair. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture)

The Star Fleet Technical Manual, states that the original bridge was rotated 36° port, which would have the turbolift shaft travel down the centerline of the saucer section. The Technical Manual gives no reason for this offset. With artificial gravity limiting any sense of momentum and electronic displays instead of windows, there may have been no reason for the bridge crew to face directly forward.

According to production designer Matt Jeffries, dramatic necessity required the turbolift to be moved from its planned centerline position (as seen on the Enterprise model). This off-set placement allowed characters to walk onto the bridge and enter scenes without being blocked by actors sitting in the command chair.

The bridge of the Constitution-class starships were subject to many minor and major cosmetic changes over their many years of service. In particular, the main bridge of the USS Enterprise seems to have undergone considerable changes in appearance. In the late 2260s, along with the added turbolift, the bridge design changed from a segmented flat-panel peripheral station configuration to a completely circular design, including curved overhead view screens, and railings and steps which matched the arc of the circumference. At the same time, an automatic bridge defense system was also installed that obscured the translucent overhead dome, which would not return until the Galaxy class bridge. (TAS: "Beyond the Farthest Star") This marked the beginning of major changes to come which would utilize the updaated substructure, most notably, its systems were fully upgraded along with the refit of the early 2270s. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture)

The bridge underwent only a few minor modifications from that point until the destruction of the ship in 2285. The bridge of the USS Enterprise-A, commissioned one year later (in 2286), had mainly cosmetic differences at launch, but, by 2287, it had been drastically upgraded to reflect the advances made in computer control technology.

The bridge module had again been replaced by 2293. The lighter color scheme of the original Enterprise-A bridges had made room for a darker, more militaristic look. (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan; Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home; Star Trek V: The Final Frontier; Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country)

The controls in the fifth movie were designed to reflect a change towards a more TNG control style, but in the sixth movie the controls went back to a more push button design. While this has not been addressed in the canon one might theorize that the controls were replaced for any variety of reasons.

[edit] Propulsion systems

The Constitution-class of starships has been fitted with both lithium and dilithium reactor circuits in the warp drive assembly over its service lifetime. The vessel's standard cruising speed was warp 6, while its maximum cruising speed was warp 8. Warp 9 was also possible for this class of starship, although it was highly discouraged because it was an unsafe velocity.

The USS Enterprise was twice modified to achieve a speed of warp 11. The probe Nomad increased the ship's engine efficiency by 57% in 2267, allowing the ship to reach warp 11, but Kirk persuaded Nomad to reverse its "repairs" because the ship's structure could not stand the stress of that much power, and would eventually destroy the ship. (TOS: "The Changeling")

More extensive modifications made to the ship by the Kelvans in 2268, who were able to produce velocities that were far beyond the reach of Federation science, allowing the Enterprise to safely maintain a cruising speed of warp 11 while traveling through the intergalactic void. (TOS: "By Any Other Name")

The maximum warp speed recorded for this class by itself was warp 14.1, achieved by the Enterprise due to sabotage to the vessel's warp drive system. While the ship itself was not structured to take that speed for any length of time, the Enterprise was able to maintain that velocity for nearly 15 minutes. (TOS: "That Which Survives")

The Enterprise also maintained stability at warp 22, while tractored to a ship going warp 32. (TAS: "The Counter-Clock Incident")

Following the 2270s refit of the class, the Constitution was equipped with a linear dilithium-controlled MARA (Matter/Antimatter Reactor Assembly), and a pulse dilithium-controlled assembly was installed by the mid 2290s aboard the USS Enterprise. (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan; Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country)

The Constitution-class' impulse drive system was a twin-port fusion reactor engine, capable of velocities at least 0.8c. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture) A fusion explosion equivalent to at least 97.835 megatons would result if the impulse engines were overloaded. (TOS: "The Doomsday Machine")

[edit] Main engineering

Main engineering was from where the ship's warp was controlled. All thrust and power systems were primarily controlled from this site, and it is also where the main dilithium crystal reactor was located. Life support was controlled separately from Deck 6. (TOS: "The Ultimate Computer", "The Corbomite Maneuver", "The Naked Time", "The Enemy Within", "The Conscience of the King", "Day of the Dove")

Engineering in 2266	Engineering in 2268	Dilithium chamber in engineering in 2269
Engineering in 2269	Refit configuration main engineering deck in the 2270s	Upper engineering level on a refit Constitution

During the 2270s Constitution-class refit, the interior design of the engineering section was drastically upgraded, featuring the vertical warp core and the horizontal intermix area.

Main engineering was lodged on Decks 14 and 15. Deck 14 was the uppermost level of the engineering hull, and was the anchoring framework for the connecting dorsal and the warp nacelle pylons.

On the forward end of the deck was the engineering computer monitoring room, which encircled the cortical intermix shaft and opens, to the rear, into the engineering computer bay.

Deck 15 housed the main engineering room. Located in the center of the room, and extending for many levels both above and below the deck, was the vertical linear intermix chamber. This complex, radically new design in intermix technology, provided operational power for the impulse drive system and furnished enough additional energy to power all other shipboard systems.

Both matter and antimatter for this chamber were contained in a series of magnetic bottles, which were housed in pods at the base of the intermix shaft. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture)

[edit] Tactical systems

During the early 2250s, Constitution-class heavy cruisers were armed with a complement of directed energy weapons, that possessed enough power to destroy half a continent in a concentrated bombardment. In addition, these vessels carried on board laser cannons, capable of operating on energy fed remotely from the ship. (TOS: "The Cage", "The Menagerie, Part I", "The Menagerie, Part II")

By 2266, phaser banks were standard complement aboard this class of ship. A bank actually consisted of a single emitter and its power supply, though it was common practice to fire two banks at a time and refer to it as a single firing. (TOS: "The Corbomite Maneuver", "The Doomsday Machine", "The Paradise Syndrome")

Ship-mounted phaser banks had a range of approximately 90,000 kilometers, and like hand phasers, were capable of being adjusted to stun, heat, or disintegrate visible targets, including objects or beings in space or on a planet's surface at a focus ranging from narrow to wide beam. When only motion sensor readings are available, ships' phasers could be set for proximity blast and bracket the approximate coordinates of the target. (TOS: "Balance of Terror", "A Piece of the Action", "Who Mourns for Adonais?", "The Paradise Syndrome", "The Tholian Web")

In the original configuration, a battery of four to eight forward phaser banks were located on the lower part of the ventral side of the saucer section. Aft firing banks were located above the shuttlebay on the secondary hull. There were also port, starboard and midship phasers. (ENT: "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II"; TOS: "Balance of Terror", "The Paradise Syndrome", "Arena", "Friday's Child").

It is not clear where the additional banks mentioned in background dialogue and in several episodes were located. The top view graphic of the original Constitution-class configuration, used on a computer screen in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, places port and starboard emitters on the dorsal surface of the primary hull. Two emitters cover both flanks.

The diversion of all but emergency maintenance power to the shields had the adverse affect of reducing phaser power by fifty percent. (TOS: "The Tholian Web")

The Constitution-class originally mounted at least six torpedo launchers, one tube covering the aft firing arc. Forward tubes were located in the same area as the forward phaser banks. The aft tube fired from the end of the secondary hull. This combined arsenal was powerful enough to destroy the entire surface of a planet. (TOS: "Arena", "A Taste of Armageddon", "Journey to Babel"; TAS: "More Tribbles, More Troubles"; ENT: "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II")

Numerous inconsistencies originally existed between the dialogue and the special effects depicting the weapons of a Constitution-class ship. Many of those were corrected by the Remastered episodes effects shots, but some remain, making it impossible to formulate a conclusive assessment of the exact armaments of the original Constitution-class starship. Number of torpedo launchers is based on the line of dialogue "fire photon torpedoes two, four and six" from "Journey to Babel".

After the refit of the 2270s, Constitution-class ships mounted three dual-emitter phaser banks on the ventral and three on dorsal faces of the saucer. They covered the forward, port and starboard flanks. Two single emitter aft banks are above the shuttlebay and four midship single emitter banks are located on the ventral surface of the engineering hull.

Phaser power was increased by drawing energy directly from the warp drive. This increase in firepower had a drawback in that the phasers would be cut off if the main reactor was off line. This problem hampered the USS Enterprise on at least two occasions, one in 2272 and again in 2283.

The post-refit vessels had two forward firing torpedo launchers, though each tube could fire at least two torpedoes before reloading. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture; Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan; Star Trek III: The Search for Spock)

[edit] Transporter systems

Extravehicular transporter to and from the ship was accomplished by a number of transporter systems, which allowed personnel or equipment to be transported over large ranges. The transporter platform featured six pads, which were numbered clockwise, beginning with the right front. A redesigned field generator matrix was mounted into the rear wall of the chamber aboard the refit configuration Constitution-class starships.

Aboard the refitted Constitution-class vessels, the transporter operator stood within an enclosed control pod, which had a floor-to-ceiling transparent aluminum panel through which he or she could view the transport platform. This panel served to shield the operator from the effects of any cumulative radiations emitted by the new transporter machinery, a side effect of the more powerful system.

A door in the standard transporter room wall led to a staging area where landing parties prepared for transporter.

Transporter in 2266

Outward view of a transporter room from the late 2260s

Inward view of a transporter room from the late 2260s

Refit configuration transporter room

[edit] Airlocks

Refit Constitution-class starships possessed a number of airlocks permitting direct physical access to the ship. One was located at the aft of Deck 1 on top of the saucer section. Two more were located in the lower saucer section, port and starboard, concealed by sliding hull plates. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture)

One of these, [port], is shown in the "Spock walk" sequence. Since nearly every other such airlock has a matching one on the other side of the ship, it is reasonable to assume the presence of one to starboard.

