Battlestar Galactica Stellar "Scarab" Probe (concept Viper)

Revell-Fan

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Hi, fans!

A few days ago our dear admin Rhaven Blaack sent me a link to a picture with some unused concepts of the Viper fighter from the classic "Battlestar Galactica". Apparently these sketches were drawn by Andrew Probert (please correct me if I am wrong ;)). Andy is well-known for the creation of the Cylon costumes and several fleet ships (including the Triangle ship which is on my todo list) and was involved in designing the Refit Enterprise from TMP and the Enterprise D and the Ferengi Marauder from TNG.

The picture (which you may see here: http://www.byyourcommand.net/cylongallery/displayimage.php?pid=4005 ) shows four different types of planes which were not used in the show but which may have been early concept sketches of the Colonial Viper.

Whilst three of these designs feature familiar shapes one of them proves to be a rather unusual and therefore interesting kind of ship. I'm referring to the first in the row in the upper left corner. It is a twin-pod craft apparently designed for speed but without any visible weapons. RB and I were speculating about the qualities of such a plane which could range from a training vessel to a scout or a long-range reconnaissance ship, similar to the X-15 or the SR-71 Blackbird.

The vessel features some familiar shapes such as an X-Wing-style cockpit, Colonial Viper wings and markings, the twin pod configuration of the Cloud Cars from "The Empire Strikes Back" and the center intakes of the B-Wing from "Return of the Jedi".

As far as we know this ship has never been built before. So I have decided to tackle it.

Here is the first sketch of the sketch (;); still "naked" :)).

i15973b019bc.jpg


I hope you like it!

Since it has no official name and it resembles the vintage BSG Mattel toys "Stellar Probe" and "Scarab" we called it the "X-15A Stellar "Scarab" Probe" based on a concept by Andrew Probert.

And stand by for a special twist in this design which certainly will be fun! ;)
 
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Revell-Fan

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Thank you all!

RB suggested to change the look of the thrusters a bit to make them look like the ones of an F-19.

ScarabProbe4.jpg

They do look better now.

ScarabProbe5.jpg

I thought the easiest way for this concept would be a landing gear without moving flaps which simply goes up and down. I took the landing struts from the Millennium Falcon as a basis to keep the continuity.

BTW, does anybody (RB excepted ;)) guess which "twist" (or better: special feature) I have in mind?

(A small hint: take a CLOSE look at the cockpit area..! ;))
 
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zathros

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Those are really interesting. It almost seems as the one without the cockpits could be a drone, maybe controlled by the one with the cockpits. Really cool! You going to make these? :)
 

bgt01

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This is great.:D I love to see concept art come to life for these classic shows.

Could the "twist" be the cockpits disengage to become one-man ships?
 

Revell-Fan

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BINGO! :):):)

ScarabProbe7.jpg

The command pods serve as life boats in case of an emergency AND can be attached to different engine vehicles which gives the whole project another dimension. In addition, they can be displayed on their own as some kind of "workbee". I have given them Thunderfighter-style thrusters:

ScarabProbe8.jpg

A notch in the fuselage ensures that the command pod is held in place in its correct position (just imagine it would be rotating :eek:!):

ScarabProbe9.jpg

The thing is really designed for speed, not for combat. When displayed on its landing struts the Scarab looks a bit like an Eagle transporter, doesn't it? ;)

ScarabProbe6.jpg

@zathros: Actually, the one without the cockpit is the one with the cockpit before I deleted the areas where the windows are located. :D But now that you mention it..! ;)

@bgt01: I'm considering to make the concept in the bottom left corner as well (I call it the "Mandalorian" Viper or "Boba Fett" Viper because the cockpit windows looks a bit like the visor of Boba's helmet ;)).
 
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Rhaven Blaack

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The new exhausts look BETTER!!!
I like the TF style exhaust on the pods and the fact that there is a security measure to keep the pod in place in the main body of the plane.
 

zathros

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Make one with a "Custom" pod, with windows and side curtains, kind of a "limousine" space ship! :)
 

Revell-Fan

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Ahh, a "Limo Viper" for the party people! ;):);)

Well, now it was time for me to find out how big the vessel is going to be. For that reason I imported a body shot of an "ordinary person" (;)!) in SketchUp. The image was cropped and rescaled so that the figure fit in a 1:32 scale (I estimated the heigth of the ordinary person to be about 1.77 m resulting in a picture of 5.5 cm heigth).

ScarabProbe10.jpg

Then the picture was bent at some strategic points to allow the pilot to take a seat inside the cockpit.

