20 Things You Didn't Know About Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
12. The Filming Model Of The Enterprise Had Been Vandalised Between Shoots
When Associates And Ferren went to start their work with the model of the Enterprise-A, they discovered to their horror that it had been thoroughly changed between Star Trek IV and Star Trek V. While the ship had always been painted with a slightly iridescent paint which had, in fairness, made it difficult to shoot against blue-screen, it had since been slapped with a dull, matte grey all along one side.
It had been featured in Star Trek Adventure, a joint project between Universal Studios and Paramount Pictures. In the spring of 1988, an effects staffer had sprayed painted the matte grey on the model to avoid the blue-screen issue. So, when it came time to film Star Trek V, the ship had to be completely restored.
The process took weeks. David V. Mei was the senior modelmaker responsible for the refurbishment. He got on the phone with Ron Gress, the artist who had painted it back when Star Trek: The Motion Picture was in production so that he could remain true to his vision. While The Final Frontier would leave the model with even more issues that needed to be addressed in the production of Star Trek VI, the work required pushed the film's already tight shooting schedule back to the edge of breaking point.