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Battlestar Galactica Group Build


SteveV22FE

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Man, I LOVE digital photography. I just painted the section aft of the intakes, photographed it and now you guys are seeing it!!!

 

I also love building sci-fi subject. You can pretty much do whatever you want with them, because there really is no right or wrong, unless you are going to follow the canon of the story line, i.e. Star Wars or Star Trek , BSG....

 

Also, when I do a sci-fi subject, I rarely use the decals. I paint them on. For this subject they are pretty easy, I didn't follow the decal guide. I did my own thing and did markings that I thought looked good.

 

I am still wondering if I should weather it and make it look good and use or keep it a prestine factory fresh Viper.

 

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Edited by SteveV22FE
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I usually weather my Sci Fi stuff....I can hide all the mistakes I made under grime, grease, and phaser burn marks.

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I'm the voice of disagreement here.

 

I like your Colonial Viper pretty much the way you have it now. "Heavy" weathering may be appropriate for a tank that has been in the field too long, but a fighter craft like the Viper is maintained on the flight deck or in the hanger bay. It would not say much for the deck crew if they allowed their fighters to look like they have been submerged in mud; they would not pass the commander's inspection. "Light" weathering I can accept to bring out details. Combat damage, if you choose to add it, is another matter entirely.

 

I especially like seeing the pilot warrior in the cockpit. Any pictures of your cockpit details before you closed it up with the canopy?

 

Ed

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ewahl,

 

If you look at my X-Wing Fighter that I built a few years back, I used various pastels and chalks to enhance or lighten details. I was thinking of a similar effect with the Viper.

 

http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/Gal8...-Eggers/08.shtm

 

http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/Gal8...-Eggers/14.shtm

 

http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/Gal8...-Eggers/15.shtm

 

http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/Gal8...-Eggers/16.shtm

 

http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/Gal8...-Eggers/17.shtm

Edited by SteveV22FE
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I like to weather the space stuff. To digress a bit, in the A.C.Clarke book, 2010, he describes the Discovery as being yellow and weathered due it its proximity to one of Jupiter's moons which has volcanic eruptions.

 

Besides, as you pointed out, there is no right/wrong and anything the builder wants to do with the model, the finish, or the decals is a matter of personal taste.

 

I seldom use pastels or chalks to weather....they tend to be damaged by handling. I have, on occasion, used MIG pigments and Tamiya weathering powders....I tend toward the Tamiya when I go that route.

 

Mostly I weather with a fine mechanical pencil for deep shadowing and then use a fine tip airbrush for everything else.

 

For phaser burns one can start with a "natural metal" area which is then oversprayed with the color of the surrounding surface....so that the edge of the natural metal area (representing the "hit" zone) is feathered into the surrounding, undamaged skin. With that area one can apply grays, maroons, greens, yellows, or anything that one wishes with an airbrush. The idea is to achieve a feathered transition from one color to the next and everything just kind of wispy and thin. Don't know how else to describe it....just whatever pleases the builder's eye.

 

BTW, I use that mechanical pencil (very fine tipped) to trace around panel lines and seams...it really looks neat when finished.

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I decided to lightly weather it and abandon the old worn out look. This was done with artists pastel black, drak gray and light gray powered and then mixed.

 

The overall color ov the model is Model Master Camoflage Gray. The red is Model Master RLM Rot. The section just aft of the intakes and the recess on the side of the fuselage is Model Master Jet Exhaust and the laser cannons and exhaust is Model Master Metalizer Gunmetal. The glare shield and canopy framing and the panels on the sides of the fuselage is Model Master Gunship Gray.

 

The Model has a 3/8" hole on it already, so I used a piece of clear acrylic rod, bent with a heat gun to give the ship attitude in flight. The base is a 99 cent base from Hobby Lobby cleaned up and the edges stain with whatever I happened to grab out of the cabinet in the garage and the gloss black is a generic gloss black out of the rattle can.

 

I used the kit base decal and applied to my wooden base. To my surprise the balcks match and it just seemed to disappear when I put it down.

 

Enjoy!

 

Cockpit

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Nice job! BTW...I like the base and display stand. The angle of flight allows for one to see not only the upper surface but the lower surface as well. The original base put the model in a horizontal line of flight about two or three inches off the table....can't see underneath.

 

So, what's next?

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BRAVO!!!! :smiley32: Your restraint on the weathering makes it look stunning! Thanks for including the photo with the canopy off so the cockpit interior shows. I hope mine can look as good as this when it is finished.

 

Ed

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So, what's next?

 

I need to finish the Cylon now. I found some great pics of the studio model and I will paint it to match. I am going to do it in flight in the same fashion as the Viper.

