# Scorpion Shipyards...building your Battlestar



## RedHeadKevin (May 1, 2009)

Okay, we're getting our Battlestars, and probably starting to throw them together. So, let's discuss: what are you doing to it? Got any construction tips? Anything that's a real nice feature? Anything you don't like? Anything Moebius got wrong? 

A couple thoughts:
In the first step, when you add the landing bay recesses into the hull, DRYFIT DRYFIT DRYFIT. They can fit really tightly, and make sure to dryfit them into BOTH halves of the hull, BEFORE you glue anything. If you do, you can avoid some nasty seams.

I filled the base with a bunch of lead shot fishing weights, superglued in, and glued a flat sheet to the backside. I don't want my Galactica tipping over. (The base now weighs about 3 pounds. That should do it.)

Be careful lining things up. Make sure you line the ribs up. This is one area that will make or break many a Galactica model.

I'm not a big fan of ejector pin marks, but has anyone else seen the GIANT EJECTOR POSTS on some of Moebius's parts? Make sure to cut these off before you start gluing (most notably on the inside of the landing bays and the front of the hull.) They can really mess up the fit. 

Is any aftermarket company working on a little-bitty Colonial One to go with this kit? 

Is anybody doing it with the landing bays retracted? If so, How?


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## Magesblood (May 12, 2008)

I do believe that Paulbo's PE set comes with a Colonial One at Paragrafix.com


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## yorkd (Mar 14, 2010)

hello.i just got my battlestar a few days ago.still going over the dry fitting and how to light this baby.for its size moebius did a fantastic job on the detailing.i may just put this one together and paint it and purchase another one and try to light it instead.you are correct about making sure the halves join up right as i think the three pins on the main body are going to be trouble for me.i wonder if removing the center pin will make it easier to snap it into place altho it could make it flimsy in that section.anbody else think so.


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## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

Yes, the PE set includes 3 different views of Colonial One to go in the bay. BTW - ParaGrafix.com is my "day job" site: go to www.ParaGrafix.biz for my aftermarket parts.

Over on Starship Modeler Marko posted on how to make the "garages" for the landing bays fit a bit better. He suggests removing the three triangular gussets on the tops of the two parts to get a snugger fit.


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## RedHeadKevin (May 1, 2009)

I've got the ParaGrafix PE set, Paulbo (which is awesome, by the way!) I was just hoping for a more...3D Colonial One. Of course, now that I have a better look at the landing bays, it's gonna be so tight in there, I don't know if it'll even matter!


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## harrier1961 (Jun 18, 2009)

Paul, no wonder your aftermark accessories website is soo good!
Andy
:thumbsup:


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## sg-99 (Jan 11, 2009)

Here is my take on the nu-Galactica with shipyard.


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## ryoga (Oct 6, 2009)

SG99, that is so cool. Its going to be really neat when you complete them. Will you be doing anything to reinforce the "shipyard? They're sagging due to the length


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## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

Very nice SG-99! I could also see the Roger Young pulling into that station.

I'm not sure it's sag, Ryoga. I think it may be a bit of fisheye-ing from the camera lens. Check out the base of the peg-board - it doesn't look straight either.


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## sg-99 (Jan 11, 2009)

There is a little sag cause it is not on the stand yet. I can vouch that the peg board is not straight.:thumbsup:


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## Moebius (Mar 15, 2007)

That is so cool!


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## sg-99 (Jan 11, 2009)

Thank you Frank!


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## Seashark (Mar 28, 2006)

That is _very_ cool, well done!


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## Marco Scheloske (May 16, 2000)

Paulbo said:


> Over on Starship Modeler Marco posted on how to make the "garages" for the landing bays fit a bit better. He suggests removing the three triangular gussets on the tops of the two parts to get a snugger fit.


Yes, I did, and here is my description of what to do:

There should be 2 rectangular tabs, and 3 additional triangular ones. The rectangular go into slots in the "roof" of the main hull, while the 3 triangular ones go between a pair of other tabs, too, that are located more on the side of the main hull. Here are some pictures which will eventual make it more clear (both times when I show the parts dryfitted I press really, really hard to close them as much as possible):

1.) Hangar pod bay garage as it comes in the kit, with all 5 tabs. Not so nice fit.









2.) One of the shortened triangular "assistant tabs" which are definitely not needed to hold the part in place: 







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3.) Fit of the garage with shortened triangular tabs. Not perfect, but much better than before: 







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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Ya know what bugs me? That those pod bays are smooth. Can you see in there when the kit's assembled? I think I'm going to have to detail the hell out of them with panel lines.


