Battlestar Galactica half studio scale - 1 meter long

[olcabour]

After the models building race on Galactica for an exhibit stand in convention in march this year (9 months to get at least half the elements I exhibited), I wanted to get back on Space:1999 and especially StarWars, but finally I started a new large project this time, and that will be the focus point of this collection it is the Battlestar Galactica to half scale studio: 37.5 inches, so a meter long !

This is a resin kit from Mike Salzo available on RPF.
The proportions are faithful, and casting seems correct.














Here it is beside his little 1/4105th brother (from my rag tag fleet diorama).
The scale of the large Galactica is between 1/1900 and 1/2000th scale.




The parts of the main body are designed to be screwed together for assembly. The locations are planned and the thickness of the resin on the facing surfaces is consistent. The front modules, central and rear are hollowed (usefull to light it) .

Similarly, the level of detail is very important, and it is relatively close to the studio model, while not exact. Here and there, we can find 1/144th tanks kit parts where they were 1/72th on the original studio model, for example.





I noticed some flaws :
- The Viper launch tubes : The steps are not wide enough, and the cavities of the tubes themselves are missing .

here next to a mini viper 1/700 from the Cylon Ambush diorama (the ones I made for the Cylon Tanker diorama)
(Funny but too big for the scale )



- On the back of the hangars, it's missing some raised lines (it needs 4 instead where they are 3 on the kit).



- The alignment of the panzer bodies on the engine module is not great. Too bad, because it will have to stay like that.





- Lines structures are lacking on some parts : domes, sheds ...
- It lacks a dome : there should be 2 (one above and one below ). The one below is lacking as the model support arm is supposed to go there. Anyway, this dome is not symetrical, and need some reworked.



Sheds are recessed on almost their entire length. The rear part is not hollowed entirely.

Points to check before starting the assembly :
- Verify if an internal frame is needed to prevent it from sagging over time (this is a default of the resin)
- Design the support (1, 2 or 3 points for example)

In the meantime, he went to a good cleaning step.

[olcabour]

I marked all the window locations and drill then with (0.75mm diameter) for the optical fibers.




Parts preparation is laborious. Because there is finally a lot of tiny molding flaws, and bubbles hidden in the details.
Bubbles are filled with my shaggy hedgehog method ! So with the rods glued into each hole with cyano.
Sometimes I had to simply replace a detail too damaged with a tank part, or an Evergreen strip.

Long weeks were needed to reach the end of this step.






















example before / after (an hour later!)




To take my mind off of this cleaning job, I get forward slowly on other works : internal bracing and support means ...

[olcabour]

After much research, I found a simple way to install a support strut in the main body.
I'll use a 3cm diameter metal table leg, screwed on a medium plate, itself screwed to the central part of the ship.
The foot is cut to stay within the model. Via copper tubing and the other part of the table leg, it will rest on the foot of an old office armchair.











It will be the support for display on our stand, there will certainly be other less high and fixed.

The power wires will run inside the support, so a hole is made in the foot to let it go out (so it will be invisible in the model).




I will made some other support options to vary the displaying ways :
- From above, here I use an hardware kit for bedstead.





- From each side, via steel square tubes. This will require much more work: hollow all along the resin part that connects them (belly cross), drill and adjust accordingly the hangars.







I will fill the hole with resin later.


With this metal bar in the middle, the inside of hangars will be cut in half, so will be the future detailled interior (which, I hope, should not be seen in the end).





All this means that I will also have to provide three more power paths.


To strengthen the big resin parts and prevent them from bending under their own weight in the future, I prepared wood reinforcements (with 1 cm thick medium).



Notches in the medium are made to let the optical fibers run there later.



The head is the part that asks me the most concern. Here the resin is thin. On the upper part as the bottom one, the edges are very thin and in my opinion not thick enough to hold the weight of the bottom piece over the long term. So I think to screw the parts together, which will require a bit of preparation.
Meanwhile, the upper is reinforced with an aluminum U-channel and a block of medium wood.