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Steve,

Would you consider heading up a Group Build featuring BattleStar Galactica models? There are several Group Builds winding down at the end of the month (there's a thread for Group Builds) and it sounds like there are some folks who would be interested in a BG build project. I've got a Cylon Base Star (one of the "new" releases) that I'd do.... Perhaps Ed would like to join in?

I can ask the Associate Webmaster to set up an Album on the Events page so that the pics (wip and finished) could be displayed there as well as here.

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Steve,

Would you consider heading up a Group Build featuring BattleStar Galactica models? There are several Group Builds winding down at the end of the month (there's a thread for Group Builds) and it sounds like there are some folks who would be interested in a BG build project. I've got a Cylon Base Star (one of the "new" releases) that I'd do.... Perhaps Ed would like to join in?

I can ask the Associate Webmaster to set up an Album on the Events page so that the pics (wip and finished) could be displayed there as well as here.

 

Sure! Like I said, I have a 30th Anniversary Cylon Raider to finish up and a Mk II Viper from the Reimagined BSG series on the way.

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Rules, Guidelines and Information.

 

The group-build period starts on September 1, 2010 and will finish on March 1, 2011.

 

This GB will be a tribute to Battlestar Galactica, the original series as well as the re-imagined series.

 

The GB guidelines will be simple.

 

1. Anything that represents a legitamate Battlestar Galactica spacecraft is eligible for the group build. The build is open to any scale.

 

2. The model can be in any state of completion. Resurrect an old project if you have one.

 

3. Scratch-building is allowed, as is any after market components. Also, cannibalizing and kit bashing is allowed to get a correct result.

 

4. This build is not limited to aircraft. Concept vehicles are allowed. Also, drawing board concepts are allowed.

 

5. Prizes??

 

But most of all: Build a kit and have fun!

Edited by SteveV22FE
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I'm in and thanks for setting this up!

Any deadline for the end of the Group Build?

 

I'll do a Cylon Base Star.

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Actually, I'm working on the Mobius Mk. II from the new series & she's almost ready for paint. So I'm in, plus I have all of those Black Sun 1/72nd resin kits on hand.

 

So count me in

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Sounds like fun - count me in with a Classic Viper.

 

Jim

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You guys have captured my interest. I'm going to have to stop procrastinating on my BSG diorama for which I completed the scale drawings (based on the original Monogram Colonial Viper with the front "torpedo") in 1987. I worked from the studio's BSG set plans and videotaped episodes for the details. The internet links and photos came later, and they verified what I had drawn up earlier was correct.

 

I have the completed original Cylon Raider (with the two "torpedos") in my showcase, but I built it almost 30 years ago without paint on the hull. As I recall I was not too impressed with the fit of the upper and lower hull pieces and had large gaps to fill. I'll post a couple of pictures here.

 

The Cylon Base Star would be vastly improved simply by sanding off the extra rim thickness on each of the four conical hull sections. You have removed enough material when the launch overruns come to a point rather than to a blunt end. You will lose no rim detail with this corrective sanding. As always, check your reference photos for the proper appearance. Think of this as thinning the trailing edge of a too-thick wing on an aircraft model, something we do not hesitate to do.

 

This will have to fit in with a few other projects that need completion during this time frame: 1/72 Heller F-86F, 1/35 Italeri M-978 Fuel Tanker, scratchbuilt 2001 Space Pod diorama, 1/144 Trumpeter SSN 21 Seawolf submarine, and others in the pipeline.

 

Happy living in the BSG universe.

 

Ed

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Steve asked me to merge his thread detailing his Colonial Viper build with this Group Build topic. Unfortunately, the two merged according to time/date posted, leaving this group build's description a bit confusing. In the interest of sanity, I'm reposting the original Group Build notice here:

 

Rules, Guidelines and Information.

 

The group-build period starts on September 1, 2010 and will finish on March 1, 2011.

 

This GB will be a tribute to Battlestar Galactica, the original series as well as the re-imagined series.

 

The GB guidelines will be simple.

 

1. Anything that represents a legitamate Battlestar Galactica spacecraft is eligible for the group build. The build is open to any scale.

 

2. The model can be in any state of completion. Resurrect an old project if you have one.

 

3. Scratch-building is allowed, as is any after market components. Also, cannibalizing and kit bashing is allowed to get a correct result.

 

4. This build is not limited to aircraft. Concept vehicles are allowed. Also, drawing board concepts are allowed.

 

5. Prizes??

 

But most of all: Build a kit and have fun!

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Photobucket is having problems tonight, so I can't download images without waiting many minutes for the screen to function properly. Here's one I did get to download. It's a drawing I made in 1987. You should recognize the subject and layout. This is just to get you in the mood for more drawings and then some test shots to check the basic setup and appearance.

 

BSG2.jpg

 

 

Lots more to come.

 

Ed

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