# NEW from PARAGRAFIX: Interstellar Ranger Etch



## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

The Ranger photoetch set is ready to go and will begin shipping late next month at the same time as the kit. List price will be $37.95. This set includes:

Down-to-the-rivet accurate, flush window frames.

Super-detailed fueling ports.

Airlock hatch.

The rarely seen underside VTOL louvers.

"Endurance" mission patch.

Includes clear PETG film for the windows.

I made a short run so that I could supply etch for a potential project. I'm going to keep it super-secret for the time being, but below is an actual scan of the etch.

More info and preordering HERE.


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

Looks Fantastic!

Now if there some good references for what to put behind those windows...


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## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

There's a VR walkthrough of the interior that would be an excellent reference: http://endurance.interstellarmovie.net/


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

Thanks!

(EDIT)

I can get to the Ranger info on that link but I cannot find any VR walk through- could you please tell me where is that located?


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## Lou Dalmaso (Jul 13, 2004)

its one of the hot spots around the ranger. cleverly labeled "ranger interior"


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## wander1107 (Aug 12, 2006)

Another excellent piece of metallic art that will surely enhance the model.


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

Lou Dalmaso said:


> its one of the hot spots around the ranger. cleverly labeled "ranger interior"


Sarcasm aside, there no hot spots on the Ranger in my browser window. You select the Ranger, that part of the ship highlights orange and a popup appears on the left side describing it with one clickable image at the bottom showing the Ranger on the water planet. Click on that and you get a larger version of the same picture.
Nothing else until you close that popup, then you get the same sort of thing by clicking on the other spots on Endurance.
Browser is (up to date) Chrome which that webpage says is compatible.

Where is this 'ranger interior' supposed to be?


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## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

Rotate the ship around to get this view. There are two hot spots - one marked Ranger/Information and the other marked Ranger/Interior. Click on the one marked Ranger/Interior.


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

This is the screen I see- no rotational controls and no option for the interior-


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## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

Click and drag to rotate, just like every other VR screen out there. Notice the orientation of the tunnel leading from the hub to the ring.


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

I can only rotate it along the vertical axis- I can't move it to the orientation as shown in your screen grab. No text appears to provide an option for interior VR.

I give up- I cannot afford to get the kit or photoetch anytime soon and by the time I can there should be some great builds to reference.

I am going to get your photoetch for this kit for certain though- it is perfect and provides the details needed to make this kit sing!


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## BWolfe (Sep 24, 2013)

I played around with this for about 20 min., I could get the image to flip, but it would not rotate.


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## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

Thanks Richard! Weird that you can't get it in the orientation shown. There looks to be something odd in the coding that isn't working properly in your browser - you don't get the two toggles in the bottom-right corner for example. Plus, you've only got the single "+" icons in each location, not the dual ones.

It doesn't rotate around Endurance's Z-axis, but I can drag left-right and up-down to get most any orientation after a bit of messing around.


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

It doesn't work with Firefox either.
I am running an XP machine here at work, perhaps the Browsers for this OS lack something...


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## SteveR (Aug 7, 2005)

Hmph. It works properly here on Firefox 38.0.1 on Mac. Weird.
One would think that it would work or not.


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## Xenodyssey (Aug 27, 2008)

I just tried the VR dsiplay on my PC laptop with Chrome and yes, I was able to get inside the Ranger. It does take a while to load. Perhaps the animation just doesn't load fully some times. Really nice detail although looking at the area inside the Ranger it must be dimensionally transcendental like the Tardis.


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## johnF (Aug 31, 2010)

It does take a looong time to load, but when it did I was able to get 56 screen grabs from it and put them in a folder. Good stuff!

JCF


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

johnF said:


> It does take a looong time to load, but when it did I was able to get 56 screen grabs from it and put them in a folder. Good stuff!
> JCF


Thanks for that image- with those huge windows something of that cockpit should be visible.

That site takes a long time to load here also, but somehow the data is not being used to allow the VR part to work. I will try to do it at home with my Win7 box this weekend.


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## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

I'm running Firefox on a PC (Win7) and it works fine me.


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

Richard Baker said:


> It doesn't work with Firefox either.
> I am running an XP machine here at work, perhaps the Browsers for this OS lack something...


