ANNOUNCEMENT! Black Sun Models 1/72 Scale Galactic Recon Utility Craft

Good news people. I have received confirmation that Black Sun Models will be doing another run of the 1/72 scale Galactic Recon / Utility Craft (we know them as Raptors) coming soon in a month or two. Unfortunately the 1/48 scale will not be reissued as the masters for that scale is no longer available.

And I am announcing this as I have received quite a few feedback, requests and even offers about selling my Raptor kits which by the way, they're not for sale. Sorry.

So if you had missed out on this highly sought after kit of the Raptor, stay tuned to this blog as I'll make the announcement as to when she will be available. OR you can constantly check the Starship Modeler Shop site for any updates.

In the meantime, I just saw a fantastic build up of John Ross's 1/72 scale Raptor at ScaleHobby.com Gallery. Click the link to see the rest of his beautiful build up kit. I'm going to use his build as reference to my own later

Finally I Have All Three of the New Galactica's Raptor Resin Kits ....

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.



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.

The Combat Raptor - more images

UPDATE: I finally managed to get all 3 of the available kits. You can view them up close HERE

A few more images of the Combat Raptor for those who wish to upgrade their Black Sun Model kits. Previous images are found HERE

Screen caps of Raptors and Combat Raptors in action

The Raptor from the New Battlestar Galactica Series

UPDATE: I finally managed to get all 3 of the available kits. You can view them up close HERE

You'll either hate or love this little ship. Behind the scene, the producers considered her the "Space Family MPV" since she doesn't look like much. But trust the TV series for putting her into all kinds of situation and showing off her durability and capabilities, not much was really required to make her look so good. Its no surprise this little versatile craft have a huge fan base. Yeah, me included.

The Raptor are the Colonial Fleets' trusted troop carrier, capable of recon ops and on occasion, can be depended on for warfare exercises. It is also the AWAC for the Viper Fighter groups. Boomer made the Raptor popular by her wonderful acting and sheer good looks, and she was an excellent Raptor pilot but unfortunately, she turned out to be Cylon Sleeper Agent.

Here's the Raptor's Studio Mock Up during the auction. I can't find the links to these pages as I had saved them a long time ago. If you know where they're from, do let me know so I can credit the owners and link them back appropriately.

On location shoot

Are there any kits for this?

Looking for the kit? Well, styrene plastic kits for this is not available at the moment and we can only hope that Moebius picks this up and make it their next project. We've already seen their Mark II Viper and its an excellent kit. So far, only resin kits were made available for the Raptor.

Black Sun Models (Commissioned by Starship Modeller)

1/72 scale Raptor
Very detailed Resin kits of this popular ship. Commissioned by Starship Modeller, this resin kits sells very well. The only complain I have are with its canopies - clear vacuform pieces that's hard to work with. And at 1/72 scale, the parts are really small, but fittings were nice and snug.

1/48 scale Raptor

The Black Sun Model 1/48 scale Raptor kit shares the same clear vacuformed canopy, and does not come with a pilot figure. The casting is very well done showing off many of the hull's details. You can even choose not to glue the side hatch to reveal the cabin and instrumentations inside. A review for this 1/48 scale Raptor is available HERE

1/24th scale BSG Raptor (corrected, its not 1/20th scale)

I'm still trying to get this kit seen from MT Meyers Studio. Missed the boat when she was available, but I hear there may be a last run. The details on this Raptor kit is simply stunning, and the casting is very well done. The pilot figures are also very fluid and life like. Mike Salzo did this kit run and Jesse Meyers paid for the pattern work (special thanks to moffeaton for the clarification). This kit is extremely, extremely rare, for me anyway. So if you got one, hold on to it. She's precious

A lighted Raptor Cabin WIP

(Please let me know if you know who build this. I want to see his completed version as well, and link back to his page)

Another Raptor project of interest is that of the Combat Raptor, seen toward the last couple of seasons of BSG, a Raptor toggled with weapon pods and missiles, and this kit is a commission work. I wonder who is that lucky devil who will own her. Here's the WIP done so far.

More images HERE

Impressive workmanship on a kit that's already a piece of art. Hopefully we'll get to see the finished version soon. For me, to even own the basic kit is already enough, and I do want one.

Want to see more of the 1/24th kit?

Check out Roboterkamf's build of the 1/24th scale Raptor with Lights. The amount of work put in must have been substantial as you can see the amazing details on his kit. His method of lighting up his Raptor are really radical and ingenious, and I wouldn't recommend anyone emulating him unless you have a steady hand and sharp eyesight. More images at his site, and be sure to check out his comprehensive build diary on how he created this amazing masterpiece

Raptor's Schematics

Raptor Variants

Besides the Desert Tan variant we see regularly on the series, we also got to see other colour variants in BSG: The Plan. Here are some screen caps.

This is really one very versatile ship. If only she was real ...