[JAWS]

Awsome. Great to see a breakdown of this kit. I can tell you that there are key detail parts that were 'shrunk' by a very talented Modeler, Nick Sainton Clarke, for this model.
I actually supplied some elements for that initiative. It's a fantastic kit.
Kudos to Mike & Nick for his contribution to mastering as accurate a kit as has been done.

[olcabour]

Yes, this is really a fantastic kit.
Anyway, it needs lot's of work, so this is clearly for an experienced modeler.

Mike did not advertise that it was a contributing work.
On which elements did you contributed exactly ?


I think I correctes the english errors in my previous posts (hope it is "clean" now). I use google translate, and usually do a carefull reading of the result, but it seems I was not watchfull this time.

[JAWS]

Just with parts like the 1/8 JPS, Otaki D51 & others.
Mike had already built the 1/2 scale pattern. Then Nick was working on one & collaborated to redaitailing some areas. The parts were shrunk to 1/2 scale with some amazing technique. I think the Back Plug Plate might be mine shrunk down. Just minor stuff but stuff that helped accurately detail some of the obvious key parts. My stuff was done with Nick so Mike may not have known. We never discussed it as it was a project I was doing with Nick aka 'GORT' from the RPF. Then they teamed up to release this beast.

[olcabour]

So, Jase, a big thanks for your contribution in detailing the master.
The overall detailing is the second advantage of this kit (the first being that the kit exist )

Did the part were reduced with the method using white spirit mixed in the RTV ?

[olcabour]

I improved the bridge. this part is important, as it is a focal point of this ship.
The Elephant hood is too thick, so i carefully cutted it off, and sanded it to a better width.
Details are redone (small domes were too big for example)









The front side is sanded and completely redone





It does not fit horizontally on the model.



it should be like this



The height is set by adding plastic card walls







The holes for the fiber optics windows are drilled




I made a mold of a 1/144 WW2 german waggon sides






Where I get 4 small domes to complete the details of the bridge.





Optic fibers will be install later.

[JAWS]

(08-29-2014, 08:37 AM)olcabour Wrote: So, Jase, a big thanks for your contribution in detailing the master.
The overall detailing is the second advantage of this kit (the first being that the kit exist )

Did the part were reduced with the method using white spirit mixed in the RTV ?

Im really not sure buddy.

[olcabour]

The domes on the central module did not satisfied me.
The curve are corrected by mounting them on the dremel and using files and sanding blocks.








There is a third dome (placed on top of the central module), which also requires to be corrected.






These domes will be mold later

[olcabour]

- on the first port side arm, there is a dome upon which it lacks a kind of ring. This little detail is important to me because it is in the center of the first image that comes to mind when I think of this ship, so I added it.




- On the hangar sides, there are detail plates, originally coming from Hasegawa 1/72 Morser Karl parts. Mike used here their Dragon 1/144 counterparts, but as the breakdown is different, that did not satisfied me, so I scrath a new master.

the original parts


the parts used in the kit


the ones I will use


the tank wheel is reduced on the dremel



and here is the result


- These resin parts are also From The Morser Karl kit.
As i did not have enough ones, I ended to hollow them with the dremel and cutters.

[JAWS]

Damn impressive work Olivier

[olcabour]

- With a vertical drilling machine, dremel and cutters, I hollowed out the bulk of the hangar ends.







The millings are sanded (as one is missing, so the spacing is incorrect).



the engraving is done.








And millings is redone with T-Channel. For the knees, I just cut the feet of the T to fold the strip on the edge.







The backplate part of the sheds looked undersized.
So I scratched a new one.






It will be re-molded resin later.

The cap is also sanded and re-detailed

[olcabour]

The mold walls are done with Lego bricks





Some are unsuccessful (RTV insufficiently mixed) and a second mold was needed.




After resin casting.

[olcabour]

the nose lacked symmetry, so some details are moved, and others enhanced to better match the original one.

[olcabour]

Reinforcements had to be done to prevent the resin from sagging over time, and a struture to securely hold the parts and elements together.

The creation of the structure went module by module through trials and errors.
It is hard to explain all the steps. it is spread over several weeks and I have not always taken notes.

