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raider
   
When I heard that the Sci-Fi channel (now SyFy) was doing a remake of the old Battlestar Galactica series, I couldn't stop laughing. I was 7 or 8 years old when the original came out, and even at that age I knew it was cheesy! The new series kicked off with a mini-series that happened to coincide with the end of a bad week at work for me, so I sat down with a beer or two and tuned in so that I could have a laugh. After the first few minutes it was obvious this wasn't the old school cheese of my childhood, and I was hooked.
   
Like the rest of the hardware in Battlestar, the Cylon Raider was updated. The Fantastic Plastic kit captures the new sweeping curves and slender lines of the fighter.
   

Paints Used

  • Mr. Surfacer primer
  • Vallejo Black 859 for Alcad undercoat
  • Vallejo Black-Gray 862 for guns, exhausts, staining
  • Tamiya Smoke for effects
  • Alcad Chrome Silver, Gun Metal and Chrome applied in layers for overall body colors

I initially put this kit aside for a while, as that's what I generally do out of habit, and because I had notions of lighting the "eye" and the engines of it at some point. Finally I decided to just build it, as it's a simple kit and I needed a break from a 16 month long ironclad build.

There are issues with the kit. The lower engine shrouds didn't fit well, so out came the files and the Aves putty. The head is a bit misshapen when looked at from directly forward; short of re sculpting a new one there wasn't much I could do about that, so I left it. I replaced the gun barrels with telescoping brass rod, because it just looks better and I always do that. I think I mounted the guns in reverse order, the big ones should be on the top, the little ones on the bottom. I guess this is a variant, then, and besides, it looks more symmetrical to me this way.

   

I used a lot of Alcad paint on this. A base coat of Airframe Aluminum, and then I went at it with an airbrush and Chrome and Burnt Metal, freehand, just misting it in until I liked the result. Decals came with the model, but I didn't use any of them as I liked the clean look without them.

Not perfect, but I'm happy with it!

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