LastBattlestar's Galactica: 12 years & counting!

[LastBattlestar]

Thanks man, I'll get you to have a look and see if you have any multiples to swap for cold beverages.

Mike

[t2sides]

HeHeh!!! I think you are the only person I know that has a retirement project already lined up!!! (just kidding!)

Been a HELLUVA journey so far Mike!! I'm so dang proud that you keep sticking with it and keep on going!! You are amazing, as is the continuing voyages of the G!

-Sean

[LastBattlestar]

Thanks mate, you are are too kind. Man, I miss our good old days of BG banter. Send me your email address, lost it when the old laptop died. Even better, let's hook up a Skype sesh, I'll go to Phil's place and we'll catch up!

Mike

[LastBattlestar]

Hey guys! I've been so busy with work, wedding planning, working on my garden for summer and fixing bent cars that I've been absent lately.
Phil and I are on some sort of unofficial Galactica building hiatus at the moment. Why? I have no idea! I'm putting it down to burnout on such incredibly demanding projects, but we will be back. My Galactica is sitting on it's bench, all panels on (looking very sexy), the bench is neat and tidy, tons of parts ready to go on but I haven't touched it since Christmas! Every few weeks I go into the room and smell the resin dust, glue and plastic but can't seem to re-engage for some reason. At least once a year I begin another marathon building session, so it's only a matter of time now.

My Movers that Phil beautifully rebuilt for me is also well into the weathering stage but collecting dust. I'm terrified of applying the JT Graphics decals onto those ribbed containers. Scary stuff.

Basically most of the entire starboard side of the G is ready for re detailing, but it's a terrifying thing to try and restart, even for the seasoned Galactica builder. I really have to start looking through pics and parts again and hopefully get moving! If anyone can offer some advice to get my ass back into gear, I'd like to hear it.

Mike

[darkimmitator]

I hear ya Mike , about a lack of ambition to get building or detailing on the battlestar . I too have not done much of anything on my battlestar since late winter , and other than a week long marathon build on my movers , and triangle ship in the spring ,haven't built anything either . Not until yesterday ! I paid a visit to the beast in the workshop , started to stare at an undetailed section of pure white styrene and started to imagine what it would look like with detail kit parts on it .Opened up the ol parts maps file, looked for the kit that contained the part for that area ,poped it off the sprue and set it in place .Didn't think it looked right, and then put another part next to it and tryed to line it up right . Then another , and another part ,got layed down next to the others , and then it hit me . Holy frak , I am working on the ol girl again . Three hours had gone by before I even realized this , and all it took was some curiosity and make the time to physicaly put my hands on the model . I actually got enough details put on the landing bay to post an update , hopefully later this afternoon . Hope this helps , but it's like the ol NIKE commercial .... " JUST DO IT "

[LastBattlestar]

Good on 'ya Kenny, go for it mate!

You are correct, I need to isolate myself with the model, look at the pics and get moving again like you did. It's 11pm Sunday now, so nothing tonight, but I did turn it round to the undetailed side and dusted it all down for starters. During my famous annual rework sessions, I get home from work and just can't wait to get in there and start detailing until 1 or 2am. Gotta happen sooner or later for 2013...

Mike

[jedimaster]

Just remember how F...in cool its gonna look when finished. I can't wait to get the Narc done and start one myself.

[dbhs]

Hi guys. I've been in the same funk myself for a while. Just little spurts of inspiration here and there but often when I'm not near the bench. I also haven't had a lot of time lately but certainly in a good way. Things in life have been much improved lately. I'm actually on a much needed vacation right now in Philadelphia and NEw York. Mike, it sounds like congratulations are in order. That's great news.

[LastBattlestar]

Cheers guys! To the outsider, my Galactica may look nearly finished but rest assured there are hundreds upon hundreds of hours of work to go. That's what's so hard about re-starting it, it's just so damn scary, especially with the various extra lighting tricks I have planned for it.

Good to hear Doug, I know you've had a rough trot in recent times, but reading between the lines I'd say that there might be someone new in the vicinity, eh?

Yeah, regarding the wedding stuff, thanks! I haven't been making a big deal about it as we're not attention seekers by nature, but it's happening on the 15th of Feb. next year. I posted some details about the engagement, new house and stuff here if you're interested.

http://www.resinilluminati.com/showthrea...ight=house

Mike

[steve36uk]

Hey congrats Mike:-)

Think no ones doing much right now-actually pleased to roll out an Airfix spitfire in 1/72....everything else just idling....