No glue is used at this stage, everything fits with screws (and there are dozens of 20 different types). Some remain visible and will simply become details, others will be later hidden behind plastic squares and details

The three main modules are held together with bolts and nuts reinforced with wooden blocks. In the center, a metal pipe (copper here) ensures the alignment of the assembly and will later allow the electric wires to run though.

[olcabour]

The assembly of the head was the most difficult to design, because of the thickness of the edge, thus adding "clogs" resin so that the screws have the material to hang on.
















To prevent it from bending in the future, an aluminum U-channel is screwed to the bottom of the upper part and blocked with a wooden block.





Previously, it needed to sand the contact areas of the two parts so that they are aligned properly.



I "smeared" some resin where I found the thickness a little weak.

[olcabour]

For the cross part on the belly of the central part, I had to fill with resin to be able to screw it.





The belly plate is screwed on the upper part of the central module

[olcabour]

To firmly hold the arms, they have two points of attachment to the central body. The first is with a screw from the body.
The second is a bolt made one with the arm: the bolt is inserted in a hole then filled with resin.
A channel is hollow to allow the electric wires to go through the arm to the hangars.

[olcabour]

Unlike other modules (designed like a "box" part with a "cover" part), there is broadly a part by side. So this time, these are the parts that have to fit together on the wooden struture and the opposite.
This will ensure the rigidity of the module, but will make it quite heavy.
The underside is installed by screwing with small metal brackets (parts from an old Meccano toys) or aluminum L-channel.

[olcabour]

It's starting to look like a Galactica






The nose is pointing up.




That's better after a run on the sanding belt.

[dbhs]

Looks great. Even at half size it's very big.

[olcabour]

Thanks dbhs


Back on the assembly of the engine module
The sides are assembled (3 parts bolted together) and screwed to the structure.









The topside is held by an alu L-channel section and 2 screws that will be hidden later.





Engines (rear, nozzles and light box) will be installed later as a drawer.

[olcabour]

The lower end of the arms are sanded gradually to align them horizontally and with the central body.




The hangar parts are digged to let my square tube (for a side standing system) go through to the side.

top part








bottom part





To be sure to be perfectly aligned, I used a miter saw




And then I realised I had to dig a channel otherwise it will not join between the top and bottom



The Galactica is impaled!




The locations of the viper launch tubes are holowed to install later the new parts




The location of the electric connectors is hollowed in each hangar.





To attach the 2 large parts (top and bottom) of the hangars, the facing surface is not wide enough.
And in the rear side there will be a detailled interior, so I had to work with as is..




The forward side are held firmly with wooden blocks screwed together and with the parts.




The front of the hangar held with rods of 4mm. The holes are larger than the rods. I used some resin to fill the remaining space while adjusting alignment
The part and the wooden block are now one.




At the rear, the rods alone will keep the part.

[olcabour]

- Median arms

Median arms are adjusted gradually by successive sanding the ends.
A metal rod secures the alignment with the body and a screw from the shed to hold it firmly.




- hangars

The big and long underside part of the hangar was bending under its ownweight, so I had to screw it at the center, by adding wooden wedges inside (like on the front).






- belly cross

Hangars being adjusted, I can now run the resin in the cross part to lock permanently the square tube in it.
I clogged the end with Tac gum



This is the result once the resin cured




-- Nose

There is an level between the up and bottom of the part, so I sanded it, and the nose is then screwed in the head.

[olcabour]

The engine casing is build like a drawer, the rear plate will be screwed to the engine module.

Assembly of the backplate




It needs some triming to fit in.



It will work with mini-screw




I use a resin plate, a part of the kit that I did not use (and replaced by the medium), to make the bottom of the drawer.




The light box is made of the above plate Honeycomb are slid inside, behind frosted transparent sheets.







The box is closed with the help of PVC profiles L and screwing everything






Missing is the lighting (which will be done later)

[olcabour]

- yellow lights boxes

On each side of the head and the motor module, there are small boxes with bright yellow 6 points each.
The parts supplied are a little too big and different between the front and rear.
So I've modified or replaced, and then glued to drill the holes for the fibers.

Front ones




Back





- remaining gaps

I filled few gaps between the large parts:

Here on the neck



and the engine module.




- Last complete dry test before lights installation and hangar detailling.
The usefull thing of this assembly with screws at this step is that everything can be dismantled easily.










