You want an Accurate New BSG Hangar Bay Diorama? You're going to need Yeti Forge Models

I do believe a lot of BSG fans out there have more than one unit of Moebius Mark II and Mark VII Vipers out there. How do I know? ... OK, so I have more than ten units each, but judging from what I have observed (buying patterns), some of you have more than me. Others, well, at least two of each.

So what do you plan to do with your extra kits? I know a lot of you have this desire to recreate a Hangar Bay diorama, but are not up to scratch building the set pieces yourselves. Then there are the accessories that needs to be present to make the diorama complete, not to mention getting the figures. I don't blame you as I too am guilty of this. Just check out the amount of work you need to do when you see how the actual Hangar Bay look like HERE.

Fret not, as this does not mean you can't achieve your dream dio. A very accurate representation of the new Galactica's Hangar Bay is actually available, right under all our noses, and I am now committed to re-create one very complete section.

The Hangar Bay Dio set was first seen in a recent Wonderfest of which Moebius himself (from what I was told but I'm not sure if its Dave Metzner) complimented on the set. When I first saw it, my jaw dropped - literally. I had seen numerous attempts at recreating the hangar bay, and none so far has been as accurate as these.

Allow me to introduce the man responsible for making this possible, Jason Fraser of Yeti Forge Models. I have been in close dialogue with Jason after commissioning him to rework the design seen above to re-create a more detailed section to the diorama, extending it all the way toward the launch bays. The launch bay section and its control room will be worked on later, but so far, we have agreed on the following design for mine.

Check out how the Hangar Bay is going to look like after the jump

The Battlestar Excalibur's Colonial Vipers Hangar Bay Diorama at the Crewe Model Show

This blog was re-edited on 16 Mar 2011



Talk about taking your group builds through great heights. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Modellers UK recently undertook a project that definitely ensures its foundation in the journal of Sci Fi Scale Modeling - a comprehensive diorama of a Battlestar Excalibur Hangar Bay, comprising of 12 bays and over 10 Mark II Colonial Vipers. Its not uncommon to see a Moebius Mark II Viper in a stand alone diorama, or a Battlestar posing in her full glory, but to see so many beautifully build up Vipers in one huge diorama display, that definitely makes an impact anywhere. Scale Modeling magazines ought to do a write up on this project cause I'm not kidding when I say it made an impact.

A name had to be developed for the project, and I gather since the markings on the Vipers were different from those seen on TV, this Battlestar Hangar scene couldn't be those from the Galactica, hence it was very democratic of SFM:UK committee to put up a vote to determine the name for their Battlestar, which I found out later to be the Excalibur. Very apt for out British Modeler Team since the Excalibur was King Arthur's Legendary sword, symbolising honour, duty, bravery and strenght in unity.

The idea is simple enough. Everyone had to build their Vipers according to a standard design (markings) in a landed position inside their hangar bay. They could create whatever scene they chose but each of these bays with their Viper had to be able to join together, creating one massive diorama worthy of ... hell, words alone cannot describe what these modellers have achieved. It truly is amazing.

From the SFM:UK site, I found out that this was made possible when the club itself managed to get a great deal for the Moebius Mark II Viper kits (that alone I found very encouraging). To commemorate the event, they decided to create a spectacular diorama designed to awe when it is shown at the South Cheshire Militaire Show at the end of February 2011.

The condition was simple. Club members who received these Vipers just had to deliver. Another word, they had to finish their Vipers along with a hangar bay diorama scenario. I guess to make sure these modelers deliver, a penalty was imposed, whereby failing to complete the model and their diorama would result in these members paying full price for their kit. If you seriously think about this, that's a good idea to get your member's undivided attention on their project.

The selection process was pretty strict. The Moebius kits did not go on a first come first serve basis, but rather it was given to members with proven track records. Further materials were also made available to them such as Paragrafix's Photoetch and Decal Detailing sets. And again I was impressed with the Club over this. The committee actually made it possible for its members to create something fantastic by giving them access to after market parts.
To achieve conformity, the Club further planned the Viper Squadron Group and their markings, calling themselves the Spitfire Combat Group.  Markings were then designed for all members to follow.

The Build Roster showed 11 builders who contributed to this spectacular diorama.

The Build Roster

The following pilots will be using kits and decals supplied by the site:

CPT Alun "Big Boss" Owen (2204UK) - CAG
LT Pam "Morticia" McGee (2303UK)
LT Paul "Archer" Mather (1415UK)
LT Ellen "Sparky" Goosey (1311UK)
LT Eric "Mangamax" Moore (2107UK)
LT Richard "Blitzspear" Jary (1940UK)
LT Chris "Cleric" Lloyd (1701UK)
LT Duncan "Merolink" Clark (1412UK)

The following additional pilots are part of the squadron with their own kits and decals supplied by the site:

LT Chris "Kramer" Suki (5150UK)
LT Iain "One Shot" Costall (2205UK)
LT Jay "Yank" Chladek (2328US)


When the builders and what they need are identified and provided for, the work begins and each builder holds their own Work In Progress Reports (highlighted through their own forum as well as other sources). I'm sure there is a committee guiding the team cause the massive diorama of the Excalibur's Hangar Bay shows a very focus and coordinated team effort.

