Waco Posted October 11, 2005 Share Posted October 11, 2005 After frustratingly completing the resizing and rebuilding of the engine nozzles for my 1/32 Tamiya F-15C, I decided to shelve that project for a few weeks and take a break. In search of a "different" project in the mean time, and under the (thinly disguised and virtually ineffective) cover story of needing a Christmas gift for my brother, I bought the Studio Scale resin kit of the new Battlestar Galactica series Cylon Raider. This is a 1/24 scale, all resin cast kit of the Cylon's primary fighter from the new series. It is produced by Kip Hart, under his company, Howling Wolf productions. I ordered the kit directly from him, via e-mail. He was extremely courteous, service was prompt, and the kit arrived nicely packaged in a sturdy box. The casting is very nice, with almost no bubbles, extremely minimal flash, and, surprisingly, not much in the way of pour stubs either. This is my first all resin kit of anything, so I'm looking forward to trying this out. Gameplan is to build it up, and prime using automotive lacquer primer, and finish with varying shades of Alclad. Here's a few shots of the kit pieces: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Waco Posted October 11, 2005 Author Share Posted October 11, 2005 Closeup of the engine nozzles: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Waco Posted October 11, 2005 Author Share Posted October 11, 2005 Detail shot of the cockpit (?) / fuselage: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Waco Posted October 11, 2005 Author Share Posted October 11, 2005 This is no small craft! The finished model will be approximately 15 inches long, and HEAVY: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Waco Posted October 11, 2005 Author Share Posted October 11, 2005 On to this evening's task: find my respirator, remove what pour stubs there are, and then drill out the holes for the brass aligning/support rods. More to follow... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
madmike Posted October 11, 2005 Share Posted October 11, 2005 Waco Looking forward to seeing that built mate! I personally like the old series fighter better, but this new version is MEAN! MikeJ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dylan Posted October 11, 2005 Share Posted October 11, 2005 that looks so freakin cool but 150 clams is a little rich for me right now Quote Link to post Share on other sites
svaz Posted October 11, 2005 Share Posted October 11, 2005 Haven't seen the new BSG, but the Raider looks like the Cylons, Cyclops (X-Men), & Alien had themselves a menage a trois Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Waco Posted October 13, 2005 Author Share Posted October 13, 2005 UPDATE #1... Got the pour stubs all cleaned off. Tonight was drill and dry fit night. Drilled out the mounts for the fuselage cannons... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Waco Posted October 13, 2005 Author Share Posted October 13, 2005 ..and drilled out the holes in the lower fuselage for the wing mounting pins and the brass alignment rod. The forward holes for the aligning rod are 1/8", which was no big deal. But the wing mounting pins require a 1/4" hole!!! I've NEVER had to drill a 1/4" hole in a model before. For that matter, the 1/4" drill bit that I own still had the plastic wrap on it. Thanks Harbor Freight! Here's a shot immediately after drilling out the 1/4" holes... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Waco Posted October 13, 2005 Author Share Posted October 13, 2005 By the way, why is it that my cordless Dremel always runs out of charge right when I need it the most? Fortunately, the 14.5V Black and Decker had PLENTY of juice... Here's the lower fuselage, ready to be test fit for alignment with one of the wings... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Waco Posted October 13, 2005 Author Share Posted October 13, 2005 Looks good!! Next up: priming and assembly of the fuselage/wings... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Raymond Posted October 13, 2005 Share Posted October 13, 2005 Ausome! cant wait to see this one done! u now need a little starbuck for the 'cockpit' !! or even better a 'six' figure! i really like the new serries raider, will u get a 2k3 serries Viper MKII to pair it off with? they look realyl sweet aswell. all the best Ramyond Quote Link to post Share on other sites
svaz Posted October 13, 2005 Share Posted October 13, 2005 Holy Resin Overcast Batman, that's a big 'un! :blink: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Emvar Posted October 14, 2005 Share Posted October 14, 2005 Looking good so far Waco!!! It looks like a pretty no nonsense type of kit. Keep those updates coming. :) Emil Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Memnon Posted October 14, 2005 Share Posted October 14, 2005 Well this is certainly a different subject, and quite large too! Can't wait to see this thing finished. Too bad there's no Sharon though. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
NZ_Grant Posted October 15, 2005 Share Posted October 15, 2005 Very nice kit. Are you going to do any internal detailing? Get some BB resin brains, sinew, veins, viscera etc.? :) But seriously, how are planning on on doing the metallic finish? Cheers Grant Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Waco Posted October 15, 2005 Author Share Posted October 15, 2005 But seriously, how are planning on on doing the metallic finish? Just like it says in the first post...various shades of Alclad lacquers over auto lacquer primer as a base. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
NZ_Grant Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 Just out of curiosity... The cylon raiders on the TV series have a surface texture that looks kind of like cast iron, does the resin kit recreate this? Cheers Grant Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DangerAtom Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 I never realized that the Cylons used toothpaste lids for their engine nozzles. Must be budget cuts. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Waco Posted October 23, 2005 Author Share Posted October 23, 2005 Not MUCH of an update...but the photos are starting to lag the progress, so here are some shots from earlier last week... Wings to fuselage assembly completed. That is a pretty healthy hunk of resin, and a fairly sizeable piece of brass rod. I drilled the holes pretty far into the wings to ensure they wouldn't be tempted to tear off at the larger-diameter aligning pins. Actually, drilled a bit too far on one of the wings...more on that later. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Waco Posted October 23, 2005 Author Share Posted October 23, 2005 The kit instructions emphasize proper wing alignment, mostly due to the brass rod pinning the (rather heavy) weight of the kit. After multiple test fits, I determined I could get a good wing alignment, but was going to have a fairly healthy fuselage-wing join gap. I opted to align the wings so the upperside join was fairly clean, and the underside has the large gap. I filled most of it with cyano, but to get a sandable, smooth finish I finished it off with a generous amount of Tamiya putty. I was concerned about the resin sanding off before the cyano, so I wanted the final surface to be "softer". Post puttying, pre-sanding... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Waco Posted October 23, 2005 Author Share Posted October 23, 2005 In the previous shot you can also see where I drilled too far, and punched a small hole in the underside of the wing. Oops. Minor putty fill. Here's the lower fuselage wing...assembled. Shortly after this shot, I attached the upper fuselage, and all parts were primed... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Waco Posted October 23, 2005 Author Share Posted October 23, 2005 While waiting for the primer to dry, I cut the brass tubing and music wire to build up the cannons: That's it for now. More tomorrow. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Waco Posted October 24, 2005 Author Share Posted October 24, 2005 Alright...upper and lower fuselage assembled, wing attached, lower wing root cleanup done, upper fuselage "piping" attached... Entire assembly primered: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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