Moebius Battlestar Galactica.... 'As of this moment.....'

[MSgtUSAFRet]

Kevin,

It's great to see you back at the bench and posting!!

Loving, as always, how clean your builds are! And your attention to detail is astounding!

Just a quick question - what are the black dots on the inside of the window area? Is that black tulip paint to fill in your "off" windows?

Nice idea. Just making sure I understand!

Excellent work!

So say we all!!

Steve

[modelerdave]

Novel idea with the electrical tape to help with light blocking. And the ship is looking great.

[karve]

Thanks for the kind words guys 

Just a quick question - what are the black dots on the inside of the window area? Is that black tulip paint to fill in your "off" windows?
Nice idea. Just making sure I understand!

Yup you're right on the money there Steve. I thought that'd be a good way to block out some of the windows. Surprisingly, it took a couple of applications to cover them. Unlike canopy glue, for example, it didn't just film over the hole and stay put. Many of them didn't fill in until I did it a second time.

[karve]

Hi all 

I've had a busy weekend with my model so I have a good update today.....hope I don't bore you too badly .. 

First up, I had to correct a bit of a flub I created for myself.

I have discovered that gluing the window section to the section above it was something that should have been done later on in the build. It created a problem in attaching the head section to the main body. It doesn't seem like the instructions specifically said not to do this yet, but I could be missing something.

Have a look at the two pictures below.
22 test fit head 2 by Kev C, on Flickr
24 test fit head 4 by Kev C, on Flickr

The tab on the head section just below the wires that are sticking out is supposed to fit into the slot on the body section. It's kind of hard to explain but by gluing the two sections together it became impossible to assemble the two sections together in the order I want to/have to with the wiring etc as I'm planning it. However, I came up with a pretty simple solution.
23 test fit head 3 by Kev C, on Flickr

By removing the plastic that I've circled in the above section it will allow the head section to slide down over he front of the body after it has been glued together. Because the tab will still be in the slot it was meant for it will still be nice and sturdy. Of course a generous amount of glue will help as well. 
25 test fit head 5 by Kev C, on Flickr
  The vertical slot is to accommodate the wiring that comes out of the head into the body as it slides into place.

Next up, I installed the flickering LED's into four of the engines.
26 engines 1 by Kev C, on Flickr

I dry fit one together and turned it on. It looks really good! Unfortunately with it being a blue light it is way overexposed in the picture. I did the best I could though.
27 engines 2 by Kev C, on Flickr

After that, I decided to install the red SMDs that will light the retraction areas for the landing bays.
  Originally I had thought of using 3mm LED's in there. I drilled holes for them and then promptly changed my mind about using them. I thought they might be too visible and be distracting.
29 bay lights 1 by Kev C, on Flickr

In order to use SMD's in there and have them aimed in the right direction I had to come up with a way to secure them in place.
  The first thing I did was CA glue them to little squares of styrene.
30 bay lights 2 by Kev C, on Flickr

Then I glued those in so the SMD's were centred in the 3mm holes.
31 bay lights 3 by Kev C, on Flickr

After fighting with them a bit while the epoxy hardened enough to hold them in place I wanted to give them a try. I dry fit the head in place and lit it up at the same time. I got the first hint of what this baby will look like when lit up.
32 lighting 1 by Kev C, on Flickr

So far I'm liking it. 

Next up I had to do some catching up with myself. I had primed the tops and bottoms  of the landing bays a few days ago. I remembered yesterday that i hadn't installed the Galactica photo etch pieces to the sides before I did that. Soooo ....I did it now.
28 galacticas by Kev C, on Flickr

Not a big deal. Another shot of primer over that and it's good to go.

I'm starting to toy with the idea of using a bit of fibre optics at the very front of the ship. Have a look at the front of the Galactica in this picture.

 battlestar-galactica by Kev C, on Flickr

There are some antennae or something that are lit at the very front. The kit does include one for this area, the big one sticking out on the left.
33 front FO idea by Kev C, on Flickr

I'm toying with the idea of using fibre optics there instead and installing some very small short pieces sticking out to simulate the other ones. It's just a thought so far. I'll give it more thought.

Lastly today, I decided to put in the decals on the floors of the landing bays. Nice simple task...nice big decals....no problem....

I put the first one in the water to soak and it immediately cracked in two near one end. I hadn't even touched it yet!
Anyway, I got it in place eventually and it doesn't look to bad. I figured it was an aberration. ha ha ha ....The other one cracked in not one, not two, but in three spots while it was in the water!  Oh, and of course they couldn't break in the middle...no...they had to do it at the ends where it'll be visible... AARRRGHH!

I managed to get it in place ...oh by the way it broke in a fourth place while I was doing that!
  Anyway, hopefully the microsol will make it look better after it sets. GRRR

34 decals 1 by Kev C, on Flickr
 
35 decals 2 by Kev C, on Flickr

So that's my happy tale for today. The joys of modelling. 

Have a good one. Thanks for looking! 

Oh...by the way..as a side note....
  As our good friend Iain would say, I have a wee problem...(Hey my grandmother was Scottish....I'm allowed!  )

When I'm doing my painting I use a home made spray booth which I vent outside through the window in my model room. I open the window, put the venting hose in there and away we go....

