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Upgrading the Moebius Galactica


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Hi again everyone

Yes, I’m back again with yet another attempt at super detailing and of course it’s another blimmin’ sci-fi subject.

I will have a go at super detailing a real world subject one day - I swear….

This time round, it’s the Moebius BSG Galactica kit (I can hear the collective groan….) I do realise there’s more than a fair abundance of this subject out there on the net – each one as good if not better than the next – so I hope I can do something just that little bit different – at least to try and make this interesting

Unlike the Cordoba, on this build, I actually want to remain as true to the on screen ship as I possibly can without completely altering it.

However, the contradiction here is that I have never actually sat down and watched this show.

I loved the original series and have very fond memories of it. I had the Monogram kit of this once, back when I was living in London. Although I did a terrible job on it, I just loved the ship and still think the side hangar pods are one of the coolest design feature on any star ship since. It was very original in its day.

So when this new series came out – I got excited!! I saw the TV ads building up to the series start and I was all geared for it. Oh yeah, nothing was going to stop me watching it….

Then I got a hernia the day before it was due to start and the following night, I was in hospital getting my insides put back in – so I missed it.

I have just never found the time nor the inclination since then to watch it.

But I still retained the respect for the design of the new Galactica and when Moebius released this kit, I bought one. It’s been sitting in my drawer for a while now and it’s about time to start it.

Unlike the Venator, there is a great deal of references for the Galactica. I have access to a great set of computer renders and plenty of screen grabs courtesy of YouTube, plus I’m waiting on a friend who has kindly offered me some extra renders that aren’t on the net (no – I have no idea what they are or where he got them from), so getting things accurate shouldn’t be too much of a challenge.

In saying that though, I do intend to add some of my own bits and bobs to it that may not be present on the screen ship, but will still hopefully enhance the ship in some way.

So, moving right along, to kicks things off with, I’m going to start with the alligator head. Looking at the renders - and even Moebius’ own box art - the side armor plates are completely wrong: not only are they all raised and wayyy to thick they are also the wrong shape.

Before I took to it with the file:

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After a bit of filing to get it flush with the ribs:

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I am waiting on my 2mm chisel to arrive in the mail hopefully in the next few days. With it, I’ll cut flush the edges of the existing panels and then hollow out the space between the panels and the ribs, giving the appearance that the plating sits on top as opposed to just molded there. I’ll end up doing this over the entire ship.

At the very front of the ship, where the plating sort of curls over the front is the wrong size and too thick. It needed filing back

The one on the left hand side of the picture is the un-altered one:

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It looks better now that it's also thinner:

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Once the chisel gets here, I can really get stuck into this ship and will have more to show you.

I am still learning to build more accurately, so I am more than grateful for any good tips and hints that you think may help. If you have any constructive criticism/feedback/suggestions, if something just looks plain wrong or you even just want to say Hi, please do post a line.

Well, that’s all I’ve actually done for the moment, but I will be back again soon.

**cough …. That’ll do donkey, that’ll do……..

Thanks for stopping by!

MH

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cool! Welcome aboard :woot.gif:

OK, so for the past 6 hours or so (in real life, that's over the past 24 hours - got to love kids), I have been slowly digging away at the molded details, trying to get more depth between the plating and the ribs. I really need that chisel to turn up so I can cut the top plating away and get it hollowed out

Ignore some of the plastic left overs - there is still a lot more tidying up to do:

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I don't know why I am bothering to do the smaller plates as I will be cutting most of it out and replace them with scratch built plates - but it's good practise

The front now looks much better (to my eyes) and is much closer in semblance to the renders than what comes in the box

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Well, time to keeping plugging on with it. Will update again once I have done the top plating

Thanks for stopping by

MH

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The only thing with the show is that the Galactica was continuously beat up during the show and as it went on it was reflected on the ship throughout the series. So Galactica at the beginning of the series looks different from Galactica at the end of the series. Which is the realistic approach the producers took.

If you do have a chance to watch it, I highly recommend it.

I too am watching this build.

:cheers:

Emil

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Hi Emil

Thanks for tagging along -hope you won't be disappointed

I'm not going to battle damage this one as I prefer the non-broken one.

