My Commissioned Colonial Viper Build (56K WARNING!!)

[Joclad Danva]

Hi, I decided to commission Trekmodeler.com to build me a Colonial Viper model using the new 30th Anniversary Kit by Revell/Monogram.

After seeing their work I contacted them and after discussing the building fee and turn around time, I sent them the kit and they received it Saturday.

They've emailed me the first stage of the build progress and I thought I'd share it with you all :


Hello,

Here's the first installment of this Photo-Documentary.

We began by washing the parts with some soap and warm water to remove all of the industrial oils from the surface of the kit. We then began with the 'preliminary drilling process'. We started by drilling out the thrusters as you requested at various points throughout the ship. We then covered the thruster holes from the inside with thin sheet styrene so no light would shine through. We then proceeded with 'light leak prevention'. To do this we primed the inside of the model with a smooth dark gray primer. Then we painted 2 coats of flat black and one coat of flat white for better interior light distribution. Once that was done, we began working on the cockpit and canopy. The cockpit had small holes drilled into it for fiber optic inserts(this will later simulate lit buttons and working controls). The view screen at the front will be backlit as well as another smaller screen we cut out on the right hand side of the pilot. The canopy was masked and primed in dark gray.

This concludes the first installment. Stay tuned for the part 2...

Best Regards,

The TM Team


http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-6/1190539/Viperbuild1.jpg
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-6/1190539/Viperbuild1a.jpg
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-6/1190539/Viperbuild1b.jpg
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-6/1190539/Viperbuild1c.jpg
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-6/1190539/Viperbuild1d.jpg
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-6/1190539/Viperbuild1e.jpg

I'll post part 2 as soon as they send it to me. :love



-Joclad

 

[Jedi Dade]

Nice... The maneuvering thrusters form the new series is a nice touch...

Jedi Dade

 

[Joclad Danva]

Thanks Jedi Dade!

And now....

Welcome to part 2!

It is preliminarily painting time. Before the model comes together the pilot and the cockpit must be detail painted. We have been working on that that as well as setting up the interior electronics with fx. We've attached just a little preview of the pilot and the cockpit for now as well as the electronic fx for the engines. We will send you another pic of the finished cockpit area later on.

Until part 3....

Best Regards,

The TM Team

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-6/1190539/P1020370.JPG

The video showed the engine fx lighting leds and they were set up to pulsate. It's a really cool effect, and I wish I could show you guys but F'ing youtube keeps giving me a 500 internal server error...:rolleyes

If I am ever able to upload it there, I will post a link. Stay tuned for part 3... :love

 

[BarryZ28]

Try loading your video to photobucket.
It's free.

 

[Joclad Danva]

Duh!! Thanks for the suggestion, I should have thought of that.

Here it is :

http://s297.photobucket.com/albums/mm240/Joclad_Danva/Pics N Vids/?action=view&current=P1020375.flv


-Joclad

 

[Joclad Danva]

Here's part III :

Hi there,


It's been a while since the last update. We got quite a bit done in the last few days. Everything is going very smoothly, both literally and figuratively. We have sanded the model down being careful not to remove the panel lines(they are important for the painting and weathering process). The model is now primed in dark gray and kept in 3 separate parts(The fuselage, the intakes and the booster module). This is easiest for the paint process which we have already begun today. Pic of primed model attached.

Best Regards,

The TM Team
www.trekmodeler.com

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-6/1190539/viperprimed.JPG

Stay tuned for part IV...:love

 

[Joclad Danva]

Major update, we're near the end of the build!!

Hello,

As we approach the end of this build, Joseph began working on the display base using some wood and sculpting putty. Myself(Baker) and John are just now finalizing the paint work. To give a bit of a description on what we did with the painting, we began by mixing up a some paint to get a light to medium gray color(this was our base coat). Next we mixed up a darker gray based on the medium gray we used for the base coat(this served as a 'pre-shading' color to sort of enhance the panels and make them look slightly weathered). The next thing we did was mix-up an even darker gray(almost black but not quite) for the intakes, engines and afterburners, etc. Those areas will have to look realistically weathered as well as consistent or it won't be believable as real working air/spacecraft. We kept in the mind that you did not desire the model to have too much weathering(I completely understand what you mean). Depending on the size and scale of the model too much weathering can look horrible and sloppy so we weathered her just enough to look like she's been in use for a few years and we kept everything consistent. Lots Pics attached to this email.