- Launch tubes and replacement hangars details

Viper Launch tubes are installed. A small strip of plastic card brings it the right level



The resin plates replaced the ones on the kit. There are 3 on the right hangar, two on the left one, not symmetrically placed as on the studio model.

[olcabour]

I wanted the hangars interior to look like the drawings of Andy Probert used as trompe-l'oeil on the original model of the Galactica (provided as 2 decals in the kit ). It was necessary to translate and extrapolate the drawing while playing with the small space, the lighting, the discordant scales between the drawing, the hangar and the viper launch tubes (on the exterior side).



My blueprint is drawn directly on the part floor. I only use half the hangar lentgh, as the metal bar cut it in the middle.
It will be lit in white above the runway and red on the sides.




On the workshop side, I added greeblies along the wall.



And on the other side (with the launch tubes alcoves), the wall is rather smooth, so I added some paneling.
The trapezoidal openings are aligned to match the outputs of the launch tubes.



The ceiling of the runway is a clear plastic card, frosted with sand paper, detailled with Evergreen plates, behind which will be later placed the leds in indirect lighting.






The ceiling of the workshop is a ladder covered with frosted transparent plastic, which will be painted Red Clear later. The LED will later be placed on top.






For the LEDs to not move and remain in indirect lighting, a housing is created with plastic card above ceiling to lock them.

[olcabour]

I continued the interior detailing of the hangars by the staging area.
The walls are of the evergreen plate where I can placed the inner walls.
These inner walls are cut one by one.





The thickness of the floor is set to align it the the hangar floor.

[olcabour]

At the corner of the front arm, there is a round rack of 5 tubes, bombs from a B-29 kit.
The part provided, based on Macross missiles only contains 4 and it did not satisfied me.

Finding no equivalent in my spare box, I scratched new ones using tree bits mounted on the dremel and shaped with files.







They are then placed on a small stand.

[olcabour]

To populate the sheds, I need mini vipers and a few colonial shuttles.

The Viper in this scale is 4.5 mm long.
I'm going with T-channel as a base. I tested 2 and I go on the widest.
After few cuts, and add of two small rods, it looks like a viper.






For the master of the shuttle, I used a section of a PVC strip.
I mark the corners following a blueprint, and cut.
I added the pads and graved the cockpit windows.








I realize a first mold with Siligum.
And I get my first casts.





After a dozen runs, the Viper mold is dead, but that does not matter because now I can get into a second mold with a whole squadron, which was the goal
I use standard rtv, which will hold better than Siligum.





Vipers clusters !

[LastBattlestar]

At last, someone else has created physical landing bay interiors! Very nice, they look great.

Mike

[olcabour]

Thanks a lot Last Batlestar.
Here is the painting stage.

Painting of dozens of viper and shuttles : The orange stripes, cockpits and engines are hand-made.



I'm a Viper maniac !
(and no, I don't need a therapy!)





To paint the hangar, I played with different shades of gray: standards, greenish, beige...
The workshops are covered with white to better diffuse the ceiling red lights.




A light black wash is done mainly to highlight the workshops greeblies.


Added clear red plate behind the doors of the launch tubes of viper


As my hangars can not go the full length because of the side supports (metal bar), I extend it with a decal.
For this, I slightly modified the scans of the original design (removing the large Vipers, and color adjustment)





Placing the Viper and shuttles (with white glue)
- Right hangar







- Left hangar









Finishing the lighting of the sheds. Only warm white LED will be used. Red environments are done with transparent plastic sheets covered with Tamiya Clear Red.
There are 11 led by hangar.



Upper ceiling



which is painted mat black



I'm pretty happy with the result
- Right hangar






- Left hangar

[dbhs]

Wow. Holy crap.

Yes you do need therapy...just as much as the rest of us.

I'll take a half dozen shuttles, please...

[olcabour]

Thanks dhbs
I will answer you later.

[Red III]

Gulp!...Amazed.

