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Moebius 1/32 BSG Viper MK7


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This is going to be more of a build log rather than a work-in-progress thread. I finished this last night and brought it to HeritageCon today in case anyone was there you probably saw it on the table. First (maybe only?) thing I can call "finished" in a very very very long time...there are mistakes, some stuff was rushed, but from a couple feet away it looks good to me! :woot.gif: All photos taken with an Apple Smart -Phone (cuz I can't type the other word!, please excuse the quality!

On to the pics...Kit and kit parts + aftermarket set used:

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Don't mind all the computer monitors n flat screen in the background... :whistle:

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The excellent ParaGrafix set is made out of a heavy brass(?) material. Not the usual flimsy Eduard stuff. The whole cockpit is eventually going to be made out of that one photoetch sheet.

Building the cockpit:

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All joints reinforced internally with L-stock for maximum rigidity.

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Comparison with the OOB cockpit...

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Parts were primed, preshaded Floquil Engine Black and then painted with Tamiya Sky Gray. Small switches and "knobs" picked out with a fine brush, a needle, and a sharpened toothpick. Dirtied up with a dry brush and a dirt wash. The holes are for lighting, and will eventually be blanked off with color films and white styrene.

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Finished cockpit. Flat-coated, screens added (supplied as color-printed acetate material in the PE set).

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Closeup of the side consoles. Again, the screens are color printed acetate material and glued in from the bottom...

104EFFA1-43F9-4A11-B422-D54A0769B3F9-376-0000002EBC9958E7_zps581b38a3.jpg

Added some "supports" to the upper fuselage area to give the IC-Gel something to grip when I finally slide the pit in.

...To be continued.

Edited by AnthonyWan
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Cool, :thumbsup: waiting for episode II.

Is that a signature there on the inside (bottom center of last pic)? Always tossed that idea around, never have done it though.

Edited by blunce
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Continued from above...

7973A6CD-9B5B-4C0D-A804-053C7685537E-6725-000005056E18BFBB_zps4611be61.jpg

Pit added. Had to grind quite a bit with a Dremel in the lower fuselage to make it fit properly. I dabbed some paint on the corners of the PE cockpit to see exactly where I needed to thin...was just afraid to break through the fuselage wall with the grinding bit :rolleyes:/>

71BB4BE5-D4B2-4E26-8363-26A9BEB77063-376-0000002ED282B979_zps8afbe5ab.jpg

Cockpit fitted and fuselage halves closed. Glued with BSI IC-Gel, then securely clamped together and the seams flooded with regular thin CA.

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Filling gaps, "real" Viper is covered in panel lines everywhere so I could have left them I guess, but some of these seams were actually kind of large and had to go. Combo of styrene stock, CA, Tamiya Putty used.

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Fresh heavy coat of primer filled any small scratches from sanding.

...Continued below...

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Painting commences!

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First up is a full coat of Floquil Engine Black.

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Next up, thin coats of Vallejo Model Air US Blue Gray, which I thought was a generally good match for the on-screen Vipers. There's no exact color call-out for this, the Vipers in the TV series were never ALWAYS the same color. Anyway, this looks good enough for me! :coolio:

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All painted.

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Excuse the really bad picture quality of Apple smart- phone(again), the exhausts were done in Alclad 2 - Gunmetal base coat, followed by a shading of Dark Aluminum, jet exhaust sprayed down the tubes to dirty them up and then the whole thing was ghosted with Tamiya Smoke. The effect is much more...noticeable...in person. :doh:/>/>

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Gloss-coated with Krylon Acrylic Gloss spray and ready for decals! Not that many in total...Choice of markings was for a Galactica Viper MK7 piloted by Lee Adama, codename "Apollo"... :D/>/>

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Decals on and under another coat of gloss clear. Time for wash!

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Wash commences. Used Flory Models/Promodeler "Dark Dirt" and mixed in some random bits of "Light Dirt" to make it interesting.

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Wash completed. Went over some spots with a dry brush and painted some "paint chips". Ready for final flat coat...Kit stand made a great support for painting...but it was a tiny bit unstable! I will have to make something more stable and less "toy-like" for final display...

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Flat-coated, canopy added (snapped on so I could remove it to view the cockpit later), canon's added. (Cannons were painted with different shades of Alclad 2, starting with Gunmetal, then a misted coat of Dark Aluminum and then the tips misted with Jet Exhaust and finished with Tamiya Smoke)

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Sitting in it's box for storage, since I don't have a display case @ school. It will sit in here until I can bring it home!

Just noticed...the paint seems to be different colors in different light...cool! :taunt:/>/>

Final thoughts?

There's a ton of mistakes since I rushed the last couple days to get this done and off my bench so I can focus on my 1/32 Hornet...learned alot from this, since it was arguably the only thing I have ever "finished" completely.

Things to do differently next time? Lights for sure! :woot.gif:/>/>

Not going to preshade the whole thing black again, might go with a dark gray and only in some spots. The Vallejo Model Air is an excellent paint, thinned with straight tap water and some retarder to prevent it from clogging at the airbrush nozzle, and goes on very very thin. Had to do multiple coats to "lighten" the preshade this time.

