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What happened to the Ambassador-class?

Fun fact: The producers initially didn't want to spend budget money for building a new filming model of the Enterprise-C. They asked Rick Sternbach and Michael Okuda if they could instead use either the Excelsior or the Enterprise-A models to represent the ship, either by modifying the models to make them look different or changing the script to imply that the ship was an even older Enterprise. Luckily Greg Jein came to the rescue (as usual) and was able to build a new model in time and under budget.
 
Fun fact: The producers initially didn't want to spend budget money for building a new filming model of the Enterprise-C. They asked Rick Sternbach and Michael Okuda if they could instead use either the Excelsior or the Enterprise-A models to represent the ship, either by modifying the models to make them look different or changing the script to imply that the ship was an even older Enterprise. Luckily Greg Jein came to the rescue (as usual) and was able to build a new model in time and under budget.

Honestly, I kinds wish they'd used the Excelsior model and made her Enterprise-B instead. That would've had proper Monster Maroons and we would've avoided that messed up modification from Generations.
 
Honestly, I kinds wish they'd used the Excelsior model and made her Enterprise-B instead. That would've had proper Monster Maroons and we would've avoided that messed up modification from Generations.

The only problem that would have solved was that it would have eliminated the 20 year gap between the destruction of the C and the commissioning of the D (with the implication being that when the B was lost in 2344, they built the C, which then lasted 20 years until they built the D.) But then we wouldn’t have gotten the Ambassador class starship.
 
The only problem that would have solved was that it would have eliminated the 20 year gap between the destruction of the C and the commissioning of the D (with the implication being that when the B was lost in 2344, they built the C, which then lasted 20 years until they built the D.) But then we wouldn’t have gotten the Ambassador class starship.

Well, it also means that the official model of the Enterprise-B would almost certainly have been a normal Excelsior, unless I have my timelines wrong. "Yesterday's Enterprise" is from 1990, Generations is from 1994, and I thought the changes to the filming model were made for Generations. So when "Yesterday's Enterprise" was made, the fate - indeed, all the details really - of the Enterprise-B weren't defined yet, and the TNG team could've done whatever worked for them.
 
Well, it also means that the official model of the Enterprise-B would almost certainly have been a normal Excelsior, unless I have my timelines wrong. "Yesterday's Enterprise" is from 1990, Generations is from 1994, and I thought the changes to the filming model were made for Generations. So when "Yesterday's Enterprise" was made, the fate - indeed, all the details really - of the Enterprise-B weren't defined yet, and the TNG team could've done whatever worked for them.

You're not wrong. But...

Here's how I think our hypothetical scenario would have worked out had they not been able to build a new Enterprise-C model:

1. They would have used the Excelsior model, either with some modifications to make it into the C, or left it as is (which was the original version from STIII), and reworked the script to make it the B instead of the C. I think because they really wanted the ship to be the D's immediate predecessor, they probably would have made some minimal modifications to the model to make it the C.

3. Then by the next year for TUC (1991), they would have removed those C modifications to turn the ship back into the Excelsior.

2. By the time of Generations (1994), they would have added the modifications they did made to make the model into the B. So by 1994 I think the circumstances would have been the same.

Take the Reliant model, for instance. They heavily modified it into the Soyuz class for "Cause and Effect," then removed all those modifications and added some sensor pods to turn it into Sisko's Saratoga, then removed those and reinstalled the rollbar to turn it back into its original Reliant configuration for Generations. This would have been no different.

Overall, I'm happier that we got an actual new design for the C rather than having the Excelsior modified, because in the end, as I stated above, I don't think it would have made any difference as far as Generations was concerned.
 
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