For a quick fun little project I picked up one of Moebius' Battlestar Galactica Original Series 1/32 Scale Cylon Raider kits. At this size it's Studio Scale! I was never a huge fan of BSG TOS due to some of it's campiness but I did like the ship designs. When I found out about this kit I figured it would be a fun inexpensive way to add another studio scale model to my collection.
The kit is impressive in size, 17 inches wide by 13 inches long and fairly nice in detail. The details are a bit soft but I figure it should paint up pretty nicely, and for under 50 bucks, I'm not complaining. The parts are relatively clean, just a bit of flash and seam lines here and there to clean up and the fit is okay, not great, but one tends to get spoiled by Bandai kits! There aren't all that many parts and can mostly be assembled prior to painting.
I've glued the wings together, glued most of the detail parts onto the hull sections and here have dry fit it all together. It is a nice size!
There are a few things I want to improve from the stock kit. The conical ports on top just had a solid bottom so I drilled them out and added some tank wheels from the parts box for a little added detail
The louvered cockpit looks odd without the louvers being open. Rather than modify the kit part I'm planning to model up and 3D print a replacement.
The engines come with a little clear part to hold a couple of LEDs. I'm not really interested in lighting the kit and as it comes there a flat wall right inside the exhausts. I've trimmed those areas out and will model and 3D print an extension to give the engines some depth.
The little posts for attaching the wings feel a little fragile, so I'll probably replace them with metal parts.
The kit is impressive in size, 17 inches wide by 13 inches long and fairly nice in detail. The details are a bit soft but I figure it should paint up pretty nicely, and for under 50 bucks, I'm not complaining. The parts are relatively clean, just a bit of flash and seam lines here and there to clean up and the fit is okay, not great, but one tends to get spoiled by Bandai kits! There aren't all that many parts and can mostly be assembled prior to painting.
I've glued the wings together, glued most of the detail parts onto the hull sections and here have dry fit it all together. It is a nice size!
There are a few things I want to improve from the stock kit. The conical ports on top just had a solid bottom so I drilled them out and added some tank wheels from the parts box for a little added detail
The louvered cockpit looks odd without the louvers being open. Rather than modify the kit part I'm planning to model up and 3D print a replacement.
The engines come with a little clear part to hold a couple of LEDs. I'm not really interested in lighting the kit and as it comes there a flat wall right inside the exhausts. I've trimmed those areas out and will model and 3D print an extension to give the engines some depth.
The little posts for attaching the wings feel a little fragile, so I'll probably replace them with metal parts.
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