Among all of the memorable characters, colorful alien races, and life-lesson filled adventures that Star Trek offered, there will still always be one thing that is most associated with the franchise: The U.S.S. Enterprise. The spacecraft that Matt Jefferies based off of an electric stove coil is one of the most iconic designs in television, let alone science fiction, and the original model of the ship has been a part of the Smithsonian’s National Collection for over forty years.

The Smithsonian is currently restoring the original model from the 1960’s NBC series in order to have it hung in the Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. To show the model’s needed restoration, workers at the Smithsonian displayed the model to the press. TrekCore was in attendance and artist Nick Acosta had an idea. Using photos of the original model the fan site had taken, Nick was then inspired to create digital renderings of the original Enterprise and insert them into scenes from the Star Trek films.

Acosta chooses images from all over the film franchise, from newer films like Star Trek Into Darkness to Star Trek: The Motion Picture, since the original U.S.S. Enterprise has actually never made an appearance in any Star Trek film. The ship was redesigned for the first film in the franchise back in 1979. That version of the ship lasted three films before being destroyed, and yet another redesign was introduced shortly after. Of course the subsequent series would have their own versions of the Enterprise, and the 2009 would include yet another redesign. Despite all of these different ships sharing the same name, to many purists there is only one NCC-1701 and thanks to Nick, they can finally see it grace some of the more beautiful scenes from the big screen.

Also be sure to check out Nick’s tumblr page to see more GIFs showing how Nick combined the new and old Trek. Leave a comment below and let us know which one is your favorite Enterprise.