"A Battlestar's Quest" aka "Raiders of the Lost Crest"
- Thread starter Revell-Fan
- Start date
Don't worry, I'll be working on "the other projects", too. I'm recovering from a very nasty cold and since my nose and throat are still affected I stay away from glue, so I am concentrating on CG work. 
When I started this project I made some research and found out some very interesting things.
It is clear that the crests are Battlestar specific and undoubtedly tell which Battlestar a pilot has been assigned to. Originally this was supposed to be featured in the show. The Galactica had an eagle, the Pegasus a pegasus / winged horse, the Atlantia (?) a snake (as in "VIPER"! ), the Triton a trident, the Cerberus a three-headed dog, the Prometheus a burning torch and the Solaria a sun. The sun, the snake, the pegasus, the eagle, a falcon, a heron and a phoenix have been sculpted by the prop department but due to budgetal and time restraints the idea of showing so many different crests was skipped. There are some nice pics featuring Steve Gawley presenting the helmets and the different crests which I use for reference.
Only the eagle, the pegasus and the sun were used on the show. You can spot the sun on Starbuck's helmet in the episode "The Long Patrol".
The falcon was saved from a trash bin. A member of TheRPF made a very nice replica according to a picture taken by the one who saved the crest. It looks like a first draft of the eagle.
The burning torch, the trident and the cerberus never made it passed the drawing board, however, if you look closely you will spot the trident on the collar pins of the Pegasus crew. In fact, that does not make much sense. You would expect something like a horse shoe but nothing related to the deep sea. There is a similar case of "switched" pins in case of the Galactica pilots. The Galactica pilots are wearing the collar pins which originally had been chosen for the Atlantia. You might say, OK, this was also due to time and budget, however, there could be another, rather intreaguing explanation which might have influenced the latter Ron D. Moore show. It could be the case that several battleships formed a convoy, a battle group or better: a "Battle Star Group" with one leading battlestar. The pins of the crew of of the leading battlestar were used for the whole group for identification. Does "Battle Star Group" sound familiar to you? Of course! This is what "BSGxx" means in the big wall plaques featured in the new show! According to these plates the Galactica belonged to "Battle Star Group 75" ("BSG75") and the Pegasus was part of the "Battle Star Group 42" ("BSG42"). So that theory may be sound. (OK, you could also say, there was no time and they only had these two different pins available at that time, but that's up to you .)
Alright, and now we come to the most interesting aspect of this project: Since each battlestar had its own crest and since only ten are known (and canon), how many other crests have to be made and how do they look like? Well, I guess the answer to this question is tied to the answer to another question: How many battlestars were in the fleet?
I always found it hard to believe that one battlestar alone was able to defend a whole planet. There must have been more equipment in the Colonial military to ensure an effective defense against the Cylon forces. So the number of warships in the fleet must have been higher than 12. MUCH higher. My research finally led to these articles:
http://members.tripod.com/john_larocque/tns/batlstar.html
http://www.kobol.com/archives/names.html
http://www.oocities.org/sjpaxton/battlest.html
They opened my eyes and it is true: In the classic BSG it was never mentioned that there were only 12 battlestars. Only the Ron D. Moore series states in the pilot movie that there were 12 at the beginning of the war. (Actually this makes sense considering that the Colonial defense fleet was yet to be formed when the Cylons turned against their masters. After a short period of time the humans quickly began building more battlestars such as the Pegasus which was much younger than the Galactica.) So there is no definite number of battlestars and crests which opens fantastic possibilities.
When I started this project I made some research and found out some very interesting things.
It is clear that the crests are Battlestar specific and undoubtedly tell which Battlestar a pilot has been assigned to. Originally this was supposed to be featured in the show. The Galactica had an eagle, the Pegasus a pegasus / winged horse, the Atlantia (?) a snake (as in "VIPER"!
