SEARCH FINESCALE.COM

Enter keywords or a search phrase below:

It's the (original series) Battlestar Galactica! (More pix Added)

8975 views
19 replies
1 rating 2 rating 3 rating 4 rating 5 rating
  • Member since
    October 2003
  • From: Southern California
It's the (original series) Battlestar Galactica! (More pix Added)
Posted by ModelNerd on Thursday, April 29, 2010 9:49 PM

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

  • Member since
    July 2004
  • From: Sonora Desert
Posted by stikpusher on Thursday, April 29, 2010 10:28 PM

YesYes 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

 

  • Member since
    March 2010
  • From: New Zealand
Posted by Scorpiomikey on Thursday, April 29, 2010 10:43 PM

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 Hmm 

My signature

Check out my blog here.

  • Member since
    September 2005
  • From: Illinois: Hive of Scum and Villany
Posted by Sprue-ce Goose on Thursday, April 29, 2010 10:55 PM

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

 

 

 

 

  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: SW Virginia
Posted by Gamera on Friday, April 30, 2010 10:03 AM

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

 

  • Member since
    October 2003
  • From: Southern California
Posted by ModelNerd on Friday, April 30, 2010 10:25 AM

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?

 

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...

- Mark

  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: SW Virginia
Posted by Gamera on Friday, April 30, 2010 1:11 PM

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?

 

"I dream in fire but work in clay." -Arthur Machen

 

  • Member since
    October 2003
  • From: Southern California
Posted by ModelNerd on Friday, April 30, 2010 3:10 PM

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.

- Mark

  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: SW Virginia
Posted by Gamera on Friday, April 30, 2010 7:19 PM

Thanks! greebie is indeed the word I was looking for.

Funny, it's not in my spell check Big Smile

"I dream in fire but work in clay." -Arthur Machen

 

  • Member since
    January 2015
  • From: Katy, TX
Posted by Aggieman on Friday, April 30, 2010 7:29 PM

That is fantastic! 

Does the original still exist?

  • Member since
    October 2003
  • From: Southern California
Posted by ModelNerd on Friday, April 30, 2010 8:03 PM

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.

 

- Mark

  • Member since
    May 2008
  • From: SLC, Ut.
Posted by Batosi420 on Sunday, May 2, 2010 8:33 PM

I must agree with everyone so far,  Your Galactica looks Fantastic!! Bow Down

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. 2 cents

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. Yes

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

  • Member since
    April 2003
  • From: 41 Degrees 52.4 minutes North; 72 Degrees 7.3 minutes West
Posted by bbrowniii on Monday, May 3, 2010 10:39 AM

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?Geeked

'All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing' - Edmund Burke (1770 ??)

 

  • Member since
    October 2003
  • From: Southern California
Posted by ModelNerd on Monday, May 3, 2010 11:08 AM

Batosi420

I must agree with everyone so far,  Your Galactica looks Fantastic!! Bow Down

.....

Anyway, I do have a question.  Why did you & your team build this SuperFine model?? For what purpose??

 

-Ray

Thank you. Most of our models are built for private collectors.

- Mark

  • Member since
    October 2003
  • From: Southern California
Posted by ModelNerd on Monday, May 3, 2010 11:13 AM

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?Geeked

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.

- Mark

  • Member since
    September 2006
Posted by aussiemuscle308 on Wednesday, May 5, 2010 1:50 AM

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.

  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: SW Virginia
Posted by Gamera on Thursday, May 6, 2010 11:02 AM

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!

"I dream in fire but work in clay." -Arthur Machen

 

  • Member since
    October 2003
  • From: Southern California
Posted by ModelNerd on Thursday, May 6, 2010 2:35 PM

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).

- Mark

  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: SW Virginia
Posted by Gamera on Friday, May 7, 2010 1:15 PM

Thanks!!!

They look fantastic!

"I dream in fire but work in clay." -Arthur Machen

 

  • Member since
    April 2003
  • From: 41 Degrees 52.4 minutes North; 72 Degrees 7.3 minutes West
Posted by bbrowniii on Friday, May 7, 2010 1:26 PM

Lovin' the Raiders and the Vipers.  Brings back some fond childhood memories!!

'All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing' - Edmund Burke (1770 ??)

 

JOIN OUR COMMUNITY!

Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.

SEARCH FORUMS
FREE NEWSLETTER
By signing up you may also receive reader surveys and occasional special offers. We do not sell, rent or trade our email lists. View our Privacy Policy.