Since the day I saw this little ship in the new Galactica series and fell in love with her, I have noticed that I am not the only one looking for a good model kit of her. Unfortunately there are no plastic model kit made available as yet, and we are hoping Moebius would undertake this project and produce/distribute one in 1/32 scale, in tandem with their Mark IIs and coming Mark VIIs. But that is another story.
I had highlighted the Raptor previously over HERE and the Combat Variant over HERE. Anyone still looking for these would have to settle for Resin Kits, just about the only medium that had them produced.
Unfortunately all these were long way out of production, and you'd need to regularly scope around eBay or scale modeling forums to see if anyone was willing to part with theirs. And I'm not surprised there are still people looking for these. I had observed that whenever one is offered at the "market place" (a section of the forum where members buy, sell or trade their kits), the Raptor is always the first to be sold off. There was even an incident when a member at Starship Modeler forum had asked about the specs for his JTMeyers' kit. He had stored her for so long, and when he found her again, he had forgotten who produced her and what scale she was in. He had to retort back later that he wasn't selling her after getting swarmed with request.
I was fortunate, and then I got lucky. Fortunate in the sense that I had bought my 1/48 and 1/72 scale Raptors from Starship Modeler when they were still in production. They were available under the Black Sun Model's banner. I wasn't ready to assemble and paint them then (good thing too otherwise this posting wouldn't be possible) because I wasn't sure exactly how you work on the vacuformed canopies. They're really fragile pieces. I sort of figured when I have better confidence, I'd make an attempt at these.
And then I got lucky. I had been hunting for JTMeyers' 1/24 scale Raptor for close to two years, and I literally gave up on her when one day out of the blue, I received an email from Jeffrey Waclawski aka JTGraphics. He had one he was willing to let go, I made him an offer and last Friday, I finally have her ... muahahahahaaa .. yes, she's mine ..... muahahahaaa ........... ahem, sorry, couldn't resist that. I'm still reeling from the feel good feeling on this one, afterall, she's among a few that I consider my optimum grail kits.
As such, I really want to thank Jeff again. He has made it possible for me to have all the available kits under one roof. And because of him, I can now do an in depth review of each of the kits here.
From the image above, you can clearly see the size comparison between each of the kits. The 1/72 scale is clearly dwarfed by the 1/24 scale. The level of details for each of them were beautifully crafted unto their molds, and my initial test fit revealed very little misalignment. The 1/48 scale, though beautifully casted, remains wanting, and on the 1/24 scale, some parts do require a bit of sanding as there were some air bubbles that needs to be sand off and remove.
Black Sun Models
1/72 and 1/48 scale Galactic Recon Craft
Lets begin with these two kits. For some I'm not going to disclose reasons, the kits are referred to as "Galactic Recon Crafts" but to any sharp eyed BSG fans, its a Raptor. They both come in a very nice firm and sturdy box with colour printed instructions. Resin parts were kept in zip lock bags with adequate protection using peanut foams.
Now, if only Moebius can come up with a 1/32 scale Raptor, that would go hand in hand with their Mark IIs and IVs and perfect for my massive Hangar Bay Diorama project. Keeping my fingers crossed.
I had highlighted the Raptor previously over HERE and the Combat Variant over HERE. Anyone still looking for these would have to settle for Resin Kits, just about the only medium that had them produced.
Unfortunately all these were long way out of production, and you'd need to regularly scope around eBay or scale modeling forums to see if anyone was willing to part with theirs. And I'm not surprised there are still people looking for these. I had observed that whenever one is offered at the "market place" (a section of the forum where members buy, sell or trade their kits), the Raptor is always the first to be sold off. There was even an incident when a member at Starship Modeler forum had asked about the specs for his JTMeyers' kit. He had stored her for so long, and when he found her again, he had forgotten who produced her and what scale she was in. He had to retort back later that he wasn't selling her after getting swarmed with request.
I was fortunate, and then I got lucky. Fortunate in the sense that I had bought my 1/48 and 1/72 scale Raptors from Starship Modeler when they were still in production. They were available under the Black Sun Model's banner. I wasn't ready to assemble and paint them then (good thing too otherwise this posting wouldn't be possible) because I wasn't sure exactly how you work on the vacuformed canopies. They're really fragile pieces. I sort of figured when I have better confidence, I'd make an attempt at these.