As we all know, this is January. Being in Canada, we have this little bugaboo commonly referred to as....winter. While we here in Southern Ontario don't get anything close to what they get in other parts of the country, we do get our share. We had a cold snap last week, followed by a couple of warmer days with some rain, now it's colder again...and my window is frozen shut. 

It's supposed to get colder now for a while before it gets warmer so painting could be on hold until that baby thaws out!


 

[modelerdave]

That's coming along nicely, Karve. Love the landing bays!

[TK Iain]

This is looking good. Definitely want to build another one now.

[MSgtUSAFRet]

This is looking excellent, Karve!

Thanks for the snow picture! We don't get much of that in tropical Houston and I miss it!

For the guns/antennae/sensors, are you going to hollow out a piece of styrene and shove FO through it or do you have another plan?

Always curious,

Steve

[karve]

Hi all 

Well I decided to give the lit antennas at the front of the ship a go...

Here is the original kit supplied antenna on the sprue. It's pretty small as you can see.
36 Antenna lights 1 by Kev C, on Flickr

37 angtenna lights 2 by Kev C, on Flickr

The first thing I did was cut off the narrower part at the end. Then came the scary part.. 

I took the smallest pin vice bit I had and very carefully started at the end and worked my way through the length. With some patience and a lot of luck it went though really nicely!
38 antenna lights 3 by Kev C, on Flickr

Next, I drilled three more small holes on the other side of the front for the other antennae that are there. I used a cool white 3mm LED for the light source and got the FO all worked through.
39 antenna lights 4 by Kev C, on Flickr

I glued them in place with epoxy and they look pretty good!
40 antenna lights 5 by Kev C, on Flickr

Of course I will have to make them much shorter after I'm done painting to get them the right length, but overall I'm pleased. The way they set up when I glued them they are all at a bit of an angle instead of coming out perfectly straight. Oh well....

The good news now is that the recent cold snap is over and my window has thawed out so I can do some painting! 

So I've been doing some more priming.
41 priming 1 by Kev C, on Flickr
42 priming 2 by Kev C, on Flickr

It's getting close to the time when I'll be able to start gluing some of the sub-assemblies together to make it look like a ship. I'm looking forward to that!

Thanks for looking..

[jwood314]

Loving this!  Keep adding FO!!!  I also happen to love FO!

Cheers,
James

[Kuce]

Looking good.  I'm planning this Galactica next and am taking notes feverishly.
Joe

[karve]

Thanks guys   

Loving this!  Keep adding FO!!!  I also happen to love FO!

That's probably it for the FO with this model James. I see that there could be some on the very bottom section of the front piece, but I had already glued it together when I noticed them and got the idea to try it.
  However, I am getting more comfortable with it as I go along so I wouldn't be as hesitant to use it in the future. 

Looking good.  I'm planning this Galactica next and am taking notes feverishly.

Thanks Joe...long time no see...good to hear from you! 
Let's hope your notes don't turn out to be a study in what NOT to do with this model... 


As a side note, I'm using the painting reference for this model that I found here.
https://blog.cjsutherland.co.uk/painting-the-battlestar-galactica/

I like the look he ended up with and it looks fairly straight forward. Having never done any weathering before I need to have some guide to use.

[Kuce]

Thanks for the link to the painting reference.  It's capturing the effect I'm hoping to get also. 

[karve]

I got a nice amount done after work today....

I got the entire model painted in the silver base colour. I toned down the valejo silver a bit with some grey, just to take the edge off. I think it gives it a better steel colour.
 
43 silver painted 1 by Kev C, on Flickr
44 silver painted 2 by Kev C, on Flickr
45 silver painted 3 by Kev C, on Flickr
46 silver painted 4 by Kev C, on Flickr

The lighting kinda sucked but the paint covered beautifully. Now that I'm getting used to it, I'm becoming more of a fan of Vallejo paints. They are very easy to use with brushes and I'm getting better at using it in my air brush.

I'll have to give it some thought but I think once the paint dries completely I should be ready to get the ship assembled. If I'm not mistaken all the rest of the painting, which is all weathering, will be done by brush. The next step with painting will be to give it a dark wash all over, and then dry brushing to bring out highlights which will finish it off. That is according to the guide I'm following that I gave the link to before.

  I have some final wiring to do for the lighting and then I should be able to get it glued together.

Thanks for looking! 

[Kuce]

It looks good.  I like your decision to tone down the silver.  After reading the guide you're using, I was also wondering if having a wash with some brown in it would be good along with the black to get some other shades in there.  To me, the pictures always look like there's a bronzish color along with the darkened steel look.

Joe

[karve]

I was also wondering if having a wash with some brown in it would be good along with the black to get some other shades in there.  To me, the pictures always look like there's a bronzish color along with the darkened steel look.

We're definitely on the same page here Joe. I was seeing the same thing. I have a bottle of Vallejo rust wash. I was considering using a very very small amount here and there, not to make it look rusty (I doubt if anything can rust in space), but just to add another dimension to the look.