These lower two are accessed through staging areas. Four spacesuit lockers line one wall; each containing one suit, providing enough to clothe a standard party of four. A small, locked arms cabinet held phasers; communicators, tricorders, translators, and outerwear were contained in a separate cabinet on another wall. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture)

The next set of airlocks were located on the port and starboard sides of the torpedo bays. The final set were located on the port and starboard sides of the secondary hull at the midline. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture; Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan) These airlocks opened into the ship's main cargo bay. There was also a "gangway"-style airlock on the port edge of the saucer section. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture)

The presence of a similar "passageway" visible in the Tholian drydock holding the USS Defiant suggests that it is a feature of the pre-refit Constitution-class as well. (ENT: "In a Mirror, Darkly")

Located on the upper surface of the saucer section of the refitted Enterprise were numerous small hatches used for entrance/egress during extra-vehicular activities. (Kirk, Spock, Decker, McCoy, and the Ilia probe use one of these hatches to leave the ship when they arrive at V'Gers "core".) (Star Trek: The Motion Picture)

[edit] Landing bay and cargo facilities

Deck 17 was the main access level of the engineering hull. The aft landing bay provided personnel in small craft with a means of entering or exiting the vessel, as did docking port on either side of the level.

The original configuration of the Constitution-class carried a standard complement of 4 Class F shuttlecraft. (TOS: "The Omega Glory")

The refit configuration Constitution-class starship featured a new landing bay design. A wide range of Starfleet and Federation craft could utilize this state-of-the-art landing facility.

Alcoves on either side of the landing bay provided storage for up to six standard Work Bees, and furnished all necessary recharging and refueling equipment. Additional space was available for the storage of non-ship shuttlecraft.

Just within the landing bay doors was a force field generator unit, which was built into the main bulkheads on either side of the entry area. This field allowed craft to enter the ship, while at the same time retaining the atmosphere and temperature within the landing bay.

Deck 18, the refit configuration shuttlecraft hanger bay, was situated at the widest point of the engineering hull. Much of the deck consisted of open space, as it was the mid-level of the cargo facility; thirty-two cargo pod modules could be stored in the alcoves lining the forward, port, and starboard sides of the bay.

The shuttle hangar had sufficient room for the storage of four craft at any given time. During normal storage situations, these shuttlecraft faced aft.

This deck also housed the vessel's lifeboat facilities. These one-man craft, which escaped through blow-away panels in the side of the secondary hull, were provided for those persons were unable to reach the primary hull in case of an emergency. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture)

Original configuration, external view

Original configuration, internal view

Refit configuration, internal view

Landing bay on a refit configuration vessel

[edit] Crew support systems

[edit] Medical systems

On the original Constitution-class starships, a sickbay facility was located on Deck 6, which featured an examination room, a nursery, the chief medical officer's office and a medical lab. At least one other medical lab was located elsewhere on the vessel, and was used for biopsy, among other things. Sickbay was considered the safest place to be on the ship during combat. (TOS: "The Naked Time", "Elaan of Troyius")

The sickbay set of the pilot episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before" underwent considerable changes following the shooting of the episode for the remainder of the series.

With the class refit of the 2270s, the medical facilities of the Constitution-class starship were considerably updated. New micro-diagnostic tables were capable of fully analyzing the humanoid body at the sub-cellular level, offering the physician a total understanding of the patient's status.

Another new addition was a medical stasis unit, in which patients whose conditions were considered immediately life-threatening could be placed into suspended animation until the proper cure or surgical procedure could be established. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture)

Biobeds in sickbay

Intensive Care Unit on a refit configuration vessel

Refit configuration examination room

[edit] Crew quarters

Crew quarters were located throughout the saucer section – keeping with Starfleet tradition, Deck 5 housed the senior officers' quarters. On the refit configuration vessels, these staterooms were quite similar to the VIP units on Deck 4, with only a few differences.

On starships of the original configuration, the officers' quarters featured two areas, separated partly by a wall fragment. One area was allocated as sleeping area, featuring a comfortable bed, and another as work area, including a desk and computer terminal. Entrance to a bathroom was provided through the quarter's sleeping area. Both areas could be configured to personal preference. (ENT: "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II"; TOS: "The Enemy Within")

On the original series, several "different" crew quarters were seen, but always the same set was used, changed by different lighting designs and furniture configuration.

On Constitution-class vessels of the staterooms of the senior officers were composed of two areas which were separated by a retractable, transparent aluminum partition. The room's entrance opened into the living area. A library computer terminal and work desk were provided here. The room's corner circular nook, normally occupied by a dining booth, could be modified at the officer's request.

The other half of the stateroom was a sleeping area, which held a single large bed that could double as sofa during off-duty relaxation. A transparent door led into the bathroom area. By the 2290s, crew space was at a premium, and the size of officers' quarters was reduced to one large room and crewmen were housed in dormitories with bunk beds. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture; Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country)

[edit] Recreational facilities

Aboard the original Constitution-class starships, there were at least six recreation rooms, which included three-dimensional chess and card game tables. There was also a holographic rec room, which was the predecessor of the holodeck. Also aboard were as arboretum, gymnasium, a bowling alley, a theater, and a chapel. (TOS: "Charlie X", "The Naked Time", "The Conscience of the King"; Star Trek: The Motion Picture))

On the refitted Constitution-class vessels, recreational facilities were further expanded. One large room in the aft section of the starship's saucer section furnished off-duty personnel with a wide variety of recreational games and entertainment.

At the front of the room was an immense, wall-mounted viewing screen. Beneath this was an information display alcove; five small screens exhibited, upon request, a choice of pictorial histories. A raised platform in the center of the lower level floor featured a diversity of electronic entertainment. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture)

[edit] Officers' lounge

Located at the stern of Deck 2 aboard the refit configuration Constitution-class starship was the officers' lounge. Here, four huge view ports afforded a spectacular view of the ship's warp nacelles and space beyond.

To the sides, small plant areas held flora from several worlds and a small pool featured freshwater tropical fish. Just forward of this section of the lounge were two privacy areas. In each privacy area, a view screen was mounted into the wall, providing a full exterior tour of the vessel. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture)

[edit] Ships commissioned

• USS Constellation (NCC-1017)
• USS Intrepid (NCC-1631)
• USS Potemkin (NCC-1657)
• USS Excalibur (NCC-1664)
• USS Exeter (NCC-1672)
• NCC-1700
• USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)
• USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A)
• USS Hood (NCC-1703)
• NCC-1707
• USS Lexington (NCC-1709)
• USS Defiant (NCC-1764)

Alternate

• ISS Enterprise (NCC-1701) (in the mirror universe)
• USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) (in at least one alternate timeline)

Unnamed

• Unnamed Constitution-class starships

Uncertain

• USS Eagle (NCC-956)
• USS Republic (NCC-1371)
• USS Scovil (NCC-1598)
• USS Kongo (NCC-1710)
• USS Merrimac (NCC-1715)
• NCC-1831
• USS Emden (NCC-1856)
• USS Endeavour (NCC-1895)
• USS Challenger (NCC-2032)
• USS Ahwahnee (NCC-2048)
• USS Farragut
• USS Yorktown

[edit] Appendices

[edit] Appearances

The Constitution-class Enterprise appeared in every episode of TOS and TAS (except for "The Slaver Weapon"). TOS episodes featuring other Constitution-class vessels besides Enterprise are listed below.

[edit] Background

While probably discussed or originated in behind-the-scenes proposals and communications, the name "Constitution-class" originated in canon productions only as an unreadable graphic on a computer screen of a phaser diagram from Scotty's technical journal, in TOS: "The Trouble with Tribbles". Authors of reference works such as the Star Fleet Technical Manual were privy to the fact that Enterprise herself was Constitution-class, even though it had never been mentioned in dialog or been readable on screen. Technical Manual drawings by Franz Joseph with the class name appeared on screen, again mostly unreadable, in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. These were the first occasions a canon production assigned the Constitution name to the class design of the Enterprise. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home assigned this class name to the refit Enterprise as well, although some production staff previously and, apparently, unofficially called that design Enterprise-class. The name Enterprise-class was also used in reference to the refitted Enterprise and the Enterprise-A in Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise. However, that particular book is not considered canonical. The class name wasn't mentioned in dialog until 1987's Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Naked Now". The name has been mentioned numerous times and been more prominently visible in later series and episodes referencing ships of the TOS and movies design.

[edit] Design

As art director on the original series, Matt Jefferies was given the assignment to design the Enterprise itself. His only guidelines were Gene Roddenberry's firm list of what he did not want to see: not any rockets, nor jets, nor fire streams. The starship was not to look like a classic, and thus dated, science-fiction rocket ship, but neither could it resemble anything that would too quickly date the design. Somewhere between the cartoons of the past and the reality of the present, Matt Jefferies had to give at a design of the future.

The theory that space could be warped was first proposed by Albert Einstein in 1905, and first demonstrated, according to Star Trek canon, by Zefram Cochrane in 2063, providing that objects could travel faster than the speed of light. Warp drive is a delicately balanced, intricate web of chemistry, physics, mathematics, and mystery.

"I was concerned about the design of ship that Gene told me would have 'warp' drive," Jefferies explained. "I thought, 'What the hell is warp drive?' But I gathered that this ship had to have powerful engines – extremely powerful. To me, that meant that they had to be designed away from the body. Boy, I tried a lot of ideas. I wanted to stay away from the flying saucer shape. The ball or sphere, as you'll see in some of the sketches, was my idea, but I ended up with the saucer after all. Gene would come in to look over what I was doing and say, 'I don't like this,' or, 'This looks good.' If Gene liked it, he'd ask the Boss (Herb Solow) and if the Boss liked it, then I'd work on that idea for a while."

