Enterprise-C Filming Model up for auction.

Thirty years later and it’s still a beauty.
I’m really surprised they built a second model! What happened to the original?
 
It wasn’t helpful that the Christie’s 2006 auction labeled this model the Enterprise C. But - it wasn’t and isn’t.
It turns out there are several known duplicates for example the Romulan warbird. In the end Greg chose to make two of some for “reasons”.

And remember almost every time you see a (physical) model blown up it is a duplicate too.
 
I actually prefer this one with the lower and more curved pylons (the nacelles even look better).

IIRC, the second model's pylons were just as long as the Enterprise-C's. Bu after the last time it was seen on screen (as the Yamaguchi in the first episode of DS9), the model was damaged with the nacelles broken off. When they were put back on they sunk into the pylons, making the pylons look shorter. It's just gotten worse over time. But they were never seen that short on screen.

The Yamaguchi model was supposed to have been one of the rescue ships at the end of Star Trek Generations, but it was deemed too expensive for ILM to refurbish the model and fix the damage. Presumably it was replaced by the Grissom model.

It turns out there are several known duplicates for example the Romulan warbird. In the end Greg chose to make two of some for “reasons”.

In the case of the Enterprise-C, it was probably easier to just make another model from the same mold than to refurbish the C from its battle damaged look.
 
Did Greg Jein create new masters for the second Ambassador class model? From what I’m reading and seeing, the secondary hull doesn’t feature the same shapes/layout as the original. It looks like it goes beyond shifting parts around.

I worry about taking that Ex Astris article at face value, as it also claims the battle damage on the C was just painted on, but I believe there are quotes from Jein saying that he used fireworks to cause the damage.
 
If he actually damaged the model it would make sense that creating a new one would be cheaper than repairing the original.
 
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