# The (Colonial) Fleet's In!



## Griffworks (Jun 24, 2002)

Various of my Colonial Fleet ships, both from TOS and TNS. First shot, from Left to Right, top to bottom is Colonial Destroyer _Hades_ , battlecruiser _Agememnon_, TNS _Galactica_, TOS _Galactica_, TOS _Pegasus_, Colonial _Defender_, Cylon Tanker that's part of my RTF (not sure why I included it in this shot, really) and the Colonial _Berzerk_ Escort Carrier. Not pictured is the BamBam Productions _Cygnus_, which is in a shot a bit later....



















Closeup of the _Defender_ and _Berzerk_, both from Fantastic Plastic. 











Timeslip Creations TOS Battlestar kit on top, w/a modified Revellogram battlestar below. 











Destroyer _Hades_ on top and the Battlecruiser _Agememnon_ below. Both are cut-down versions of the Revellogram kit with a few added bits-n-pieces.











Another view. 











This is the BamBam Productions _Cygnus_-class escort, a fan design, next to the _Berzerk_. It's a neat little kit, but needs a bit of extra luvin' to get it to lookin' as good as it could, IMNSHO. Still, a fun build. 

In the primer stage, obviously. I've since shot the base coat of paint on her. The guns are what take forever and a day, tho - I have to use a pin-vise to drill out holes in the front, then use some itsy-bitsy small Evergreen tubestock for the barrels. I used extra guns from the _Berzerk_ kit (purchased from Fantastic Plastic) on the upper "wings". I'll do the same on the bottom "wings", too. 

More....

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## Griffworks (Jun 24, 2002)

This and the following are views of the Fantastic Plastic _Berzerk_ Escort Carrier. I like this one because it's so different than the norm for TNS designs. This is a design featured in TNS' "Razor" "Special Episode", shown at the Scorpio Shipyards. 











The base coat is Tamiya AS-16, USAF Light Grey. I plan to color her to the best of my ability based off of the JT Graphics matt poster I purchased at WonderFest this year. I love the views on the poster and it's what made me pick this kit back up and start work on it again. 






















































And that's all I've got for now. I've got several builds going in tandem - as I always seem to do - which include these seen here, as well as the Timeslip Creations SpacePark _Zephyr_, a second Rising Star and Colonial Movers and some small kitbashes for my RTF. I'll update this thread as I get more pics taken of my painting. 

As always, constructive criticism is appreciated. I'm definitely one of those who doesn't just want someone to say "Kewel!" I want some suggestions on what I can do to make these better and/or what I need to go back and fix before the final dullcote is applied. 


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## WarpCore Breach (Apr 27, 2005)

You've got a dead picture link in the very top..... :freak: LOL!!

From what I can see of the pics, all of your builds look pretty danged good. I'm not familiar with some of the ships, so I'm not sure what to look for in terms of improvements. The builds themselves look good, no obvious seaming or gaps showing anywhere.

But it might help in knowing what kind of "constuctive improvements" you planning already? I notice in one pics, you've got turreted guns on a sprue - I assume those are meant to go on different ships there.

Now, aside from the Battlestars themselves, with their apparent lack of onscreen weaponry, I'm sure you could add any sort of weaponry you want that you like and still call it "good".


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## Griffworks (Jun 24, 2002)

WarpCore Breach said:


> You've got a dead picture link in the very top..... :freak: LOL!!


You prolly viewed the page when I was re-sizing all of these, as they've been working fine otherwise. 


> From what I can see of the pics, all of your builds look pretty danged good. I'm not familiar with some of the ships, so I'm not sure what to look for in terms of improvements. The builds themselves look good, no obvious seaming or gaps showing anywhere.


The camera lies, in that instance. There are a few gaps, but most of them are in spots where I couldn't do much. Plus, I didn't take pics of all the angles that would show a few other spots, as well. At least, in the Berzerk. You can definitely see a few pinholes I missed originally. 


> But it might help in knowing what kind of "constuctive improvements" you planning already? I notice in one pics, you've got turreted guns on a sprue - I assume those are meant to go on different ships there.


Those are the forward guns I used for the _Berzerk_. The kit doesn't come w/any guns there, but you can see them in almost every image available online. 


