Battlestars

[anthonyp]

I didn't want to go totally off-topic in the JSDF GB thread where I teased these little guys, so I'm starting a new topic here.

Here's a pic of almost all the new BSG stuff I've picked up over the last couple years.  The only thing missing is a dinky little 1/72 Viper Mk.II that's being painted.



Here's the big honking Battlestar that dominates the previous pic.  It's the Fantastic Plastic "The Beast" kit.  It's a bit inaccurate if you're hoping for a dead-on replica of the Pegasus.  Not bad for when it was mastered, though, since not many reference pics of the Pegasus existed at that point.  I'm calling this the Mars class, specifically the Battlestar Orion.  I just need to make up a registry for the flight pods and she'll be done.



You can't really tell from the pic, but the weathering is actually pretty neat, with a base coat of light ghost grey, an almost dry brushing of gunship over the recesses and some panels, then a dry brushing of dark ghost over that.  Turned out pretty good I think.

Next up are the minis I picked up from Ravenstar Studios.  He's got a bunch of minis for BSG, but only Colonial ones for the current series.  He did some Cylon and Colonial ships for the original series, though the Cylons could fit into the new version.  He's got a blog he hasn't updated in a while showing some of his other work, including some trek ships.

Overall, the casting was nice except for a lot of air bubbles in some of the stuff.  The engine exhausts that came with the Mercury class ships all had bubbles in each exhaust port, and the Thor class ship's engines went from great to "I'd better put this on the bottom of the mini" in terms of quality.

Overall sculpting, though, is great.  These are neat little minis.

First up are the Mercury class minis, the battlestars Atlantia and Olympus:



Nice minis, more accurate than the above Fantastic Plastic version, but not quite there yet.

Next are the armored Columbia class battlestars, the Tikopai and the Altair:



These are obviously recasts of the Titanium BSG mini from the new show with the ribs filled in.  The flight pods could even retract if not for the solid bit of resin down the middle.  Still neat minis, though.

Next up are the only other colonial military ships to ever show up on screen, the Odin class battlestars Warhammer and Broadsword:



I call them "Odin" class because calling the whole class after the one ship that showed up on screen is just goofy to me.  I figure these things would be some sort of bombardment battlestars, considering the Valkyrie is shown launching a long range missile.

Next is the first of the wholly fictional battlestars, the Atlas class battlestar Heracles:



Next is the Thor class strikestar Mjolnir:



Next are three Brenik class destroyers.  Haven't named them yet:



And next are the "modular" ships of the Colonial fleet, the Raven class battlestar Canis and two Cornus class gunstars.  They're modular in that the models can exchange the flight pods for gun pods.  I see them as entering the fleet a few years before the Mercury class ships:



The final minis are two oldies, but goodies.  They're Nova class battlestar minis, one from Comet minis, the other a recast (before I knew what a recast was):



And that's it for the BSG stuff.  When I get the Mk.II Viper done, I'll add it to this thread, along with the minis as they get completed.

[LemonJello]

Those are so very cool!  A whole fleet of battlestars!  

[dragon]

Next are three Brenik class destroyers.  Haven't named them yet:

You could always call them Tisiphone, Alecto, and Megaera (the 3 Furies- avenging goddesses) or maybe Medusa, Stheno, and Euryale (the 3 gorgons).  

[Brian da Basher]

Wow that's one heckuva spacefleet you've got there Anthony! Loking forward to seeing more additions!

Brian da Basher

[Eddie M.]

Pretty kick arse! I really like the look of the new BSG as opposed to the old one. does anyone know when the new season starts?
  Eddie  

[BlackOps]

Thanks for the breakdown Anthony, I've been tempted to pick up the "Beast" kit, how was it to put together? I don't have a lot of resin experience and I think that's the thing keeping me from trying it.

[anthonyp]

The kit isn't that bad a build, though the end caps for the upper landing bay are either too big or for another version of this kit.  They need a lot of work to go on flush with the main bay (at least mine did).  It's the one part of the kit that I really don't like.  I can live with the details being wrong, and the engine section being too tall, but the flight pod end caps were maddening.

The rest of the kit goes together pretty easily other than the bays.  The version of the kit you're able to order nowadays includes "accurizing" parts for the engine section (there's a structure of some sort that protrudes from the engine section, which wasn't included in the original release of the kit).  Still not an exact model of the Pegasus, but a nice addition.

Fantastic Plastic is working on a newer, larger version of the Pegasus, though when it will be ready is anyone's guess, as will the price.  Here's the thread over on Starship Modeler.  This version should be a lot more accurate since more reference sources exist today than did when the Beast was originally mastered.

BTW, when I say "larger" for the new one, I mean 10 inches larger!  The Orion up above is about 9 inches long...

Also, if you want a good intro to resin, try some of Ravenstar's BSG minis.  His Mercury class are just four pieces, and they go together really easily.

Eddie, the new BSG season isn't coming out until next January, but there's the Razor pre-series episodes in November (I think, could be October).  This is supposed to set up the next season, as well as provide some background on the Cylon Wars.  We're supposed to see the Pegasus' escape from the colonies, as well as flashbacks to the original War.

[nev]

Cool B)

Now go kick some toaster butt    

[Sentinel Chicken]

Oh frak those are cool. And just when I'm trying to figure out how to fit 1/1250 scale diecast warships into my hobby budget......frak me, FRAK ME.....

[anthonyp]

Here's some pics of that Starship Modeler 1/72 "Human Fighter Mk. II," aka Viper Mk.II that I've been building up.  It's a dinky little thing, that's for sure.  It looks almost comical how small it is when sitting next to an F-15.

I did this one up similar to the late tactical grey scheme worn by USN F-4's at the twilight of their active and reserve duty careers.  I need to weather it still, but I think it turned out pretty good so far.

I think I need to get some new decals for it, since I forgot to put a coat of liquid decal film on them before I started (and saw them promptly disintegrate).  I was going to try weathering it after applying the decals, but it looks like I'll be doing it the other way around.

Took these at dusk this evening, since I had time.

Front:


Aft:


Top down:


Comparison with an MPM 1/72 FH Phantom (that I need better pics of, but it was the closest when I took the pic):


BTW, there's a huge idea behind that Phantom in the pic, I just need to flesh it out (especially considering I've got three models built for that particular theme already...  think American Indians with actual nations in the 20th century).

[ysi_maniac]

Beautiful model
       

[BlackOps]

Anthony, that viper looks great in that scheme!

[nev]

That Viper looks like a real nice model  B)  

[GTX]

***Off Topic Warning***

think American Indians with actual nations in the 20th century)

If I remember correctly, they did have modern nations (including with a modern naval fleet) in The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson.  Though not necessarily the easiest read, this novel also included a ~100yr world war between the Islamic, Chinese and Indian nations.

***Back to Normal Programming***

Regards,

Greg

[Brian da Basher]

Yowsa Anthony that's a great looking Viper! Impressive work! I really like your detail painting. I also really like that FH Phantom and hope to see more of it. Great work, Commisar!

Brian da Bahser