Hope you like it!! Had a great time building this. Any questions please feel free to ask!

-Anthony

Edited by AnthonyWan
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Cool, :thumbsup:/> waiting for episode II.

Is that a signature there on the inside (bottom center of last pic)? Always tossed that idea around, never have done it though.

Yessir. Just something I do for fun, my name and the date the fuselage was closed.

The heart is for someone else... :rolleyes: Long story :woot.gif:

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Wow - I can really see why people see the PE cockpit as an essential for this kit - the OOB is one of the most devoid-of-detail examples I've ever seen. Verging on shockingly sh*t really...

Nice work on the paint mate - very smooth and I really like the subtle weathering/shading - very effective.

I've been toying with the idea of using Vallejo for a while now but have never seriously considered it until now as I thought it was mostly for armor and the likes - not so much Sci-fi (I really do sometimes seriously need to rethink my decision making matrix) Glad you've proved me wrong. I think I'll have to see if I can find the right shades for the Galactica when it comes to that time.

What do you use as a retarder? Can you spray Alclad over the top of it without ruining the paint?

Oh yeah - where's the pilot?

Again - very nice work bro! You going to do a Galactica (or any of the other ships) as well to go with it or just the Viper?

MH

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Can one of the mods put this in the In-Progress forum? Thanks... 271.gif

-Anthony

Click on the "Report" button bottom left of one of your first post, and put in the notes your request to have it moved. I think that's the best way to get a move. How I've done it.

You build has inspired me to think about putting my first sci-fi project on the bench next. Probably the Star Wars TIE Interceptor. We'll see. But yours turned out Awesome!

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Wow - I can really see why people see the PE cockpit as an essential for this kit - the OOB is one of the most devoid-of-detail examples I've ever seen. Verging on shockingly sh*t really...

Nice work on the paint mate - very smooth and I really like the subtle weathering/shading - very effective.

I've been toying with the idea of using Vallejo for a while now but have never seriously considered it until now as I thought it was mostly for armor and the likes - not so much Sci-fi (I really do sometimes seriously need to rethink my decision making matrix) Glad you've proved me wrong. I think I'll have to see if I can find the right shades for the Galactica when it comes to that time.

What do you use as a retarder? Can you spray Alclad over the top of it without ruining the paint?

Oh yeah - where's the pilot?

Again - very nice work bro! You going to do a Galactica (or any of the other ships) as well to go with it or just the Viper?

MH

Thanks MH! A compliment from a detail master like you is always appreciated!! :worship:

To reply about the paint, I actually have only used Vallejo's paint once before. And that was for hand-painting on an ejection seat I think. I was struggling to find a color that remotely matched out of the bottle for the Viper.

If you look at the following pics, every one differs a little in the color of the ship:

"Prop" on display in a museum: Looks greener and bluer.

http://www.modelermagic.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/ViperMKVII7-500x375.jpg

Sreengrab from the show: Looks more gray

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh49/_VARGR_/Viper_Mk_VII_Maelstrom.jpg

Differing paint between seasons: Paint after season 4 seems almost glossy...at least not dead flat or heavily weathered..

http://i432.photobucket.com/albums/qq45/quaralane/Galactica/Viper-Mk7/Mk7E-Timeslip-Apollo/tsc-mk7e-1-32-apollo-02.jpg

If I were to do this again, I wouldn't preshade the whole aircraft black like I mentioned in my post. The black paint takes on this dark greenish-blue shade. (The photos make it look worse...) I might do a dark gray preshade on the lines and possibly even a light gray on the panels themselves.

I have to check what I am using for retarder, it's just a small bottle I picked up at a craft store - nothing special brand I think. The engines were painted separately - primer, Alclad 2. No Vallejo under it.

The pilot...that's a funny story - The PE cockpit makes it a little difficult to fit him in. You have to Dremel off material between his legs and I haven't gotten around to that!

I have a Viper MK 2 on the bench now, nothing really to show for progress - that kit is a harder build in my opinion. Seems a bit crude actually. I do plan to get the Galactica and also the Pegasus when it is released. "The Beast" is actually my favorite BSG ship...really bummed they killed it off after just a few episodes.

Looking forward to progress on your Galactica everyday! :woot.gif:

-Anthony

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I might be mistaken but I "think" it stays here in the Science Fiction sub forum. But I will check with Steve to see what he thinks... The In-progress subforum is under Aircraft Modeling and this is Sci-fi...

Terry Sumner

Modertor

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Anthony,

BSG is my all time Favorite SI-FI show just because as a kid I loved that original Viper. The Re-imagined series has lived up to what I think BSG should be a story about survival..... which happens to be in space. I like your Viper and like with any other SIFI ship colour is usually left to the artist.

Very well done young man!!!! Would have loved to be at the show to meet you but work gets in the way...... Maybe next year.

:cheers:

Emil

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  • 2 weeks later...

Awesome build. Love the PE cockpit. I built my first Mk VII with the built in part but next Hero build will have the PE and lights (still contemplating a kit or DIY LEDs).

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