> Now, aside from the Battlestars themselves, with their apparent lack of onscreen weaponry, I'm sure you could add any sort of weaponry you want that you like and still call it "good".


Pretty much, yeah. I can even still add some extra weapons and the like to a few of them, even then. I'm not quite such a stickler for being 100% accurate for anything other than _Galactica_ herself - both TOS and TNS. 

Thanks for the comments, regardless. 

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## The-Nightsky (May 10, 2005)

Sweet Griff!! Nice work!


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## Jim NCC1701A (Nov 6, 2000)

Seen them in the flesh (um, plastic?) and they look great.

I really like the _Berserk_ class, have done ever since seeing the CG design on, I think, Sci-Fi Meshes. And to then see it used in *Razor* was just a treat.

Really nice work there Griff. Hope the drilling-out of the gun barrels hasn't pushed you too far over the edge


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Neat fleet!


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## Modeler1964 (Aug 13, 2006)

Nice fleet ya have there Jeff. Very cool!


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## Griffworks (Jun 24, 2002)

Thanks, Fellas, I appreciate it. The camera lies in these instances. Well, except for the _Berzerk_. 

The _Berzerk_ kit does indeed have a few issues. I did my best to fix a few of them - warped "spine" for starters - but not everything can be fixed by re-heating. I also added a bit of detail with three parts not included w/the kit. I didn't get too far started w/the painting last night. Will try and get back on it tonight and get as much completed as I can. 

In retrospect, I'm not real happy w/the main color I chose, as I should've gone with a darker grey or maybe a blue-grey. I was shooting for scale effect, tho, going a bit lighter w/the colors for the contrast at 1/4105 scale. Regardless, I'll be doing my best to get the rest of the colors to match what's on the JT Graphics poster, which I'll take a pic of tonight so you all can see what I'm on about. 

The drilling out of the gun barrels is a strain on my patience! I do two or three, then have to go do something else for a while. I've got almost all those guns for _Cygnus_ done, tho. 

Thanks again.


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## WarpCore Breach (Apr 27, 2005)

I can also see the need for some serious colour "wash" to make the details pop out, too. It's a common problem with mainly one-colour subjects and these ships are LOADED with detail that don't look right w/o some sort of way to make that detail stand out a bit more.

Interested in your colour choices- even if you have to change them! The pictures may not be colour balanced properly (have that same problem w/ my camera) so lot of times the colour looks different when I take pics of my usual in-progress builds.

One thing I see in your builds from the Revell-Monogram ships that aside from the disappointing look of the overall model in that it really doesn't look like the onscreen ship -especially compared to the Timeslip TOS G - is that the entire engine section appears to be sagging down in the BSG equivilant of the dreaded Trek "Engine Nacelle Droop"! I'm sure it's far too late to correct that for your models.. and it's probably too late for the ones I have at least partially built myself.


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## Griffworks (Jun 24, 2002)

Thank for the kind words, Barry. I appreciate them. These are all still very much WIP's, so any washes won't come about for a bit longer yet. And yes, those old Revell-Monogram battlestar kits had The Droop pretty bad. I don't think there's a dose of Viagra big enough to fix that in a battlestar, either.... 


OK, more schlok from my workbench. This time just pics of the _Berzerk_ and _Cygnus_. The main guns on _Berzerk_ and on the top "trench" of _Cygnus_ are from an extra two sets of guns I purchased from Timeslip Creations. I was looking for scale guns to better show these ships as being companions to the marvelous Nu_Galactica_ kit from TC and George was kind enough to sell me some. 

_Berzerk_ will get all ten guns on the topside positions - five on each side - and I'll use some Evergreen .030" Rod for the gun barrels along the sides. It won't look quite as good as if I had some similar gun barrels for those side guns, but it'll still look better than nothing, IMNSHO. I've only added two of the NuG guns to Berzerk, but intend to eventually add them all. I just sort of tacked these on so I could get an idea of what she'll look like. I still need to do detail painting on the model. 

For _Cygnus_, I'm giving her a total of eight of the quad guns from the Fantastic Plastic _Berzerk_ kit. I purchased several of those from Fantastic Plastic for various 'bashing projects. I figure those quad guns are meant more for anti-Raider-ish applications, especially since this design has no anti-starfighter guns as _Galactica, Pegasus, Berzerk_ and others do - at least, nothing that's immediately obvious in the CGI images. 

