battlestar galactica models?

To concide with the release of the new Sci-Fi channel miniseries, does anyone know if there will be models (either garage or major mfgr) of the new ships?

The new Viper looks great, very subtle improvements over the classic ships.
I haven't seen the Raider or the Galactica yet on previews or on thier web site, but can we assume modest makeovers of these ships, too?

As it is being worked on the AWFUL Galactica 1980 is being treated like it never existed with the story proposed taking place 20-25 years into the look for earth. I am not saying they should cancel it because I say so, just as they should not keep it because you like it.
You like it and want it, I don't like it and don't want it. Both have the
RIGHT to express their views and besides since it is apparent that it is not going to series now it is pretty moot.I am very happy about that though.
And yes I agree Farscape for Tremors is a very bad trade, now we will have
Mad, Mad House with "normal" people living with "very odd" people in a reality series, give me a break! Sci-fi can be good but whoever is making the programing decisions there needs a lot of help.
No sour grapes here, I think it sucks and I am letting them know it.There are competing philosophies on BG I support one side those that like the mini are the other ,the first inning is over as the mini was made, now it is time for the other side to go up to bat!I think Larson's approach will be better, only time will tell.

Agree! But maybe we can count on MMI producing a resin kit of the new viper. It's actually not so far off from the original that the monogram model couldn't be used a a base. More sheet plastic over the engines, rework the canopy, add thruster ports... it might work out.

I haven't seen part 2 yet, so can't comment on the FTL configurations. sounds cool though.

Only one type. The robotic cylons look like art-deco lamps.

I saw a blurry pic(forget what web site sorry)of the cylon raider...somewhat meaner looking from what little I could see.
I do find it annoying how they changed so much tho...cylons are now going to be hotties,all the guys are now gals...too much for this old fashioned guy LOL

I watched it too, Mike and I was not very impressed,the original story line and mythos properly handled and with good writing would have been much better. They did however, get the new Cylons(Mechanical ones not the "****
R Us" one and the new Cylon Raider ships) right. New look to the Galactica ship design IMHO really sucks(exterior).I find the whole thing disappointing but not terrible.

Sorry, Mike. when they made the mini THEY made the sow's ear!And to borrow your own line..no matter how much you polish a ****(the mini) it is still a ****.

It wasn't too bad. I watched it 1.5 times (Dish Network wierdness at a friend's house).

I can understand the logic behind the cyclon-babe - they wanted a human looking lure to make "contact" with a likely candidate to gain access to the planetary defensive network.

The Galactica resembled the old in many ways, but the big heatsink fins structures didn't do much for me. Not sure what the designers intent were.

The Raiders sucked - really wierd with the glowing eye thing.

Vipers were ultra-cool, esp the MkII that we're all familiar with. Got a kick out of the analog gauges (VDO??) in the cockpit - very retro and very cool. The vipers looked much like the old but with rounded cockpits, rounded fuselage surfaces and less exposed engine plumbing - I like it!

The story line itself was not as hideous as I thought it would be. It all made perfect sense - the second time I watched it. Baltar's character reminded me of a suave Dr. Smith from LIS.

Technically, the battle scenes looked very much like watching a video game trailer - it was a little too digital. This could also have been an artifact of my friend's all-digital Dish Network - I've not seen movies on that before, the pixelization drove me nuts.. think I'd stick with cable personally.

So, I hope to see a decent garage kit of the viper. I could take or leave the Galactica, and the Raider didn't hold my interest very long.

I agree. My original Viper used to have daily battles with Darth Vader's TIE fighter. I'll start on my reissued R-M Viper once I get off of my butt and get the landing gear set from MMI.
Rob Gronovius
Visit my motor pool in the www.armorama.com gallery

And, silly them, the thought of this never crossed their minds until after it was made and shown. Uh, yeah, I can see that happening...

Maybe it'll happen, maybe it won't. But they didn't get into it without hopes it could go somewhere and earn some $ to pay for itself. They could have shown 4 hours of just about anything if they didn't want to culture a new property.

Miniseries was good! Finally, a sci-fi show with a decent, involved plot. A bit slow in places, disjointed in others ( e.g. accidental explosion at ammo depot when Adama and Cylon end up in the bowels of the station, but characters in the midst of the explosion appear later unharmed - huh?), but overall very enjoyable show.

Why does a technically advanced starship use:
10. Phones the size of walkie-talkies with big black cords attached?
9. Nukes as opposed to particle beam weapons?
8. A zillion dot matix printers?
7. Mylar map overlays?
6. (or not use in this case) Defensive fire in the climatic battle scene with the Cylon base ships? ("Adama, I like your plan of just sitting here getting our butts kicked!"
5. The word "sir" when addressing *Madame* President?
4. A 58 ring gauge cigar?
3. Shuttles over Caprica emitting tons of visible exhaust fumes?
2. Noise creating objects in outer space?
and my number 1 question...
1. Why vinyl panties on the blonde Cylon bombshell unless Adama plans to kill her off with a massive case of diaper rash?

