New Conversion Kit Alert - Modify your Mark VII to the VIIE Colonial Viper

Mark VIIE Viper? Is there even such a thing you ask? Well, again I have highlighted this before. Its a variant of the current Moebius Mark VII Viper, and was seen in operation on board the Battlestar Pegasus.

The variant Mark VIIE can be seen in my previous blog, with the Timeslip Creations' Mark VIIE kit, the very first kit made for the VIIE. She's a superbly crafted resin kit with lots of details, and highly accurate to the tee. Comes with a resin pilot figure but missing are the landing gears. 

Here's Starbuck piloting a Mark VIIE before doing another one of her signature landing, this time with a Razor Cylon Raider on top of her.

To see the difference, check out my highlight HERE or see a couple of images from that post below

Now do you see the difference? The bad news is that Moebius do not have any plans to produce this variant. The good news is that there is a conversion set done to enable you to modify your current MKVII to a VIIE variant. Its from Brad Hair Productions and its available at CultTVMan Hobbyshop

Here's how the conversion looks when attached unto the Moebius MKVII kit.

And Wallah!!! You now have an official Battlestar Pegasus variant .. or Atlantia, whichever suit your fancy. Neat huh ... Well .... Tricia seems to agree ....

OK, couldn't help posting that image. She did ask for it by tweeting them. Seriously there are still some work that needs to be done to completely overhaul your kit into the "E" variant. Brad Hair's parts took care of the main challenges, leaving the little things to your own creativity. I'll highlight more when I come to my Mark VIIE.

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

About Moebius Mark VII Viper Cockpit Tub

Teach me to check my email more often. I have received quite some feedback regarding the new Moebius Mark VII kit's Cockpit Tub. Firstly let me say the tub is not done in error. Its just a simplified cockpit done up for easier assembly and painting.  Most aircraft kits suffer from this and to get her to look as accurate as possible, you're going to need aftermarket parts.

For those who are not aware of this, here's what you get direct from the sprues, and a mock buildup courtesy of VoodooFX with its lighting accessories:

Bear in mind the design for that tub is intentional and it is indeed lacking a lot of the control panels and other details as seen from these images of the Studio Model. 

Moebius 1/32 scale Mark VII Viper

Finally the wait is officially over. Moebius has released the Mark VII, completing its range of Colonial fighters under the reimagined series for Battlestar Galactica. I myself have been waiting for this baby after seeing test shots of her here and there. Do pardon my rather simplified review of this kit as I am sort of in between things here.

The kits box do seem a little flimsy compared to the Mark IIs and the Galactica, and its contents were packed exactly to the hilt, sparing no empty spaces inside. I got the cockpit PE set from ParaGrafix as well since I want to incorporate a more accurate look for my Mark VII.

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.

First Look at the New 1/32 Scale Moebius Colonial Viper MK VII

Coming really soon - Moebius Colonial Viper MKVII.

But just which one is the real box cover?

A special thanks to Miniature Sun from Hobbytalk.com, we are now able to see what the coming Moebius Colonial Viper MKVII kit looks like.

Scheduled for an April 2011 release, this kit will be the third official kit released under the Moebius banner, the first being the MKII Colonial Viper, then followed by the best selling Battlestar Galactica. The MKVII kit will be in 1/32 scale, similar to the MKII variant as well as Revelogram's Original Series MKI Colonial Viper.

The images of the new kit was only made possible after Frank Winspur contacted Miniature Sun to see if he was interested in building up the new MKVII kit to be included into a massive hangar bay diorama done up specially for the Crewe Show. An offer that definitely won't be refused, Miniature Sun took up the challenge, kept the whole project a secret and revealed it yesterday. The surprise was well received as suffice to say the kit generated so much attention it looks to have a promising future.

As seen from the parts from the spruce, the molds' details on this kit is superb and you can even make out the engraved panel lines.

A plus point with this kit is the option to build either a male (Apollo) or female (Starbuck) pilot. Parts are plastic which makes it so much easier to work with.

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.

More Variance Images between the Mark VII and Mark VIIE

Some are still in the dark over what the difference are between the BSG Mark VII and VIIE Colonial Vipers. I had highlighted the Mark VII HERE and the Mark VIIE HERE, but I wasn't able to get some better images until recently.

Thanks to Chris Dobbinson's amazing work on the Mark VIIs, we can now see clearer how these two fighter craft can look so much the same, and yet have so much differences.

You can view more of his work at Modelermagic.com . His specific builds for his Mark VII is HERE and the Mark VIIE is HERE. Just for your information, the Mark VII build is the 1/20th scale resin kit from FM Model Company, while the Mark VIIE is the 1/32 scale resin kit from Timeslip Creations.

The images below compare the Mark VII on the right and Mark VIIE on the left.

Thanks Chris for building these so now a lot of us know what and where they are different.