I saw on youtube a clip where the Galactica came out of hyperdrive (or what ever they call it) and came face to face with what looked like a Cylon deathstar and it got pummeled!

It then shot off again and as it came out of hyper drive again it seem to buckle and wobble some thing shocking. By rights, it looked like it should've broken up. NO way I could model that kind of damage!

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Well, my new Mission Tools chisel arrived today and I have to say, it was well worth the short wait. Very sharp, easy to use and best of all - small!

(shameless product placement shot)

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So, not a lot done over the past couple of days - just a lot of cleaning up here and there. I've been using thin cement where I've re-scribed to melt away the residue and to make the scribe lines blend in a bit more. Seems to look better now

I've started to chip away at the spaces between the surface and the plating to give it the impression the plates just sit on top. Feel free to correct me on the height of the gap - too high, not high enough yet and so on). I'm shamed to say, I have only done the first 5 spaces so far (but to be fair to myself, I've only had 30 minutes bench time tonight)

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Looks a bit better now to my eyes

Right, well I'll get off here now and keep going as it won't do itself.

MH :cheers:/>

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hey thanks bro - glad to have you here! :cheers:

Well, I have done the first half and aside from some cleaning up to do, I think it looks pretty good:

Half way:

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Done: (well, except for some residue to clean up and smooth out that surface more)

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Now I've just got to do the other side....

MH

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Hi Emil

Thanks for tagging along -hope you won't be disappointed

I'm not going to battle damage this one as I prefer the non-broken one.

I saw on youtube a clip where the Galactica came out of hyperdrive (or what ever they call it) and came face to face with what looked like a Cylon deathstar and it got pummeled!

It then shot off again and as it came out of hyper drive again it seem to buckle and wobble some thing shocking. By rights, it looked like it should've broken up. NO way I could model that kind of damage!

Remember, Galactica was 40 years old at the start of the series.. And then got flogged for 5 years of the series.

At the end they had a lot of fatigue issues they were dealing with.

For what its worth both Series are up on Netflix. The new one is the most watchable, and its excellent in its early seasons. The end will leave you disappointed though.

Its a funny thing. At the end I felt worse for the ship than most of the characters.

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Remember, Galactica was 40 years old at the start of the series.. And then got flogged for 5 years of the series.

At the end they had a lot of fatigue issues they were dealing with.

For what its worth both Series are up on Netflix. The new one is the most watchable, and its excellent in its early seasons. The end will leave you disappointed though.

Its a funny thing. At the end I felt worse for the ship than most of the characters.

Yeah, the ending almost ruined the entire series for me...hot demn stupidity!

Looking good there MH.....getting those bonkers vibes!

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thanks fellas

Well, I can't believe I am still on clean up after digging out the spaces. There is residue still being found. And taking photos really shows the spots I am still to get. Please forgive the mess - it will be cleaned up.

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I've found a good way to clean up and leave the surface looking relatively good. Where I've dug our and rescribed, I have gone through with a light wash of Tamiya thin cement to blend in the lines more. Then once it's dry, flood the space with nail polish remover and use a pointed tip cotton bud to rub the excess glue out, so you not left with glue on the surface. Works so far...I think

Now for the removal of the unsightly mid section, which will in turn be covered with new armor plating

See you soon

MH

Edited by The Madhatter
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Hey MH... Good to see another project going! I don't know how you stay focused on these projects :blink:/> Looks like very tedious modelling! Not that there's anything wrong with that. The hollowed out spaces really improved the plastic tremendously! All the work is always worth it in the end :thumbsup:/>

:cheers:/>

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Hey Jesse, great to see u- thanks for dropping in. Hopefully, this project will be neater in execution than the last 2, so fingers crossed.

Still haven't made the new panels yet as I was tackling the docking thrusters and working out how to do them in brass. I think I have solved the issue with next to no room to fit them. Pics on that soon.

Thanks again Jesse, its always a pleasure to hear from u!

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Greetings everyone

Small progress update.

I’ve managed to remove all the paneling off one side and am now trying to repair the damage I’ve done to the remaining surface. Hopefully, it will all come out nice and smooth once it’s been sanded – and that is a task I am struggling to think of how to accomplish given how small the space is to sand.

