NCC-7100
NCC-7100 was the registry number of a Constellation-class starship.
A model of the vessel appeared in Captain Jean-Luc Picard's ready room aboard the USS Enterprise-D throughout its lifetime (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint," Star Trek Generations), although it was briefly replaced by that of a refit Constitution class starship at various points in 2364. (TNG: "The Battle")
- It is possible that the model did not represent an actual ship, which would explain why no name is present on the hull.
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Background
This model was the result of a collaboration between Andrew Probert and Rick Sternbach, using parts from two commercially-available AMT/Ertl Enterprise-A kits and detailing from several anime kits for The Super Dimension Fortress Macross, The Super Dimension Century Orguss, Gundam, and Crusher Joe. The largest of these anime model kit detailings were the wings and wing box assemblies of a VF-1 Valkyrie model kit from Macross. [1] [2].
An aft view of the model.
It first appeared in "Encounter at Farpoint" and, ironically, was absent during the first official appearance of a Constellation class ship in "The Battle," replaced with a refit Constitution class ship, as the Stargazer was originally intended to be a member of that class. Probert and Sternbach later persuaded the producers to build a new miniature for the Stargazer and the desktop model remained missing for additional episodes as it was needed for reference during the construction of the motion-control model. This later four-foot shooting model used parts tooled from scratch to replicate the model kit parts used in the desktop model, with the exception of the VF-1 Valkyrie parts since equivalent parts were found from a larger-scale kit.
This starship would still be referred to as the Stargazer by some members of the writing staff, notably in the script for "Chain of Command, Part I".
The yellow model's registry was accomplished by rearranging the "NCC-1700" registry decal available in the Constitution-class models. In reality, the registry numbers intended for use on the Constellation type vessels might've been that high, but the number NCC-2893 had already been used on the ship's plaque from the script (although at that time the ship was intended to be a refit Constitution).
Apocrypha
Portions of the Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual, co-written by designers and builders who worked on the model itself, include descriptions of starship prototype phases when new ships are painted with a yellow overcoat to reveal warp field stresses. Some fans have interpreted that Picard keeps the model because the starship NCC-7100's test flight was important to him in some way.