[JAWS]

Congrats Mike.
More pictures please.
In need of some visual stimuliz-ation.
Ol Wombats still in the burrow but he'll be back.
Maybe when it warms up a little...

[Wombat]

(07-30-2013, 03:54 PM)JAWS Wrote: Congrats Mike.
More pictures please.
In need of some visual stimuliz-ation.
Ol Wombats still in the burrow but he'll be back.
Maybe when it warms up a little...

Maybe sooner??

[LastBattlestar]

Phil! Good to see you back. We've both been on hiatus it seems? I've left you a couple of phone messages, but I've been so bloody busy recently that it's hard to catch up in person. The last couple of months have consisted of various family get-togethers, plumbing emergencies and another car accident. This time I bent Nikki's Ka instead of the Falcon, the third time I've been hit by someone else this year! No injuries.

We gotta get together and start building again. Thanks to Ken, I actually did a few hours on the G the other night, so I'm crawling out of my burrow slowly again!

When it's not raining, bring the Super Pursuit ute around so I can drool over it again OK?

Mike

[darkimmitator]

A few hours on the the G ,should be good for an update eh Mike !! lol .
Good to hear that you are back in action . Also happy to hear that no one was injured in the fender bender !!
Hope to see Phil get the build bug again too !!
Hint ,Hint !!!!!

[Wombat]

I'll admit Ken looking at your latest pictures the other day had me thinking about the sb side neck detailing. Looks like it'd be a bit of fun getting some greeblies onto that and it's more than likely what i'll play around with for a back into sesh.. Not sure when thats gonna be but i'm thinking pretty soon.

Mike, sorry man, haven't been much of a mate for the last 6 months or so but we should catch up again soon. Damn ya on a roll with the prangs there but thankfully you are ok or no worse than before, if i may.. lol Good to hear you played around a bit with your build! Don't worry you are a bloody hell of a lot closer to the finish line than any of us but i do hear ya on getting that mojo to hit it again. Just an area at a time as the big pictures can be a damn nightmare can't it??

[LastBattlestar]

You are right Ken, 3 or 4 hours detailing on a Battlestar usually results in a pic of two greeblies on a blank styrene panel.

I did some more work on the starboard main body side, between the centre and rear arms. Phil helped out with some little greeblies for that section, so it's close to finished.

I think the three of us should work on the starboard neck area, mine is virgin white styrene, ready to go!

No problem Phil, you've helped me out so much that you can disappear anytime you want and I won't be offended. That 15 minute drive to your place should happen more often but I was stupid enough to buy a house and enjoy working in the garden.

[Wombat]

Well Kens already off to a good start with his sb side neck but hell, sounds good!

It's been so long that i think i forgot how to do this but it should come back again pretty easily, hopefully...

Well that trip works both ways but i thinks it's actually more like 10mins...least in a ute!! lol

[LastBattlestar]

Never late in a Ford V8!

I'm still at work at 6.30 so better stop goofing off. Wait a minute, aren't I still owed months of annual leave?

Mike

[Wombat]

(08-05-2013, 07:01 PM)LastBattlestar Wrote: Never late in a Ford V8!

I'm still at work at 6.30 so better stop goofing off. Wait a minute, aren't I still owed months of annual leave?

Mike

Same boss aye??

[darkimmitator]

Me thinks the Scorpion Shipyards are about to get buisy again!!! Two or three more big G's jump on board , and this place is gonna get crazy !!!

[Wombat]

Well i gotta admit i'm having fun again already. Looked at the maps, found one of the unlisted parts and am already getting parts ready. Just cut out a piece of paper the size of stb side neck so i can lay the main parts out to see how things will fit. The design i'm working with was made symmetrical so i'm gonna be short with the surface area because of this and which i was warned about by the designer. Not sure which side is the short side but this side looks like it may be it going on the cut truck chassis. Oh yeah i cut that just before so i guess maybe i'm back into it again??

[LastBattlestar]

Yeah, once the heavy-hitter Southern Colonial Shipyard boys get off their asses, it should be good. We just have to er, get off our asses first.

