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So, I ordered myself 2 of the Moebius BSG Viper Mark II's, and I couldn't help myself. I had to dive right in. I'm doing a little detailing work right off the bat, and I'm also going to do a bit of a review of the kit. The review bit will point out a 2 different areas: The kit, the "real thing." You should know that Moebius based their kit on the CGI models of the Viper, and they hit it spot on. However, there are some significant differences between the full-size prop ship and the CGI model, which I'll try to address here. By the way, "FSP = Full Size Prop"

The first modification I made. Having square corners on the instructions just seemed wrong for this kit.

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Next, the cockpit: I thought Moebius did a pretty good job with this, but in 1/32 scale, I could have gone for more and crisper detail. That having been said, They did a great job making a solid plastic version of the CGI Model. The cockpit parts fit together well, and everything looks like it'll lock into place, making for a very solid model to whoosh around the room when it's done. I added some solid detail, using pics of the FSP Viper, to add to my cockpit. Moebius uses decals for all the gauges, and I wanted a little more texture than that in my ship.

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You can see that I added some slices of plastic rod for altimeter, artificial horizon, etc gauges, as well as some little squares to represent the buttons around the big MFD in the middle. I'll use the clear glass panel and the DRADIS decal to fill in the screen details. Interesting note: The control stick in the Mk II is a Saitek F-15E computer joystick. (if you've got a spare Strike Eagle or Hornet stick laying around, you can use it here!) Also, if you see how the pilot figure sits in the seat, the stick would be in a really uncomfortable position.

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I used some guitar string and thin plastic rod to add some piping detail to the engine. This detail is readily seen on the FSP ship, but isn't really obvious on the CG model. ( I really wish Moebius had molded the engine detail as a separate part.)

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Here's a comparison with the original part.

The detail on the nose is pretty good, but I added some different detail from the FSP ship.

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You can see on the top fuselage half, that I replaced the square-cross-section detail with a half-round part, and I also drilled out the hole in the forward part. (The Paragraphix PE set has a piece for the half-round shape.) I'm a little befuddled as to why the thruster ports are all represented as decals, as is the circular maintenance hatch under the cockpit. I guess once you start making holes for thrusters, then you open up a real can of worms as to "how deep should they be, what do they look like inside, etc."

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This next issue isn't Moebius's fault, it's ZOIC's ( the FX company for BSG, who designed the Viper.) The nose-landing gear bay is very shallow, really too shallow to hold all that nose gear. I'm leaving this one alone. Moebius didn't include the catapult hookup on the nose-gear either. Again, it's on the FSP, but not on the CGI model.

So far, I'm really enjoying this build. It's really eye-opening to see the differences between the CGI model and the "real" FSP ship. If you're going by the straight CG ship, Moebius hit this one out of the park. As a kit, it's fitting together well, and should finish into a really tough, strong model, great for those 1/32 dogfights. I could stand to see the detail a little crisper on many of the parts, and I really wish Moebius had gone for a higher parts count on this kit. There's a lot of piping and wiring that are "half round" where a separate piece could have added some great depth. The same goes for the cockpit, where a separate seat would have been really nice, or the engines, where separate pieces for the exposed detail could have really made it pop. OF course, this is a gripe I have with almost every model I've ever built.

If you're thinking of loading it with missiles, the external hardpoints were never shown on screen, but they attach at the "notches" in the wings. The Viper's missile armament is internal, and fires out from under the cockpit. IF you look head on, the little holes on either side of the long oval opening are the missile tubes. Yes, the missiles have to be really little.

As for references, the best site I've found for pictures of the Viper is www.modelermagic.com. They've got a lot of great BSG stuff, as well as other Sci-Fi models/ships/artwork

The FSP ship The cockpit pictures that look like they have WAY too many switches and knobs and the F-4 side-stick aren't a Viper. Those are the Blackbird's cockpit. The Viper cockpit is remarkably barren.

EDIT: Yeah, it IS the Viper cockpit, AND the Blackbird. That's the cockpit-set mockup that they used when they needed to show all the buttons/switches in the cockpit. It was basically a cockpit for whatever fighter they needed at any given point. The Moebius kit's cockpit (and mine) are based on the FULL FSP's cockpit. My bad. Carry on.

The CGI Model that Moebius based their model on.

Edited by RedHeadKevin
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ok, you guys are just trying really hard to get me in trouble with SWMBO aren't you? I told her I'd build at least a few kits before I bought anything else....but you ya'll keep posting this stuff and well...well it's making me weak. I...... can't......resist...the urge...to BUY!!!!!

Bill

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New pics! I spent this afternoon working on landing gear. Again, the gear on the model are very accurate to the CGI model, but not to the FSP. So I tried to spruce them up a bit.

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Main LG: I reworked the "ankle" joint, and did some sanding. The halves of the legs don't fit perfectly, so there's a big step along the joint. Be more careful than I was when building these. The original leg is on the left, my modified one is on the right.

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Nose gear: I added the catapult hook, and reworked the ankle joint.

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Close up of the catapult hookup.

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I also worked on the control stick a little, to make it look more like an F-15E/F-18 stick.

Edited by RedHeadKevin
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Little update before painting:

I wanted to add some of the little details to the airframe, so I made up the little "rescue" latches under the canopy. It's 1/8" tube, bored out, some .080" 1/2 round, and some .040x.040" strip. They go right into some 1/8" holes drilled through the fuselage.

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I also didn't like the seat cushion. 1, it didnt' look anything like the FSP Viper's seat, and 2. It looked too flat and boring to me. SO, using some sidewalk sheet styrene (1/8"squares,) I made a new cushion. It'll just scab right on top of the old one.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Okay, I'm about ready for paint. Once you get the cockpit done, this thing pretty much falls together. So I'm dreading painting it white. From doing a little research, I've heard that Tamiya White Primer is pretty much awesome for good white paint, and I think that's how I'll do it. ( I have MM Acrylic Gloss White, and Acrylic Reefer White... are those just as good?)

Sadly, the work I did on the little cockpit latches is gone. When I made them, I wanted to install them, then do some last-minute sanding to make them flush with the fuselage. Well, when I did this, everything smoothed out, and I lost the joint lines between the parts, resulting in only having 2 little triangular holes. So I filled them in and might try another method.

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  • 3 months later...

Okay, here goes Viper Mark 2, uh, Mark 2. I wasn't super-excited with the first try on this kit, so I bought another one, and I'm liking my work on this one a lot better. I don't have any pics, but I also boxed in the MLG wells. First, I used some small punches (1/16" mostly) to punch out new instruments in the cockpit. I used the same punch on the instrument decals, so they'd fit. I wanted to represent a shut-down Viper, so the DRADIS graphic decals had to go. I used some pearlescent confetti for the main MFD, added some buttons, detailed up the sticks, and added new cushions on the seat. I also added ejection seat handles (visible when Starbuck ejects in season 1.)

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Edited by RedHeadKevin
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  • 2 months later...
  • 1 month later...

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