![]() ![]() “Along with much of the Star Trek community, I was excited and pleased to learn that the original 3-foot filming model of the Starship Enterprise appears to have been discovered after being missing for decades (pending full authentication). He doesn’t feel the model should be in a private collection and hopes it will one day be kept in the collection of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, which currently maintains and houses the 11-foot shooting model of the U.S.S. If authenticated, Roddenberry plans to digitally scan and archive the model for future study as part of the Roddenberry Archive project. The eBay listing also got the attention of Gene Roddenberry’s son. TrekMovie received a statement from Rod Roddenberry, confirming that he is in contact, through an intermediary, with the person who has the model. The model sat on Gene Roddenberry’s desk for years Rod Roddenberry wants to secure the model for history (if it’s real) My father also wrote about the fact that it was a microphone stand that he used, which is shown in the current photos.” She also offered to confer with authenticators, saying “I may even have a piece left over from its construction.” Datin, Jr., the builder of the original model, offered her opinion on the model’s authenticity: “The business card on the bottom of the stand that it was put on for display on Gene’s desk is original business card at the time we lived in North Hollywood. UPDATE 2: In a comment on this article, Noel Datin McDonald, the daughter of Richard C. I reemphasize that this is simply my informed opinion.” Tiny details in the model match perfectly, and in my opinion, the eBay model is the real McCoy. Since then, I’ve made comparisons between hi-res, fairly obscure photos of the model in the 1960s and the eBay photos. After looking at the 16 photos posted online, I said that the model looked like the real thing, but that’s a far cry from ‘authenticating’ it, which would entail a full forensic examination of the model. Shortly after the news of the model’s reappearance broke, people started asking my opinion of it. UPDATE: Gary Kerr, in a statement to TrekMovie, shot down these rumors. Rumors circulated that Enterprise expert Gary Kerr had authenticated the model, and that he had purchased the model himself in a storage unit purchased at auction from the estate of filmmaker Burton Holmes, who died in 1958. Many fans continued to pore over the photos from the eBay listing to attempt to verify the authenticity of the model. Working from drawings by designer Matt Jefferies, Datin constructed and painted the model as a sub-contractor of the Howard Anderson Company, which was hired to do the special effects for Star Trek’s first pilot, “The Cage.” The model was used in behind-the-scenes photographs with Gene Roddenberry and series lead Jeffrey Hunter, and because it was available for shooting long before the more detailed, illuminated 11-foot model was ready, it was used as a shooting model for most of the ship exterior shots in “The Cage,” and for the famous fly-by shots in the show’s opening credits sequence.ĮBay listing for lost model (via the rpf.com) Enterprise, built mostly out of wood by Richard C. The model in question is a 3-foot (actually 33 inches) pre-production model of U.S.S. I can confirm that I am now, through an intermediary, in contact with the individual who possesses the model.” The first USS Enterprise disappears In a statement to TrekMovie, Roddenberry says: “Along with much of the Star Trek community, I was excited and pleased to learn that the original 3-foot filming model of the Starship Enterprise appears to have been discovered after being missing for decades (pending full authentication). TrekMovie can confirm that Rod Roddenberry, son of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and the President of Roddenberry Enterprises, is actively trying to authenticate and acquire the model that sat on his father’s desk at Paramount for years. But just a couple of weeks ago it appeared to resurface in an eBay listing, which was soon suspended after fans started buzzing about the potential historical importance of this model. Enterprise from The Original Series went missing, and for the last 46 years, no one has known where it is, or whether it had been destroyed. In 1977, the first shooting model of the U.S.S. One of the longest-running Star Trek mysteries may be on the verge of being solved. ![]()
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