And then I got lucky. I had been hunting for JTMeyers' 1/24 scale Raptor for close to two years, and I literally gave up on her when one day out of the blue, I received an email from Jeffrey Waclawski aka JTGraphics. He had one he was willing to let go, I made him an offer and last Friday, I finally have her ... muahahahahaaa .. yes, she's mine ..... muahahahaaa ........... ahem, sorry, couldn't resist that. I'm still reeling from the feel good feeling on this one, afterall, she's among a few that I consider my optimum grail kits.
As such, I really want to thank Jeff again. He has made it possible for me to have all the available kits under one roof. And because of him, I can now do an in depth review of each of the kits here.
 |
| On the left, JTMeyers 1/24 scale, Black Sun Models 1/72 scale at the centre, and the 1/48 scale casted in blue on the right |
From the image above, you can clearly see the size comparison between each of the kits. The 1/72 scale is clearly dwarfed by the 1/24 scale. The level of details for each of them were beautifully crafted unto their molds, and my initial test fit revealed very little misalignment. The 1/48 scale, though beautifully casted, remains wanting, and on the 1/24 scale, some parts do require a bit of sanding as there were some air bubbles that needs to be sand off and remove.
Black Sun Models
1/72 and 1/48 scale Galactic Recon Craft
Lets begin with these two kits. For some I'm not going to disclose reasons, the kits are referred to as "Galactic Recon Crafts" but to any sharp eyed BSG fans, its a Raptor. They both come in a very nice firm and sturdy box with colour printed instructions. Resin parts were kept in zip lock bags with adequate protection using peanut foams.
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What you get with the 1/72 Scale kit : 44 parts inclusive of 2 vacuformed canopies and clear parts, with an ALPS-printed waterslide decals (stencil data)
1 – Upper Fuselage 2 – Lower Fuselage 3 – Right wing 4 – Left wing 5 – Cabin door 6 – Rear fuselage (right) 7 -- Rear fuselage (left) 8 – Right tail fin 9 –Left tail fin 10 – Main engines (x 2) 11 – Canopy (with plug) 12 – Rear fuselage intake (right) 13 -- Rear fuselage intake (left) 14 – Engine support 15 – Engine rear face (x 2) 16 – Engine insert (x2) 17 – Forward fuselage sponsons (left & right) 18 – Main landing gear feet (x2) | 19 – Main landing gear struts (x2) 20 – Nose gear 21 – Keyboard 22 – Pilot’s console 23 – Main cabin pillar (left side) 24 – EWO consoles (right side) 25 – Consoles (rear cabin) 26 – Rooftop sensor 27 – EWO seat back 28 – EWO seat bottom 29 – Pilot & EWO figures 30 – Left/forward sensor probe 31 – Crew seats (x2) 32 – EWO seat support 33 – Rear fuselage details (left & right) 34 – Nose probe (right) 35 – Nose probe (lower left) 36 – Sensors (lower right/front) |
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What you get with the 1/48 Scale kit : 36 parts inclusive of 2 vacuformed canopies and an ALPS-printed waterslide decals (stencil data)
1- Main body 2- Cabin 3- Cabin floor 4- Engine mounts (left and right) 5- Fins (left and right) 6- Main engines (x 2) 7- Center support 8- Engine detail (x2) 9- Cabin door 10- Intakes (left and right) 11- Landing gear struts (left and right) 12- Landing gear pads (x3) 13- Maneuvering thrusters (x3) 14- Sensor (top, circular) 15- Sensor (H-shape) | 16- Another sensor 17-Probe 18 – 20 (top row, left to right)- Cabin instruments 21- (bottom, left) Cabin instrument 22- (bottom, right)- Pilot station instruments 23- Cabin rear wall 24- Seats (x3) Not shown: Canopy (clear vacuformed plastic; a spare is provided just in case) ALPS-printed waterslide decals (stencil data) |
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What you get with the 1/24 Scale MTMeyers Raptor kit : 82 parts inclusive of 1 vacuformed canopy and 14 clear parts, with waterslide decals
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Size Comparison between the different scales Raptors
Now, if only Moebius can come up with a 1/32 scale Raptor, that would go hand in hand with their Mark IIs and IVs and perfect for my massive Hangar Bay Diorama project. Keeping my fingers crossed.
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