I think it has something to do with XP


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## veedubb67 (Jul 11, 2003)

johnF said:


> It does take a looong time to load, but when it did I was able to get 56 screen grabs from it and put them in a folder. Good stuff!
> 
> JCF


You know you could put some of them in your Member Photo Folder for sharing... :wave:

Rob
Iwata Padawan


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## johnF (Aug 31, 2010)

veedubb67 said:


> You know you could put some of them in your Member Photo Folder for sharing... :wave:
> 
> Rob
> Iwata Padawan


Ok. Put a few in.


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## portland182 (Jul 19, 2003)

Richard Baker said:


> I think it has something to do with XP


I'm running Firefox on Linux and I can't get the rotate controls either

Jim


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## veedubb67 (Jul 11, 2003)

johnF said:


> Ok. Put a few in.


Thanks John!

Rob
Iwata Padawan


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## miniature sun (May 1, 2005)

In case anyone's interested, my review of the Ranger is in the new Sci-fi & Fantasy Modeller.....there's a digital preview at the link....

http://content.yudu.com/Library/A3q...cififantasymodeller.co.uk/English/welcome.php


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## spock62 (Aug 13, 2003)

miniature sun said:


> In case anyone's interested, my review of the Ranger is in the new Sci-fi & Fantasy Modeller.....there's a digital preview at the link....
> 
> http://content.yudu.com/Library/A3q...cififantasymodeller.co.uk/English/welcome.php


Looks good. Still say Moebius should have provided clear windows and a display stand, like just about every other spacecraft/aircraft kit they've produced!


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## Zombie_61 (Apr 21, 2004)

spock62 said:


> Looks good. Still say Moebius should have provided clear windows and a display stand, like just about every other spacecraft/aircraft kit they've produced!


I don't really care about the windows one way or the other, but an "in flight" stand (at least as an option) would have been nice.


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## miniature sun (May 1, 2005)

It's not too difficult to put a stand together from a piece of rod and a block, or to adapt an existing stand.
Personally I don't think the usual Moebius 'Aurora' stand would be large enough or the right style for this kit.
It could also be missing due to budgetary reasons or because the license stipulated it shouldn't have one....


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## spock62 (Aug 13, 2003)

miniature sun said:


> It's not too difficult to put a stand together from a piece of rod and a block, or to adapt an existing stand.
> Personally I don't think the usual Moebius 'Aurora' stand would be large enough or the right style for this kit.
> It could also be missing due to budgetary reasons or because the license stipulated it shouldn't have one....


Regardless of lack of clear parts/stand, I will purchase the kit, but I don't agree with the choices Moebius made. Their going backwards with this one, in my opinion.

The standard Moebius stand would work just fine, the model is only about 10" to 11" long. I doubt it's a license issue since it doesn't affect the look of the spacecraft and it allows for the spacecraft to be shown in flight, like you see it in the movie. 

As for being the "right style", well, let's see a rundown of other kits Moebius has used this style stand:

Space Clipper
Flying Sub
Flying Sub 1/128
Spindrift
New BSG Viper Mk II
New BSG Viper Mk VI
New BSG Cylon Raider
New BSG Viper Mk II 1/72
New BSG Viper Mk VI 1/72
New BSG Cylon Raider 1/72
New BSG Colonial One
New BSG Viper Mk II "Deformed"
TOS BSG Viper Mk I
TOS BSG Cylon Raider
Jonny Quest Dragonfly

So, I don't see the style of the stand as a problem.

Anyway, I think I got everything. In addition to those kits, the following also have flight stand, but are different then the standard Moebius "Aurora" stands:

New BSG Galactica
New BSG Pegesus
TOS BSG Galactica

About the only spacecraft that don't have stands are:

Jupiter II
Space Pod
Moonbus

Also, regarding windows, with the exception of the Colonial One and Dragonfly kits that have partial clear windows, every spacecraft/aircraft kit Moebius has produced INCLUDES CLEAR PARTS FOR EVERY WINDOW ON THE KIT. The Ranger is the exception to the rule, no clear parts at all.

One last thing, I understand the idea of molding the kit in colored plastic to help people who do little or no painting, but why pick black as the plastic color. White is a very hard color to paint over dark colors, requiring many coats to get it right. Molding it in white plastic would have made a lot more sense. For those of us that airbrush, it's not a big deal (especially if you primer first), but to younger/casual modelers it is.

