The USS Grissom was designed and built for Star Trek II by Industrial Light and Magic. The producers of the movie had requested a ship that the audience could clearly recognize as different than the Enterprise. The model also appeared in several later movies, as well as The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine.

This model was meant to be a quick project. As perfectionism prevailed, it quickly turned into a large undertaking. The model is the Sci-Fi Spaceship Miniatures Survey Class Vessel, an 11"-long vacuum-formed kit. The details, including the warp engine grilles, the impulse deck, and the aft sensor array were scratchbuilt. It is lit with LEDs, a total of 15. The paint is Testor's Acryl, airbrushed. Decals were purchased from JTGraphics. The panel lines were drawn on with 4H lead in a 2mm technical pencil. There is light weathering applied to the model by way of chalk dust.

The model was difficult to build, and accurizing and scratchbuilding the details was tedious. The project took a total of fifteen months of fairly constant work to complete.

Image: Front view

Image: Top/right

Image: Right/rear