), the Triton a trident, the Cerberus a three-headed dog, the Prometheus a burning torch and the Solaria a sun. The sun, the snake, the pegasus, the eagle, a falcon, a heron and a phoenix have been sculpted by the prop department but due to budgetal and time restraints the idea of showing so many different crests was skipped. There are some nice pics featuring Steve Gawley presenting the helmets and the different crests which I use for reference.Only the eagle, the pegasus and the sun were used on the show. You can spot the sun on Starbuck's helmet in the episode "The Long Patrol".
The falcon was saved from a trash bin. A member of TheRPF made a very nice replica according to a picture taken by the one who saved the crest. It looks like a first draft of the eagle.
The burning torch, the trident and the cerberus never made it passed the drawing board, however, if you look closely you will spot the trident on the collar pins of the Pegasus crew. In fact, that does not make much sense. You would expect something like a horse shoe but nothing related to the deep sea. There is a similar case of "switched" pins in case of the Galactica pilots. The Galactica pilots are wearing the collar pins which originally had been chosen for the Atlantia. You might say, OK, this was also due to time and budget, however, there could be another, rather intreaguing explanation which might have influenced the latter Ron D. Moore show. It could be the case that several battleships formed a convoy, a battle group or better: a "Battle Star Group" with one leading battlestar. The pins of the crew of of the leading battlestar were used for the whole group for identification. Does "Battle Star Group" sound familiar to you? Of course! This is what "BSGxx" means in the big wall plaques featured in the new show! According to these plates the Galactica belonged to "Battle Star Group 75" ("BSG75") and the Pegasus was part of the "Battle Star Group 42" ("BSG42"). So that theory may be sound. (OK, you could also say, there was no time and they only had these two different pins available at that time, but that's up to you
.)Alright, and now we come to the most interesting aspect of this project: Since each battlestar had its own crest and since only ten are known (and canon), how many other crests have to be made and how do they look like? Well, I guess the answer to this question is tied to the answer to another question: How many battlestars were in the fleet?
I always found it hard to believe that one battlestar alone was able to defend a whole planet. There must have been more equipment in the Colonial military to ensure an effective defense against the Cylon forces. So the number of warships in the fleet must have been higher than 12. MUCH higher. My research finally led to these articles:
http://members.tripod.com/john_larocque/tns/batlstar.html
http://www.kobol.com/archives/names.html
http://www.oocities.org/sjpaxton/battlest.html
They opened my eyes and it is true: In the classic BSG it was never mentioned that there were only 12 battlestars. Only the Ron D. Moore series states in the pilot movie that there were 12 at the beginning of the war. (Actually this makes sense considering that the Colonial defense fleet was yet to be formed when the Cylons turned against their masters. After a short period of time the humans quickly began building more battlestars such as the Pegasus which was much younger than the Galactica.) So there is no definite number of battlestars and crests which opens fantastic possibilities.
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@Revell I have always associated the Battlestar to an American Battleship (in the way that it is used in war and on patrol).
The battleship has (or I should say had) a number of different escort and support crafts (i.e. frigates, destroyers, missile carriers, submarines, and other such vessels). That would be called a Battleship Battle Group.
So with that being said, I would venture to say that a Battlestar would have the same kind of compliment of ships as well. I think that that would make up a Battlestar Group. Which leads me to think that what you are referring to are different fleets, where there would a number of battle groups (or in this case battlestar groups) in one fleet. Which a particular Battlestar could be the flagship for that particular fleet.
The battleship has (or I should say had) a number of different escort and support crafts (i.e. frigates, destroyers, missile carriers, submarines, and other such vessels). That would be called a Battleship Battle Group.
So with that being said, I would venture to say that a Battlestar would have the same kind of compliment of ships as well. I think that that would make up a Battlestar Group. Which leads me to think that what you are referring to are different fleets, where there would a number of battle groups (or in this case battlestar groups) in one fleet. Which a particular Battlestar could be the flagship for that particular fleet.
