This was mentioned on Starshipmodeler.com but I thought I'd cross post it over here too!
The guy who DESIGNED the Enterprise-D, Andy Probert, was contacted by Ed Whitefire, a guy with some ideas for the interior deck plans, but... we'll here's the story from Cloudster.com:
http://www.cloudster.com/Sets&Vehicles/STNGEnterprise/EnterpriseDPlans.htm
Phil Broad: "It was sometime during the first season of Next Generation's run on on TV that I mentioned in passing to Ed [Whitefire] that "someone" should see about doing plans of the new Enterprise, like the old Franz Joseph deck plans of the ship from the original series. Ed replied "that gives me an idea" and the rest is history."
Ed contacted Paramount Studios and eventually came in contact with Star Trek Art Department staff member Andrew Probert who listened to his idea. Andrew thought it was good and they agreed that Ed should do the "official" plans for eventual publication. It would be up to Ed to not only create the drawings but to find a publisher as well. This would prove to be no small task, the drawings would take two years of effort to design and draw and the search for publishers was not easy either. In the end the gaming publisher "FASA" was given the contract to publish and distribute the plans under their existing license with Paramount for Star Trek related products.
As Ed got going on the project some of his original pencil layouts would be displayed at the last Equicon science fiction convention held in Los Angeles and interest from the fans seemed reasonably high. After two years of effort and uncounted trips to the studio to confer with Andrew Probert, Rick Sternbach and Mike Okuda, the plans were finally ready for publishing. Ed had them duly copyrighted and all seemed well.
It was at this point that fate intervened when it was learned that FASA had let their license with Paramount expire and they could no longer publish the plans. Ed began to cast about for a new publishing house and it was during this process that he learned that Rick Sternbach had agreed to the Pocket Book offer to produce plans of the ship. Ed now had to watch as all his work was cast aside so someone else could publish the "official" plans. There proved to be little that Ed could do to stop the other project as by this time his friend Andrew Probert had left the Star Trek Art Department.
The new plans seemed to borrow heavily from Ed's work yet did not incorporate many of the design features that the ship's original designer (Andrew Probert) had intended. Only Ed's drawings do that.
