What Happened to the Original Models from "Star Trek?"

Question

I know now days when a TV show or movie is made, most of the ships are designed as CGI models, so it's possible to produce an entire movie or TV show without ever building a physical model of a space ship.

But I would think some models from earlier shows and movies would be desirable, to some, to have on display (or even in a private collection).

What happened to the models from the original Star Trek? I don't mean every single model, but do we know what happened to the Enterprise? How about the original Klingon or Romulan ships? And, as for the shuttlecraft, is there any information on what happened with the model or the mock-up exterior?

Answer 1

Well, I can't speak for all of the models, but some were auctioned off (check out pages 23 and 32 on the Christie's website). Many items from the Star Trek franchise (including at least one of the original starship models) had been stored in as many as seven warehouses until they were sold at auction.

You can find information regarding the Shuttlecraft mock up at the Star Trek Prop Authority.

And the original Enterprise is at the Smithsonian, in the gift shop, as is verified by the Smithsonian's own website.

Answer 2

I believe the original Enterprise model is in the Smithsonian. No idea about any of the rest.

Answer 3

Apparently, the creator of the Romulan ship destroyed it with a sledgehammer in his backyard after a contract dispute (to vent his frustrations over his bitter parting with Trek).

I believe the Klingon cruiser survived, but have no specific corroborating info for that notion.

And I have often wondered about the Doomsday Device (it sounds like it was fragile and probably just thrown out, but there are no specific details) and Tholian ships myself.

Answer 4

Many of the ships seen on the show were re-dresses of a ship that appeared on an earlier episode. So that's why there's no model of the Tholian ship and the Aurora. The Aurora was the Tholian ship with Klingon nacelles glued on. Actually, there appeared to be very few models made for the show. In many cases, the materials weren't the expensive part of model an miniature making, it was the labor and photography involved. And some of the models that were seen were evidently put together from existing plastic scale model kits or the cheapest materials they could find (available at arts and craft stores). The Fesarius was said to consist of a lot of styrofoam balls glued together. The Doomsday Machine was a cardboard tube like the type used for mailing posters and blueprints. Botany bay was taken from a model kit for a submarine. It stands to reason that many of these models deteriorated in storage or were discarded after they served their purpose. Other than Space Station K-7, I don't recall any other models seen on the show. A lot of enemy ships were barely visible points of light on the screen (achieved via photographic effects) or just plain convienently invisible (Bele's ship). So, if Wah Chang did destroy the Romulan Bird of Prey, and K-7 no longer exists (assuming it wasn't a matte painting) I would guess that other than the Enterprise, only the Klingon D7 survived the original series.