And speaking of painting... Ugh!  Dang, this is a seriously lousy paint job on both of these! Serves me right for hand-painting details w/o using masking tape. Hell, even then, the red stop on the upper starboard engine looks like crap. 

Oh, well. These are meant to be sort of quick builds - no major alterations on the original kits other than to add a few detail pieces here and there. I've got another _Berzerk_ and that kit will get some surgery - a bit too much in the way of asymmetrical detailing on her, especially on the "head", as seen in the top view - done to her as I would like to try and make her more like what we see in the most recent CGI renders from Irrational Designs.

Pics: 













Hope the crap paint job isn't too offensive. I'm having fun w/these builds, tho do wish I had used masking tape in more areas.


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## thunderbearr (Jul 16, 2005)

Rookeeng Guuuuudddd


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## swhite228 (Dec 31, 2003)

Nice! Very Nice!!!


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## JGG1701 (Nov 9, 2004)

Great builds!!!!!!!!!!!!!:thumbsup:
-Jim


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## Griffworks (Jun 24, 2002)

Thanks, fellas. Appreciate it.


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## StarshipClass (Aug 13, 2003)

Scary good!


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## Jafo (Apr 22, 2005)

sweet, but wheres Peggy?


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## Griffworks (Jun 24, 2002)

Thanks.

As to _Pegasus_, I'm waiting on Timeslip Creations to release one. George has mentioned that one is entirely possible, but there's no timeframe at the moment. That's fine by me. I can be pretty patient.


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## SJF (Dec 3, 1999)

The last two you post have interesting looking designs. Very distinctive, yet they still look like they could be part of the Colonial Fleet. I like the paint job you gave them. You strove for something different then basic grey, and it worked very well. 

Sean


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## Griffworks (Jun 24, 2002)

OK, new TNS Colonial Fleet shot, along w/a Timeslip Creations battlestar _Valkyrie_ kit teaser.  





















I'll start a separate thread for the _Valkyrie_ build once I finish editing all the pics. Eventually I'll even finish the model!


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## WarpCore Breach (Apr 27, 2005)

Hey, that _Valkyrie_ is a sweet looking ship! Liking what I'm seeing there, too!! :thumbsup:


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## AntMan3 (Apr 7, 2006)

Hey Griffworks,

"Where's the beef!?"

I can't see the pictures that you've posted. Something happen to thier links, or the pictures themselves?

- Tony

"Do or Do Not! There is no 'try'."

http://www.scififantmodmadrealm.com


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## WarpCore Breach (Apr 27, 2005)

The pictures are hosted over at Resin Illuminati but something's happened to the pics. The site requires you to log in to see them - and I'm not a member. But other pictures (also hosted at RI) are available. Strange.


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## Griffworks (Jun 24, 2002)

D'oh! Yeah, I didn't think about that. mech just changed the settings at Resin Illuminati so that you have to be a member and logged in to see the WIP and most other sections. Unfortunately, that's a problem, eh? I'll look at re-uploading them to this thread, then, as well as my other pics from other threads wherein I was linking to R.I. Man, extra work.... Of course, you could always become a member at R.I. It's free, just like at any other forum, and there's a ton of great work to be seen over there. That solves the problem w/the pics here, too.


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## Griffworks (Jun 24, 2002)

Latest update. Didn't get the chance to do half the work last weekend that I wanted, but went back w/_Valkyrie_ and added a few subtle panels in a Dark Gull Gray. I also hadn't taken a pic w/the red trim added after the one above. Last pic of _Valk_ before I start her own thread. 

I left off the directional vanes on the trailing end of the engines. It just doesn't make much sense to me to have them, given the technologies we've seen. 

Plus, they were a real pain for my oversized meathooks to get to stay in place when I tried to glue them on....  

Anyhow, here ya go: 










The model itself is only a little over 6" long. 

I'll eventually update and change the URLs for the pics above to reflect PhotoBucket. Resin Illuminati no longer allows non-members to view pics w/o being signed in, so if you're not a member at R.I. and logged in, you can't view most of the previous pics. It'll be a bit, tho, as it'll have to wait 'til I've got the time and inclination....

.


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## Lloyd Collins (Sep 25, 2004)

Jeffrey, you did an awesome job! She looks like she has seen quite a few battles. To say it plainly, I like it!


