Customer Reviews

Revell Colonial Viper

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This is a great new-old kit fron Revell-Monogram.I remember having all of the original Battlestar Galactica model kits back in 1979.I had the Viper,Galactica,Cylon Raider,and the Cylon Basestar.All the kits were easy to build and a lot of fun.One thing that the original Viper model had was a rubberband powered missile launcher in the nose,which was no longer included in the last two re-issues.The good about the new re-tooled issue of the Viper is that they have now included clear parts for the engine turbos,and the canopy.There is also a detailed cockpit with pilot figure,which is cool.I built mine by adding 3-5 mm white LED's for the turbos,and 3-1.6 mm White LED's for the cockpit to add some lighting effects.There is a clear panel for the computer readout screen that you can place a decal on.I placed 1 of the 1.6mm LED's behind that to light it up.I also placed 2 1.6 mm LED's directly under the cockpit to light that up as well.I then built a frame to mount the three 5mm LED's to using a couple of the plastic parts sprues.They were cut to fit the interior,notches were then cut out of them(kind of like Lincoln Logs)at the proper height to match the level of the botton two turbos.The frame was then hot glued together,and then after cooling,the 5mm LED's were then hot glued on to the frame at the appropriate level.The whole assembly was then placed inside the engine compartment and hot glued to the model.I then cut out a piece of aluminum foil,trimmed it to the approximate shape of the Turbo Thruster Nozzles,and then the foil was pressed over the 5 MM LED's and tucked into place around the inside of the model.This acts as a light reflctor and light shield.I then wired all of the lights to a Radio Shack Size M Female Coaxial Coax DC Power Jack 5.5X2.1mm,part number 274-1563,which was then glued to the hull using epoxy.Nothing fancy,but soo far,soo good.
When painting it I used the following Testors and Tamiya paints:
I used Testors Flat black for the inside of the model to mask light bleed in the areas where the LED's were installed.This is essential to prevent light-bleed through the plastic hull.I also used Flat black for the stand,and the pilots seat and control stick,which I cut out of the pilot figures' hand and formed to look correct.The pilot figure was then discarded as it interfered with the bottom lights in the cockpit.
Testors Model Masters Acryl Dark Gray was used for the Turbo Thruster Nozzles,Forward Atmospheric Scoop,and engines.
I used Testors Model Masters Light Gray for the cockpit.
The model was painted an overall Testors Model Masters Acryl Aircraft Gray,which I liked better than just the plain Gray that was reccomended on the instruction sheet.
The insides of the Turbo Thruster Nozles was painted Testors Model Masters Acryl Silver as were the Gaseous Matter Intakes.Jet Exhust was reccomended for the insides of the Turbo Nozzles and steel was reccomended for the Gaseous Matter Intakes,but I decided to use silver as it works just fine as a replacement for steel and I like silver for the exhaust on all of the jets I have built over the years,so silver it was.
The Laser Cannons were painted a combination of Testors Flat Brass and Testors Model Masters Acryl Gun Metal,instead of the reccomended steel.The Gun Metal-Flat Brass combination looks really cool on the Viper and it adds a little more detail and realism to the model.
Finally,I painted the inside of the clear plastic Nozzle Inserts a nice Tamiya Clear Blue X-23,which gives the Turbos a nice pretty blue color when the model is lit up.
The final thing that I did was to modify the included stand to accept a Radio Shack Size M Male Coaxial Coax DC Power Plug 5.5 x 2.1mm,part number 274-1569,which was epoxied into place on the display stand after I drilled out a small hole in the display stand hole ,and then a pair of red and black 22ga wires were ran into and out through the hole that I drilled in it.The display stand was then screwed to the top of a small wooden jewlery box that I bought at a local Thrift Store for about a buck,and the wires were then ran through a hole drilled in the top of the jewlrey box.For a power source,I used an old 2 c-battery box that I found laying around the house.A toggle switch was also installed in the top of the jewlrey box to act as an on-off switch and viola! It's finally done.It does make a very nice display,especially with the lights on.I kept the lighting as simple as possible on this model as it is a simple kit and I saw no need to go fancy with circuit boards or resistors.Keep it simple,and you'll get some pretty amazing results if you decide to light your model like I did.

I personally like this older starfighter design better than the new version. I also like it better than the X-Wing, and that's saying something. It was nice to have the opportunity to build it again with better modelling skills and a better kit. The old version of this kit had some problems, and this retooling does away with most of those. Most of the gaps in the fuselage left in the old kit are now gone, and there are now clear pieces for lighting effects, as well! Only a few of the old problems still exist, for instance I wish the pilot figure was a bit less stiffly posed and better detailed, and the cockpit could use a lot more detail in my opinion, but overall, this kit is a LOT of fun to build (the model is simple enough to build that you can just kind of lean back and enjoy detailing and weathering it, cheap enough that you're not worried sick over whether you might make some critical mistake a ruin an expensive kit, and is easy to make look great on the display stand; in short, perfect to have a good time with).

I built this scale model as a kit when the show was "new". A lot of fun doing it again... this time I did it right!