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## ryoga (Oct 6, 2009)

John P said:


> Ya know what bugs me? That those pod bays are smooth. Can you see in there when the kit's assembled? I think I'm going to have to detail the hell out of them with panel lines.



Don't forget to add in some impact craters - its for Starbuck's signature landings :tongue:


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## Magesblood (May 12, 2008)

I thought it was Boomer who couldn't land a bird.


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## Marco Scheloske (May 16, 2000)

John P said:


> Ya know what bugs me? That those pod bays are smooth. Can you see in there when the kit's assembled?


Yes, this is the only part of the model I don`t like, either. Especially because all the rest has nice details, and those large areas: Nothing.

And YEY, you can see into them when the kit is assembled. They definitely need attention, either by greeblies, scribed lines or the amazing decals from Acreation Models, which includes some for those "pod bay garages".


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## RedHeadKevin (May 1, 2009)

It bugs me more that the landing bays don't fit into the garages. Guess we can't build the Galactica ready to jump.


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## Marco Scheloske (May 16, 2000)

RedHeadKevin said:


> It bugs me more that the landing bays don't fit into the garages. Guess we can't build the Galactica ready to jump.


Well, regarding the SFX guys this is "canon" - the pods don`t fit into the garages! They tweaked it a bit when they showed that... and later in the series the NEVER retracted the pods when they jumped.


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## Moebius (Mar 15, 2007)

The pods were a bit of a problem. There's only so much we could do there and keep it simple. The tooling just didn't allow anything to be put in as far as detail inside the "garages". We would have had to have multiple pieces to do it simply, significantly adding to the tooling costs on it. I always have faith in you guys to build outside the box and add what isn't there. I'd be surprised if someone wasn't working on replacement "garages" to add detail already.


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## StarshipClass (Aug 13, 2003)

Moebius said:


> The pods were a bit of a problem. There's only so much we could do there and keep it simple. The tooling just didn't allow anything to be put in as far as detail inside the "garages". We would have had to have multiple pieces to do it simply, significantly adding to the tooling costs on it. I always have faith in you guys to build outside the box and add what isn't there. I'd be surprised if someone wasn't working on replacement "garages" to add detail already.


Decals may do the trick there for the recessed detail.


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## StarshipClass (Aug 13, 2003)

The only problem I've had so far is the fit of the "head" to the body of the ship. Looks to be a flaw in the fit of the kit but, of course, I can't rule out that I've done something wrong.

Here are the ZOIC orthographic views I've used as reference:

http://media.battlestarwiki.org/images/4/4a/BSG_Ortho_Front,_Back_&_Starboard.jpg

Here are the details of the fit problem from another thread:

http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showpost.php?p=3570028&postcount=23

http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showpost.php?p=3570156&postcount=25

http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?p=3570216#post3570216

Looks like the test shots had the same characteristic: http://www.modelermagic.com/?p=23324


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## ryoga (Oct 6, 2009)

I think I know what you are referring to now, the link between the "neck" and the forward section. I see the head slightly raised from the neck while the orthos have them as smoothly linked without any variance in height.

Can't contribute much until I have my kits with me ... still waiting

Scratch that ... EDIT:

I just received a package .. now I wonder what that could be .. hehehe


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## Marco Scheloske (May 16, 2000)

Moebius said:


> I'd be surprised if someone wasn't working on replacement "garages" to add detail already.


Acreation Models has some nice decals for those areas in his armour plating decal set. They do the trick to let it look more "bussy".

I have one question about the "head" piece, especially the "teeth"-area with the lit portholes: Are the raised rectangular details representing those windows? Or should the portholes be between then?


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## talondigital (Apr 4, 2007)

Marco Scheloske said:


> Acreation Models has some nice decals for those areas in his armour plating decal set. They do the trick to let it look more "bussy".
> 
> I have one question about the "head" piece, especially the "teeth"-area with the lit portholes: Are the raised rectangular details representing those windows? Or should the portholes be between then?


http://www.modelermagic.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/kg_cg_ns_galactica-028b.jpg

According to that I'd say that the rectangular details are to make the part look more "busy" and that you might as well place your windows wherever you think it looks best.


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## StarshipClass (Aug 13, 2003)




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## HabuHunter32 (Aug 22, 2009)

I ordered the Acreation Battlestar armor set so the blank pod bays will look better. I think this kit is fantastic and with a little tweaking will be another standout ! The slight offset of the head should be a simple fix. A little shaving of the center part of the head should do the trick. :thumbsup:


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## RedHeadKevin (May 1, 2009)

EDIT: scratch that... my idea won't work. Another thing you might try is to grind down the "lip" that the forward hull sits on. this will allow the whole assembly to slip down a little lower. You'll still have to sand down the "teeth" section.


