Moebius Viper mk7

Battlestar Galactica › Moebius Viper mk7

vendredi, 7 mars 2014

Moebius Viper mk7 - Still upgrading of the cockpit

Par olcabour le vendredi, 7 mars 2014, 00:54

New test with leds this time.

I find that the front panel of the dashboard went up not enough close to the cabin. There was a gap of about 2mm.
I was almost resigning myself to cut the brass panels, when I realized that I had stupidly forgotten to fold one panel of the photoetched dashboard ! (no kidding, but I'm stuck on it for half a day...)

before

after

The photoetched little wedge, that went off from the panel, is glued back. This wedge will hold the HUD screen.
With plastic card, the dashboard is completed to fill the openings and to prevent light leaks.

The HUD is hollow to get the maximum light from the bottom. The film screen from upgrade kit is too thick (or too dark), and nothing can be seen without direct lighting.
I therefore replaced it by a color photocopy of a transparent decal.

The pilot arm is modified to adapt to the resin body of pilot. The seam is filled with plastic putty.

lundi, 3 mars 2014

Moebius Viper mk7 - Photoetched upgrade of the cockpit

Par olcabour le lundi, 3 mars 2014, 22:31

The cockpit requires a lot of work. The photoetched is fragile and should be folded only once, unless it should broke (this happened to me for the small wedge behind the dashboard, on which lies the HUD screen. Given the level of detail, it should be difficult to paint it once assembled. So it is better to paint everything before folding. For this, the brass surfaces are first sanded, for a better grip of the paint.

The painting is done following captures of the show, found on the web.

The screens are those of the upgrade kit.
For the buttons, I glued transparent plastic on the back, frosted with sandpaper, on which the buttons are painted with clear colors.

Little test.

During folding, I prefer using white glue, and very few cyano glue. The curing takes longer, but it is more tough to manipulations. To hold parts in place while curing, I use clamps and pliers.
As white glue becomes translucent when dry, it is then painted with matt black to prevent light leakage.

I ended up to use temporarily black tape to see how it fitted into the cabin, and it was a good idea as because it has been pushed this cockpit, and glue would have not resist to this !
It needed to :
- Dig inside the cabin (areas highlighted in green stabilo)

- Cut the corners of the photoetched

- Bevel the side panel edges.

Flat white paint is applied behind the dashboard, for a more uniform diffusion of the light.

vendredi, 28 février 2014

Moebius Viper mk7 - Preparing the engines for the lighting

Par olcabour le vendredi, 28 février 2014, 18:46

I began to modify the engines so they can receive LEDs : opening of the nozzle (leaving a small lip to hold the photoetched part) and removing one of the two studs. The second is kept as a support for the led.

A quick wash with Tamiay extra liquid glue dissolves all remaining dust.

To hold the photo-etched nozzle, I needed to add matterial to the small lip (in some places where I sanded too much), and the photoeched parts are installed.

The inner faces of the engines receive a layer of surface primer and black, followed by a silver drybrush on the viewable end.

Plastic films from the upgrade kit and LED are installed with white glue.

And everything is closed.

Par olcabour le vendredi, 28 février 2014, 18:43

While the mk2 cabin seams was quietly drying, I started the mk7 kit in parallel. I had already open to compare and exchange the pilots.

If it looks okay from a distance, this kit is very disappointing when studied closer : - Like the mk2, the surface is grainy and has some shrinkages.

- Verniers are there this time (though not deep enough for my taste). Curiously, two are missing on each side of the nose.

- This little plate (highlighted in green) on each wing is curious. It seems to have nothing to do here !

- the panel lines are a little plump.

But the two major weaknesses of the kit are :

- the horrible seam that run from the wings to the nose of the cabin. Parts design is unwise.

- The cockpit has almost no detail. For once, it deserves its bathtub nickname !! The photoeched upgrade is almost unavoidable here.

The pilot is really good. Very similar to the resin one in the mk2 kit. As it enables to depict a man or a woman, it will be placed in the mk2 (as Starbuck), and the mk2 resin one will take place as Appollo in the mk7. The only change (already done in parallel to the mk2) was to hollow the helmet to insert a face.

It is a pity that Moebius proposes a so sloppy kit, I almost feel to dive back in the 80s with a kit designed like this one!

To light the cockpit, the photoetched upgrade kit is downright planned for this. Backlight screens are included, and LEDs locations are pre-drilled. This upgrade kit is a very nice product.