Total building time 215.75 hours

Begin date November 14, 2025 – September 20, 2026

Vendors:

Moebius Models

Kit #none provided – Colonial Viper MkII 1/32 scale

Greenstrawberry

Part #10020-1/32 Colonial Viper MkII seat

Part #00917-1/32 Colonial Viper MkII nozzles

Part #10720-1/32 Colonial Viper MkII Wheel Bay

Part #132017-1/32 Colonial Pilot Fighter Ace [Starbuck!]

Aztek Dummy Productions (available at Cozmic Scale Models)

Part #AD-19 Painting Mask

Trumpeter Master Tools

Part #09815 Clear polystyrene cover

Cosmic Scale Models

Part #CSM-035 BSG Viper bay ladder

My opinion

Damned interesting build. I’ve not done a fictional spacecraft before this one. My initial notion (something I abandon as often as I do common sense) (aka, frequently) was to make the Viper realistic. It didn’t take me long to realize that I had two options. A) Try it. B) Realize that it won’t match the viper of the series at all. A good friend of mine calls that “engineering by magic.” That’s when it finally came to (what’s left of) my attention. Realistically the whole notion of crewed “space fighters” is gizmo fantasy. I’m not going to get into a discussion that I don’t consider myself well-versed in, orbital mechanics. Or velocity (which isn’t just speed but vectors, as in where it’s actually going instead of merely being “aimed” at). Any space opera I’ve seen uses aerodynamic properties where there is no air. Spacecraft don’t bank. Whatever for? Ask someone who’s knowledgeable about Newtonian physics about that, you’ll never see a space opera as anything more than gizmo fantasy again. ::puts soapbox away::

As you can see, I went with option B.

Fit wasn’t great but it’s certainly not the worst fit I’ve dealt with (that rubric goes to the Grumman Goose, which almost killed my interest in this hobby and thank you, Ben, for proposing this build). Some shimming, some putty, and lots of dry-fitting will get you to the finish. Going to AM for the cockpit and exhaust nozzles really made the visual appeal with this build. I don’t recommend using the Greenstrawberry wheel bays. Freaking nightmare to get right (I would imagine, since I didn’t get it right) and if you just follow the kit’s directions and then paint the “bays” flat black, you’ll see as much of the detail as you don’t see with my build. And speaking of the landing gear…

This kit provides the option to build it with the landing gear retracted and also supplies the stand (in clear). I’d briefly considered it but I’d started with the notion of using a Trumpeter display case and transforming the base into the hangar floor. Sorta obviates a stand, y’know?

The kit also provides a resin pilot figure. I didn’t use it because I wanted this build to show Starbuck’s kite and Starbuck. The resin figure isn’t even close. If you decide you want to use it, from what I can see you’ll need to modify the arm/hand that’s holding the molded-on joystick. It just won’t match up to the floor of the cockpit.

Painting the figure consumed weeks of apprehension. Wasted time. About the only thing I think I would do differently with the next figure (hold not thy breath) is to add a little more white to the mix; it came out a wee bit darker than I’d intended. And the figure that Greenstrawberry produced was absolutely amazing.

The first decal I used (it’s in the cockpit) broke. I don’t know when Moebius produced this kit but a simple decal breaking also broke any trust I had in the kit’s decals. I decided that I would paint the red stripes and Aztek Dummy’s stencil and I was most fortunate to have discovered these masks while I was looking for something else entirely (something rare, like my sanity, though that’s been gone for so long that I doubt I’d recognize it in the highly unlikely event that I found it). Simply put, they’re great. The rest of the decals were much smaller and responded well using Microscale Liquid Decal Film. Paint the LDF over the decals (thin coat which will self level). Once dry, cut close to the decal’s ink. I had no further decal problems.

If you like the new BSG, you’ll probably like this kit. I did.