Battlestar Galactica Original Galactica

I've been looking forward to the release of this kit ever since it was announced last year and I have to say I was not disappointed. As many of you probably know Revell Monogram released the first version of this subject in the late 70's and re-popped it again in the late 90's I believe. To be honest it was a mediocre kit that was very inaccurate and missing lots of detail. Although if you put some work into it, you could get a fair representation of the ship especially if you used some aftermarket upgrade parts. Still,overall,the kit was a failure. However,this new kit by Moebius is such a breath of fresh air. First of all, let me say that I haven't started the kit yet but I have done some detail comparisons and some test fittings. The detail of the kit is astounding and it completely blows the old Revell kit out of the water. There is simply no comparison at all. All the detail that was lacking from the Revell kit is here and while even this new kit will never hold up to the studio model it will be the defining version of this ship at this scale. As I said, the detail is amazing for the size of the model. The folks at Moebius really did their homework on this one. Lots of tiny greebles,piping and details. The only warning I'd give about this kit is the fact that it definitely is a skill level 3 kit. Where the Revell kit had maybe 25-30 parts, the Moebius has many,many more, possibly close to 100. Also this kit is designed for lighting,if you so choose, as it comes with clear parts. The decals are fairly standard and very similar to the Revell kit as in you get the red striping details and 8 names for the Battlestar itself. The names are Galactica, Acropolis,Atlantia,Columbia,Pacifica,Pegasus,Rycon and Triton. The instructions are also very well done with a section that contains some really great painting tips to make the greebles and details of the ship shine through. Another interesting addition with the kit is an artwork reproduction of a pre-visual for the Galactica by the great Ralph McQuarrie who of course did lots of concept artwork in the 70s and 80's for Galactica,Star Wars and Star Trek. I would even say the print might be worth framing. All in all,I would say positively that this kit is worth the money if you are interested in the subject matter. My own plans with the kit are to make an intermediary design that fits into the re-imagined BSG series between the Galactica (the bucket) and the Pegasus (the beast) possibly adding gun turrets to the ship and maybe a couple other modifications that help it fit more into the new series. After all the original 78 Galactica design is now canon for the new series since it was shown,albeit briefly and as a nod,in Razor during the Scorpion shipyards cylon attack scene. I know this turned into a rather long review, but my best advice is to buy this kit as you will not be disappointed. Thanks for reading.

Overall, this was a good model. The fit of parts was good. I was somewhat disappointed in that there was really no painting directions in the instructions. The assembly instructions were clear and understandable. I have not built a model for about 30 years, so I was happy that this turned out so well.

I'm not a BSG fan, but I'm glad I gave this kit a try. The detail is BEYOND amazing - you could easily spend every weekend over a year if you wanted to paint every little hull plate or fuel line. I'm also blown away by how well the pieces are designed. Many of the seems fit so well together, you don't really need glue. In fact, my Galactica is sitting on my workbench right now, not glued together, yet you can pick the model up and it holds together. Unbelievable! Finally, the instructions point out that on the show, the TV filming model was really not weathered at all. Therefore, if you like, you can assemble the whole kit, spray it with primer, then dust it with white, and you'll produce a screen-accurate replica. Its true! I've just finished one Galactica and I think I'll build a second one with this painting method. Can't praise this kit enough - easily one of my ALL TOP TEN FAVORITE MODEL KITS.