 The Excelsior was a new design that ILM felt was a better rendition of a United Federation of Planets starship — sleeker and more modern than the Enterprise . The art department created concept sketches to show to Paramount , and at an art director 's urging model maker William George submitted another design , based on what he thought the Enterprise would look like if designed by the Japanese . Nimoy picked George 's angular and simplified take for production . While in the film , the Excelsior is supposed to be larger than its predecessor , the physical model was 12 inches ( 30 cm ) smaller than the Enterprise . 