Yes Phil, same boss, nothing changes. His oldest kid did go to Italy for a school exchange thing, so I was happy to contribute further annual leave to a good cause....

Mike

[Wombat]

(08-05-2013, 10:19 PM)LastBattlestar Wrote: Yeah, once the heavy-hitter Southern Colonial Shipyard boys get off their asses, it should be good. We just have to er, get off our asses first.

And there lays the problem!!!

[LastBattlestar]

Not sure if I'm fully back into Galactica mode, but the model room has been occupied for a couple of evenings now, the movie music has been playing and there is a fresh smell of CA and resin dust in the air. Ninja the cat did think that one of my boxes full of thousands of tiny kit parts was a litter box, but apart from that things seem to be moving again. I'll put up some pics soon, not of the cat piss though...

Mike

[Wombat]

You sure do make good progress when you get into it and i know you've been able to do just from what i've seen.

Now as for that cat......

[darkimmitator]

Hey Mike , what did you come up with for your chase lighting and back lighting for your bays ?

[LastBattlestar]

I was dragged into a wedding expo today up in the beautiful Adelaide hillls, but it turned out OK as there was a catwalk fashion show with some really hot (human) models. Finished off with lunch at the German settlement town of Hahndorf, sitting by an open fire in a old cafe while the rain pored down outside. I love Adelaide! I have managed to get some time in on the Galactica at last between that, an American food-themed party at Nikki's sister's house last night and the usual weekend chores.

Ken, as I have the physical bay interior, it's ceiling is lit using these LED flexible strips. I can change the colour from normal to red alert by remote control. Random disco party mode looks cool too. I don't have anything sorted for the chase lights yet. I tried, tried and tried harder to make my original set work, but it just won't fit under the floor. I tried Jim's trick of extending fibres from the LEDs but could not get the brightness and evenness to look good. I don't know how he did it!

   

   

I've been working on the main body and neck starboard sidewalls. Random pics:

This looks kinda cool. I got a new Experia Z phone and it has that camera effect where everything looks like it's a minature.

   
   
   
   

Here is my old sidewall section before I took the major step of cutting the head off, extending the armature and rebuilding the neck section again. It was a little short!

   
   
   
   
   
   

Mike

[Wombat]

Thats a nice lot of reworking there once again Mike. The neck is looking far better already compared to that older shorter one. You really was cramming the stuff in on that old one! lol You seem to be much closer with things now so the pieces should go down more as they should this time. The other updates you've down on the body side looks much better also. More accurate and your pipe work is once again outstanding there.

Good to see ya back at it!

[darkimmitator]

Just like the wombat said , great update , and good to see ya back at it .
Thanks for the info on your bay cap interiors too Mike !

[LastBattlestar]

Hi guys, I've posted some more update pics at RI. Sorry 'bout that, didn't have enough time to double post and upload pics here, it takes a while doesn't it?

http://www.resinilluminati.com/showthrea...03&page=67

I've also started work on the starboard landing bay and finding that it's too short ahead of the front arm, but I'm working around it as usual.

I have a removable top section so you can look down into the bay. Now is the time to decide whether to seal it up again or not. The major issue is the illuminated ceiling: I can't have both, so I guess I've answered my question. What do you think? I have (close enough) 1/700 PE deck crew figures on the way and have always wanted to have lots of people, ships and equipment visible in there.

Mike

[Wombat]

We want pic's here!!

[LastBattlestar]

Updated at RI again, sorry Phil.:p On my phone, still stuck at work and it's a little difficult to do the image upload thing on it...

Mike

[Wombat]

No problem. We can wait for you to get home and find a bit of spare time to post a few of them pic's here as well.

[Wombat]

Maybe tonight then?

[LastBattlestar]

After I get home at 930, have dinner, stack the dishwasher, wrestle with the cat, wrestle with Nikki, watch some TV, I might pull out the laptop... It's a wonder I ever get any model work done!

Mike

[LastBattlestar]

OK Phil, I got home at 10pm and decided to put up the pics just for you. I'm trying to move along as quickly as possible, gotta get this thing finished in this decade at least. But don't hold your breath....

Now I have almost completed the starboard neck side section, bar a few little greeblies, I've begun yet another massive detailing task, the starboard landing bay. It was refurbished last year with a detail part strip, outer trench rebuild in aluminium C-channel, internally strengthened, filled and sanded. On goes new greeblage using newly acquired Hasegawa rail gun kits, Custom replicas resin castings and cleaned up parts from the original attempt.

