Monogram Battlestar Galactica

When I was a kid I learned a lot of my Sci-fi from my older brother. And one of his favorites was Battlestar Galactica (BSG). And though it's really not one of the best put together shows/movie it's still a really fun journey and story idea. Thought the newer show may be superior in many ways the original still holds up. It brought many new and fantastic looking spaceships, like the Colonial Viper one of my all time favorite looking ships.  AMT model had the market on the Star Wars kits, so Monogram jumped on with all new Battlestar Galactica kits. Though they only made 4 kits (Battlestar Galactica, Colonial Viper, Cylon Raider & Cylon Basestar) They are still sought after and in 2005 were re-released in new packaging under the Revell name. At this time I bought the Viper, and got an A+ for it in my art class.  I saw the Cylon Raider and Basestar, but never the Galactica. I found out only a few years ago that Revell did produce the kit but in very small numbers for some reason :/

A few months ago I found an ad online from a seller close to where I live, selling an old AMT Excelsior. I went to get it and he asked if  I might be interested in seeing.buying some of the other kits he had built, that he wanted to get rid of.  Upon seeing the box the first kit that jumped at me was the Galactica. He told me that he had only built and painted it.  There were a few decals left on, and it needed a good cleaning but it was in other words great condition. I thought I would make and excellent Birthday gift for my older Brother a few months down the road. The fellow even found it's old display stand and I was set.

All it needed was some of the red parts repainted, and a good grey wash to accent the details, and you're left with a really nice looking model. I coated the Galactica decals with a few layers of future, as well as the red circle on top. After they dried for over a week I used a toothbrush to scrub the top of the model that had collected dust and dirt over the years. Afterwards I layered the entire model in several coats of Future. And mixed a light Grey was, and a Black wash to make it look dirtier. After I cleaned that up, all that was left was painting on the Blue and Red engines and the Darker Red stripes that use to be decals.

It was much more work than I had originally prepared for, but the results are worth it. I gave it to my brother and he was thrilled. I have to admit I was a bit sad to see it go, but the expression on his face made me realize he'd treasure it more than I would.

Thankfully the BSG licence has been picked up by Moebius, and they are releasing some completely new tooled and extremely awesome kits. So I think I'll pick up their new Galactica in the future. Still If I ever find any of these BSG or Buck Rogers Monogram kits, I'll be picking them up right away.

Here's a link to the video I made, on using Enamel washes:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqU_G29GWi8&list=UU2cpe3DtJgg98EsJkTe2rJA