"So I worked on it for a while, and a couple of weeks later Herb and Gene came in. They liked a bit of this and a bit of that, and I worked on those bits. And then I came up with something I really like, so I preloaded it – used lots of color and put it in a prominent place that made it kind of stand out. And that worked! It looked better than the other sketches and Gene said, 'That one looks good!' They – and Bobby Justman, too, when he came aboard later – were a dream to work with." (Star Trek: The Original Series Sketchbook, page 62)

The designing process itself however, proved to be arduous and time consuming. Starting from Roddenberry's ambiguous guidelines, Jefferies started out with experimenting with shapes. As he recalls:"(...)There was a lot of floundering going on because I didn't know where the hell we were going and I had to start coming up with an envelope to work inside of. I did hundreds of sketches. Gene liked a piece of this and a piece of something else, so I tried to see what I could do with the pieces.". Dozens more sketches followed, experimenting with the configuration of the selected components:"My thinking was, because of the ship's speed there had to be terrifically powerful engines. They might be dangerous to be around, so maybe we'd better put them out of the way somewhere, which would also make them what in aviation circles we call the QCU-quick change units-where you could easily take one off and put another on. Then for the hull, I didn't really want a saucer because of the term "flying saucer", and the best pressure vessel of course is a ball, so I started playing with that. But the bulk got in the way and the ball just didn't work. I flattened it out and I guess we wound up with a saucer!"(Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 1, Issue 10, page 25). By the time Jefferies came upon the (color)design that was approved upon, he also had a small balsa wood miniature made, to give Roddenberry and the NBC execs a three dimensional feel for the ship (it is possible that this model was even used in the original title sequence of "The Cage".[1]) Theorizing that space was too hazardous for important machinery being on the outside of the hull. Jefferies decided that the hull had to be smooth (which had the added benefit of reflecting light in subsequent shoots). He had to fight off several production team members, who wanted to keep adding detail to the surface. In the end Jefferies spend full time the better part of a month, designing the ship.

Interestingly, two of Jefferies' earlier designs would capture the imaginations of later Star Trek production team members, like Rick Sternbach, Andrew Probert, Michael Okuda and Gregory Jein. Through their fascination and persistence, these designs would eventually find their way into Canon; A "ring ship" design (dismissed by Roddenberry as being too frail looking) would become the USS Enterprise (XCV 330), and the ball shaped primary hull design, which Jefferies himself dismissed, would be the foremost influence on the design of the Daedalus class.

[edit] Registry Number

Jefferies was also responsible for the famous Registrynumber NCC 1701. As he explains:"Since the 1920's, N has indicated the United States in Navy terms, and C means 'commercial' vessel. I added an extra C just for fun. Interestingly, Russia's designation is CCC. So The N and C together made it kind of international. After that, I had to pick some numbers. They had to be easily identifiable from a distance, so that eliminated 3, 8 , 6, 9 and 4-none of which is that clear from a distance, That didn't leave much! So 1701 was a s good a choice as any. The reason we gave for the choice afterwards was that the "Enterprise" was the 17th major design of the Federation, and the first in the series. 17-01!".(Star Trek: The Original Series Sketchbook, page 62). "(...)which, incidentally and coincidentally, happens to be very close to the licence number on my airplane-NC-17740. But I have never really stepped out and squashed the rumor that the number on the "Enterprise" came off my airplane."(Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 1, Issue 10, page 26) Never explained on-screen or off-screen, interpretation of the registry number remains open to speculation.[2]

[edit] Designing the bridge

Concerning the design of the Enterprise's bridge, Jefferies explained: "It was pretty well established with the model that the thing was going to be in a full circle. From there it became a question of how we were going to make it, how it could come apart, where the cameraman could get into it."

"I decided that the crewman would work like in the navy, so often would be on for four hours, off eight hours, and it had better be comfortable. The switches would all be so that the crewman doesn't have to reach for anything. Each of the viewing screens would be at right-angles to his eyes, and we drew a full size section of the bridge that way. I wanted an all-black instrument panel that would light up from behind which is pretty much what we came up with. I did all of the artwork on each one of the instruments, and got the negative, put the color on the negative and mounted 'em under black glass. I was still assembling those things on one side of the bridge when they were shooting the other side..."

One issue with the bridge design is the single offset turbolift. The location does not line up with the Enterprise model, which shows a turbolift alcove directly behind the main bridge. According to Jeffries, this offset placement was necessary to allow characters to walk onto the bridge and photographed without being blocked by actors sitting in the command chair.

Jeffries also mentioned that Spock's sensor hood is a tip of the hat to early radar used by World War II battleships. Ambient room light would wash out the weak signals of early radar imagery, so hoods were used to cover radar screens. Because modern radar imagery is brighter, viewing hoods are no longer needed.

William Shatner, director on Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, had been so impressed with Herman Zimmerman's work on The Next Generation as production designer that he hired Zimmerman to upgrade the Enterprise interiors for the film. Hence, the upgraded bridge from the movie resembles the bright atmosphere portrayed in The Next Generation. For Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, however, the bridge was once more redesigned to reflect director Nicholas Meyer's more militaristic approach on Star Trek.

[edit] An Enterprise that never was

Ralph McQuarrie, best known to the public for his stunning production designs for the Star Wars films, was hired by Ken Adam to help develop the designs for the new Star Trek: Planet of the Titans movie, ultimately abandoned to make way for Star Trek: Phase II, the new television series. Although the design used the same elements as the original design, saucer shaped primary hull, warp engine assemblies and a engineering secondary hull, the secondary hull was flattened and wedge shaped, providing a radically different look, one not unlike the Star Destroyers McQuarrie designed for those films.

Their Enterprise design, however, was abandoned, and Roddenberry asked Matt Jefferies to update the famous starship to reflect the refit that would be part of the series' back story. Jefferies' redesign changed the engine nacelles from tubes to thin, flat-sided modules, and tapered their supports. He also added the distinctive photon torpedo ports on the saucer connector.

"Basically," Jefferies said, "what I did to it was change the power units, and make a slight change in the struts that supported them. I gave the main hull a taper, then I went flat-sided and thin with the power units, rather than keeping the cylindrical shape. Trying to work out the logic of the refit, I knew a lot of the equipment inside would change, but I didn't see that there would be any need to change the exterior of the saucer. Certainly, though, the engines would be a primary thing to change. Part of the theory of the ship's design in the first place was that we didn't know what these powerful things were or how devastating it would be if anything went awry, so that's why we kept them away from the crew. And that meant they could be easily changed if you had to replace one."

Unlike the first redesign of the Enterprise, Jefferies' new version was designed along the classical lines of the original albeit modernized and built this time by Don Loos. But when Paramount Pictures abandoned its plans to create a fourth television network and subsequently transformed the second Star Trek series into the first movie, that Enterprise was packed away as movie director Robert Wise brought in a new art director – Richard Taylor – who assigned Andrew Probert to do a second redesign of the ship, essentially keeping with Jefferies' new lines, while adding the extensive detail that was necessary for a motion-picture miniature.

[edit] Creating a Motion Picture Enterprise

For Star Trek: The Motion Picture, a new Enterprise was designed by Andrew Probert, based upon Mike Minor's concepts for Star Trek: Phase II. Other artists who worked on the refit design were Joe Jennings, Douglas Trumbull, and Harold Michelson.

As art director Richard Taylor felt that they should stay with the proportions inherited from Jefferies' upgraded Enterprise for Star Trek: Phase II, Probert lengthened the ship with merely a few feet and enlarged the saucer, eventually adding an updated superstructure to the top and bottom of it. Additionally, he came up with the new photon torpedo launcher, redesigned the whole navigational deflector dish area, updated the impulse engine, and added phaser banks around the ship.

One of Probert's key concerns as production illustrator on The Motion Picture was that the sets built somehow conformed to the structure of the starship they were supposed to exist within. Here we see Andrew Probert's development sketches for an officer's lounge in the saucer section's upper dome. Probert's concept art was, however, not used for the movie, and a much cheaper set was constructed for the scene.

Probert's main contribution for the Enterprise interior came in the form of the vessel's cargo deck, thoughts on which had already been visualized by veteran Mike Minor, before Probert had a chance to address it. Minor worked at the Paramount lot, while Probert was at the Robert Abel special effects facility designing various pieces of space hardware.

The thinking, then at Paramount under production designer Harold Michelson, was that the cargo bay would be a space 30 feet high that had two walls with twelve holes containing cargo pods. Mike Minor's cargo deck design shows us cargo pods simply stacked or lined up on the deck, leaving a huge open and unused space above. The walkways along the sides were also rather old fashioned looking.

The image to the right shows the plate of the cargo deck scene, filmed from Kirk's perspective as he enters the new Enterprise. What Andrew Probert was required to do was to get a frame of plate film and have it printed at a pre-determined size. Part of this frame, required for the live action elements, would be cut out and pasted to a piece of illustration board. The remaining blank board, intended to be the matte, would then be painted around that piece, blending the two together.

Following a discussion with Douglas Trumbull examining the logic of the early cargo deck concepts, this elevation sketch of the Enterprise was drawn by Andrew Probert upon Trumbull's question how the pods would get in and out of the cargo deck. What Probert proposed was that the landing bay and cargo deck be connected, allowing the easy passage of cargo trains.

The idea was that shuttles would normally take off from and land in the landing bay. They then could be lowered to the Hanger Bay level, or lowered another level to shuttle maintenance. A multi-paneled two-story door, between the elevators and cargo bay, has been opened to the sides allowing the transfer of cargo.

[edit] Studio Models

Over the course of TOS and the first six Star Trek movies several studio models have been created to represent the Constitution-class, in particular the USS Enterprise, more even than any other class.

[edit] The three-foot studio model

After final approval of his design, Jefferies went on to produce a detailed set of construction blueprints with orthographic views of the ship and send it off to the Howard Anderson Company who were to build the pre-production model (The blueprints published in Star Trek: The Original Series Sketchbook, pages 70-71, were erroneously identified as those. They are in fact post April 1966 construction blueprints drawn up for AMT/Ertl's production shop for making molds for a later edition of their first Enterprise model kit, being printed on the side of the box for the modeler's reference sake). Richard C. Datin, Jr. (who still owns a set of the original blueprints) was eventually subcontracted to build the, soon to be known as "three-foot" model of the Enterprise, though its actual size would be 33 inches exact.