But I do agree that the reason for the lack of clear parts/stand is budgetary. Moebius could have dropped the 1/144 Rangers and used the saved cash to provide the clear parts/stand. Just my 2 cents.


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## miniature sun (May 1, 2005)

I guess the Aurora stand might have worked but I'm not a big fan of the shape...I think something more angular would be more in keeping with the look of the Ranger.
As for the black styrene.....I have to admit I'm not a big fan of black plastic and my heart generally sinks when I find it in a box. I'm not a big fan of white either and I'd prefer either neutral grey or sand colour as I think it shows seams better.
That said, the one I built was a test shot so there's no guarantee the production kit will be in black. On my sample I gave it a coat of grey primer prior to two coats of white which covered pretty well....I used acrylic auto colours from rattle cans. The black areas were then painteed in afterwards.....


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

I finally got a chance to see the movie- got the BluRay as a Father's Day present. 
The funny thing is that the Ranger looks much better in the film than just sitting on a table as a model- those weird lawn chair like side 'wings' are not very noticeable at all.

I will get the Photoetch set for sure when I build mine- I want to open up the windows and enhance the kit to the wonderful detail the SFX model had.


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## fortress (Apr 1, 2006)

the Ranger really is an interesting vehicle it kind of reminds me of the Icarus from Planet of the Apes and of course Mobius spared no expense when it comes to model detail and accuracy the issue I have with the kit of course is that there is no interior which is sorely needs I'm hoping that at some point an aftermarket company will produce one. It would really update this subject properly.

fortress


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## Bobj812 (Jun 15, 2009)

I have a question about the photo etch. This is the first kit I've ever enhanced like this, and I'm pretty impressed with the detail. I got over my fear of annealing and cutting out microscopic little bits (hatch handles!) and of hacking away at the kit to install the brass bits. As fumble-fingered as my old hands are, I'm doing pretty well. 
However, after looking at several reference photos it appears to me the "refueling unit" assembly seems to be backwards - the 3 circles should be towards the nose end of the craft, I think? after assuming I screwed it up, I can't see any other way they're supposed to be. Has anyone else used this set for detailing and noticed it? Or does it configure to another version in the movie?


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## Bobj812 (Jun 15, 2009)

Since pictures are helpful  here is what I'm talking about:








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## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

Hmm. I've got to check up on that.


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## Bobj812 (Jun 15, 2009)

Well, for what it's worth, here's my build up of the kit with the photoetch detailing. Since this was a gift I made for my daughter, I'm being harder on myself than I would if it was just for me. I feel I rushed it in the end, and it's probably over-weathered. I delayed over nervousness on using the photoetch, but on the whole it was pretty easy - even for my old hands. It definitely made the kit better, if only for the window frames alone. But the rear hatch detailing is superb too. I feel this was a learning experience, wish I had done a better job, but I still had fun with it.







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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

Very nice build-up!
I don't think it is over weathered- that craft goes through a lot in the movie


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## scooke123 (Apr 11, 2008)

I like it - nicely done!


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## Bobj812 (Jun 15, 2009)

Many thanks! Considering my airbrush and Dremel crapped out on me during the build and it was the first time I used photoetch, I'm pleased that I even finished it!


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

Paulbo said:


> Hmm. I've got to check up on that.


This is one kit which really benefits from the photoetch but I think I will wait...


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## fortress (Apr 1, 2006)

Again what this kit really needs is an interior kit with clear parts for windows, I'm hoping that some aftermarket company will get around to producing it cause I really think it would help the kit out an awful lot. But of course I understand from a financial standpoint why Mobius didn't produce one.

fortress


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## drmcoy (Nov 18, 2004)

nice job, bob. thanks for posting pics -- i think weathering looks great.


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## Bobj812 (Jun 15, 2009)

drmcoy said:


> nice job, bob. thanks for posting pics -- i think weathering looks great.


Thank you. I'm curious if the photo etch set is going to be offered in a corrected version. My daughter loved the kit, and laughed off my apologies about it being "wrong" - as I knew she would.
If I were to build the kit again, I definitely would get the photo etch set again - it makes a huge difference in the appearance.


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