Battlestar Galactica Original Cylon Raider

First of all, let me just say that this kit is HUGE and is widely being referred to as studio scale for good reason. I could tell you the dimensions of the finished model but it won't really matter until you see it for yourself. I would recommend taking a look on YouTube at some of the unboxing videos that others have uploaded to get a sense of the size of this monster. Of course it also in scale with the recently release Moebius TOS Galactica Colonial Viper at about 1/32 scale. Once you see how big this kit is, you'll probably understand why the Colonial pilots in the show never had much trouble destroying the raiders since they were such big targets compared to the vipers. Overall this is another terrific TOS release by Moebius with very little to complain about. As far as accuracy,given images of the original filming models that I've see,is spot on and a real improvement over the old Revell/Monogram kits,but this is true of all the new TOS kits by Moebius. But as I said in the description,there are a couple caveats...at least in my opinion. First,I would say that the average store price is a bit high, usually running in the $40-$50 range. Now this is definitely a fine model (and BIG as I've said)but it seems a little high compared with the Moebius Viper of the same scale. The models of the capital ships of both Galactica series are generally priced in the $50+ range but I can understand that due to the amount of detail on the kits and their sizes. Another issue that I have, but others might not care about is the lack of an inner detailed cockpit. I would have even paid a little more to have a removable canopy top to be able to see cylon pilots in their seats in a detailed inner cockpit. This seems like a real oversight on Moebius' part considering that their Viper models have detailed cockpits and pilots included. There are a few aftermarket kits becoming available to do this but they are highly overpriced and require some cutting and filling that some modelers may not feel comfortable in doing,and,of course, if you make a mistake, you might have a ruined model. Another issue is a lack of landing gear. Now I'm not sure if landing gear was ever seen on the raiders during the show,but they obviously must have them since I did see one episode where pilots enter from the bottom of the craft and climb up to the cockpit. Some type of option would have been nice,again, considering all the Moebius viper kits have optional landing gear. My last problem with this kit is with the decals,or more accurately, the lack of them. As far as it goes,the only decals you get with the kit are the green Cylon insignia for the two wing-tips. Now the problem I have with this fact is that the black parabolic stripes on the two inner wings do not come with the kit. What you get instead is a section in the instructions that can be cut out to be used as a masking template for these stripes. You MUST paint them yourself and there is no other option unless to choose to make and print your own decals which is up to your own skill set. Now this seems a little unforgivable considering some may not have the skills do this and this is a $40+ model kit. Granted the decals would need to be large,but they are just black stripes. As of yet I haven't seen any aftermarket dealers offering them yet. An interesting addition with the kit is a small poster of concept art of the Cylon Raider by the late great Ralph McQuarrie, who,ofcourse, did some conceptual art for BSG,Star Wars and many other sci-fi films. This seems to be a new standard with the TOS Galactica models since the Viper and the Galactica kit both had a similar print with them. In this case, I would have rather they included the above mentioned decals instaed of an art print I could easily see online. Still,even with these issues, the raider is a fine kit well worth your time if you can get past a few shortcomings. If you liked this review or found it helpful,I also did reviews for the Moebius TOS Galactica and Viper Thanks for reading.