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Greetings again. Here are some photos of a little project just completed at my day job (yes, by some wicked twist of fate I build models for a living!), at Custom Replicas, in North Hollywood, CA. Fans of the 70's TV series "Battlestar Galactica" will recognize this immediately. This ship is a near exact recreation of the 6-foot-long model used for filming of the TV series. Although this was a team effort, I was assigned to be the lead builder on this project, and constructed roughly 70% of the model. Inner support comes from a tubular alloy skeleton, followed by acrylic laser cut panels. The original Galactica model was covered with kitbashed model parts from various 70's-era model kits, but since many of these parts today are out of production, or hard to find, we used resin duplicates for whatever we could not obtain. There are a few hundred fiber optics for porthole lighting, and engines are lit by LED spots, which incidentally never get hot. This project took around seven months from start to finish.Enjoy!
EDIT May 4, 2010:Here are a few pics of the mini-teeny-weenie Vipers and Raiders that compliment the Galactica. Made by one of our most talented builders/sculptors, Mike Asanuma.
- Mark
Vwery sweet! Thanks for sharing!
F is for FIRE, That burns down the whole town!
U is for URANIUM... BOMBS!
N is for NO SURVIVORS...
- Plankton
LSM
holy crap, who gets first ride?
"I am a leaf on the wind, watch how i soar"
Recite the litanies, fire up the Gellar field, a poo storm is coming
Check out my blog here.
Nice Battlestar !
I well remember the Sci-Fi 'zines of the day showing the TV Battlestar under construction.
Lotta Pzkw parts in the original model, if I recall correctly.
I thought only CGI ships were made in your neck of the (Holly) wood these days..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ccKPSVQcFk&feature=related
Beautiful model of the Big-G!
Some of the guys in our club got together one time with a bunch of Galactic and SW kits and tried to figure out where all the little surface 'gribles' came from. And the big flying saucer from 'Close Encounters' at the Smithsonian if you look at closely seems to have about a hundred model RR tank cars in it.
I'd love to see more photos if it's not too much trouble?
"I dream in fire but work in clay." -Arthur Machen
Gamera Some of the guys in our club got together one time with a bunch of Galactic and SW kits and tried to figure out where all the little surface 'gribles' came from... I'd love to see more photos if it's not too much trouble?
Some of the guys in our club got together one time with a bunch of Galactic and SW kits and tried to figure out where all the little surface 'gribles' came from...
The surface "gribles" came from lots of different kits, including many Tamiya armour kits, battleships, trucks, schnelboots, Aurora Sealab, and several more. For a fairly complete list of what was used where, you can visit the www.resinilluminati.com forums (in the Galactica Builder's sections). We actually have many of the parts cataloged with photo reference on our website: www.customreplicas.com. I attended a recent event in Hollywood where John Dykstra spoke on the original Galactica. He said they bought their model parts "by the pound" from a distributor.
More photos? Here ya go...
Modelnerd- thanks for the extra photos and the links!
Even of the Monogram Galatica kit we could tell where several parts came from like the top surface of the engines where there are what have to be upper hulls from Tamiya Tiger tanks.
I've heard the term 'grible' or 'gribble' or something simular used for parts like this, I think from Shep Paine. Is there a slang term used by professional film/TV modelers for stuff like this?
Gamera Modelnerd- thanks for the extra photos and the links! ...... I've heard the term 'grible' or 'gribble' or something simular used for parts like this, I think from Shep Paine. Is there a slang term used by professional film/TV modelers for stuff like this?
......
No problem!
The term "greeble" is indeed used n the industry. Also "chachkey".
The Hasegawa 1:72 Leopold Rail Gun and the Morser Karl are also used heavily throughout the ship.
Thanks! greebie is indeed the word I was looking for.
Funny, it's not in my spell check
That is fantastic!
Does the original still exist?
Aggieman That is fantastic! Does the original still exist?
The original does indeed exist. It's in the Gary Cannavo collection, and you can see it over at www.battlebuck.com. It has been restored a few times over the years. The original was built with plywood over steel tubing, then covered with plastic panels before the model parts were affixed.
I must agree with everyone so far, Your Galactica looks Fantastic!!
Battlestar Galactica was my Most favorite show growing up and to this day I'll pick 'original' BSG reruns over most anything. The SciFi channel's BSG remake attempt, for lack of a better or more descriptive term, ...sucked. -IMHO. I'm glad it's over & sorry it didn't end sooner.
Anyway, I do have a question. Why did you & your team build this SuperFine model?? For what purpose??
And remember, "just 'cause it looks totally cool!!" is all the reason I'd need.
Again, Great Job to you & your co-workers and Thanks for sharing the pics,-Ray
"Artificial Inteligence is No match for Natural Stupidity" -Woody Paige
Modelnerd,
Really, REALLY impressive little project. Thanks for sharing. Now, where are the scale Vipers coming out of the landing bay to battle the Cylons?
'All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing' - Edmund Burke (1770 ??)
Batosi420 I must agree with everyone so far, Your Galactica looks Fantastic!! ..... Anyway, I do have a question. Why did you & your team build this SuperFine model?? For what purpose?? -Ray
.....
-Ray
Thank you. Most of our models are built for private collectors.
bbrowniii Modelnerd, Really, REALLY impressive little project. Thanks for sharing. Now, where are the scale Vipers coming out of the landing bay to battle the Cylons?
Thank you. As a matter of fact, one of our exceptional crew members took the initiative and built a set of scale Vipers, which he mounted on clear rod, so as to appear to be flying out of the launch tubes when inserted. He also built a set of scale Cylon Raiders! I will see if he has any photos I can post.
good lord, that's supreme. well done.
Gamera if you look at closely seems to have about a hundred model RR tank cars in it
...and a tiny R2D2 too.
while Dennis Muren put an in-joke from his work on Star Wars, using an R2-D2 toy.
Thanks Aussiemuscle- I forgot about the R2! And when I looked at the model in the Smithsonian I remember there being a few other 'oddities' added including a WWII battleship/cruiser catapult with a seaplane on it. There were a several other things as well but I don't remember them as well.
Modelnerd- I'd love to see the Vipers and raiders if you find the pics!
Gamera ... Modelnerd- I'd love to see the Vipers and raiders if you find the pics!
...
Your wish is my command. Have a look at the first entry in this post (Page 1).
Thanks!!!
They look fantastic!
Lovin' the Raiders and the Vipers. Brings back some fond childhood memories!!
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