Where is…The Starship Enterprise Model Now?

Star Trek was a great part of my childhood. The Starship Enterprise or USS Enterprise was as big of a character as Spock or Captain James T. Kirk.

The USS Enterprise was designed by the original TV show’s Art Director Walter M. Jefferies, with input from series creator Gene Roddenberry. The ship’s registration number, NCC-1701, was inspired by Jefferies’ own 1935 Waco YOC airplane – which had the registration number NC-17740.

Two models of the Enterprise from the original series are still known to exist. The main model measures about 11 feet long, 32 inches high, and weighs about 200 pounds. That is a huge model.

It was made mostly of wood and formed plastic. The two engine pods were made using sheet metal tubes.

A second model, measuring about 18 inches long, was also used for some special effects shots in the series. It was made and fitted with blinking lights.

In 1974, the large Enterprise model was donated by Paramount Pictures to the Smithsonian Institute. It has been on display at their Air and Space Museum.

Walter’s brother John Jefferies owned the smaller model until December of 2001… it was then sold to a private collector.

So if you want to see the large USS Enterprise you will have to go to the Smithsonian. It is the one that appeared in every episode.

Restoring the original model at the Smithsonian. If you want to read about it…cool article here… https://www.popularmechanics.com/culture/tv/news/g2454/the-restoration-of-the-original-star-trek-enterprise-is-underway/

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

24 thoughts on “Where is…The Starship Enterprise Model Now?”

  3. I was around nine days old when it debuted.

    Did you happen to notice that, throughout the series, the engine pod caps kept changing?

    You have posted three times, today and four times, yesterday. You in a race with someone?

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    1. Only 3 yesterday… I did the Mash late Friday night… I usually do 3 Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and one on the others…
      I am cutting it down to two on the weekends each day… I actually made more but I am saving them for this week.

      No race for me… just a habit…

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      1. I’d love to have it too! But yeah, what you need that for? It’s not like it’s big enough to park it in the desert and have some people stand next to it filming a show saying it crashed on an alien planet. So why an 11 foot long one?

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      2. I know. It looks like it would hinder the filming of the space scenes…maneuvering it to show flying. You bring up a great point. I want to find that out now. The times they used it was against the stars I believe…so why make it so damn big?

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  5. So cool to know the Enterprise is there to see whenever. I love those lights on it; to be honest never looked at it too closely when watching the show. My favorite will always be the original crew but I know there have been many spinoffs from it.

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