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## StarshipClass (Aug 13, 2003)

That looks a lot bigger than six inches!!! Great job. :thumbsup:

I hope I can make my much bigger one (Peg) look that good when I finally get around to it. Your washes and highlighting really bring about the utilitarian fighting machine look.

My only little nit is that it looks a little shiny but that may be from the light source you're using. Ideally, I think a semi-gloss would be best for that size and even that will sometimes give you some unwanted reflections.


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## Griffworks (Jun 24, 2002)

Thanks, Fellas. I appreciate the kind words. 

Lee - it's a combination of several lights being on in the room, the flash from the camera and the fact that I've not yet given her a dullcote. She's still a WIP at this point in the pic. In fact, I've _still _not put the decals on her flight pods. 

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## StarshipClass (Aug 13, 2003)

Griffworks said:


> Lee - it's a combination of several lights being on in the room, the flash from the camera and the fact that I've not yet given her a dullcote. She's still a WIP at this point in the pic. In fact, I've _still _not put the decals on her flight pods.


Ah! Gotcha! It sure looked *finished *to me!:thumbsup:


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## WarpCore Breach (Apr 27, 2005)

That is a nice looking ship, Jeff! On my monitor, she's just over 9 1/2" long.. which makes the ship half again as long since you said she's just over 6" long! Looks good, thanks for the pic!


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## Griffworks (Jun 24, 2002)

Necro-posting again! I actually have a few new pics of some new subjects to add, so figured it was about time.  



Pair of _Mercury_-class battlestars - _Pegasus_ and _Triton_






Both are complete, tho I reserve the right to possibly weather the Hell outta _Pegasus_, as well as go back and completely "refit" _Triton_. _Triton_ was a push on my part to FINISH something, so was a bit more rushed than I might normally like to have done. But, I started and completed her w/o stopping, so I'm happy with her, for the most part. 



My TNS Colonial Fleet ships. From Left to Right: Colonial _Defender, Valkyrie, Galactica_, (top) _Berzerk_ (underneath) and _Halcyon_ - support ship (_Astral Queen_-type freighter), _Triton, Cygnus_ (small ship between the two big'un's) and _Pegasus_. 



Different view. 

_Halcyon_ is a supply/support ship. I figured that those ships on long patrols or that were on Battle Group Deployments needed fresh foods, fuel and their mail, right? She's got a Colonial Fleet Phoenix Emblem in white on the top of her saucer and will eventually sport a missile box launcher on top of her hull, decal from JBOT. I'm hoping to finish her in the next week or two. Close up, in-progress pics in her PhotoBucket album.

Next up will be the refurbishment of the _Berzerk_. I stripped her guns and will be giving her some extra _Pegasus_ guns, as well as a couple of missile box launchers of her own. I'm also going to give her an antenna or two somewhere and will be making up some gun barrels for the side-mounted turrets. 

That's it for now.


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## Griffworks (Jun 24, 2002)

A bit more work done on two of my Colonial Fleet ships. I added some of *Aptivaboy's* missile launcher boxes to the spine of _Berzerk_, as well as some _Pegasus_ guns in place of the rather... unappetizing... kit guns with which she came. I also added a missile launcher box to the support ship _Halcyon's_ dorsal surface. 



_Berzerk_ is likely going to get two to four more Pegasus guns added to her ventral surface, as well. I just have to decide where to put them. I've got - most of - another _Berzerk_-class that I picked up in a trade a short while back that will get *Aptivaboy's* _Pandora_ gun emplacements added in the same place that I added the Pegasus guns to _Berzerk_. This ship will be called _Saberhagen_ and will represent a Block II version of the _Berserk_ design. 

My thinking for arming _Halcyon_ is that she's a Fleet ship that might operate for short times w/o armed escort, so they armed her with one launcher. That way these ships can operate independently for UnRep operations to patrols, listening posts and the like. 

In my BSG 'Verse, each of these launchers houses twelve missiles. Each missile itself houses six smaller missiles with independent targeting systems and can be used to create a flak field for incoming missiles or to target fighters or small assault shuttles or similar. They're meant as a means of defense. Smaller ships are usually retrofitted with these when it's impractical to imbed launchers in the hull itself.


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