AKULA's Battlestar Galactica Project - Cylon Heavy Raider pg12

[dampfpanzerwagon]

One thing I was really struggling with for my project was a heavy raider - no one had got around to producing one as a garage kit, and I had begun the unenviable process of figuring out how to scratch build one, with all its unusual shapes and angles....and then the Internet provided the answer.

A newly printed kit is available on fleabay....its described as 1:72 but it is perfect for my needs, and appears to be in scale with my existing 1:48 raiders.

It comes as a two-parter but the join lines aren't too bad. Just needed a little extra weight under the front fuselage to get it to sit properly.  It needs a little work to better define the Cylon cockpit, but other than that it's good to go, and ideal for a Cylon assault force.

Wow that looks impressive.

Tony

[Connectamabob]

The kit itself makes me cringe. Between the complete lack of detail (even within the limits of FDM printing), and the chunky faceting on the curved parts, it kinda looks like someone just ripped a background LOD model from a video game.

With a little googling, it looks like it's a Thingiverse model converted directly from a Sketchup Warehouse model. That's not surprising.

I guess it's alright if you just want something quick and general for the tabletop (though it doesn't match the other models you're using, or the standards of your figure painting and terrain building), but I hope you didn't pay too much for it, and I REALLY hope it wasn't resin cast.

[The Voivod]

Oh, look another one of those "how the hell did this get to page X, without me noticing sooner"-threads.

Absolutely awesome stuff. What a huge project.

[AKULA]

Thanks Voivod, it's been a while in the planning and making, but there is still a very long way to go.

Re:the heavy raider, it is indeed v.basic - it's a cheap print rather than resin cast - it's only meant to be a spawn point for the game, and I didn't want to spend the time (at this stage) building one from scratch - I can add some detail to the shell, or build another more detailed one at my leisure later.

I'm running a game at BLAM in October, and have other things that need to be done before then...speaking of which, back to building more flightpod....

[Mousethatroared]

Impressed by this labour of love! The scope terrifies me.

I've opted for a modest planet surface skirmish based project with my sole Raptor and my recently added Heavy Raider print.

After a lot of serious sanding I realise I will never get the smooth finish I would be satisfied with, one that I could add scribbed details to, such as panel lines.

I'd be interested to know how you would go about "dressing" this monster, if your time permitted.

[Connectamabob]

IMO it would be faster and easier to re-topo, detail, and re-print the mesh than to fix the existing print. But that's maybe kinda dependent on how much experience/confidence you have with modelling software.

If I had to detail the existing print, I'd start by filling all the faceting with putty and sanding to get the curves back. Sanding without filling won't do it, as it's the vertexes that outline the true shape, not the edges or faces. If you sand without filing in the faces, you'll end up with curved areas that are "skinnier" than they should be.

For raised panel detail, either cut and apply paper with superglue (as good as plastic if you saturate the paper once it's tacked in place), and/or mask the panels in negative and blast it with sandable primer (peel the tape off, and you've got subtle relief paneling in primer). For the cylindrical details like engines and the forward guns, I'd ditch the kit parts and hit up the local dollar/pound shops for pens and mechanical pencils I could chop up and recombine into similar shapes. Recessed lines could be either scribed, or penciled on top of the paint job.

[Mousethatroared]

Lacking in the necessary software skills, I'll be opting for the more traditional route of filling and sanding.

Thanks for the advice, especially replacing the externals. That will make contouring much easier.

I'll post some pics of the finished product, if I think it will pass public scrutiny.

[Connectamabob]

Look forward to seeing it!

I highly recommend getting your feet wet with modelling software. When combined with 3D printing, it's pretty much an omni-tool that opens so many doors when it comes to terrain and models.