Model of The Month TWO!: Battlestar Galactica TOS Colonial Warrior Blaster 1:1

Revell-Fan

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:wave: Hello, everyone! :wave:

Welcome to my latest project: a 1:1 scale replica of the Colonial Warrior Blaster from the Classic Battlestar Galactica. I know I shouldn't work on too many things at the same time but I thought this little project would be the perfect opportunity to get more familiar with SketchUp since I am still building my Landram with it. In addition, I had been looking for almost two years for a paper blaster and wondered why there was none available.

The blaster is mainly based on official schematics which were scanned and traced. I also use various pictures from the show, production photos and images of the resin replica for reference.

The model will be approximately 27 to 30 cm long and feature raised details (and if everything proceeds as planned: a working trigger and space for light and sound). I hope to get it ready before the next Cylon surprise attack occurs so that every fellow warrior and war daggit will get his/her own portable means of defense. But be aware:

announce1 A blaster will not be effective during an orbital bombardment; in this case man your Viper immediately or just duck and cover.

I am looking forward to your comments. I only wish my creation to be treated wisely, so please don't use it to rob your local bank or to shoot your neighbor's cat. And if you really encounter a Cylon, I urge you to try to talk to these fellows first (choose a suitable topic like "Is there really one true God?", or "Is your programming Windows compatible?"); you may shoot them anyway afterwards. Enjoy! :wave:
 

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pulsar

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Very cool! I'm glad someone had the sense to finally make this iconic blaster (so I didn't have to try XD). There's a lot of crazy details in that little gun, so it'll be interesting to see how you handle it... but hey, shoot for the moon, right? :mrgreen:
 

Revell-Fan

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Another progress pic... This time in colour. Lefthand side is almost finished... Stay tuned!
 

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Revell-Fan

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I am now concentrating on the left half of the handle. Once it is ready it can be duplicated and flipped to get an absolutely symmetrical right half. I will make both sides a so-called component. This makes adaptations much easier since changes on one side will effect the other side in the same way. Smoothing the edges requires some creative thinking since there are some tricky curved regions and there is that little protruding edge on the bottom which has to be smoothed in two directions simultaneously.

Right at the beginning of the project I wisely created several groups of elements which can be switched on and off individually. This makes work much easier since elements which are not needed at the moment can be turned off and become invisible.

Smoothing the edges by selecting the outer rim and dragging it towards the mirror axis caused some strange results which forced me to do it manually by creating those little triangular vertices you can see in the X-ray close-ups. I really can't wait to see if the shape comes out right after unfolding and assembling the first prototype. Stay tuned!
 

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Revell-Fan

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I'm working hard to get the right-hand side done; be patient and stay tuned! :wave:
 

Revell-Fan

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Hello, Colonials!

The right side is complete. I'm very pleased with the overall look so far, but I still have to adapt some parts here and there, especially the components around the trigger (see pic #12). The blueprints don't show all details and the general shape of the right and the left side hasn't been mirrored exactly. This caused some measuring problems which I had to solve "by eye"; I hope you like it though. Next steps will include cleaning up, chopping the model into blocks which can easily be assembled, unfolding, building a white model, creating all the little greeblies to be attached to the surface and inserting a functional laser pulse generator. Beware, tin heads! :twisted:
 

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Greenman

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This is great! I love the original BSG. My wife teases me all the time, but I have a soft spot in my heart for the classic. I love the new series to, but my favorite episode of all is probably the quick draw western with Apollo vs the defunct cylon in the original series. Cheesy but thats what we grew up with. Gotta love it. I can't wait to see the finished model. Do you plan to share it with us?
 

Revell-Fan

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This is great! I love the original BSG. My wife teases me all the time, but I have a soft spot in my heart for the classic. I love the new series to, but my favorite episode of all is probably the quick draw western with Apollo vs the defunct cylon in the original series. Cheesy but thats what we grew up with. Gotta love it. I can't wait to see the finished model. Do you plan to share it with us?

Hello, Greenman! :wave:

Nothing beats a classic. Of course I am sharing the model with you. I am working so hard on it that it is sometimes difficult for me to find some time to update this and the other posts... However, let me assure you that I am very pleased with the thing as it looks so far. CU!
 

Revell-Fan

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Hello again!

Here a little update on the blaster. It's almost ready for unfolding. Handle and trigger bow still need to be tweaked a bit. I'm working on the textures, too, and give you a first shot of the texture on the handle.

Happy New Year! :wave:
 

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