[LastBattlestar]

I'm extremely impressed with how the bays are turning out. It's almost exactly what I am hoping for in my studio scale bays. The lighting has a nice ambience too, nice and cosy-looking. I think yours looks better with larger scaled ships in relation to the hangar area. My 1/960 Vipers and shuttles are very small in there, like they are parked on a football field! This really is inspiration to get mine done as I have the entire starboard bay interior module to scratchbuild and illuminate.

Very, very nice work Olcabour!

Mike

[bwayne64]

Wow ! Just ,..............Wow !

[olcabour]

Thanks a lot

For info, the Galactica is finished, just in time for an exhibition in a collector convention.

[olcabour]

Once the hangars done, I went on the installation of the electrical circuit, which is done along with the main assembly (gluing of the frame and parts of previously prepared large).

- Connectors above the center of the second dome (the first hiding the support)
It is sandwiched between the resin and the reinforcement medium plate.







- In the central part, once the structure is in place, the remaining space is small and it is difficult to insert many wires, LEDs and fiber optics.
I use warm white (as are all the windows on the real Galactica). The fiber is 0.75mm.














- Yellow boxes

In the four small boxes, fiber is set with white glue.


The yellow LED are connected to fiber (1mm this time) in a white pipe, and secured with white.





- hangars circuit.

The electrical circuit is connected by a wire going through the forearm (via a tunnel that I did previously during the dry assembling)

[olcabour]

- For the head, there is enough space to install everything relatively quietly. Yet it was not easy.
Due to the work on the gap and light leaks, many fibers broke. Some will be replaced up to 3 times!













In fact, the Galactica is a cat ... the proof: he has a mustache



So to block the ligth leaks on the head, I use black paint (of course), the black tape around the LED pipes and strips of black cloth (with 2 glued in sausage).

[olcabour]

- For the bridge, I was planning to run the fibers into the head, but the strength of the fibers (as a bundle) did not allow them to go through the small opening provided without force feedback on the part, that I was afraid to break !




So they are finally inserted in the side a tube where a LED is inserted.





To avoid the light leaks through, I glued a photoeched plate







The fibers are set with white glue.
A mixture of plaster and black paint is tsmeared o block other light leaks.



And it works.



The LED is stuck in a cap (superglue cap here)

[olcabour]

To facilitate the work, I made the stand to support Galactica upside down.

[olcabour]

If put in the center of engine, the LED can be clearly seen, and it's not very nice.



Between two engines, it is much less viewable and lighting is more uniform as being indirect




same with the small central reactor.





Red center engine is a warm white LED behind a red transparent sheet (like on the real way).
In this case I have to change the box to position the LED below (and more uniform indirect lighting), and out of sight. So I had to remove the "floor" I originally installed.



Rather than a red LED, I use a warm white led. A red or clear transparent sheet painted clear red will adjust the right shade.


For the main reactors, I take cold white LED, which tend toward blue. If it is not blue enough, so I'll add a blue transparent sheet behind the honeycomb.






I found that it does not yet enlightened enough because the honeycomb grid limits the light diffusion. So I igh LEDs along the backbone, again to avoid direct lighting.
The box will remain removable, so I could still add even more later if necessary.

[olcabour]

I finish the domes to keep them removable (behind will be hide the electric supply and the support openings).

Here, a flexible tube is used



There, I take an mold of the thread that I casted in resin. A screw is inserted to secure bonding.





Below, I use a hooded bathrobe for optical lens that fits perfectly on the tube (table leg, you remember ?). This dome will be rarely used because the Galactica will be 99.9% of the time stand from there.

[olcabour]

I added details in trying to follow the original model. The parts come from the kit itself, but mainly many kits 1/72, 1/48 and 1/35 tanks, naval ships, or various parts of the spares box.

[olcabour]

- On top of the engine module, it was not easy to find and set all the parts.








- Same thing behind the head






- the underside of the central engine modules also requires a lot of work to complete and adjust the parts supplied

[olcabour]

- Here it was necessary to add walls to the Leopold parts




- the screws are hidden behind tank wheels.






- Junctions of the arms with the hangars

[olcabour]

- details creation to hide the hangar lateral openings of the electical sockets and stands.









- the end part of the hangars are finally glued and held together with straps during curing.

[dbhs]

All of the mods you're doing on this are incredible.