ScarabProbe11.jpg

Then I placed the picture inside the cockpit and rescaled the ship to make it fit. The next pictures show the result. You clearly see that the cockpit is neither too small nor too big now.

ScarabProbe12.jpg
ScarabProbe13.jpg

After all these edits I can tell you that the final model will be VERY big. In 1:32 scale it will be about 54 cm long (meaning about 36 cm in 1:48 scale).
 
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Rhaven Blaack

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I REALLY LIKE the look of this and how it is turning out.
54 cm is still rather LARGE though!!!:eek::eek::eek:
That is OK, I am still going to build it!!!:D
 

bgt01

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That thing is going to be really cool. I like it a lot. On the other concept, I do see the "Boba Fett" look. But to me, it looks kind of hawk-like. Like it could be something Buck Rogers and Hawk built out of parts from both their ships. I'm sure there was a lot of downtime on the Searcher for them to tinker.;)
 

oriod01

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Looking cool... Although I find myself asking, what is the practical purpose or need for two cockpits to fly one bird? Is one a gunner cockpit?
 

oriod01

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Revell-Fan gotta give you props and lots of admiration for all the love you are giving BSG! Now if someone as skilled as yourself could show as much love for the Cylons as you show for the Colonials, lol. Really would love to see the War Era Raider from Razor and Ralph McQuarrie's Concept Raider. My wishes would then all come true, lol.
 

Rhaven Blaack

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Looking cool... Although I find myself asking, what is the practical purpose or need for two cockpits to fly one bird? Is one a gunner cockpit?

In many respects, it can be likened to the North American F-82 Twin Mustang. Not only that, but it can be used for training, transport of large or oddly shaped items, as well as a myriad of other uses. The cool thing is that it is SCI-FI. Your imagination is your own limitation.
 

Revell-Fan

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Now if someone as skilled as yourself could show as much love for the Cylons as you show for the Colonials, lol. Really would love to see the War Era Raider from Razor and Ralph McQuarrie's Concept Raider.

First of all, thank you very much for your kind comments. And yes, (> BIG SURPRISE! :D <) it is true, I LOVE BSG (and Buck ;)).

Well, I too would love to see the Cylon team available, including a life-size U-87 and a Warrior Centurion from Razor. However, these curves are a real nightmare for me (just guess why the Turbobike is still on hold - that frakkin' fork does not want to bend the way I want it to do!:confused:). Maybe I'll try doing them later but I would be very glad to see someone tackling them (Razor Raider in 1:32 scale, please :cool:).

As for the RMQ Raider, there MIGHT be a chance that I'll ad it to my "RMQ commemorative edition", so-to-speak :) I've already started on the RMQ Viper which was used as Thunderfighter on Buck (see this thread for more info: http://www.zealot.com/threads/buck-rogers-thunderfighter-mods.169684/ ) and having a Cylon adversary standing next to it would be an awesome idea. You mean this one, right?

ralph-mcquarrie-07.jpg

http://www.galactica.tv/images/stories/gallery/rmcq-sketch/ralph-mcquarrie-07.jpg

The Mothership from "Close Encounters" and E.T.'s ship is on my todo list, too, so there would be enough material to justify such a line.
 

oriod01

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As for the RMQ Raider, there MIGHT be a chance that I'll ad it to my "RMQ commemorative edition", so-to-speak :) I've already started on the RMQ Viper which was used as Thunderfighter on Buck (see this thread for more info: http://www.zealot.com/threads/buck-rogers-thunderfighter-mods.169684/ ) and having a Cylon adversary standing next to it would be an awesome idea. You mean this one, right?

http://www.galactica.tv/images/stories/gallery/rmcq-sketch/ralph-mcquarrie-07.jpg

I do mean that one, and if you or anyone else capable wishes to tackle either version (McQuarrie or Razor) Raider, I have exhaustive reference photos of ones made by resin/plastic modelers over at modelermagic.com. The pics of the concept Raider even include pics of the internal ribbing and lighting configuration.

Sorry don't mean to distract you from the great stuff you are already busy with.

CRfinal-01.JPG
 

Revell-Fan

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No need to apologize, mate! ;) I really appreciate your input and your help. I think I have the same pics but I will PM you when I am about to tackle it. Call that Concept Raider "done" since its shape is very simple; all I need is some more time to make it. :(

The Razor Raider is a bit more challenging because of these curves. I think it is doable but I need some hi-res straight-on parallel views of all sides (side, top, bottom, front and back). The best starting point would be some hi-res renders of the original CG model, evenly-lit without too many shadows so that the texture can be projected onto the model. I guess I know who has it and will ask him for help. Maybe (and only maybe) he likes what we are doing and supports the project. :rolleyes:
 
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