Showing posts with label Battlestar Galactica Cylons Classic Series. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Battlestar Galactica Cylons Classic Series. Show all posts

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Aftermarket Detail Parts for the Revell Cylon Raider


I just realised that there have been quite a few detailed parts done up for the Revell Mark I Colonial Viper (most of which I have already highlighted here), such as for the guns, cockpit, canopy, thrusters, and there's even a kit for her landing gears/bay that's out of production.

But as far as I know, almost none was ever done up for its nemesis, the Cylon Raider .. that is until now. Perhaps it was because the Cylon Raider wasn't as popular as the Mark I Viper, after all it is a given that the good guys sell better than the bad. And furthermore, aren't being Cyborgs of sort, they were suppose to be superior and more efficient than the humans? So why the need for three pilots? Well, story has it that the Raider required a Pilot, a Gunner and a Commander. And judging by the size of the raider if you compare her side by side with the Mark I Viper (on a 1:1 scale), the Raider is probably around the size of a minibus, not very effective as a front line fighter.

Whatever the reason is, we can now represent a detailed cockpit for the Revell Cylon Raider kit, thanks to Just An Illusion. Its Cylon Raider Interior kit was truly something I was looking for, seeing that I was already planning to re-cast the intricate canopy section using clear resins and scratch build the interior with sheet styrene. Even before actually doing it, I was already scratching my head on how to create the canopy's mold alone. Thanks to this detailing kit, I don't need to now.

The Cylon Raider Interior kit comes in a nifty zip lock bag. Check out the images below for more details:

Parts are clearly neatly laid out inside the zip lock bag

Monday, December 27, 2010

Introducing Adamadahiro, or otherwise known as Adamada2010

I have always been fascinated with Japanese Scale Modelers as they always seem to come up with the best stuff. A lot of kits we have seen in Japan either from magazines or the net have at most times blew our minds away, especially when you scrutinize the level of details and modifications done to their kits. Another area that many have been impressed with are their paint work given to their kits - always superbly done up with an almost zero mistake tolerance - excellent.

I remembered there was one build up of the Venator class Star Destroyer done up with lights last year, and the builder modified the kit to include detailed hangar bay docks with miniature fighters and troop carriers. The kit was displayed in an event with a lot of its hangar bay open, revealing a busy destroyer in the midst of a shake down cruise, and the best part was that the miniatures themselves was so beautifully crafted to near perfection. I'm not sure if a 3D printer was used but it sure looks like it cause I still can't figure out how this guy got them so neat. The kit caught so many attention from everyone else all over the world as I see quite a few highlights of her. Unfortunately I can't find images of this build at the moment nor do I know who built it (sorry, can't read Japanese) but I'll add them here later when I do find them.

One such scale modeler that I know of goes by the nick Adamada2010 from the Starship Modeler forum. Adamada hails from Osaka, Japan, and his written English is quite good. I say this cause I have a few Japanese friends in Malaysia and they can speak well, but not write well. Adamada does not modify much of the original kit but he still does an excellent build up. I dare say his forte is really lighting up his kits.

I first saw his fantastic build up of Fine Molds 1/144 scale Millenium Falcon (the smaller kit, not that 1/72 scale humongous one) and how he applied lighting to his kit. The end result was simply mind boggling - it looks almost like a studio model. He had inserted a total of 24 LEDs into the kit, specifically at the Engine exhaust, the cockpit, gun turrets, the Falcon's undercarriage, headlights (if that is what those are called) and the landing gear bays. Impressive.









Next up is his version of Moebius Galactica. Overall paint job was simple but effective, and by providing lights to this beauty, he literally brought the Galactica to life. Abet some of the lights are not where they are suppose to be, but they do give out the desired effects. 25 LEDs were used lighting up the landing bays on the flight pods, the red lights at the recess area, the turrets and several cabin lights throughout the ship. Check out his streaming lights on the flight pod. Lights are not suppose to be there but the effects were great.









And lastly this is his work done up on the Classic Cylon Raider. Using a toy's LED circuit, he bounces of flashing lights (left to right and back) for the guns, added in a red light on the left wing tip and green light on the right. Engine exhaust are all flared up in bright blue with a twist of ingenuity of adding on a set of of ION engines (those 2 red lights at the rear end of the fighter)










I'll have to admit that this guy's work is good. Given time, he is going to come up with another masterpiece yet. I was browsing through his photo album and saw these couple of pictures, and if its a prelude of things to come, I'm definitely keeping my eyes on this guy's build.






Sunday, November 7, 2010

The Classic Cylon Raider - Making an old Enemy looking Good

Another ship that achieved iconic status started during the late 70s and early 80s, when we were introduced to the Cylons' "pancake" shaped fighters. These ships were the frontline force that devastated the Battlestar fleet and destroyed the 12 colonies in the classic series, but surprisingly they were no match for the Galactica and her crew. Well, hollywood treasured the main stars so no matter what, the principle ships and actors/actresses can never die .. Hurrah. I thought it was pretty amazing when I watch the old classics again, 2 or 3 Vipers were always capable of wiping out 6 to 9 cylon raiders. They just press the fire button and immediately 3 of Raiders explodes. No wonder the Cylons couldn't stand humans.




Studio Models that was auctioned of



The Cylons - From the Classics to the New Series

"By Your Command". A phrase we often hear now and then, made famous by the Cylons from the classic Battlestar Galactica. No doubt the series was created to ride on the success of Star Wars, it by itself has garnered a huge fanbase which resulted in a new Mini Series being developed. The success of the mini series later spurned the new TV series called the Reimagined Battlestar Galactica.





The new Battlestar Galactica series expanded more on the Cylons, giving them characters, a history, emotions, hope and .... of course, the Plan. The evolution of the Cylons was necessary since we need a story that can be followed as realistic and believable, and what better way than to show them seeking God's acceptance.



Their ships too has evolved from what we had seen from the classic TV series and much improvements were given to almost all their designs. The new Basestars looks more menacing with the two Y shaped fuselages as compared to their predecesser's burger design.





In the new series, changes to the Cylon Raiders were also made to make the Cylons more formidable, and even then an evolution in design was done to the Raiders as seen from Season 1-3, and then Season 4 onwards. The Cylong cockpit or "head" is more similiar to the Cylon Centurion.


Original Series Cylon Raider

The Razor Raider, so named because we see them first in BSG Razor

Standard Cylon Raider

Advanced Cylon Raider

Standard Cylon Raider "Head" design




Advanced Cylon Raider "Head" Design




Introduced into the new BSG series is the Cylon Heavy Raider, a Troop Carrier. She may look bulky, but as Starbuck and Apollo discovered, this thing can fire through her arse. Heavily armed and difficult to shoot down.




I'm going to dedicate the next few post to the Cylons as we do have a large number of Cylon fans around. I will try to also include available kits in the market and where you can get these. Just follow the links (links will be attached when the post are available and published):