We appreciate all your support on the 1:350 Klingon D7 die-cast model from Star Trek™. This is not possible without the passion from you! Since the last update, we have completed the CAD, prototype, and tooling model stages. Currently we have passed the first shot stage and are moving into the engineering pilot model.
The estimated shipping date is currently early 2027. Please see the updated date on the campaign page to March 2027.
What is the first shot stage? This is the first pass on creating the model in diecast. It will usually be painted bare metal (non-final color) and may or may not include electronics. Since this is the first pass in diecast metal it normal for there to be loose joints, light leaks and rough surfaces that will continue to be adjusted and finalized through the next rounds of engineering models.
This month, we have some imagery of the first shot model and another essay from Glen E. Swanson discussing what happened to the original Klingon D7 tooling model. If you would like to read the first essay in the series, please check the updates tab on the Backerkit campaign page. The October update will be posted within the first week and will include another essay from Glen E. Swanson.
(NOTE: This is the second in a series of four essays on the history of the two original Klingon ship models built by AMT. One was built for filming and the second was built as the tooling master to produce the AMT model kits. For a more in-depth account, please refer to my new book “Inspired Enterprise: How NASA, the Smithsonian and the Aerospace Community Helped Launch Star Trek” published by Schiffer).
In my first essay, I discussed the origins of the two original Klingon ship models that were made by AMT for Star Trek. In 1968 two master models were funded by the Michigan-based model company in exchange for the rights to make model kits of the ship. One model was built to be filmed for the television series, while the second model was constructed as a tooling master that would be used to produce the AMT model kits. These two Klingon ship models were constructed at AMT’s Speed and Custom Shop in Phoenix, Arizona which was headed by legendary hot rod builder Gene Winfield. This essay will examine what happened to the AMT tooling model. Essay 3 will chronicle what happened to the AMT-built filming model.
Stephen Whitfield played a crucial role in creating the original Klingon ship. Both Whitfield and Roddenberry were pilots, and Whitfield worked first for the advertising agency that handled the AMT contract and then was later employed by AMT. As a result, they grew close. Gene gave permission to Stephen to write “The Making of Star Trek” with the great bird of the galaxy granting the first-time book author half the royalties. This turned out to be financial windfall for Whitfield as the book went on to become a best seller.
Because of their friendship, after Star Trek ended, Roddenberry gave Whitfield the AMT tooling model. During an interview that I conducted in 2020 with one of Whitfield’s daughters, she recalled seeing the model while growing up, proudly placed on the mantelpiece of their home.
In 1998, while preparing for a minor surgical procedure, doctors discovered that Whitfield had leukemia. As a result, Whitfield sold his model that year to a private collector to help pay for his medical expenses. The model then made its way to public auction where fans of the show first became aware of its existence. On June 18, 1998, Christie’s Film and Television Auction 8115 sold the model as Lot 71 for $11,500. It was in this auction catalog that the overall length of the AMT tooling model is first reported to be 26 inches as opposed to the measured 29 inches of the filming model. Subsequent auction catalogs list the tooling model as being 26 inches in length, but this may simply be an error repeated by the auction houses (it has been known to happen).
Six months later, the model went up for auction again, this time at the Hollywood: A Collectors Ransom 5 auction held on December 12 where it reportedly sold for $35,000. This auction was run by Joseph Maddalena under “Pacific Design Center,” the name of his auction house before he formally changed it to Profiles in History. During this auction, a noticeable crack appears on the leading edge of the starboard side of the primary hull. It is hard to spot the flaw in photos, but it is there. It is not certain what caused the crack or when exactly it occurred. It may simply have been a natural crack caused by old age.
The AMT tooling master appears at auction a third time on March 31, 2004, at Profiles in History Auction No. 18 as Lot 211. It sold at this auction for $64,900 including buyer’s premium. The model then went up for auction a fourth and final time during the March 31, 2006, Profiles in History Auction No. 24 as Lot 311, where it sold for $65,000 to Microsoft’s co-founder Paul Allen. According to Memory Alpha, the deal was closed before the auction started which was why the model was not featured in the auction itself though it does appear in their catalog.
After being acquired by Paul Allen, the crack in the model was repaired, and the model repainted, prior to being put on display, along with numerous other original Star Trek props and models that the billionaire acquired, at his Seattle based museum. That museum originally went by the challenging name of Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame (or EMP/SFM) before it became the Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP) that we know today.
The museum was founded by Paul Allen and his sister Jody Patton. It opened its doors on June 18, 2004 and incorporated the Science Fiction Museum and Fantasy Hall of Fame where galleries displayed original Star Trek props and models including the AMT tooling model as well as Kirk’s original command chair from the bridge.
In 2018, MoPOP launched a new exhibit called Star Trek: Exploring New Worlds. The exhibit, which included the AMT tooling model, proved to be so popular that MoPOP created a traveling version using the same name that toured the country starting the following year. The last stop of the exhibit was at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles in 2022.
Stephen Whitfield died in 2000, and Paul Allen passed away in in 2018. Today, the fate of Allen’s collection including his Star Trek items remains in question. As of this writing, the AMT tooling model still remains in MoPOP’s possession.
AMT’s contributions to the creation of Star Trek’s original Klingon ship are undeniable. Matt Jefferies’ original iconic designs of both the starship Enterprise and the Klingon ship are an indelible part of the franchise. As one young fan wrote, “The most valuable things in our house are the TV which I can watch Star Trek on and my four Star Trek books, along with some models. About a month or two ago I had a real bad accident. I accidentally stepped on my Enterprise, and there went the best model in the world.”