As Datin recalls: "All lettering and the logo artwork on the secondary hull were decals. The rest, I believe, were painted on, such as the hatch indications. (...) I began work on the small Enterprise on Wednesday, November 4, 1964, and completed it by November 15 for a total of 110 hours of my time. Since I did not have a large enough wood lathe to turn out the major components (the primary an secondary hulls and nacelles), I subbed this to an old-time woodworker whose name, unfortunately, escapes me. My portion of the work was assembly, painting, and decorating. The three-footer was comprised of pattern pine-a sugar pine-primarily because it was kiln dried, free of knots, and consisted of a very fine grain. It finishes well and takes paint just as good. I was able to purchase a Plexiglas dome, a ready-made item for modelers, for the bridge. The deflector dish and secondary hull front cover were fabricated from rolled brass strips and silver-soldered together, the sprayed with a gold color lacquer." (Star Trek: Communicator, No.132, 2001, page 51) The paint schemes were selected by Jefferies.[3] After review by Roddenberry, Datin did some minor revisions and delivered the model on 14 December 1964 at a total estimated cost of $600.

Although never slated for filming purposes, but rather to serve as a study model for the yet to be build larger model and for public relations purposes (including well publicized publicity shots of Shatner and Nimoy holding the model), it eventually was used as such. A time line drawn up by David Shaw elaborated: [4]

• 4 Nov 1964 (Wednesday): Richard Datin agrees to build an approximate three foot long model based on an early set of plans which give a real world scale of 1:48 (if this had been the final drawings, this would have been the 540' version, but the proportions of this early drawing are actually significantly different from the final plans).
• 7 Nov 1964 (Saturday): The final construction plans are finished. These plans include the scale reference of FULL SIZE & 3" = 1'-0" TO LARGE MINIATURE.
• 8 Nov 1964 (Sunday): Richard Datin receives the plans and starts building the full size 33-inch model out of kiln-dried sugar pine.
• 15 Nov 1964 (Sunday): A little more than a week later the 33-inch model is presented to Roddenberry for approval. This may have been when the addition of exterior windows was requested (which were not part of the original design), and the model returns with Datin after the viewing.
• 8 Dec 1964 (Tuesday): Construction is started on the 11-foot model.
• 14 Dec 1964 (Monday): The 33-inch model is delivered to Roddenberry for final approval while "The Cage" is being filmed in Culver City (there are images of Hunter and Roddenberry examining the model on this date). This model is used for all effects shots in "The Cage" except the most important one (the zoom in on the bridge).
• 24 Dec 1964 (Thursday): Shooting of "The Cage" wraps, only one effects shot still outstanding (all other model shots use the 33-inch model).
• 29 Dec 1964 (Tuesday): The 11-foot model (built by Datin, Mel Keys, and Vern Sion) was delivered to the Howard A. Anderson studio. This version is not powered and the windows are painted on the surface of the model. Even then the model was designed to be shot from the right side only.
• 23 Jan 1965 (Saturday): After "The Cage" is already in the can and waiting for network approval of the new series, additional test shots of the 11-foot model are taken in its original condition.
• 30 Jan 1965 (Saturday): Aspects of the ship's size (like it being 190,000 tons) were being distributed to the media in the descriptions of the new show.

Recognizing her use for forced perspective shots, Anderson shot stock footage for use in the title sequence and future episodes. Besides "The Cage", the model would appear most notably in "Where No Man Has Gone Before", "Tomorrow is Yesterday", "By Any Other Name", and finally in "Requiem for Methuselah", ironically here as a desktop table model. In the episodes after the two pilots the three-footer can be recognized by the fact that she, unlike her big sister, is not lit internally.

In August 1965 and April 1966 a series of revisions were made to the eleven-footer, which were mirrored onto the three-footer, except for the internal lighting and the animated nacelle domes, which were deemed too expensive.

After cancellation of TOS, the three-footer was given by the studio to Roddenberry. Reportedly he loaned the model to somebody during the late 1970s, but later forgot to whom he had lent it. The model has been missing ever since.

[edit] The eleven-foot studio model

After the first review of the three-footer, Roddenberry green lighted the construction of the large model, which would be exactly four times the size of the small model. Again Richard Datin was entrusted with the job. This time he was forced due to time restraints and the limited size of his own workshop, to subcontract the bulk of the construction. The company he choose was Burbank based Production Models Shop, owned and operated by Volmer Jensen. Most of the work would fall on his employees Mel Keys and Vern Sion, closely supervised by Datin.

On constructing the "eleven-footer", Datin remembers: "The saucer section was constructed in two separate halves, top and bottom sections, of "Royalite" plastic sheet vacuum-formed over plaster molds, each representing the top half and bottom half of the saucer. The formed sheets in turn were supported, or held together, by a series of plywood ribs or struts radiating from the center. I have no idea how many ribs there were but a sufficient number to support the nearly one-eighth-inch thick sheet of Royalite. The plastic surface was thin enough to be slightly pressed inward with a finger. (...) At the point where the (solid wood) dorsal connected to the underside of the saucer, additional framework was added to strengthen the connection to the saucer. The dorsal was fastened to the saucer by one or two, most likely two, lag screws whose heads were set in below the top exterior surface of the the saucer. A small, low profile section made of wood hid the screws. The teardrop-shaped bridge section was made from a solid piece of wood with in its center hollowed out for installation of the hemispherical-shaped Plexiglas (bridge) dome (the same for the underside dome)...."

"The two engine nacelles consisted of a tapered frame constructed of plywood ribs fastened to the respective shaped solid wood ends," recalls Datin further. "The nacelle surfaces that faces each other were flat elongated areas of wood that were set in from the outer skin surface. Other details were added, such as what looked ans was described as wood shaped "handles", which Gene took an instant dislike at my terminology. But to me no better description fits! The rib frame was the covered with a heavy gauge pre-rolled sheet metal. A formed corrugated Plexiglas sheet covered the sides of the "S"-curved aft ends, while the forward domes were comprised of a semi-hard-wood-like ash and lathe-turned into hemispherical-shaped half domes. (...) The two support pylons were made of a solid one-piece hardwood, of either oak or walnut for strength." (Star Trek: Communicator, No.132, page 53)

The wooden secondary hull was subcontracted out, as well as several component pieces such as metal bits on the nacelles. The spikes on the forward nacelle domes were made by Datin himself. The same paint scheme as for the three-footer was applied, but no decals were used on this version, all the details on the hull, lettering, logos and all were painted on. Virtually identical to her smaller sister, the eleven-footer lacked one detail. The surface on the backside of the aft nacelle caps was smooth, where the three-footer, as per specification, sported a detailed rectangular feature. Coming in at a length of 11ft, 2.08 inch and a weight of 225 pound the model was delivered to Anderson on 29 December 1964. Too late for extensive use for "The Cage", the model was stored away for months while the studio pondered the fate of Star Trek.

Once the decision was made to have a second pilot made, Roddenberry with the people at Anderson's decided to enliven the large model in order to enhance their chances. Up to then he did not want any of the models to be internally lit and the models were delivered as such – shortly after he changed his mind about that. Again Richard Datin was called in to do the proposed revisions. Datin logged in another 88 hours of his work from 27 August through 8 September 1965, doing the following:

• Bridge: several painted-on windows removed, light panels added in front and on sides.
• Saucer top: nav lights added, black bands painted near port & starboard edge, painted black & white areas added near bow edge, four light panels added. The port & aft light panel was just painted-on and is not an actual light panel.
• Saucer rim: center-most bow port changed to nav light, some windows added.
• Saucer bottom: nav light & 2 portholes added near edge on each side, at 10 and 2 o'clock positions.
• Impulse engines: black rectangular vents painted over with hull color, eight small round black vents painted on.
• Secondary hull: strobe light added on aft flank, rearmost round porthole moved from left side of two rectangular ones to right side.
• Nacelles: black "grille" pattern painted on rear nacelle end caps.
• Registry markings were previously painted-on, now changed to decals.

The moment Star Trek was to become a regular series early 1966, Roddenberry wanted to enliven the model even more, this time also retrofitted to the "three-footer". Yet again Datin was called in to do the revisions, What he did was this:

• Bridge: bottom half chopped off, light panels removed, a red "beacon" added on each side. Some portholes added on B&C decks.
• Saucer top: black bands and most other painted-on markings removed, a round light panel added near bow edge, rib added on "linear accelerator" and both painted a darker gray.
• Saucer rim: Some portholes added, bow nav light replaced by light panel
• Saucer bottom: nav lights moved to 9 and 3 o'clock position, some portholes added, "nipple with phaser turret" added below sensor dome[5][6].
• Impulse engines: painted darker gray, round vents removed, original rectangular vents again painted black, texture wraps added on both ends of impulse deck.
• Dorsal: some windows/portholes moved/added, dorsal painted same as rest of hull instead of the earlier bluish reflective color, with a darker region on both leading & receding edge.
• Secondary hull: red "beacon" & green portholes added on top, some windows/portholes added, deflector dish diameter reduced, "observation booth" added under cowling above hangar bay doors, a grilled feature added on the center line just aft of the deflector dish housing and in front of the Starfleet-pennant.
• Nacelle pylons: four dark gray. brick-pattern inserts placed in slots.
• Nacelles: solid wood "power nodules" with spikes replaced with frosted Plexiglas domes with inner surface painted transparent orange, plus motorized vanes and blinking Christmas lights added behind the dome.[7] The original wooden domes are still in the possession of Richard Datin.
• Ribs and aluminum grille added in "trenches" along inboard flanks of nacelles and trench painted darker gray., patterned slabs added inside "intercooler loops" at rear, small slabs added in front of intercooler loops, black painted grille removed from end caps and light gray. spheres added.
• Typeface used for registry markings changed (resulting in that the number "l" changed to "1"), weathering added .

