Here are some more of photos of the built-up, classic spaceship models I assembled as a teenager back in the Seventies. This time, we're looking at the
Battlestar Galactica model kits issued by Monogram back in 1978.
First up is my dusty model of the
Galactica itself - except that it's the
Pegasus:
Since I consider Commander Cain cooler than Adama, I chose... well, actually, I tore the
Galactica decal when I tried to apply it. Fortunately, the kit included a
Pegasus decal as well, so my model became Cain's battlestar instead. For the record, though - I do think Cain was pretty damned cool.
Here's my legendary "battle-scarred" Viper, another casualty of my 15-year-old fingers' inability to apply those wet-transfer decals without shredding them. In this case, I decided to try and pass off my screw-up as "detailing," and proceeded to assault the plastic with a light black paint wash and some passes with a cigarette lighter, all to simulate combat damage.
Here's the Cylon Basestar, pretty much as it came out of the box. As it had only a few parts, and required no painting or decals, I didn't mess anything up.
My Cylon Raider is pretty dusty, and it looks like I once glued on a couple of spare pieces for extra detail (they've since fallen off, leaving some glue "scarring'), but I remember being extraordinarily pleased with myself for successfully painting the cockpit windows black, without obscuring any of the window "framing."
Anyway... next time, I'll post pics of my two surviving (sorta)
Star Wars models. It won't be pretty....
Very cool... I had the Viper and Raider when I was younger, but was too young to really detail them as you did, or to take care of them well enough that I would still have them. I'm curious to see your Star Wars models, too.
ReplyDeleteNice to see your old kits posted Chris.They look good and I do like the battle damage on the Viper.
ReplyDeleteI was also fifteen when I built the same selection of models as you. Universal experienes, I guess.
ReplyDeleteI had all four when they first came out in '78. I was forced to put 'em together with orange-smelling "Sniff-proof Glue" which was all the stores in my area would cary because of drug hysteria at the time.
ReplyDeleteI loved all of these excepting the Galactica, which just kinda' looked like crap to me. It wasn't as detailed as the other, and there were many obvious points of difference between it and the show. Ultimately I tore the heck out of it to make it look like my concept of what the Pegasus looked like *after* the battle of Gamoray (Come on, admit it! He survived!) It disappeared after that, I can't remember if I broke the thing, or if my mom mistook it for garbage and threw it out.
When they re-issued the kits in the '90s, I bought the whole set again, and owing to the perversity of fate, the only thing available was orange-smelling glue. I was in non-drug-related flashback heaven.
Sincerely,
Republibot 3.0
Very nice!
ReplyDeleteI also had all four of these kits as a kid, and still have them, though they are quite a bit worse for wear. I used to stage battles in my backyard, often making crash scenes in the garden. (I'd use them in conjunction with my action figures to make up my own adventures. The "special effects" shots used the models, the "live action" used the differently-scaled action figures... in my mind's eye, at least: no, I didn't actually think to take any pictures at the time!)
ReplyDeleteI'm in the process of restoring my old models to look a little better, though I'm not going for screen accuracy, something that's next to impossible without a lot of after-market detail parts and a bit of scratch-building (especially on the Galactica herself). I just want to have some nice-looking models to hang from my workshop ceiling someday.
I missed the 1990's re-release of the Galactica kit, but did get the other three, so I may detail those more than just 'out of the box'... we'll see. Just a couple of years ago, the kits (except the Galactica, darn it!) were RE-re-released, with extra details, but I have yet to get those. (The Viper now comes with a pilot & clear canopy!)
Ah, fun kits, fun memories!
CR