If Glen Larson didn't like it, why is his name being plastered on the credits? Most producer-creator types are so egotistical that if they truly don't like something, they get their names taken off of it completely. Unless of course Mr. Larson thinks it has a shot, becomes popular to some extent, and he needs the street cred to do something else to pay the bills.

No the poor ratings did it in. Any network seeing a show with hot ratings will pony up money somewhere to keep it going. high ratings bring in commercials, which bring in bucks. Period. After the first season or so, people turned it off because it got to be so kornball.

Wish I could find some original kits, but alas can't. Modeler's Resource had a good article on building the replica Vipers for the original show and discussed how it changed from development to the models used in actual production.

known for a year what they where doing to the show. They are just using the old ploy of sex and action that most of todays shows use to the hilt.

Don't look for the show to go very far.

When the original BSG came out, there were basically only four stations to watch; ABC, NBC, CBS and PBS. Star Wars had just reawakened the country to the idea of epic Space Operas.

I watched every episode of the original series and BSG 1980 as a kid. I loved the show back then. I bought three of the original models back then (Viper,
Raider, BSG) and three of the re-releases (Viper, Raider, Base Star, MMI cockpit update and seated Viper pilot too). My brother and I had several of the little action figures and vehicles.

I recently watched the Sci-Fi channel's BSG original series marathon and taped most of the episodes last month (didn't want to pay $100 at Wal-Mart for the
DVD set). The original series wasn't that great and it was a small wonder why they cancelled it, not once, but twice. This was the first time I watched the original show since it was cancelled. Except for a handful of episodes, I thought the old series was rather cheesy. Of course I'm almost 25 years older now and view things in a different light.

If you chose not to watch it, your loss (IMHO), but to lobby against the show so those of us who do like don't get to see it is just sour grapes. Especially since you didn't watch the show. Bet you're the type of modeler who pans a kit before it hits the shelves.

Hope all you want for a BSG 2004 starring geriatric Apollo and Starbuck, I'm happy that the new show is out.
Rob Gronovius
Visit my motor pool in the www.armorama.com gallery

I liked Part 1 very much. I don't hold too much reverence for the original series because frankly, it didn't strike me as very good. It *looked* great, but the dialogue, scripts, and acting were definitely Grade B. It
NEEDED to be re-imagined in order to get my interest.

This new version takes a more realistic and humanistic approach, making it so much more involving as drama. The only thing I didn't care for was the gratuitous titillation. Granted, this is becoming standard fare for 21st century science fiction programming, but it just seemed to detract from the show's flow.

Just a note, the new bsg ( unlike the good old BSG ) didn't do that well in the ratings, not like the two major shows that where shown the last few years at this time. In otherwords, it's a sinking ship.

And us older BSG fans have filled up the voice mail boxs of the powers-that-be at the sci-fi channel. I don't have dish, guy next door said he'd tape it for me, told him not to waste the tape.

In the new miniseries the Galactica was supposed to be decommissioned and turned into a historical piece or some such. The tour guide at the beginning almost apologizes for the "ancient" technology and why they can't do this or that on the tour. Hence all the older technology.

Why the Cylon bad guys used nukes is hard to say, though. Maybe they liked the "dirty" approach to exterminating humans, e.g. watch them suffer. Even then that's not entirely "logical" as nukes wreak havoc on most electrical systems, such as robotics.

They did use defensive fire. The turret batteries opened up almost immediately after Galactica left the ion storm/cloud and the Vipers were launched as well. Just too much enemy ordnance/fighter bombers/whatever else coming in much too fast. They had to "sit there" to make sure the civilian ships got out as part of the plan.

Few sci-fi shows HAVEN'T done these two things. From Flash Gordon to
Star Wars, to Alien, to Wing commander, and now this, all of them use sound for outer space activity. I think 2001 is the only sci-fi show that didn't have the objects making any sounds during the space sequences.

Maybe the friction helps her generate power for her batteries?

I too thought the series was very well done, and provided some good explanations as to why some things did and didn't happen in the show. I liked the look of Galactica vice the old one, simply because the
"exploded refrigerator but functional" look has gotten stale to me, and is now overused. I also liked the inclusion of scenes demonstrating just how difficult leadership can be during times of crisis. It truly is lonely at the top, with the President and Commander Adama finding that out the hard way. Kudos go to the Sci-Fi Channel so far.

http://www.galactica2003.net/

Mike (ODO)

I've been reading all this and find some people are really worked up about this. I never got to see the original BSG when it was first-run.
We couldn't get the ABC stations then on our rabbit ears.
I've watched a few since on Sci-Fi and have the movie on tape. I'm not really that excited about it nor have I bothered with the latest rendition.

So why am I writing? I have to state my agreement with the last paragraph. There's more than enough gloom and doom in the real world.
I don't want or need it in Star Trek. I used to pride myself on having taped every episode of Trek but I haven't taped any of this season's shows. Maybe if they come back to hope and wonder with the universe
I'll return. Meanwhile I'm saving money on blank tape.