Datin worked an additional 419 hours on the second set of revisions from 8 April 1966 to 17 May 1966. Total costs for the "eleven-footer" (inclusive the retrofit revisions on the "three-footer" in excess over $6.000. The heavy internal wiring for the lighting pushed the weight of the model up to 275 pounds.

The port side of the model was not as detailed as the rest, especially on the secondary hull and the dorsal. The reason for this was that this side didn't need to be as since here was the point located where the mounting rod was connected, this side would never be filmed. By far the fast majority of the shots seen of the "'eleven-footer" is the ship moving from left to right. The very rare occasion that a port side view was required as in " Mirror, Mirror", a visual trick was applied. Datin fabricated mirrored decals of the registry number on the nacelles and these were applied on the starboard nacelles. In post production the image would be flipped so that the number could be read as normal.

The second set of revisions are the ones also retrofitted onto the three-footer, save for the lighting options which were deemed too expensive. In this vane the eleven-foot Enterprise -model would be used for the rest of the series, save for minor revisions done at Anderson's during the run of the series:

• Upper sensor dome changed to a taller one, registry numbers on saucer bottom switched around so the starboard one was readable from a front view.
• Jeffries came up with a "deflector grid" which was drawn in pencil on the primary hull. It was drawn only to satisfy Roddenberry and was done very lightly so it wouldn't be visible on film.

After the series had been canceled, the eleven-footer was more or less forgotten by the studio and stored away in a far-away corner of the studio. The very fact that she was stored somewhere was a minor miracle because normal studio policy had it, that in those days major set pieces of canceled shows or wrapped productions, were to be demolished to make room for new productions. In April 1972, the model, minus its deflector-dish was displayed at "Golden West College", Huntington Beach, California, arguably the very first time a studio model was on tour. While struggling to get get the electronics back on-line former Desilu employee, then employed at the college, Graig Thompson noted that the starboard nacelle interior dome rotated clockwise, while the port side rotated anti-clockwise. (Star Trek: Communicator, No.120, page 77)

One year later in response to an inquiry from former Apollo astronaut Michael Collins, then Paramount executive Dick Lawrence responded, "I am pleased to advise you that Paramount Television will donate the 14 foot [sic] model of Star Trek's Enterprise to the Smithsonian Institution. It is my understanding that F.C. Durant III, assistant director of Astronautics of the Smithsonian Institution, in a letter dated December 17, 1973 to Mr. Frank Wright of our publicity department, has agreed to pay the cost of crating and shipping." (which was estimated at $350-$500 at the time) (Star Trek Giant Poster Book, No.10, 1977). The Smithsonian Institution received the model on 1 March 1974, in three separate boxes by Emery Air Freight and had it reassembled five days later for inspection.[8][9]

Apart from the already missing deflector dish, the animated warp nacelle caps were also missing by this time. F.C. Durant requested the following restorations, ultimately done by Rogay Inc.:

• Fabricate two hemisphere of Plexiglas (or other appropriate plastic) to replace missing pieces at forward end of propulsion units. Exterior surface of hemisphere to be "frosted" (sandblasted?). Interior surface to be painted with amber lacquer. Shade of paint to be approved by ASTRO. Affix hemispheres to propulsion units with small screws.
• At forward end of secondary hull, lay-out, fabricate and install missing "dish and spike" on "main sensor". "Dish" is turned from Plexiglas or other suitable material according to sketch supplied, Both dish and spike are painted bronze approximating existing paint on main sensor, Install using epoxy cement and original fitting.
• Replace missing Plexiglas rectangular and cylindrical "windows" in model. Attach other loose components including dome ("bridge") on top of primary hull.
• Retouch with black paint lettering on top of main hull, all black painted windows and other features, Fill two cracks on right dome on main hull with putty and retouch with matching paint, Retouch chafed damage and other minor injuries to reasonable point
• Push wiring inside or fold and affix on left side of model with three-inch silver colored, pressure-sensitive cloth tape.

This constituted the very first revision of the eleven-foot model, finished about three months later, and while the restoration was generally well received at the time, Durant couldn't refrain from commenting to Rogay at the time about the nacelle caps, "The paint used by Rogay was turkey red, the exterior is not frosted as requested..." (Star Trek Giant Poster Book, No.10, 1977). The Enterprise was put on display for the first time at the NASM, the most visited museum in the world, during the summer of 1974 in the Gallery 107 "Life in the Universe" exhibition. At the end of the summer of 1979, this exhibit closed and the miniature was moved to Gallery 113, "Rocketry and Spaceflight."[10]

Between 8 August and 11 September 1984 a second restoration was performed on the model in preparation for the The Art of Robert McCall exhibition. More extensive renovation occurred this time, including removal of the silver-cloth tape on the left, unadorned side of the ship (where the internal wiring was hidden). In its place, the renovators added molded air tubing, which covered the holes on the ship previously masked by the cloth tape. Internal lighting was improved, and many of the lights that had not previously been working were made to work again. All internal wiring within reach (when the miniature was disassembled) was replaced. Additionally, spinning lights inside the engine nacelle hemisphere tips were added (although they remained painted the wrong color-red). The model was given a thorough cleaning, paint was retouched in several places, and several of the external decals were replaced at this time. With the refit completed, the Enterprise was unveiled at The Art of Robert McCall Exhibition in September 1984 at the NASM's Gallery 211, "Flight and the Arts". After the McCall exhibition ended in September 1985, the USS Enterprise miniature returned to her former home in Gallery 113. (William S. McCullar's now defunct "IDIC Page" website)

A third, very comprehensive restoration was undertaken between 10 December 1991 and 24 January 1992 in preparation for the Star Trek Smithsonian Exhibit. Ed Miarecki was contracted by the museum to do the renovation. As he recalls on "The IDIC Page," "Basically, it was 'Being in the right place at the right time'. I had a chance meeting with Ken Isbell from NASM. He presented a slide show at a Star Trek convention in Baltimore. We had a nice dinner conversation and talked about the 'E'. He mentioned the state of disrepair the model was in and how the museum was considering refurbishment for the 25th anniversary exhibit. I made the comment, 'I wouldn't mind helping out with that.' He responded, 'Really'? We then spent the rest of the evening discussing details while watching a costume contest. When I got home, I submitted a proposal to NASM, and the rest, as they say, is history. (...) I was able, through the courtesy of several collectors, to acquire very clear B&W and color photos of the 'E' for my research. Also, one friend of mine had episodes on laser disc that we were able to 'freeze frame.' The model itself provided the most information about how it 'looked', however." Two of the most noticeable improvements were the replacements of the deflector dish by a more detailed one and the the "turkey red" nacelles domes with animated ones, approximating their appearance in the the original series. The model was disassembled and each component was given a thorough refurbishment.[11] It was also decided to let the less detailed port side of the model remain that way.

The most striking refurbishment was the new paint scheme applied. With the exception of the dorsal side of the saucer section (the museum requested this part to remain untouched, since its paint scheme was relatively in good shape) the model was stripped and repainted. The new paint scheme is noteworthy for its emphasized grid lining (especially on the ventral side of the saucer) and weathering. "I have taken pictures of the 'E' after restoration under full studio lighting, (which does wash out most of the shading), and it looks exactly right. I hope you understand that the model will never look the way it did 30+ years ago because it was repainted in 1974 without first documenting its original condition. This 'interpretation' was our best educated 'guess'. If someone has better resources and expertise, they may have a chance to restore the model for the 50th anniversary.", Miarecki elaborated further. Miarecki apparently was misinformed about the paint job at the time, no repaint was undertaken at the time, only retouching.

Miarecki's statement notwithstanding, the new paint scheme stirred up some controversy. As the original builder Richard Datin put it "The original model was smooth and didn't show any lines or marks, except for the lettering and numbers (...) The Smithsonian had scribed lines to indicate panels, changing the character of the whole model." (Cinefantastique, Vol.27, No.11/12, page 68) The paint scheme is the main point of criticism and is hotly debated on blogs like "TrekBBS", "Resin Illumanati", "HobbyTalk", "Trek Prop Zone" and the museum blog itself.[12] The continuing criticism has somewhat alienated Miarecki from the fan base as his reaction to a particularly strong comment on the "Trek Prop Zone"-blog on 25 April 2007 showed, "(...) When I first started to read this topic, I had thought I was going to read something interesting. I really didn't expect my work to be described as "BUTCHERY". It has been now over 15 years since I performed the restoration, (without the aid of all the knowledge that has been acquired in those 15 years), and I have to endure in all that time since , nothing but jabs and barbs of criticism from over-opinionated fans who now have access to that knowledge. I have yet to read one compliment... any compliment, on any forum, about any aspect of my restoration. Now after all this time, I refuse to let such a "drive-by" insult such as yours go unanswered (...)"