Yes, that makes sense. I once heard that the designation "Battlestar" was no invention by Glen Larson. During WWII it was a term used for victorious battle ships which went into huge battles, managed to complete their mission successfully and returned safely to their home base. The victorious ship was the star of the battle, or in short: a Battlestar. We might get back to that topic again when I am making the big Galactica.
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So awesome! I always thought the helmet, with it's Egyptian styling, was the coolest, and to be able to have one we can make ourselves is even cooler! Thanks RF!
Actually, this is "only" a "by-product" of Tirick's figures repaints..!
Two of my own designs will feature a winged scarab and a jackal, BTW, to be faithful to the Egyptian scheme.
I was just thinking, as I was reading the thread, that it is odd that the Egyptian themes gave way to the Greco-Roman pantheon. Hell, that being what happened, what about a Thor or Loki crest?
Good observation. The designers tried to incorporate various sources and delved deeply into Earth's mythology to create these themes which were supposed to look familiar and other-worldly at the same time and which might look somewhat familar and interesting when combined in order to establish a virtual connection to the lost 13th colony. The Greek mythology was present (togas; trident pins, no matter if their use was intended or not; names such as Solon and Prometheus) but it dwarfed in comparison to the Egyptian themes, especially when you see the adventures on Kobol.
I think Northern mythology was left out because it was not old / ancient enough and its achievements were not as spectacular as those of the Egyptian society. Its immense technical and cultural know-how and the fact that it was the first high (tech) culture of mankind surely made it a perfect ground for the show's premise and strongly grabbed the interest of the audience. That in combination with the famous "God is an astronaut" theory by Erich von Däniken made everything even more exciting, so that it did not only appeal to SciFi fans but also to "those who believe"...
Interestingly the Ron D. Moore show relied more on Greek motifs and discarded all Egyptian elements, obviously to create a completely different look.
I think Northern mythology was left out because it was not old / ancient enough and its achievements were not as spectacular as those of the Egyptian society. Its immense technical and cultural know-how and the fact that it was the first high (tech) culture of mankind surely made it a perfect ground for the show's premise and strongly grabbed the interest of the audience. That in combination with the famous "God is an astronaut" theory by Erich von Däniken made everything even more exciting, so that it did not only appeal to SciFi fans but also to "those who believe"...
Interestingly the Ron D. Moore show relied more on Greek motifs and discarded all Egyptian elements, obviously to create a completely different look.
I think that if Richard Hatch or Tom DeSanto would have done their versions of BSG, there may have been more of the myths and legends that were in the original series.
I knew that the themes were more from the classical Mediterranean world, but I was just, well, being me.
There is no doubt about it. It is a pity that there has never been a continuation of the old show starring the original actors in their original roles. Tom DeSanto's script featured some very interesting scenes and premises. Especially the final scene would have been a real punch in the stomach: The crew believes that Apollo was killed in action but instead he was captured by the Cylons. They take him to the Cylon capitol and turn him into a cyborg... BTW, some of the pre-production art was later used on "Stargate: Universe":
Galactica bridge concept sketch:
source: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kyLgmtORt...oWElrA/s1600/desanto-prod-bridge-concept0.jpg
Destiny bridge set:
source: http://wormholeriders.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Pic1_Bridge.jpg
And the DeSanto Viper is part of the Advanced Viper Development project here on zealot.
I know!
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It is very sad that DeSanto did not go forward with his version of BSG. I think that it would have been a very interest (and successful) show.
I am looking forward to the DeSanto Viper!!!:nailbiting::nailbiting::nailbiting:
I am looking forward to the DeSanto Viper!!!:nailbiting::nailbiting::nailbiting:
Just for those who did not know: Richard Hatch wrote 5 books - continuing the classic series.
http://richardhatch.com/books/index.htm
Those would have been interesting to see in movie (or series) format.
Richard Hatch also attempted to make a series titled "Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming"
I have cleaned up the main model and cut out the opening in the bottom. So far it looks good to me. Next will be the recesses at the chin.
