Version 3

The first movie installment for the Next Generation crew involved a story bridging the generations. The story opens with the launch of the USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-B, an Excelsior Class ship. The production team wanted to give the ship a fresh look and made some changes. On the surface it looked like they just added a few things, but in reality, they replaced the top of the saucer and the bottom of the secondary hull with new pieces, partially because the old pieces were showing wear and partly because of the extent of the changes.

While the logic of the changes can be questions, the changes did not much alter the character of the model.

For the first time, the original physical model shared the screen with a CG model, and also an enlargement of the main deflector.

It was the beginning of the end for the original model. She made one final appearance as the USS Lakota, NCC-42768 in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Further appearances by the ship were either the second physical model or a CG model.

In October 2006, the model was sold at auction through Christie's for $132,000. Originally it appeared to have gone to a private collector but it is presently with Science Fiction Archives. Both in preparation for the auction and during the auction, many photos of the model were taken and have appeared online.