The renovated model, powered up, featured prominently in the 1992-1993 Star Trek Smithsonian Exhibit and was a year later on loan to the Hayden Planetarium, New York City, for its 1993-1994 exhibition. Upon its return to The Smithonian the model would not be displayed for six years. In January 2000 the museum opened its new refurbished three-story gift shop. Part of the refurbishment was the permanent placement of the (unpowered) model in a glass display case on the lower-level of the shop in March 2000. The model, reportedly insured at $1,000,000, is currently still residing there.[13]

[edit] The four inch studio model

As Howard A. Anderson Jr. of Howard Anderson Company remembers, "In "The Corbomite Maneuver" we used a tiny four-inch model made by Matt Jefferies of the Enterprise to use in front of the huge alien ship to make it look even bigger. We also had an occasion to shoot Datin's three-foot Enterprise model from time to time and we used all three models in the main title sequence. We shot a lot of library footage using that little four-inch model but I can't remember any specific episode titles were it was used. We mostly used the 12-foot model." (Cinefantastique, Vol.27, No.11/12, p.67) Designed and build for extreme forced perspective purposes by Matt Jefferies, it would find its way in "The Corbomite Maneuver", "Tomorrow is Yesterday", and "The Trouble with Tribbles". It is most likely that the same model, coated in a metallic paint, appeared in "Catspaw" as a voodoo charm. If so, then the model has been donated by Matt Jefferies, hand delivered by Dorothy Fontana to the Smithsonian Institution on 7 November 1973, together with the original D7-class studio model. (Star Trek Giant Poster Book, No.10, January 1977)

[edit] The AMT studio models

"At a point, Matt Jefferies called me about building a second three-foot model but they wanted it sooner than I could build it, so that second model never got build," Datin remembers. (Cinefantastique, Vol.27, No. 11/12, p. 67) What Jefferies had in mind was the upcoming episode "The Doomsday Machine", the very first time the Enterprise had to share screen time with a sister ship, the USS Constellation. The script required shots where both ships would be seen drawing in by the planet killer. To do this Jefferies and Anderson needed a second model in the same scale in order to keep proportions believable on screen. Although Datin could not deliver, Jefferies had an alternative by this time. Instead of having had an expensive custom made model build, two of the then recently released AMT/Ertl Star Trek model kits (Kit nr. S921) were used. Fortunately as chance would have it they were supplied with a crude internal lighting option. One was distressed, its decals rearranged to read "NCC 1017", to appear as the battle damaged Constellation. The other was used in a forced perspective shot with the model of the Planet killer, representing the Enterprise. The Constellation model was most likely discarded after use (although footage of this model was to be reused to represent the USS Excalibur in "The Ultimate Computer"), The Enterprise model would be used one more time in "The Trouble with Tribbles" as a background model seen in Lurry's office window. This model was in the possession of Matt Jefferies' brother John until 2001, when it was sold to a private collector in the Star Trek Profiles in History Auction, on 12 December 2001 at a price of $42,500.[14]

In TNG: "The First Duty" a desk top model of a original Constitution-class ship could be seen in Wesley Crusher's dorm room. This was an unmodified 10 inch pewter model released by Franklin Mint in 1988, model 810, of the Enterprise.

[edit] The Trials and Tribble-ations studio model

For Deep Space Nine's "Trials and Tribble-ations" episode, Gregory Jein, in ten days, faithfully recreated a physical model of the USS Enterprise on an one half scale, based on carefully taken measurements of the original eleven-foot model, then residing at the Smithsonian Institution.[15] Jein was delivering the new USS Excelsior-model for Voyager's "Flashback" episode when he caught a glimpse of Gary Hutzel's test footage. He recalls being informed, "Yeah, we'll probably do a model of the "Enterprise" but we don't know when, and we probably won't till the last minute (...) being a crazy kind of guy, I decided to start work on it anyway!" (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, page 386). Jein opted to include some of the modifications both Jefferies (the grids on the upper saucer section) and Miarecki (grids on the bottom saucer section amongst others) had done on the eleven-footer. This was done in a far more subtle way than the 1991 restoration as not to distract from the perception people had of the Enterprise in her original appearances. Unlike her progenitor this model was outfitted with several more mounting rod points, so that the model could be shot from several different angles. A limited production run of twelve pieces was made from the same molds used for this model and were sold at The Viacom Entertainment Store for $10,000 each in 1997, accompanied with a certificate signed by Jein and Jefferies.

[edit] The CG studio models

For the Enterprise episodes "In a Mirror, Darkly" and "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II" a CGI model was build of the USS Defiant. The model was build by Koji Kuramura and mapped and animated by Robert Bonchune at Eden FX. Remapped to represent the USS Enterprise, it would also appear in the final scene of "These Are the Voyages...".[16][17]

A second CGI model was build for TOS remastered. Although several parties made pitches to do the model, like Digital Stream, Daren Dochterman [18], and Eden FX (that model being built by Pierre Drolet[19][20][21]), CBS Studios decided to go in-house with their own company CBS Digital where the model was build under supervision of Niel Wray and David Rossi, based on the same meticulously taken measurements of the original model for the Jein model. Of particular concern to producer Michael Okuda was that the model was not too realistic looking as to keep in line with the overall look of the series. The model had to be remapped after a couple of episodes, because it was looking too detailed.[22]

The models build by Dochterman and Drolet would find their way in the Star Trek: Ships of the Line calendars.

[edit] The "Planet of the Titans" study models

Based on Ralph McQuarrie's design of a new Enterprise for the proposed Star Trek: Planet of the Titans movie project, at least two study models were build, before the project was canceled. Stored away for the better part of a decade the models would make a surprising reappearance. Although stated as having made an appearance in the debris field of "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II" (The Art of Star Trek, page 56), they have not been identified as being there.[23] One of the models was present as B-24-CLN at the Surplus Depot Z15 in TNG: "Unification I". Part of the other model could be seen in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock docked in Earth Spacedock when the Enterprise enters. The models therefore became canon albeit without class designations or names.

[edit] The "Phase II" studio model

After Matt Jefferies' redesign was approved for the Star Trek: Phase II television project in 1977, detailed construction blueprints were drawn up for construction of the physical studio model[24] (which were not the ones published in Star Trek Phase II: The Lost Series, color section). To ease the workload, Magicam hired Brick Price's Movie Miniatures to build the master model. Price brought in modeler Don Loos to do the bulk of the construction work. Work on the four-foot model was in progress when the project was upgraded to the Star Trek: The Motion Picture movie project.[25]. Both Robert Wise and Richard Taylor decided that the model was too small and not detailed enough to meet big screen requirements and a new model had to be build from scratch. Price was pulled off the project in January 1978 (though his company would remain to build props for the movie) and the task of building a new model reverted back to Magicam.

The fate of the unfinished model (built out of fiberglass with joint connections made of undersized aluminum sheet plates and therefore, despite its size, quite heavy) is somewhat unclear. Although unsubstantiated it is possible that Price finished the model years later for "The Planet Hollywood" restaurant in New York in the early 1990s. The saucer section and torpedo launchers were heavily adjusted to reflect the appearance the refit Enterprise has in the movies. The nacelles, secondary hull and the upper dorsal retained its original Phase II design, resulting in an unfamiliar looking hybrid between the Phase II and the movie's Enterprise.[26] Star Trek aficionado William S. McCullars has maintained on his now defunct website "The Idic Page" that it was indeed the original studio model, showcasing pictures provided by Price himself. The model has been on display in the restaurant during the 1990s.

Although this particular design has not become canon, the design has captured the imagination of fans. Daren Dochterman built a CG model that will be used in the fan film production Star Trek: New Voyages (now known as Star Trek: Phase II) in their upcoming episode "Enemy: Starfleet".[27]

[edit] The Refit eight-foot studio model

Originally art director Richard Taylor wanted to totally redesign the Enterprise from scratch, once the movie project became definitive in December 1977, but Roddenberry vetoed that notion and insisted to keep the basic design as established for the Phase II project and instead to concentrate on redesigning the details. (Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 2, Issue 8, Page 85.) Roddenberry's veto enabled Magicam's Jim Dow and his crew to start construction on the model in the spring of 1978. Dow and co. started with constructing an aluminum framework for internal strength for the model and as a armature for mounting the finished model for filming. Since no story-boards were yet available at the time Dow had the foresight to equip the frame with five mounting points for 360 degrees shooting options around its center of gravity (though the top mounting point would be eliminated later in the process).(American Cinematographer, February 1980, pages 152-155 and 178-180) Plastic molds were subsequently applied to the frame to skin the model. Redesigned elements from Taylor and Probert were built and applied as they came in during the construction of the model, making the redesign a process on the fly. As a result detailed blue prints of the model could only be drawn up after the model was finished by David A. Kimble.

While construction on the model was still in progress, Zuzana Swansea designed the surfacing detail for the saucer section, most notably what was to become the Aztec pattern (a hallmark for later classes of Federation star ships), however she lacked the painting skills to apply these details herself. In order to accomplish this, Dow contracted free-lance airbrush artist Paul Olsen early on to apply the paint job. Working on the model, starting with the dish, for the better part of eight months, the most striking part of his work was the application of a high gloss pearlescent lacquer coating which gave the Enterprise a chameleon-like appearance in the movie, changing its color appearance depending on the kind and direction of lighting (the Aztec pattern for example would be only visible if the light hit the model at an oblique angle). Though considered magnificent, the paint job would cause some trouble for Douglas Trumball in shooting the model. As Olsen remembers on his website, "Dear old Doug drew me aside with one of his big grins and said, "Paul, it's terrific, but we may have problems shooting it because I think we'll get light kicks off the edges of the model." The model was so bright and so colorful that light flare against the black background she would be shot against would make it impossible to isolate the edges of the model from the background so a star field or planet fall or other effect could be photographically dropped (matted) in cleanly. They would have to shoot the model with low light, which would cool the reflections and all the model detail as well. There are still some shots where the opalescence can be seen, but the real thing looked so much better than can be seen in the movie."[28] Olsen was assisted by Magicam's Ron Gress, who worked on the secondary hull.

Trumball, who did not use the traditional technique of bluescreen miniature photography managed to work around the problem. "(...) We shot all the the Enterprise footage because the Enterprise had a white, shiny surface and would have caused tremendous matting problems at Apogee. Spill light from the blue screen would have reflected off the ship and created holes in the mattes. Even with our high-con operation we had quite a problem pulling decent mattes off that model: with blue screen it would have been nearly impossible." (Cinefex, No.1, 1980, pages 12-14). Trumball also had the internal lighting rewired to satisfy his vision of a concept of self-illumination as opposed to a model completely awash in light as it was originally constructed.

