Viper Launch Tube Build By Professor Dr. Stefan Piasecki

AB Cylon Raider Build By Professor Dr. Stefan Piasecki

Scratch built: Cylon Basestar

I always loved the Cylons and when I was a kid I dreamed of building Cylon spacecrafts – and even did, from cardboard.
After completing Mike Salzo’s wonderful BSG kit and once I got motivated by the many positive comments from fellow model builders around the world that followed its feature on MMM I wondered what to work on next.
The Galactica had given me faith in my skills and what I always wanted was a Basestar. Some years back I built the classic Monogram model as detailed as I could with lighting etc.
I was so proud of it and thought this was really close to the original. But pictures of Michael Plante’s awesome model convinced me that this was really not the case...

I finalized another one of my models, this time a Cylon Raider by Moebius. I do not have to praise the kit itself as others have done this before. Also third party cockpits are a usual thing as are electronics being added to a model.
Some features may make my model interesting for others:
1) The background of the cockpit was created following behind-the-scene imagery of the original cockpit, incl. the flashing lights that can clearly be seen in the background on wall on the left and right behind the third Cylon´s head (in my version, Baltar´s head). I know the cockpit was changed throughout the show, but mine resembles the version that was used in the first half of the first season...

Being a Galactica fan, since I first saw it on TV at the age of 11, I was truly excited when I first heard of Mike Salzo’s attempt to create a 1/2 size studio scale version of the Battlestar. I already own a large collection of props and models but I am not an experienced builder, so ordering it was like walking straight into the mist. Mike sent it quickly and well packed. Some parts were missing so I had to either cast off parts from other areas of the model to duplicate them or create them from scratch using standard plastic kits (especially Monogram´s HMS Sheffield was useful).

I wanted my Battlestar to be as close to the original as possible but I also wanted a fully equipped landing bay...