Battlestar Galactica - finished!

Finally finished the Revell Battlestar Galactica model I got for Christmas. Many shades, drybrushes, diluted ink washes and various varnishes later, I'm really happy with the result. This model depicts the Galactica as she goes into action alongside the larger Battlestar Pegasus against the pursuing Cylon fleet in Season 2. The Battlestars engage their Cylon counterparts whilst their fighter escorts head for the vulnerable Resurrection Ship. Her main batteries are pointed forward and outwards to bombard a Cylon Base Star, and she's already taken various missile hits on her 'head' and flight pods. Gotta love "the Bucket"! So say we all!

Battlestar Galactica - project nearly completed!

So I've decided to get the Galactica assembled before I give it the final diluted dark wash. I have added the decals which come off the paper quite easily, having varnished the surfaces before and after application, so hopefully they should stay on for the duration. I have attached the lower and upper halves of the main hull, and with liberal application of elastic bands, this beast of a model is starting to come together.

Battlestar Galactica project update

So here's a couple of up to date photos of the Galactica model. I've got Administarium Grey on all raised surfaces, ribs and armour plates, and after cleaning up the darker areas, I soaked the majority of the model in an undiluted Nuln Oil black ink wash to create that dirty, lived in look. It also shows up all of the lines dividing the armour plating. I also added the only real splash of colour on the ship, using a matt red on the landing pod entrances, the distinctive "nose" and the underside. I'm much happier using GWs Evil Sunz Scarlet for the red detailing rather than risk an error or two with the Revell decals provided.

My next job is to break up the plating and surfaces with Dawnstone, and start assembling and attaching the four engines. Gotta make sure the FTL drive is operational!

Battlestar Galactica project so far

So these are a few photos of my model of Battlestar Galactica so far. This one is available from Revell, but was originally from Moebius Models. It was an awesome Christmas gift from my girlfriend, and although it's taking a while, I am really enjoying the painting and assembly so far. 

My girlfriend recommended the 2004 remake of the classic 70s/80s sci-fi to me last year, and now I'm hooked, and around half way through season 3. I think the main attraction is the early noughties CGI and retro-futurist technology, as they are so reminiscent of that epic TV show Firefly. The main cast are a host of amazing characters; complicated, flawed and trying to do what they consider right in a chaotic universe where the remnants of humanity are being chased down by the Cylons, a race of artificially intelligent machines. In this constant game of cat and mouse, decisions are made continually harder as characters find that there are many moral, ethical, political and existential grey areas when it comes to surviving as a species.

Talking about grey areas, the eponymous space ship Battlestar Galactica is overwhelmingly grey. It's a combination of spaceship, aircraft carrier, castle and battleship. To bring out the main detailing, I am using three different greys. The undercoat and darker areas are in Tamiya Acrylic XF-24 Dark Grey, raised areas are being drybrushed with GW's Dawnstone medium grey, and the armour plating, engines and "ribs" are then to be drybrushed further with GW's lighter Administarium Grey.

Still got quite a while till this Battlestar takes position on my chest of drawers, but it'll be worth the wait... If I don't get sick of the colour grey!