The model, including the revisions Trumball requested, took 14 months to complete and came eventually in at 85 pounds. Measuring 100x46,5x21 inches she reportedly was constructed at a cost of $150,000. (The Making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, page 207)

Dow and his team made the model a rugged one, suspecting the model would be used in in subsequent outings. His foresight was fortuitous since it became apparent that The Motion Picture would have follow-ups. The model, being constructed out of molded plastics instead of the heavier fiberglass traditionally used until that time, was considered light at the time. By 1981 however that view was not shared by the SFX team of Industrial Light & Magic, who was handed over the model for pre-production of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Although admired, the model was soon loathed by the team for its cumbersome handling and heavy weight. Director of photography Kenneth Ralston has been on record for his open dislike of the model at the time, "I hate that model. I think it's made out of lead. I don't know what's inside to make it so heavy; it took eight guys to mount it for a shot and a forklift to move it around." (Cinefantastique, Vol.12, No.5/6, page 54) and, "I hate that ship. I've said it a hundred times, but it's true. I think it's ugly – the most silly looking thing. The model is murder to work with, so I'm glad it's gone," he recalled while preparing the Enterprise for destruction in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. (American Cinematographer, August/September 1984, page 61) The cumbersomeness was part of the reasons why the class of the USS Reliant was redesigned from a Constitution-class (as it was originally envisioned in an early draft of the script) to the Miranda-class (the other reason being that the producers were afraid that audiences would not be able to tell the two ships apart during the battle sequences). (Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 3, Issue 3, page 83)

Further problems arose with the internal wiring for lighting when some of the lighting shorted out. Unable to procure help from the original electricians from Trumball's company EEG (Trumball also tendered a bid to do the SFX for the movie, but was passed over in favor of ILM), Martin Brenneis, responsible at ILM for all the electronics and supervising model maker Steve Gawley had to figure out for themselves how to fix the problem. As Brenneis recalls, "The lighting in it was obviously done by a model maker who knew nothing about electricity. I and a couple of the model makers had to do some rewiring to least make it safe! It was too much work to completely rewire it, but we patched the bits that really were hazardous so that we could use it. Another complication was that all the lights were sealed inside the ship, so if even one was damaged the entire model would have to be taken apart.". (Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 3, Issue 3, page 20)

Using the bluescreen miniature photography technique, Ralston soon encountered the same problems Trumball had with the intricate paint job whilst shooting. Because of budget restraints not being able to change filming techniques a decision was made to give the model its first repaint. Highlighting details with matte paint on the hull and using dulling spray, the team got rid of the pearlescent gloss of the model. However since in the movie stock footage of The Motion Picture was also used, the Enterprise appeared in The Wrath of Khan in both liveries.

Although Trumball liked the model of the Enterprise he initially considered the model too small for his purposes, or as he stated it, "the Enterprise in particular, was one-fourth a big as it should have been. Even in Silent Running, which was a low budget movie, our space craft was twenty-six feet long; In 2001, the Discovery spacecraft was fifty-four feet long. But in Star Trek, the Enterprise is barely seven feet long; and it was just an enormous struggle to get not only a sufficient degree of detail, but also camera angles and depth of field and lighting that worked." (Cinefex, No.1, 1980, page 15) Ralston came to agree with Trumball, when it came to shooting the scene where the Enterprise is hit by Reliant's phaser volley. In order to get the detailed close-ups (and in order not to have the master model damaged), Gawley and his team build an enlarged section of the forward upper secondary hull with the dorsal. The model, measuring 48x24x27 inches, was constructed out of wood and skinned in wax so that simulated damage could be easily sculpted on the surface but could also be easily reversed if the need arose as it eventually would in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, the three other movies the section model would be used in.

The section model, known as Lot #992, being part of the 40 Years of Star Trek: The Collection auction, estimated at $1,000-$1,500, was eventually sold on 7 October 2006 with a winning bid of US$9,500 (US$11,400 including buyer's premium) to an American collector.[29]

For The Search for Spock, the intricate self-destruct sequence required additional enlarged sections of the Enterprise model, a close-up model of the bridge and two close-up models of the upper saucer section. As Ralston recalls, "(...) my involvement began at the top of the bridge when you see it blowing up. It was a miniature that we shot with the Bruce Hill camera. Sean Casey had done a lot of the work on all those models, mold-making and things, because we had to do a lot of tests before we ever got to really shooting it. The pyro work was headed up by Ted Moehnke, who did a great job on the show. I think we got some nice pyrotechnics and different pyrotechnics, too. So it was a full miniature blown upo. Then we had to pull a matte of that put some stars in because it was just shot against black. Then we cut back to the Bird of Prey ship moving away from the Enterprise and dropping down. The top is blowing up. What we did &nash; Don Dow shot that one – we just painted out the top with black. If it's against the stars, you won't be able to see it... We painted it real black. We weren't about to destroy that $150,000 model that Doug Trumball [sic] built. I was tempted though-tempted many times to take a mallet to it. Anyway, we had a projector and we were projecting the explosion going off on top of the ship. What you are seeing isn't the ship moving. The camera system is doing all those moves with the ship and all the different light passes. Then we come back and shut off all the lights. We project the the explosions on the ship and repeat the same moves with explosions going off. It looks like it's all locked into the same element. We also put light effects on top of the ship. Next we cut to the famous number (NCC 1701) being eaten away and the explosions going off. Bill George devised a very light styrofoam that he laid over this incredible grid work-something he came up with in 20 minutes or so. It looked great. We dripped acetone or MEK or something really vile stuff on the surface, but you can't see the stuff dripping on it. I wasn't sure it would work. The camera is shooting over a frame a second, that is why it is hard to see the drip. We had to get all the light off it, too, or you would see a light coming down. The grid work was shot separately from the surface. It was all put together later so we could do light effects. And some of the explosions were just Ken Smith, the optical photography supervisor, burning out certain frames. Then the ship comes right up to camera and the whole dish blows off. Again, the ship wa shot using all the same techniques-projection on the surface, etc. But the final explosion, when the whole thing goes, is a large dish shape which Sean made out of plaster. I sprinkled talcum powder over it to get more fine material coming off it. It had several explosives inside that Ted had come up with. And we shot it as high speed as we could, It still wasn't as slow as I wanted it. The explosion was supered over the ship. There is also a stock explosion from The Empire Strikes Back in there too. It comes out from underneath the dish to make the explosion seem a little more cohesive and not so much of an effect." (American Cinematographer, August/September 1984, page 61) The master model itself, virtually used back to back was not modified further for this movie.

[edit] The Refit-AMT studio model

"There is also a second model of the Enterprise which is twenty inches long, used for long shots," Sackett/Roddenberry claim in their book The Making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, page 207. Never been referred to (neither in print nor in pictorial reference) ever since, be it in print or on the internet, the very existence of this model has yet to be confirmed.

What is certain however, is the smaller Enterprise model build by ILM for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, using a AMT/Ertl-model kit, no.S970. "In fact we used one of the AMT kits to build this little model of the Enterprise, which has about a twelve inch diameter dome. We actually put lights in it and used it in instances where we had to be far away from the ship. With the big model, you can't get too far away and make it look far away – it always looks big. So we used that one for anything where we wanted the ship real small," Don Dow (brother of Magicam's Jim Dow) remembers. (Cinefex, No.18, 1984, page 63) Intricately detailed and lit by ILM, measuring 22 inches in length, the model would see use from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan through Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, with the exception of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.

This model, known as Lot #999 being part of the 40 Years of Star Trek: The Collection auction, estimated at $15,000-$20,000, was sold on October 7, 2006 with a winning bid of US$40,000 (US$48,000 including buyer's premium). [30]

A second AMT-model kit, most likely no. 6675 or 6693 was in modified form used in TNG. For the episode "The Battle", the producers originally intended the USS Stargazer to be of the Constitution-refit class, in order to be able to use the existing filming model. In the build-up to the episode the "NCC-7100" desktop model in Picard's office was replaced with the AMT-model kit to accommodate the transition. Painted in an overall silver color, the model had its warp engines mounted at a perpendicular angle facing outward as opposed to the original angle. Another modification were the oblong cuts in the saucer rim, most likely to suggest shuttle bays as they would later appear on the Constellation-class. When the decision was made very late in the production to have as yet the new class model build, principal photography was already finished and the model would be visible for a couple of episodes in Picard's ready room, since the "NCC-7100" resided in Greg Jein's model shop as reference for the larger model and would nor be returned until later in the season.

The model shortly returned in season three as a desktop model in main engineering.

[edit] The Refit-Battle Damaged studio model

For the intricate destruction sequence (the moment the Enterprise plummets to its doom to the Genesis planet), at the time still done by physical models, in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, an additional model was needed apart from the already available models and the enlarged physical model-sections. "Neither of these models however, was used for the Enterprise’s final destruction sequence. For the shots involving miniature pyrotechnics, Ted Moehnke and his crew worked primarily with partial models that were quickly destroyed-though supervising model maker Steve Gawley and his crew actually constructed a complete model, fully one-third smaller than the original, for full shots of the partially destroyed ship.", Don Dow further remembers (Cinefex, No.18, 1984, page 63).[31]

Its use as a destroyed starship would not be limited to this movie. The saucer section disassembled from the the engineering section, both refurbished, would find their way into the debris-field of in "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II"[32] (a picture of Gary Hutzel, lurking over the secondary hull at the time was published in Cinefantastique. Vol.28, No.4/5, page 64).

In a second re-use modifications were performed on parts of the model as the saucer section and one of its warp nacelles were to be used to represent debris flying off the exploding USS Odyssey in "The Jem'Hadar". Modifications on the detached saucer-section were performed by Dennis Hoerter and Glenn Neufeld. (Cinefantastique,Vol.25/26, No.1, page 109)

A third and final re-use would occur in the episode DS9: "The Sound of Her Voice" where both the nacelle and the saucer section would appear, representing the crashed USS Olympia. [33]

This model, at the time re-assembled and known as Lot #993, being part of the 40 Years of Star Trek: The Collection auction, estimated at $6,000-$8,000, was eventually sold on 7 October 2006 with a winning bid of US$40,000 (US$48,000 including buyer's premium).