Some proof it's not exactly a "sinking ship":

'Galactica' 2nd Stage Blasts Off
Wed December 10, 2003 09:34 PM ET

By Andrew Wallenstein

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - The second night of the Sci Fi Channel miniseries "Battlestar Galactica" rocketed past the first Tuesday to deliver the cable channel's highest-rated program of the year.

"Galactica," starring Edward James Olmos, gathered 4.5 million total viewers, surpassing the 3.9 million who watched Monday's opening of the four-hour miniseries. Tuesday's tally gave Sci Fi not only enough ratings power to blast past the WB Network and UPN in primetime but provided the third-highest-ranked program in the station's history.

With an average of 4.2 million viewers, "Galactica" finished behind
"Steven Spielberg Presents Taken" (5 million) and "Frank Herbert's Dune" (4.6 million) but bettered the more recent sequel, "Children of Dune" (2.7 million).

Also Tuesday, Bravo's combination of "Celebrity Poker Showdown" and
"**** Eye for the Straight Guy" cooled in their second week together.
"Showdown" dropped to 1.3 million from 1.6 million last week, while
"**** Eye" slipped on a similar scale to 2 million.

Very true. However, I am of the opinion that the original *wasn't* that good to begin with. The writing left a lot to be desired from the get-go.
Sure it was fun, but even as a high schooler in the 70s, I had to wince more than a few times each week when a particularly bad plot development or piece of dialogue took place.

Having said that, I'll check out the new one, hoping that they make it more interesting this time around. If they didn't do so, no sweat.

BTW, yes I bought the Viper and Cylon Raider models back then. Never did get the Galactica or the Base Star, though. A couple of my friends had them and I wasn't too impressed.

No pissing contest. Just expressing a difference of opinion.I happened to like the original and found this one lacking no more or less. Building a
1/48 109 trainer conversion, whets on your table?

Amen! I couldn't help wondering why it took three to fly one of their fighters. Heck, if they're machines they don't need ANY BODIES in there. The machine could be smaller, lighter, faster if piloted by itself!

be a little touchy to take the helmet off to listen...

His name is there because he owns the full rights to BSG. He is the creator of it.

Just as JMS is the ceator of Babylon 5

Just like Farscape

It is not sour grapes.I watched it, I think it sucks! I support TOS and a continuation of that storyline and mythos. And I am lobbying hard against this mini because I think it is awful. If the posts on other boards are to be believed then there will be no series(this has supposedly been stated by
Sci-fi channel according to Cylon.org).
Larson/DeSantos are working on a TOS continuation movie for theatrical release in about 2 years so maybe they can keep the good and do a better job than Moore's mini.
Like I said earlier, the core fans are what kept this alive, Sci-fi decided to ignore the core fans and this ready made fan base( really just plain gave them the middle finger). Paramount embraced the core Star Trek fan base and improved on the story and have had a 30+year cash cow.Properly handled BG could be a very successful franchise as well. Sci-fi channel though is not the one to do it as long as Bonnie Hammer is in charge, Her statement "We cannot cater to the Sci-fi fan" says a lot. When I want to watch football I go to ESPN as they are a sports channel, they know it and stay it.You don't see them run cooking shows, yet sci-fi runs Braveheart? A good movie to be sure but it does not belong on a Sci-fi channel.

I was 17 when the old show premiered. It was pretty good. I've seen both parts of this one and maybe I'm sticking my neck out, but I'm really impressed with this one and I hope they get a series. It has such a "you are there and part of the action" feel to it. To me, the ships are merely logical evolutions of what has come before, so I say bring on the kits! I didn't get a good feel for the various scales of the ships, but I'm sure someone will figure that out. The Vipers are a bit more sleek with maneuvering thrusters all over it, bad **** weaponry, and old-school cockpit more of a heavy-bomber/strike craft than the older fighter (now only a pair can take out many many many ships), and I took the sweeping red-eye on the ship to be associated with an onboard electronic countermeasures suite (since all the Viper IVs lost power as soon as the eyes lit up in that first battle). The Galactica looked pretty good, extremely heavily armored (took a direct nuke missile!), so the surface looks mostly heavy plated without most of the surface detail seen on the old Gal. Also, did everyone catch how many times there were direct references to the old show, especially the cylon drawing the guy at the space station had, and all the memorabilia in the gift-shop/landing-bay?

I too, liked the mini-series. The premise is a lot less far-fetched than the original, and some interesting story lines were set up. With some luck, maybe they'll remake two sci-fi series I liked- Alien Nation and War of the Worlds (first season). Kim M

Best Special Effects Award- Shrub's Thanksgiving Turkey.

Prove it. Other than posts from whiney pissed off <email> or alt.battlestar-galactica, nothing "official" has been said. Based on the ratings numbers just released, me thinks they'll take some time to consider its future.