An oversized 12.5-foot 1:24-scale Leonov model miniature from Peter Hyams' 2010: The Year We Make Contact. The Soviet spacecraft Leonov forms the dramatic backbone of the film: with the abandoned Discovery and its sentient computer HAL 9000 threatened by orbital decay above Jupiter's moon Io, Cold War tensions are set aside as a joint Soviet-American crew boards the Leonov for a race to the stricken ship. Later, warned by the noncorporeal commander David Bowman (Keir Dullea), the remaining crew uses the Discovery as a booster rocket for the Leonov, allowing everyone to escape together.

The model was designed by visual futurist Syd Mead, whose prior credits included Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Tron, and Blade Runner, and built at Entertainment Effects Group (EEG, later Boss Film Corporation) under model shop supervisor Mark Stetson, with visual effects overseen by four-time Academy Award winner Richard Edlund ASC. Edlund called the Leonov models "probably the most complex ever built for a space film," a distinction owed to the ship's rotating crew quarters section, which Hyams introduced to generate visual dynamism in deep-space photography. The hero model was built in five sections — bridge, forward section, docking mast, crew quarters core, and rear engine section with cooling fins — formed from jelutong patterns, RTV molds, and epoxy and polyester fiberglass castings. The large model carried ten points of articulation driven by internal stepper motors, comprising a panning and tilting main antenna, a telescoping and rotating grabber arm, engine covers that swing open, and outer engine banks that rotated and swung forward, in addition to the rotating crew quarters.

Conceived as a Soviet counterpoint to the sleek Discovery, Mead's deliberately brutalist, utilitarian design reflected what he described as "a working complex or habitat with a rocket motor attached." The ship's rotating midsection and modular axis-mounted architecture prefigured the Omega-class destroyers of Babylon 5.

Originating from the Planet Hollywood collection, this model miniature is made of fiberglass and resin and finished with greebles throughout. It was constructed around an aluminum beam containing wiring that had been used to illuminate the ship before being cut. It retains simulated rocket boosters at one end and rotating crew quarters sections at the center, affixed with satellite-like appliances. Also included is a box of loose and detached pieces belonging to the model miniature. The model remains in a fragile state, with many small pieces being only loosely attached. This lot shows chipped paint in addition to wear consistent with on-set use, handling, and age. Dimensions: 60" x 139" x 47.5" (152.5 cm x 353 cm x 120.75 cm)

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