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## sg-99 (Jan 11, 2009)

My LHS wants to hang my shipyard and I am on a holiday battlestar kick, so I built battlestars #2 and #3 with telescoping brass tubeing to give the appearence that they are dock.


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## Marco Scheloske (May 16, 2000)

sg-99 said:


> My LHS wants to hang my shipyard and I am on a holiday battlestar kick, so I built battlestars #2 and #3 with telescoping brass tubeing to give the appearence that they are dock.


WOW!!


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## ryoga (Oct 6, 2009)

sg-99, please continue to update us on your build. Its unique, and very interesting


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## sg-99 (Jan 11, 2009)

ryoga said:


> sg-99, please continue to update us on your build. Its unique, and very interesting


Sure will:thumbsup:


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## sg-99 (Jan 11, 2009)

Underside view.


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## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

That's very slick.


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## SJF (Dec 3, 1999)

sg-99 said:


> My LHS wants to hang my shipyard and I am on a holiday battlestar kick, so I built battlestars #2 and #3 with telescoping brass tubeing to give the appearence that they are dock.


Now that's frakking cool! :thumbsup:

Sean


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## sg-99 (Jan 11, 2009)

Battlestar Atlantis BS-99. got to give a plug to Paragrafix, Fantastic photoetch set:thumbsup: On the base coat for me anyway I used Tamiya JN grey xf-12 and light grey xf-22 before i lay down the aztec pattern old school style.


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## linesiders (Apr 25, 2009)

Ha! That is sweet. Very cool and inspirational!


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## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

Nice!


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## sg-99 (Jan 11, 2009)

The Joy of modeling....... 3 hours of masking and then 2 seconds of painting:thumbsup:


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## ryoga (Oct 6, 2009)

Slowly but surely you're getting there. Just a thought, why not do your Battlestar as the fully armoured variant?


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## sg-99 (Jan 11, 2009)

ryoga said:


> Slowly but surely you're getting there. Just a thought, why not do your Battlestar as the fully armoured variant?


We Think alike!:thumbsup: I am considering to "skin" the nu-battlestar!


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## sg-99 (Jan 11, 2009)

Bottom masking.......


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## sg-99 (Jan 11, 2009)

I pre-shaded the ribs with tamiya nato black then tamiya gumetal and airbrushed the rib highlights with tamiya metallica grey. Panels are next:thumbsup:


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## sg-99 (Jan 11, 2009)

Painted the hull plating in 3 different shades of grey in a random pattern then weathered it.


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## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

That last pic looks fantastic! (Well, they all do, but you know what I mean.)


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## sg-99 (Jan 11, 2009)

Thanks Paulbo! Decal time......decals go down fine you just need a few drops of solvaset to make them snuggle down. and I am masking off battlestar #2 and #3 and pre/post shaded the shipyard.


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## sg-99 (Jan 11, 2009)

Got the primary colors on the shipyard Battlestars.


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## sg-99 (Jan 11, 2009)

For the base I used scrap styrene, to hide the battery and switch and to make the stand a wee bit more stable. I did sand off the Galactica name to have a generic base and I Painted it Tamiya gun metal and dry brushed with alclad.


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

You've even impressed Carolyn Munro in post 44!


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## ryoga (Oct 6, 2009)

Man, those looks awesome. Missing would be the Mercury Class Battlestars, plus a couple of Valkryies, then it really looks like a Shipyard


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## SJF (Dec 3, 1999)

Well, hopefully Moebius will supply us with a Mercury Class battlestar (aka Pegasus) real soon. 

Sean


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## sg-99 (Jan 11, 2009)

A Tale of 3 battlestars......... Painted up 2 and 3 same way I painted the Atlantis. I too hope for other battlestar classes, then I can make the shipyard bigger:thumbsup:


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## RedHeadKevin (May 1, 2009)

Your shipyard setup is great! And you can really make it modular. You could expand on that until it filled the whole room! How do you keep the "arms" from sagging?


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## sg-99 (Jan 11, 2009)

Hey Thanks! to keep from sagging I used all-thread cut to 2 inches in length and basically screwed the shipyard together.


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## Marco Scheloske (May 16, 2000)

sg-99 said:


> I too hope for other battlestar classes, then I can make the shipyard bigger:thumbsup:


Since the Moebius one is in the same scale as the old Monogram TOS battlestar - how about adding a classic one, too? Maybe just being stripped down for decomission or so...


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## sg-99 (Jan 11, 2009)

Very cool idea!:thumbsup:


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## sg-99 (Jan 11, 2009)

New underside view.......


