Hawaiian-born American artist and sculptor (1917–2003) who designed and built many of the original Star Trek's most famous props and creatures, including the communicator and the tricorder, largely without screen credit.
Wah Chang (1917–2003) was an American designer, sculptor and effects artist whose workshop supplied props, costumes and creatures to the original Star Trek as an outside contractor.
He is credited with the final design and construction of the flip-open communicator and the tricorder, and he built the Romulan Bird-of-Prey model seen in Balance of Terror. His creatures include the salt vampire of The Man Trap, the Balok puppet of The Corbomite Maneuver, the Gorn of Arena and the tribbles of The Trouble with Tribbles.
Because he was not a member of the studio's union workforce, most of this work went uncredited on screen, and his contribution became widely known only in later years.