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Although OP is satisfied with the answer to their question, @henning-kockerbeck also nails it on the head, but for a different reason.

Its a question of which came first, and in this case, the Enterprise being filmed left to right came last, and film theory as taught in Western culture, came first.

The usual case is that a bunch of story boards are made up in pre-production. These little 'picture-grams' give an idea of the movement or action on screen and usually gives visual cues as to direction of travel and movement, usually again with arrows and or descriptions. The model shop with this knowledge and through experience then builds the model knowing that at least one of the sides is going to be fitted with not only wiring but also the supporting rod for when it gets filmed.

This meant the physical model, at the very least, is built, complete, all around (using the Enterprise as the example), with around 5 points for the armature rods to be plugged into. This then allows the model to be filmed from a variety of angles as dictated by the director.

The primacy of the “right” hand is often repeated in popular culture, and the films themselves reflect this perspective. For example, an important monologue from the classic film Night of the Hunter (1955) overtly describes this belief structure:

Would you like me to tell you the little story of right hand left hand? 
The story of good and evil? 
H-A-T-E…it was with this left hand that old brother Cain struck the blow that laid his brother low. 
L-O-V-E…you see these fingers, dear hearts? 
These fingers has veins that run straight to the soul of man.
The right hand, friends, the hand of love.

"The editor, Peter Tanner, showed me a clip of film in which the Compass Rose was sailing from left to right across the screen. 'Now, that is exactly the shot I need to show the ship returning to Liverpool – but the ship is going the wrong way.' I asked him what he meant and he said 'The eye of the viewer accepts anything travelling from left to right as going away from home, anything going from right to left is returning home."

Here's another example, illustrating the use of concept artwork and use of directions or visual cues in storyboards:  

Of course, (film) rules are made to be broken:  

Although the OP is satisfied with the answer to their question, @henning-kockerbeck also nails it on the head, but for a different reason.

It's a question of which came first, and in this case, the Enterprise being filmed left to right came last, and film theory as taught in Western culture, came first.

The usual case is that a bunch of story boards are made up in pre-production. These little 'picture-grams' give an idea of the movement or action on screen and usually gives visual cues as to direction of travel and movement, usually again with arrows and or descriptions.

The model shop with this knowledge and through experience then builds the model, knowing that at least one of the sides is going to be fitted with not only wiring but also the supporting rod for when it gets filmed.

This meant the physical model, at the very least, is built, complete, all around (using the Enterprise as the example), with around 5 points for the armature rods to be plugged into.

This then allows the model to be filmed from a variety of angles as dictated by the director.

The primacy of the “right” hand is often repeated in popular culture, and the films themselves reflect this perspective. For example, an important monologue from the classic film Night of the Hunter (1955) overtly describes this belief structure:

Would you like me to tell you the little story of right hand left hand?
The story of good and evil?
H-A-T-E…it was with this left hand that old brother Cain struck the blow that laid his brother low.
L-O-V-E…you see these fingers, dear hearts?
These fingers has veins that run straight to the soul of man. The right hand, friends, the hand of love.

The editor, Peter Tanner, showed me a clip of film in which the Compass Rose was sailing from left to right across the screen. 'Now, that is exactly the shot I need to show the ship returning to Liverpool – but the ship is going the wrong way.' I asked him what he meant and he said 'The eye of the viewer accepts anything travelling from left to right as going away from home, anything going from right to left is returning home.

Here's another example, illustrating the use of concept artwork and use of directions or visual cues in storyboards: 

Of course, (film) rules are made to be broken: 

And since film predates videogames, you see this in videogames too:

The Cruel Sea, uses ships of a different kind, and shows that the direction a hero takes is not related just to a fight but rather its journey too, as described in Donald Sinden's "Laughter in the Second Act":

"The editor, Peter Tanner, showed me a clip of film in which the Compass Rose was sailing from left to right across the screen. 'Now, that is exactly the shot I need to show the ship returning to Liverpool – but the ship is going the wrong way.' I asked him what he meant and he said 'The eye of the viewer accepts anything travelling from left to right as going away from home, anything going from right to left is returning home."

(My emphasis)

And since film predates videogames, you see this in videogames too: