Watch out Cylons, here come Egg Squardron Viper Squad

Even if the miss their targets, they're sure to win the Cylons over with their cuteness. I found these images in my archieve folders but no links. In fact, I found a lot of Sci Fi Egg ships .. cute. I do believe these were done by someone and they're not available in the market, or at least I am aware of.

Enjoy the images, and if you're a Cylon fan, don't get trap in by their cuteness.

More images after the jump.

Christopher Callaghan's Forced Perspective TOS Viper Diorama

I've been meaning to post this as Chris was kind enough to provide me with pictures and a very nice write up on how he did it quite a while back, but I was so engrossed with my Magnum PI marathon my blog was neglected for a while. Its kind of hard not to watch these old episodes, and re-discovering why I loved the series so much. Before I knew it, just like when you're gone on holidays for too long, topics started to pile up. I seriously need to get my butt back in front of the PC so I can clear up my backlog of reference materials I had scheduled for myself here.

Anyways, here's a radical way to display your diorama, an illusion using false perspective. Its not an easy thing to do cause any miscalculation is scale and presentation and your diorama instantly looks like its something out of a B grade movie. But when done well just like when I saw Chris's work at a glance, I thought he created a diorama that was 4-6 foot long. I was about to ask him why he hadn't fill up the empty space with more Vipers or figures until I saw his whole diorama was actually on a "forced perspective".

More New Detailed Parts for Your TOS Revell Mark I Viper

The Revell Kit may be out of production, but I do know of quite a few people who are still keeping their kits in their stash waiting to be build. Well, if you happen to fall into this category, then you would probably want to consider adding details on your kit to make her more "realistic", or different. Whatever the reasons are, there are 2 new accessories you can have to add to whatever else that was available.

From Federation Models comes these nifty grill inserts, perfect if you want your Mark I Viper lighted up. 6 simple to insert but yet highly detailed resin replacement parts that were designed to fit into the last Revell re-issue of the kit. I'm not sure if these will work if you have an earlier issue but from my comparison, probably not.

You'll need to cut off the existing parts within the engine nozzles which is actually quite easy seeing that they are mainly just thin plastic "spruces", trim the surrounding areas, and fit in the replacement grills.

Another thing you may want to do is to cut out the inside of the triangular frills from the guns. These are suppose to be hollow but the plastic piece was molded filled. What  did was to use a motor drill to drill out the centre and file away the remaining piece to achieve this. Its a lot of work - trust me. I may need to later fill in the centre rod to give her a fuller shape.

Not up to this? Well, you could consider getting a set that's ready made. Available from Fireball Modelworks, the 4 piece resin set perfectly replaces the guns, and they do come with some detailed panel lines. Just trim off the resin stubs and flashes, wash the pieces in mild warm water with some dish detergent, and they're good to go.

Its currently out of stock but will be available again at Starship Modeller. Regularly check the site there or you're going to miss them. That's what happen to me and I now have to wait for the next batch.

Another idea on how to spruce up your Revell Mark I Viper's Cockpit

I actually have 2 Revell Mark I Viper kits still sitting on my work station midway through assembly, and they've been there since I got stumped with one particular area - the cockpit. And you need to get the cockpit right before you can place the two fuselage together, which is part 1 in the instruction sheet, so basically its like these kits never got started [BLUSH]. Seems I have an option again to continue.

One thing nice about the re- issues of the Revell kit is that they did well providing us with a cockpit and a Colonial Pilot, but that's about it. The instrumentation on the cockpit tub is outright horrible, simplistic, and they don't even look anything like what's in the TV series. I was hoping to get the panel light set from  Outer Space Outfitters but even that is getting to be too long.

Frustration city until a knight in shining armour came along - in the form of Rod Lowe, or better known as Hotrodnz from Starship Modeller, who encouraged me with his Private Message. He was willing to share some very interesting tips based on what he did for his Viper build up. Let me show you what he did first .. its really, really AWESOME!!

  

Want to see and know more? Hehe ...

New Kit Alert! Fantastic Plastic's TOS Mark I Viper with Launch Rails

Yeah .. I am back!!! Actually I never left. I wasn't able to post anything for the last few days due to weather gone mad in Malaysia.

The last few days was just crazy. Its the middle of the monsoon season and we are seeing severe thunderstorm practically almost everyday for the whole day, which has resulted in some flooding all over the country, and we're also missing some trees. They weren't blown away, merely toppled over so they had to be removed. Its sad one of those trees killed an innocent motorcylist recently.

My home wasn't spared either and since I live in a lightning prone area, well, whenever I hear the distant rumble, my PC is shut down immediately and phone lines are instantly disconnected. Its either that or bye bye modem and network card. Just want to mention that besides the flooding, I also hate .... the traffic jam from HELL. There ... I feel better now.

So the rain came early today, and tonight's weather is a lot nicer and cooler, which means ... blogging time!

First in my list is a New Kit just released by Fantastic Plastic. Its in 1/72 scale and its a complete diorama with a reasonable price. Its now available at Fantastic Plastic's Virtual Museum Store!

* 1:72 scale
* 35 pieces
* Viper, Launch Bay, Rail and Catapult
* Pilot and 3 ground crew figures
* Clear Vac canopy
* Optional Viper landing gear included
* Sculpted by Alfred Wong
* Cast by MMI
* Decals by JBOT
* Display is 9 inches long when completed

There are currently limited quantities available now for $100.00 plus shipping.

I have made many purchases from Fantastic Plastic and I can vouch for this company as dependable and reliable. The kits are also very well cast and easy to work with. I do have some reservations with vacuformed canopies though. I find them a little ... fragile to work with. Be extra careful when you're trimming those parts and you really need to have a set of steady hands.

I plan to get one myself, but I need to budget my purchases so it looks like this kit will only be joining my stash next year. And at USD$ 100 - its a steal. You're not only getting the Mark I Viper with LANDING GEARS, but an option to pose her in her launch rail with her maintenance staff. With a little bit of scratchbuilding, and perhaps getting 2 or 3 sets, you may even recreate this scene

Yeah .. now lets go kick some Cylon Arse ... woohoo!!

Awesome Build Review - My Viper is in the Garage

I found these images stacked somewhere within my archieve folders and once again I don't have a link back to where I got these. It'll be nice if I can find some info so I can provide some details on this fantastic and creative build. If anyone knows, please let me know.

I the meantime, I just decided to call it "My Viper is in the Garage" due to the last image. Enjoy.

Part 5 - How to spruce up your 1/32nd Revell/Monogram Colonial Viper

Part 5 of the Revell/Monogram 1/32nd TOS Mark I Colonial Viper build will touch on correcting the laser canons and modifying the engine thrusters.

See Part 1 for this kit's introduction, and aftermarket parts
Part 2 highlights works on the engine section
Part 3 highlights scribing the panel lines and the cockpit
Part 4 highlights on the front nozzle and fuselage details

If anything, Revell/Monogram could have made the laser canons on their Mark I Viper a little more authentic. The 2 pieces provided looks like a toy where the triangle pieces are a chunk of plastic. The studio model had triangular shaped bars encompassing the mid section as the picture below shows.

Most Sci Fi Scale Modellers I know actually do correct this. They either cut off that whole piece and replace them with styrene strips, or drill through and file out a triangular shape (that's what I did). Either way, its up to you how you want to spruce up the laser canons. You could even use small brass rods measured to scale to give them a more authentic look

Of course this just came in. If you feel you're not skilled enough to correct the laser canon, you can opt to get an accurate set from Starship Modeller. Fireball Models came out with the 1/32 Scale TOS Colonial Viper Replacement Laser Cannon Set - its out of stock at the moment but put in your pre-order when new stock comes in.

Each package contains two laser cannons comprised of two parts each; a front and a rear section. The cannons are identical and are designed to fit either side of the Viper. The benefit over using these cannons instead of the kit’s cannons is two-fold: you don’t have to eliminate the nasty mold seams running down both sides of the kit parts, and these replacement cannons are more accurate to the original studio models.
You will need a small drill bit and some small-diameter wire to attach the cannons to the model


Sprucing up the Mark I Viper's Thrusters

For the thrusters nozzel, well, if you're planning to light up your kit, I wouldn't recommend modifying them unless its a static display kit. Then you may want to spruce up the Mark I's tail pipe a little (they are a little blend, even on TV). Trastoman did his spectacularly by using pieces from another kit.

You have to admit, they look perfect for the Mark I making the thrusters' nozzle more "practical'. What Trastoman did was he took spare parts from another Revell Sci Fi kit, the Babylon 5 Starfury's thrusters' nozzle and placed them there.

Ingenious, isn't it. I wonder how she'd look if lighted with those thrusters. By this time, your kit would have been about 75% complete. You need to go through her again to cover up all the gaps and holes since it isn't pleasent seeing a kit that could have been finished beautifully but has some imperfections.

Then its off to be coated with a primer and paint. Remember, when you paint your kit, paint them as though they are brand new. Weathering can only take place after you've applied decals and coated your entire kit with a layer of clear gloss coating (you'll need to apply a layer of clear gloss first before you can apply your decals. Failing to do so may make it difficult for the decals to stick, and may damage the decals when you attempt to work push them in place). The reason why you want your kit with a clear gloss coat is because when weathering, you'll be doing a lot "washing" using water soluble paints.

Adding the decals

Weathering

The finished Mark I Viper, a gem of a kit assembled by Trastoman from Spain. More on his finished kit in Part 1

I hope by viewing Part 1 - 5 on how to spruce up your Mark I Viper, you would have some of your own ideas on how to assemble and create some fancy stuff of your own. Problem areas can usually be solved using some proper planning and sometimes having some radical ideas do help. This is basically what  separates a basic modeller (those that assemble their kits straight out of the box) from a professional, the act of modifying, correcting, and creating parts to make their kits more authentic and believable

I look forward to seeing yours on the net soon.