   

   

I originally had a removable panel on the top rear of the bay which was to allow viewing of the miniature flight deck. I have abandoned this as the illuminated ceiling and associated electrical stuff wouldn't make this possible. All sealed up now and new greeblie goodness going on.

   

   

Mike

[Wombat]

Hopefully there are some others that will enjoy seeing these posted here also but thanks for posting em just the same. It's looking really bloody good there Mike! Looks real clean and sharp seeing all these new and old parts plus the castings getting used on that fresh styrene. Some fine detailing work that you've cranked out once again. Cranking it out you seem to do in very well when you hit things as you are and i'm lost how you achieve so much in what seems no time at all. Looking really good though so keep at it!

[darkimmitator]

A fine bit of an update indeed ! Lookin Real good Mike , thanks for posting the update !

[JAWS]

Bout time.
Looks good Mike.

[LastBattlestar]

Thanks fellas, I'm enjoying the build again. Phil, I might be reasonably quick, but it's the reason my detailing looks like it's made of marshmallows compared to yours.

Mike

[Wombat]

Oh, c'mon theres no marshmellow look about it, the worst may be a cookie crumb look and thats only from where you've had a bit of a nibble during one of your early morning sessions.

[LastBattlestar]

Dunno about cookies but there are plenty of Coke and blood stains on it!

Mike

[Wombat]

Not to mention the years of sweat and tears. But it's looking the best it ever has because of it!

[LastBattlestar]

Thanks mate, it's a lot different since you first saw it. It looked like a kid's toy back then, but you and Sean really made me work hard to get it into the ballpark.

Nice warm weekend as we finally move into spring. Yesterday we went to the travel agent to look at Pacific Island cruises for our honeymoon. Gonna do it later in April to let the finances and livers recover after the wedding in Feb. Very exciting as we haven't had a decent break in 10 years! I have never been off this bloody big island either, so am looking forward to reef snorkelling, jet skiing and cold booze sitting on a beach. So, how many of you guys are coming to the wedding? It's gonna be a great party that night, a blistering Aussie summer, freezing cold drinks, spit roast, cool pool and smooth grooves.

I did another 5 hour session on Saturday night, finishing up at 4am. Nothing new there. I've added on the pipework, styrene plating, greeblies and begun detailing the outboard side of the bay. Getting there!

   

   

   

Almost completed the forward arm. I really enjoy bending up the little pipes with all those tricky angles.

   

   

These arrived in the mail. At 1/700 they are slightly too large for the Galactica decks, but they are stupidly small. People paint these? I was going to catch some little ants to substitute for deck crew, but these are smaller!

   

Mike

[Wombat]

You can nail it on that Sean fella perhaps but this has had nothing ta do with me.. LOL

Now for starters that build has never looked like a toy, for anyone that has never seen one it is pretty bloody awesome really. Even when i first seen it it was simply a beast!! It's just what you've done to it over the last few years since i've actually looked at the subject that i can understand what a vast improvement it has become to how it was back then. Most people out there though really wouldn't have been the wiser but for some of us we can see what you've done to it and see the massive improvements you've made in doing so. It's looking really great Mike, them hours are turning out some great work and amazing progress once again. I've been stuck for two weeks again and getting nowhere but you really are moving along again. Fantastic to see!

[LastBattlestar]

I was just about to text you to check out the update mate.

Nope, after seeing your surgically accurate work, I really had to overhaul the old girl. It's still not at your level, but it's the best I can do and I can live with it. We really need to catch up soon and check out the Battlestars. Better yet, get them in the same room for some pics. That would be epic!

Mike

[darkimmitator]

Another great update Mike . Thanks for sharing !!

[LastBattlestar]

How is the Pegasus going Ken? You're rolling into Autumn now, colder weather, no excuse to neglect the project.

Phil, keep moving man, it's too easy to lose momentum on this project, just a little bit each day keeps it going!

Mike

[darkimmitator]

Mike is absolutely right Phil . Once you stop , it is easy to loose build momentum .

A little update will be posted when I get home from work tonight Mike !

[JAWS]

More pictures Mike.
Especially of your bays.