Working on the Moebius 1/32 Scale Battlestar Galactica Mark II Viper

This content have been brought here from my other blog account "BruceWIP Domain" as I am streamlining my blogs (OK, I only have two). I will touch more on "Scale Modelling as a Hobby" for the other blog, touching more on skill sets and tricks (in general).

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WIP on the Moebius Battlestar Galactica Mark II Colonial Viper. 

First of all, the Moebius 1/32 scale Mark II Viper kit is the only styrene plastic kit made available in the market for this fighter vehicle. The rest are GKs (Garage Kits). Hence the first thing you will notice is that the price is now more affordable for you to own your very own Mark II Viper. It is in the same scale with Revell/Monogram's Mark I Viper from the original TV Series, so imagined if you had assembled and painted both kits and siplayed them side by side, its certainly going to attract a lot of attention.




Revell/Monogram 1/32 scale Mark I Viper



Moebius 1.32 scale Mark II Viper



Moebius is still producing the Mark IIs and in some cases, LHSs (Local Hobby Shops) worldwide have reported excellent sales with stocks running out. Better to get these online from Starship Modeller or Cultman Hobbyshop if you are adamant about owning one. Unfortunately, Revell/Monogram have discontinued the Mark I Viper. Prices for any available units anywhere no doubt will sky rocket due to the limited number of available units.

Lets take a look at the Spruce Tree for the Moebius kit.



For more of John Lester's review, click HERE



The parts are pretty straight forward while the instructions is a single sheet printed both sides with illustrations and photographs. Fitting the parts together can be a little confusing for some and a lot of test fitting is required. The decal sheet is adequate but please take note that there is a mistake on it. If you're planning to paint the red stripes over, there is an alternate decal for the emblem to be used for the wings. These decals apparently are translucent and the background paint will overshadow it. Hoping Moebius will have better decals for their next shipment. The pilot is resin, and the face shield is molded over.

There are after market parts made available for this kit. You can view them at:

Moebius Viper Mk 2 Photo-Etch and Decal Set

Moebius 1/32 Viper Mk. II Masks

   

JTGraphics Mark II Viper Markings

Received Larson's Designs Viper Launch Tube Diorama Resin Set

Do you still remember my previous highlight on a fantastic diorama set depicting a Mark II Viper launching from the Galactica? Well, its HERE in case you don't recall. Its awesome in the sense that you can now pose your Moebius Mark II Vipers in a launching stance.

To recap, here are the images of how the Launch Tunes look like.

Here's how the diorama set will look like once assembled. There are potentials to add in more details later on and weathering the base is going to be a challenge ... for me anyway. It needs to look used and rusty ... do metal rust in space? Oh wait, this is Sci Fi, anything goes.

And here's what I received recently. I got two sets for a massive diorama I'm planning to make and am currently gathering as much of any available accessories I can find. When I opened the package, I was literally blown away. There were a lot of resin parts included, plus a few PVC pipes cut to size. The castings was very well done and I didn't see any air bubbles on any of the parts that need sanding off.

I had to lay the pieces each as I remove their plastic wraps one by one to see what I was going to be working with. The final tally - about 115 parts and 14 PVC tubes. The set didn't come with an instruction sheet, but then again I had rushed Chris for the set so I am guessing he haven't had a chance to complete his instructions yet ... ooops. The kit is quite straight forward and looking at his build images, shouldn't be a problem test fitting the parts together.

The Very First New BSG Hangar Deck Diorama Created ....

Or at least I believe this one is cause I haven't seen any others yet that are done up this well. I can't remember who build this as I found these images under my generic BSG image folder, but I do know the builder had put up his work on eBay. If you know who build this, do let me know and I'll assign the credits to him/her.

Some of the accessories on his diorama do look familiar (yeah, I've highlighted the Viper's ladder and Tool Cart before but I believe these were scratch build ... I could be wrong too) but the hangar bay set up does look nice. I'm not sure if this one is 100% accurate, but this guy was the first to come up with one, and a nice one at that too. Congrats on such a nice build up.

There were also other accessories done up for a hangar bay diorama but I haven't heard any updates from these, nor do I remember who was building them. They're still great to look at and can serve as a reference material for others who wants to emulate them. The ladder below do not look like the same one done up by Larson Designs, so I really don't know who the creator for these are. Drop me a note if you do and I'll again give them due credit.

As for the rest of us (including me) who are still planning of creating a hangar bay diorama for the new Galactica, let these be an inspiration to get cracking soon. So Say We All!!!