The model, in its disassembled state, was featured in the documentary Star Trek: Beyond the Final Frontier, as the Okuda's uncrated the model.

Wrecked model in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock	Wrecked model in TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II"	Wreck model in TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II", engineering hull	Wrecked model as USS Odyssey in DS9: "The Jem'Hadar"
Wrecked model as USS Olympia in DS9: "The Sound of Her Voice"	Uncrating the wreck model before auction in Star Trek: Beyond the Final Frontier

[edit] The Refit-CG studio model

For the Director's Edition DVD for Star Trek: The Motion Picture, new SFX-shots were needed amongst others new shots of the Enterprise herself. Daren Dochterman, already in charge of most of the SFX build and mapped a model in his spare time.[[34]] "I did my best to come up with a workable ship. I used my model in some rough composites as we were storyboarding it and it looked OK., But specifically for end shots it had to be much more detailed. So I handed that nmodel over to the guys at Foundation Imaging." (Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 2, Issue 8, page 55) At "Foundation" the work of mapping the CG-model was handled by Robert Bonchune and Lee Stringer. Having access to the original studio model Bonchune remarked, "there were just these subtle variations everywhere that gave it so much depth and reality. ILM had matted the surfaces down for bluescreen photography. but they left a few parts of the 1979 paint job near the back. There were layers and layers of subtle airbrushing and a little pearlescent here and a little less there. I was told by some of the guys who originally did the paintwork that they took white and 15 or 17 different colors like pink and blue and magenta, all these different shades, and just put a few drops in each of the paints." In the end, Stringer worked on the saucer section, while Bonchune worked on the rest, both working on it in their own time.[35]

[edit] Apocrypha

• Saucer separation for the Constitution-class, suggested by the ship's design but never seen on film, has made canonical and non-canonical appearances. in the TOS episode "The Apple", the episode's original script called for an emergency saucer separation. However, due to budgeting, the effect was only mentioned but not seen. In the DC Comics Star Trek: Debt of Honor, Kirk used "explosive bolts" to sever the connection between the saucer module and the engineering section of the USS Farragut. The same trick was used again in the DC Comics Star Trek: The Mirror Universe Saga, where Kirk and his crew escaped the self-destruction of the ISS Enterprise's engineering section in a last-minute separation. Another Constitution-class ship, the USS Confederate, was shown operating without its saucer section in Marvel Comics Star Trek Unlimited Issue 4; after the crew abandoned the engineering hull via saucer separation due to a failure in an experimental propulsion system upgrade. In the early drafts of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, the Enterprise was to separate the saucer. The 2006 Star Trek: Ships of the Line calendar includes a picture of a separated Constitution-class ship, engaging Klingons – or possibly a Klingon ship flown by the Romulans – in battle.

• Another saucer separation sequence was envisioned by Andrew Probert in 1978 when the script for Star Trek: The Motion Picture was in flux. During a lull in script development Probert came up with an alternative scene in which V'Ger releases a Klingon battle cruiser. Upon re-materialization the Klingons true to their nature immediately attack the Enterprise. During the battle Kirk is forced to a perform a maneuver akin to Riker's in "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II". Douglas Trumbull liked the idea and had Probert draw up color story-boards to show the sequence. Some of the story-boards are published in Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 1, Issue 22, page 132 and in The Art of Star Trek. pages 198-199.
• In two instances the suspected saucer separation capabilities of the Constitution-class came very close to becoming canon. The first instance occurred in footage of the debris field shown in "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II"; Both the engineering hull and the saucer section separated from each other have been positively identified as belonging to the Constitution-class [36]. However since it can also be argued that this could have resulted from battle damage it remains non-canonical. The second instance concerned the USS Olympia whose crashed saucer section could be seen in "The Sound of Her Voice" along with a severed nacelle from a Constitution-class starship(those two parts already having been used as debris of the exploding USS Odyssey in "The Jem'Hadar"). A behind-the-scenes photo clearly showed that the saucer landed in the same fashion as the Enterprise-D in Star Trek Generations[37] (the model landscape build by Gregory Jein). But again, since the visuals are open to multiple interpretations and since the ship is not further commented upon (neither in dialogue or computer read-outs), the capability remains debatable. In both instances (parts of) the battle-damaged version of the studio model, slightly modified, of the Enterprise from Star Trek III: The Search for Spock were used (photos in Cinefantastique Vol.28, No4/5, page 64 and Vol.25/26, No.6/1 page 109).

• The Constitution-class is also present in the alternate Star Fleet Universe, where it served as the backbone of Starfleet from its inception in the Y120s to the advent of the General War and the related deployment of the Chicago-class New Heavy Cruiser. In the Star Fleet Universe, the Constitution design is descended from the Republic-class cruiser, the first in that universe's Federation fleet to possess the saucer and nacelle configuration. (Some of the older ships were refitted into Constitution-class ships over time, while others became part of the Federation National Guard, protecting the major member worlds.) In time, the advent of more advanced technology resurrected the ship design through the Vincennes-class vessels, a parallel evolution to that seen in the change from the TOS-era Enterprise to the TMP ship design. Notably, a number of the ships referred to in the original series (such as the Hood and the Excalibur) or listed in the Technical Manual (such as the Kongo) are expanded upon in the Star Fleet Universe – but due to the licensing restrictions under which ADB operate, the Enterprise herself is not detailed, though her registry is included.

[edit] Constitution-class registry

Although not considered canon, several sources have produced a long list of Constitution-class starships. The main source was Franz Joseph's Star Fleet Technical Manual, which listed over 100 Constitution-class ships divided into sub-classes: Constitution, Bonhomme Richard, Achernar and Tikopai. Ships of the class were later expanded by other publications such as Ships of the Star Fleet which included the Endeavour, Enterprise, and Enterprise (II) sub-classes.

[edit] Footnotes

¹ There may only be twelve Constitution-class ships as of "Tomorrow is Yesterday", but the line this is drawn from ("there are only twelve like it in the fleet") possibly suggests that the Enterprise should be excluded from the count, meaning there could be thirteen Constitution-class ships as of that date. It also may or may not exclude ships that were no longer in the fleet due to destruction or other reasons. However, The Making of Star Trek clearly states that at the time of the series' production, the intent was that there were only twelve ships, the Enterprise included. Or, this maybe just a reference to twelve other ships of that type; given that many variants of one ship can exist at the same time.

² The Star Fleet Technical Manual lists the Defiant as NCC-1717, although it was labeled on screen as NCC-1764.

• Registry numbers: Although the Star Trek Encyclopedia and other references provide complete registry numbers for many Constitution-class ships, these numbers are at best conjecture. Many of the Encyclopedia's numbers were derived from Greg Jein's "The Case of Jonathan Doe Starship," which assumed that the list seen on the wall at Starbase 11 in "Court Martial" were all Constitutions.

• Uncertain ships: These ships have been listed in various references as Constitutions, but were never seen on screen as such, and are therefore of uncertain class.

• "Starship"-class: If you read the dedication plaque on the bridge of the original Enterprise, it was actually listed as "Starship Class". The term "Constitution-class" came later, probably from "The Trouble with Tribbles", where the display that Scotty is reading shows a phaser bank diagram for a "Constitution-class" starship (according to an article by Greg Jein in a 1975 fanzine, that artwork also appeared in earlier episodes). Though it was "understood" to have been Constitution-class by both production staff, the first time it was actually referred to as such was by Captain Jean-Luc Picard in TNG: "The Naked Now". In "In a Mirror, Darkly" the Dedication plaque of the USS Defiant (NCC-1764) clearly states that she belongs to the Constitution-class (In "The Tholian Web", the plaque, which was of course Enterprises, could not be seen due to deliberate camera angles). Not being one of the ships listed in the original final names list (The Making of Star Trek, page 165) used by the production team of TOS, and although not being canon, this suggested two things; Firstly Starfleet changed its nomenclature from Starship-class to Constitution-class during the run of TOS and secondly, the Defiant belonged to a later batch of Constitutions (supported by the fact she has the highest registry number of all the definitively established Constitutions). Commisioned somewhere during TOS, she therefore had an unfortunately short career (At least in Treks prime universe).

• USS Yorktown: Gene Roddenberry suggested that the USS Enterprise-A was first designated as USS Yorktown, and later recommissioned as USS Enterprise-A, probably because Yorktown was one of the names for the ship being considered when TOS was going into production. Roddenberry felt that it would have been very unlikely that a brand new ship would have been constructed so fast after the destruction of the original Enterprise. Would this had become canon, the Yorktown would have been definitively been established as a Constitution-class vessel. This practice of Starfleet renaming a vessel for a very deserving other vessel was later established in DS9, when the USS São Paulo was rechristened USS Defiant as the latter was destroyed in the Dominion War.

• On a side note; The World War 2 carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6), after which Roddenberry named the NCC 1701, was a sister ship of the USS Yorktown (CV-5), belonging to the same "Yorktown"-class (the other one being the USS Hornet (CV-8), a name also considered by the aforementioned staff in an earlier draft of the names list. (The making of Star Trek, page 164)

[edit] See also

• Constitution-class decks
• Enterprise-class

[edit] External links

• Designing the Enterprise at Forgotten Trek - about Matt Jefferies' design of the Enterprise for The Original Series
• Designing the Starship Enterprise at Federation Starship Datalink
• Redesigning the USS Enterprise NCC-1701 at Federation Starship Datalink
• Redesigning the Enterprise at Forgotten Trek - about the design of the refit Enterprise for The Motion Picture
• Constitution class at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works