So I've been chatting with a guy over at the TrekBBS who used to own the Enterprise-C filming model, and he dropped a little starship bomb: The Yamaguchi/Zhukov/Excalibur model is actually a separate and distinct model from the Enterprise-C!
He posted some pics of when he owned the C, taken in 2016:
For years it was understood that Greg Jein refurbished the Ent-C model to turn it into the Yamaguchi/Zhukov/Excalibur, with even Trek production staff confirming this. Turns out they were all a bunch of filthy ol' liars.
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
How about that! That’s really weird, considering how little we saw the non-damaged model. With only a quick skim of Memory Alpha, I think they only showed new footage of an Ambassador in Data’s Day, Redemption Part II, and Emissary. I wonder what the story is, and why everyone thought there was only one model for so many years.
Maybe they meant Greg redid the original mold model & recast new pieces to get the refit?
Also, I checked the date on this post first. Just to make sure.
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
Should let Bernd know, I'm sure he'd be interested...
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
Ah, the Ambassador class. Great starship class... or the greatest starship class?
Posted by Dukhat (Member # 341) on :
quote:Originally posted by Shik: Maybe they meant Greg redid the original mold model & recast new pieces to get the refit?
From Memory Alpha:
“The relatively radical redesign has actually led to some fan speculation that a second Ambassador-class model was built by Jein, but that notion was conclusively dispelled by several production staffers, who affirmed that Jein had indeed extensively modified the existing Enterprise-C model.”
So, as you say, I'm assuming that Jein either made minute changes to the mold before casting the Yamaguchi, or he started with an exact copy of the Enterprise-C post-mold and made the changes then. I would guess the latter.
quote:Originally posted by MinutiaeMan: How about that! That’s really weird, considering how little we saw the non-damaged model. With only a quick skim of Memory Alpha, I think they only showed new footage of an Ambassador in Data’s Day, Redemption Part II, and Emissary. I wonder what the story is, and why everyone thought there was only one model for so many years.
Data's Day: One shot of the Zhukov and the Enterprise flying away from the camera. Funny how a literally brand-new filming model was barely seen in its first appearance.
Redemption: The Excalibur footage was a mix of both new footage of the ship labeled 'Excalibur' and footage of the Ent-C from "Yesterday's Enterprise. The new footage was, again, the Excalibur flying away from the camera in Picard's fleet, but not the same footage as the Zhukov.
Emissary: Probably the best use of the model, as it's zipping around the scene firing phasers at the Borg cube.
After Emissary, the model got damaged and was crated away for the rest of the Berman Trek era. I did hear a rumor that ILM was going to refurbish the model for the final scene in Generations, but it cost too much to refurbish just the Nebula model, so they dropped that idea.
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
Bernd just messaged me on Twitter, he’s having problems logging into his account here. Could Krenim help with with that or would we have to summon the Capps somehow?
Posted by Bernd (Member # 6) on :
How good it is to check in every now and then. And to find my old password...
The Enterprise-C preserved with all details and battle damage - amazing!!!
I never understood why they would change the engineering hull so radically. Now it makes perfect sense.
Would the pictures from the owner of the Enterprise-C be available for reposting? We need the evidence after all.
Posted by Dukhat (Member # 341) on :
The guy from the TrekBBS who owned the model doesn’t own it anymore, and he wouldn’t tell me who owns it now. As far as I know, those four photos were the only ones the guy took of the model. But honestly, four photos is far better than no photos. Posted by Bernd (Member # 6) on :
Ok. How can I credit the guy?
Posted by Dukhat (Member # 341) on :
He’s Search4 on the TrekBBS.
Posted by Bernd (Member # 6) on :
Thanks. Consider it updated.
Posted by Dukhat (Member # 341) on :
I just chatted with Search4 again. He has more photos of the Enterprise-C which he’ll be putting in a Dropbox link.
Posted by Trimm (Member # 865) on :
This raises a few big questions. How did the Enterprise C model get into private hands, and why did they build a new one for the production rather than reuse this one?
Posted by o2 (Member # 907) on :
Wasn't there an auction in New York a couple of years ago? I remember that they sold all the physical models they build for TNG, DS9 and the movies.
Posted by Trimm (Member # 865) on :
Yes, and the Yamaguchi model sold there. If my memory serves, the auction catalog treated it as though it had started life as the Enterprise C.
Posted by Dukhat (Member # 341) on :
It was a private sale. Search4 wouldn’t give me the details, or tell me how the Ent-C ended up in the sale. He also wouldn’t tell me who he sold it to. Which was fine, since I completely believe that he had possession of the model up to 2016.
He did mention that he would always try to correct people in the past who thought there was only one model, Christie’s auction in particular where they were advertising the Yamaguchi model as the Enterprise-C.
As for the multiple models: it was his belief that once a mold was cast for a new filming model, Greg Jein would try to make at least two ships from the mold. He did this with the Romulan warbird, the Excelsior used for VOY’s “Flashback,” and apparently with the Ambassador class. It’s too bad he didn’t seem to do it with the Stargazer (one damaged model and one undamaged like the Yamaguchi.)
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