Battlestar Atlantia

Well, This is another model that took me about 5 or 6 years to complete.  I started this a long time ago by gluing it together, Then I put it away.  Then I took it out and puttied the seams, then put it away.  Then took it out again and sanded it, then put it away.  Finally I decided I should finish it and gave her the paint job and started to do the decals,  but when I went to do the Decaling, I found that I had lost the sheet.  So I wrote to Revell/Monogram and they sent me another sheet in the mail.  By the time I got the second sheet of decals I had put the model away again, so when the decals arrived, I threw them in the box and said I will do it another day.  So time passed and I opened it up a couple of times to look at it, and then again, I said I should finish it.  But I didn't like the first paint job I did, I thought it was too dark.  so I redid the paint job and decided to start decaling again, only to find out that I lost the second damn decal sheet.  So this time, I got the decals from JT Graphics and left the model out so I could finally get it done.  But yes.... There's  more!   I got the new decals and wanted to get my Battlestar Galactica finished, to only add the Decal name and rip it in the process.  So I shrugged it off.  This decal sheet comes with a bunch of names from the Show/Movie.  So I said ok, now we will just make it the Pegasus.  But Yes.... There's more!!  I ripped that name as well in the process of putting it on.  I was inches from taking this model and throwing it into the woods and leaving it for dead.  Kind of reminds you of the Castle in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.  "The Castle sank in the swamp, so I built another..."

But I shrugged REALLY HARD and said ok,  now it is the Atlantia and this time I got them on with no problems.  Thank GOD!  So I applied the rest of the decals and got a Coat of Future on the ship so it would be ready for a wash.  But during my Escapades with giving it a wash, I came to find out the the Solvent in the wash made the decals curl and rip.  Yes, it was looking very grim.  But I again, Shrugged and said oh well, I will just have to repair the lost Decals with red paint.  and that's what I did.  After I was all done, I gave her a dull coat, and after 5 or 6 years, I finally got this freaking model done.  LOL

But now that some of the decals looked strange, and some rips were in them, I looked and it actually makes it more like the real ship.  Most ships, especially those that have been around will have wear and tear on them.  And  this ship was destroyed in the original TV/Movie show.  So it would have some wear and tear after and/or during a battle with the Cylons.  So it looks pretty good as she is.

On the top, you can notice that the red ring that comes with the decals is one that came right off during the wash.  I am thinking of adding a new decal here later, and am thinking of making it a different color than Red.  You can always say the Red was the Galactica's Flag Color, so a different color will go for this ship.

I added some clear Tamiya Red to the Engine cones, and when I repainted it, the paint bled through and made a great effect for that area.  It is hard to do a color for this spot of the ship since all the photos in the TV show have it lit up bright from the engines in use.

When the model is together, you can look straight down the landing bays and see light at the other side.  I wanted to lose that, so I added a piece of sheet styrene inside to look like the landing deck.

I drilled holes in the landing area sides to be the ports where the Vipers launch from.  The effect of the drill bit hitting the sides of the model makes it look like burn marks.  Or maybe Bad pilots who hit the sides as they come out.   Ouch!, that's gonna leave a red mark.

Click on the button to see more pictures of this model

TV Science-Fiction Models    Main Modeling Page