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## Griffworks (Jun 24, 2002)

Awesome work! I mean, that is seriously kewel work! 

On the subject of the other battlestars, Timeslip Creations makes a _Valkyrie_-type battlestar, as well as has a resin-cast _Mercury_-class in-works for a mid-May release.


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## heiki (Aug 8, 1999)

Is somebody making the museum interior?


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## sg-99 (Jan 11, 2009)

Decal time again..... Wanted to use the decal sheet that comes with the PE set, Great decals by the way. chose the names Athena and Solaria:thumbsup:


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## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

Sweet!

I like the paint jobs a lot and (as I've said before) the dock's great.

I can't take all the credit for the decals - Jeffrey's printing is fantastic and terribly important to making a quality product.


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## ryoga (Oct 6, 2009)

Not sure why but when I look at sg99's builds, its like looking ahead to BSG Blood and Chrome. :thumbsup:


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## sg-99 (Jan 11, 2009)

The shipyard is done and now hangs in the hobby shop!


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## SJF (Dec 3, 1999)

Seeing that hanging above my head would certainly make me want to buy a Galactica kit. Superb job on this!

Sean


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## ClubTepes (Jul 31, 2002)

Very, very nice.

Its always nice to see hobby shops with stuff in the ceiling.

BTW, is that your TOS Galactica hanging in the distance?

Got any pics of that?


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## sg-99 (Jan 11, 2009)

The Big G is mine as well and I was on a rag tag building kick as well since i had all the parts. I probably have posted these before but here is the Galactica hanging in the hobby shop.


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## Hunch (Apr 6, 2003)

Cool! Got any closer detail shots? Of the old one I mean, and is it a resin kit?
Your Moebius build ups look great in the shipyard, I've dryfitted mine and trimmed the "head" pc down to proper height for assembly. Frank puts out a top notch product dont he?


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## sg-99 (Jan 11, 2009)

Hunch said:


> Cool! Got any closer detail shots? Of the old one I mean, and is it a resin kit?
> Your Moebius build ups look great in the shipyard, I've dryfitted mine and trimmed the "head" pc down to proper height for assembly. Frank puts out a top notch product dont he?


Frank does make good stuff! I recomend Moebius models to any modeler of any skill:thumbsup: And no it is not a resin kit, it is studio scale, all scractchbuilt and detail with the appropriate kit parts. I will see what I can dig up for some closer pics.


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## linesiders (Apr 25, 2009)

Awesome shots - again.

But where is this hobbyshop? If one looks close they will see vipers launching from tubes on the Atlantia, in the ceiling. 

Someone had a building kick all right


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## sg-99 (Jan 11, 2009)

It is in Tulsa, Oklahoma:thumbsup:


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## JeffG (May 10, 2004)

Excellent work. And it makes me wish the hobby shop I worked in part time hadn't closed. Miss that atmosphere of the like minded and creative.


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## torren_of_amber (Dec 8, 2008)

Which shop in Tulsa, I might have to take a road trip down soon, I do miss some of my friends there.


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## sg-99 (Jan 11, 2009)

torren_of_amber said:


> Which shop in Tulsa, I might have to take a road trip down soon, I do miss some of my friends there.



Its the Hobbytown USA in Tulsa:thumbsup:


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## linesiders (Apr 25, 2009)

sg-99 said:


> It is in Tulsa, Oklahoma:thumbsup:


A little beyond road trip range for me - awesome shots - thanks again.


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## Captain_April (Oct 20, 2002)

That just might be the coolest Hobby Shop EVER!!!!!!


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## torren_of_amber (Dec 8, 2008)

Wow, thanks, I haven't been there since my GW days when I did my tour of my stores in like '04? It is a great store, and I will def. have to get down there soon. thanks again.
d


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## ryoga (Oct 6, 2009)

Just saw something familiar over at CultTVman Hobbyshop .... :tongue:

http://www.culttvmanshop.com/Battlestar-Shipyard-from-BHP_p_1551.html

Interesting ...


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## Griffworks (Jun 24, 2002)

Is that the only source thru which these will be available?


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## gareee (Jan 1, 1970)

PerfesserCoffee, thanks for posting that pic with the head corrections. I've been hunting it down for a few weeks now for referencing!


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## Washu (Mar 6, 2011)

Hi all,

What do you think of my Battlestar, it's my first model so don't be too rude


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## Washu (Mar 6, 2011)

Here there are :


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## Washu (Mar 6, 2011)

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/857/p1020805e.jpg/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/97/p1020806d.jpg/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/802/p1020803u.jpg/


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## sg-99 (Jan 11, 2009)

Looks Good!:thumbsup:


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