I'm now very curious: If that Tribbles shot was the last time the model was modified then there are a bunch of shots that must have been taken before Tribbles but not used in shows until after Tribbles. Because (if I'm following correctly) now shots from the front of the ship would have been possible with the wiring in front of the pylon.
Of course it also occurs to me, looking over season one shots, that that wiring must have been moved around on semi regular basis depending on what angle they were shooting from.