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| - While never referenced as such in neither the movie nor the script, in that process the D7/Koro-class became the K'tinga-class, coined as such by the movie's Executive Producer Gene Roddenberry in his novelization of the movie, written at the time. As indicated, the most significant change in the design of the K't'inga model was its more detailed surface, so that it would look more believable on the movie screen. The K't'inga-class cruiser sequence shots for Star Trek: The Motion Picture were shot under the supervision of Dykstra. (Cinefex, No.1, 1980, pp. 4-34) The footage taken for this movie were the only ones taken of the model in this finish. [1] Later appearances in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek: The Next Generation were stock footage taken from this shoot. For Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country the original studio model underwent extensive modification in 1991 for it to become Gorkon's flagship Kronos One. Originally, a new design for Gorkon's ship was considered, but budget restrictions, due to the dismal box-office performance of the previous movie outing, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, made this impracticable, as Industrial Light & Magic (ILM)'s model maker Bill George recalled, "Paramount had already done some design work on this ship. Mark Moore and I did some additional sketches and I actually built a prototype. But it was ultimately decided that there wasn't money for this, so instead they decided to use the Klingon battlecruiser from Star Trek: The Motion Picture." That entailed more work than George had anticipated as the model had suffered from years of storage, but he made use of the opportunity to perform modifications. These, done at ILM's model shop by him, Moore, and John Goodson, involved a new paint scheme and gold colored metal etched ornaments applied all over the model. [2] George further elaborated: "Originally, it was dark green in color; but after uncrating the model, we found it had been covered with a white water-based paint. It looked like someone had tried to clean it off, but that hadn't worked. Since we were going to have to repaint it, we thought that even if it wasn't a new model this was still going to be a special ship, so we figured we'd make it look different – distinctive from what we'd seen in previous films. Mark and I sent out to the library for books on military hardware; and out of that research, we came up with the concept that when Klingons return victorious from battle, they add some new piece of equipment or new graphics to their ships. We chose medieval armor as both our color palette and our design springboard and devised this regal and ornate looking paint job, which everyone liked and approved, so we transferred that look onto the model." (Cinefex, no.49, 1992, p.49) In addition the warp engines were outfitted with internal lighting visible through newly-applied jagged slotted patterns to the hull. George was exceedingly pleased with the end result, having remarked on another occasion, "It was one of the few models we could alter to look new for this show. After we did some research into military costuming, we came up with the concept that when these ships return victorious from battle, the Klingons build some sort of epaulet onto their wings. we added these golden etched brass epaulets, based on some of the helmet designs we'd seen. It looks very regal, and contrasts nicely with the Enterprise when they are flying together. The Enterprise is smooth, monochromatic and cool, while this Klingon ship is adorned, ostentatious and warm" (Cinefantastique, Vol 22 #5 1992, p. 49) Upon completion of The Undiscovered Country, the model was almost immediately loaned out to the Smithsonian Institution for their Star Trek Smithsonian Exhibit, where it was shortly re-united with its "mother", the original D7-class model. [3] It went on to be included in the February 1995 opening leg of the Star Trek: The Exhibition tour in Edinburgh, Scotland. Yet, visual effect supervisors of the ongoing Star Trek productions had more uses for it in mind, resulting in that the model in this finish was used twice more. The first time was for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's seasons four double episode, "The Way of the Warrior" . Returning in late May 1995 with the Negh'Var model, also slated to feature heavily in the episode, from the The Exhibition, Effects Supervisor Gary Hutzel was dismayed when he discovered that both models were severely damaged, "Apparently when the Neg'Var model got to customs they thought there might be drugs hidden in it so they broke it open. When it came back it was broken in pieces. That was a nasty surprise. The Klingon heavy cruiser was also damaged. We had to quickly make Styrofoam mock ups of those ships and shoot around them until we could have the repairs done." Needing a multitude of Klingon ships for that production, Co-Effects Supervisor Glenn Neufeld, exclaimed at the time, "We had a kit of the old-style cruiser and shot the full size cruiser that Industrial Light and Magic [sic.] built for the features." (Cinefantastique, Vol 28 #4/5, 1996, p. 72) The second and, as it turned out, the last time, the model was used by effects supervisor Dan Curry as Kang's battle cruiser for Star Trek: Voyager's third season anniversary episode, "Flashback" . A design patent, No. D263856, was issued by the US Patent and Trademark Office for the K't'inga on 4 April 1982 (there called a "toy spaceship") noted Andrew Probert as the sole "inventor" of the design. Filed on 7 May 1979, the patent, after being issued, was valid for fourteen years. The original physical studio model was eventually listed as Lot 996 in the 40 Years of Star Trek: The Collection auction, where it was given an estimated sale price of US$3,000 to $5,000; it ultimately sold for US$85,000 ($102,000 with premium) on 7 October 2006. After its purchase, the owner hired Ed Miarecki's company, FX Models, to do restoration work and to build a custom made display cabinet for the model. [4]
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