I have also added the what I am guessing to be docking thrusters. My first attempt at it was a dismal failure.

It was completely wrong in every sense of the word.

Not only did it look clunky and dis-proportionate, but the bottom plate wouldn’t fit flush with the top part of the head because of tubes I had installed originally. For some reason unknown to man-kind, I chose to use 2 tubes – one inside the other and try to angle the outside edge to match the hole in the hull

The results speak for themselves really:

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I have no idea what I was drinking that night, but it wasn’t good.

Anyway, then I sat back and looked at it in front of me. I looked again at the renders, and realised that I could achieve the look I wanted by doing one really simple thing.

One thing that I bet you had already thought of way back by the first picture (yes, I can be a bit slow sometimes)

Yep, it was remedied simply by:

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Then I drilled out some small holes in those and inserted some cut up sections of 0.07 brass tube

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And this time, the results were much more favorable:

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Please try to look past the ugly surface, remember – it still needs to be sanded and finished

Anyway, that’s all for now. Got to keep cracking on with the other side now. However, if you have a good method to achieve a smoother surface, or have another alternative, please feel free to post. I’m considering using some uber thin plastic sheet and placing strips of it in between the ribs, but I am concerned that it still maybe to thick.

See you again soon

MH

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hi everyone

Well, time for a small update

I found a way to sand in between the ribs - a very simple solution really (those ones always work best I reckon):

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Moving on, all the molded on armor has been removed and in some areas, I have had to add some thin strip to fix some damage done to the surface (well, it was to be expected I guess - especially seeing as it was my first outing with a chisel since I was in school):

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And new plating has been made and stuck on:

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now the real detailing begins:

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Thanks for stopping in. See you again soon

MH

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Well, Progress continues and I have begun detailing in the spaces between the ribs. All I can say is thanks to who ever invented the lit magnifying lamp! It's the quintessential tool to have when doing this kind of small work.

Another thing that's been helping me along is this awesome Aussie thrash metal band called Sabretung. If your into thrash or just excellent production quality metal, then you'll love this stuff!

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Well, got to go keep working away on this, but I thought I would show you what level of detailing I will be doing throughout the whole ship.

If you have any constructive critique, please feel free to dispense!

as always, thanks for watching

MH

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hi all

Well, have had some time to spend on this build, and I am now pretty much finished detailing the inside of the top - with exception to some tidying and squaring up. Just need to do the armor panels and do some more scribing and then I can move on to the nose section.

In an experiment that could well go horribly wrong, I have tried to make little guns to go inside the ribs. The bases are all done and now I just need to make some barrels for them (which I will make tiny strips from in-ear bud cables) They still need to be shaped some more yet, but we'll see how it goes. These things are very small as you can see:

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Lots of cutting:

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And in place:

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I've used some artistic license here and added some piping that doesn't exist on the renders but I thought would look cool, so they remain for now unless I change my mind.

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Things look a little messy right up close but at the right viewing distance (2 meters away :woot.gif:/> )it looks alright to me.

Anyway, am going to sign off and keep at it. Will post again soon

Thanks for watching/reading

MH

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evening all!

I just want to quickly share a little piece joy - the prototype/production side guns that will replace those little nipple-like nubs that protrude on the sides (and all over the ship really). I'm quite happy with it and they are stupidly easy to make- except they're fiddly as hell! Please ignore the slight wonky-ness of the barrels - it's freaking hard to get them to sit straight - but the rest will hopefully be straighter. Besides, they're so small, I don't think they'll be noticed to much....

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And just to show you I haven't been slacking off, the sides are now getting some treatment. The pics make it look really messy, but that's zoom for you. Most of them mess will be hidden by the tiny bits of styrene:

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Well, that's all for now - I'm off to bed. As always, critique and feedback is always appreciated but not required :)/>

See you soon

MH

Edited by The Madhatter
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MH Love the work you do. I have followed your Venator and Cordoba builds silently as I am not a Sci-fi modeler but I gotta say that your work is awesome and I espcially like this one as for a time I was a big BSG fan. \

A beer or 2 helps as well

This however is a definate bell curve situation though. Defiantely subject to the law of diminishing returns if you catch my drift :)

Can't wait to see more!

Zach

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