Note: We have not yet painted the laser guns.

Final pictures and videos of the completed model will be included in the next email.

On to part 4...Decals!

Before we begin this process, there are options for the decals. Which pilot and what squadron would you prefer?

Best Regards,

The TM Team
www.trekmodeler.com

I emailed them back and said that I thought that I saw that they had the Pegasus patch on the pilot's left arm already and if that was the case to make him Bo Jay. Otherwise, he can be Starbuck.

Now for the pics :

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-6/1190539/m1.JPG
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-6/1190539/v2.JPG
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-6/1190539/f1.JPG
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-6/1190539/f2.JPG
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-6/1190539/f3.JPG
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-6/1190539/f4.JPG
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-6/1190539/f5.JPG
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-6/1190539/f6.JPG
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-6/1190539/f7.JPG
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-6/1190539/f8.JPG
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-6/1190539/f9.JPG
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-6/1190539/f10.JPG
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-6/1190539/f11.JPG
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-6/1190539/f12.JPG

Stay tuned for the final part! :cool



-Joclad

 

[Joclad Danva]

Done!!

The model is all done now. You can see the pictures of the finished model as well as video demos in this photobucket album. Just click the link below. Let me know what you think.

It certainly was a pleasure working on this for you!

http://s16.photobucket.com/albums/b31/trekmodeler/Classic BSG Viper/

When you're in, make sure to click on 'full size' image for a clearer picture.

Best Regards,

Baker, Joseph and John

The TM Team

www.trekmodeler.com

As you can see, they went with Bojay, which is fine with me. Can't wait to see this model for myself!! Very cool of them to shoot those videos of the lighting effects too!

Hope you all enjoyed the pics and progress of this build as much as I.



-Joclad

 

[rmschneider104]

Wow; very cool. Sharp model.

 

[Brisco]

Very impressive Viper. I can't wait to see YOUR pics of it.

 

[Joclad Danva]

Very impressive Viper. I can't wait to see YOUR pics of it.

Will do! It should be here either tomorrow or Monday.



-Joclad

 

[IFA]

Hi Joclad,

That's a really nice Viper, really beautiful paint job but I'm asking to myself a question : I'm not a BG expert but if it's a Pegasus Viper, shouldn't the pilot have a pegasus on his helmet instead of eagle ?

Thanks
FRED

 

[Joclad Danva]

Good question, if I remember right in the series, the helmets were the same for the Pegasus' Silver Spar Squadron...I guess I need to re-watch "The Living Legend" Parts I and II again.

I got the model in Saturday, and it ROCKS! It's actually a shade or so darker in person than it appears in the photos which makes it look almost white. I think they nailed the color and shade.

I'm gonna have them build me another one but with a different pilot's name. Probably Apollo or Starbuck. I'll take some pics tomorrow and post them.



-Joclad

 

[Jon8712]

Your Viper looks great, glad you've received it and are happy with it.

If I may ask, how easy was it for you to establish contact with TrekModeler? After seeing your initial posts at the start of the build-up, I visited TM's site, and sent an inquiry on a different build-up via their webform. I didn't hear anything back, so about a week later, I left a message via phone. Still haven't received a response.

It seems you've had great communication with them, and your build-up was completed very quickly, but I'm a bit cautious about persuing a build-up because I haven't been able to get a reponse from them.

My apologies for the 'hijack'...enjoy your awsome Viper!

Art
'Jon8712'

 

[Joclad Danva]

I just emailed them directly, I never bothered with their web form. I was able to get in touch with them pretty easily that way, and they sent me updates on the build every 2-4 days.

I still haven't had time to make pics yet, but I doubt they'ed be any better than the ones that are up on their photobucket account.



-Joclad

 

[Jon8712]

Thanks for the info ...I'll try them again via regular e-mail and hope to get a response. Would love to get a build-up done in a reasonable amount of time, with frequent 'status reports', just as you did.

 

[Joclad Danva]

Thanks for the info ...I'll try them again via regular e-mail and hope to get a response. Would love to get a build-up done in a reasonable amount of time, with frequent 'status reports', just as you did.

It also depends on what you're wanting build and how busy they are. In my case, they said for the Viper a few weeks tops and they were right. If anything, they got it done in a week and few days from the time they got the kit I sent them to build.

I'm definitely gonna have then build me another Viper! :love



-Joclad