However, there’s this picture:
The model clearly has the new bridge dome and B/C deck assembly, but still has the pin striping (look at the inner saucer) and the registry is missing. The arrowhead insignia is also missing from the secondary hull, so it’s obvious the model is in the middle of a re-paint, but was this before or after the a/c accident? If it’s before the a/c accident, why is the registry missing? It was clearly applied in the earlier promo test picture. If it’s after the a/c accident, then why are the pin stripes still there, and when was the dome replaced? It’s an odd beast that neither confirms or denies either theory.
Going by an interview given by James Dow in “Return to Tomorrow…” The above photo was taken after the model was delivered to Bob Abel’s shop.
"During their involvement with The Motion Picture, Robert Abel & Associates operated its own art department and physical VFX production company, at the time located on Seward St, Los Angeles, under the name Astra Image Corporation, especially created for the Star Trek production and also headed by Abel, it closely cooperating with Paramount’s studio model shop, Magicam – legally sub-contracted by ASTRA for the build of the studio models – "
Dow says that after the Enterprise model was finished and taken to Abel’s facility that a great number of people insisted on having input on the models finished look. Modelers were adding plating to the hull and making many changes that made the model much more “nurneyed”. Star Trek was a big deal with lots of publicity and a number of people (who should not have) wanted a say in design so as to have their figurative “initials” carved into the finished product. Things got way out of hand because of a lack of control at Abel’s.
It was at this time that the changes had been made to the bridge, the navigation dome, and forward sensor array. Mark Stetson says that because of these changes the model had to be re-painted and that Paul Olsen was hired back to supervise that. More lighting was also added.
The model soon after went into limbo for a few months when it looked like Bob Able was being removed from the project. The changes to the model were finally stopped as soon as Doug Trumbull took control and had the model moved to his workshop.