BSG Colonial One -- Science Fiction Plastic Model Kit -- #945

The Mobius Colonial One is a small model, about 10 inches long, with a small parts count (20) but has some interesting design elements to it.  It's pretty cool how the engines ring the fuselage and incorporate the bridge as well as the landing legs.  The rear blast guards have a good number of raised panels which offers a lot a creativity in how you want to paint and/or weather them. The part fit is excellent and assembly is easy. I installed an aftermarket LED strip of 9 LEDs in the main fuselage area, and each engine has a 3mm LED.  I used bare bulb on the main rear engines but diffused the secondary engines with cotton and installed screen mesh (available from HobbyLinc) to finish the look. Paints included Tamiya gunmetal, aircraft aluminum, light blue, royal blue, gold, and semi-gloss white.  I added some engine grease (Abtelung oil) and soot (Tamiya pastel) to the engine casings, panel line accents on the rear engine area, and soot to the lower blast guard.  No heavy weathering as I liked the crisp lines of the contrasting colors. It's a nice kit overall and the possibilities for ending up with something you'd be happy with is pretty high!