Thunder Fighter: MK-III ADVANCE (1:50 scale)

[Rhaven Blaack]

I decided to try my hand to making this version of the Thunder Fighter in 1:50 scale. This version is a fan-based design that @Revell-Fan and I came up with The wings and canards are from the X-29. The vertical stabilizers from the HBB version of the Thunder Fighter that have been redesigned, slightly.



Starting with the cockpit interior, here are the seats. I raised the buckle hardware.




Here is the cockpit tub. I raised the control panels.






I recessed the control screen on this joystick mount.


The rear seat is in.


The front seat is in.


The rear control panel is in place. I recessed the view screens and raised the controls and gauges.


The cockpit interior is done (for now).




There is more to come! So please say tune to your local Earth Directorate broadcasting channels for more updates.

 

[Revell-Fan]

This is so precise that it is incredible! Especially when you consider the size. It looks like a machined part. :Bravo:

 

[Rhaven Blaack]

This is so precise that it is incredible! Especially when you consider the size. It looks like a machined part. :Bravo:

Thank you very much!

 

[mijob]

Wow this is looking amazing good!!!!!!

 

[zathros]

That cockpit assembly is excellent!!

 

[micahrogers]

not my favorite Thunderfighter, but Looks Damn good. Great Start.

 

[Awry_Chaos]

Looking awesome so far! This is going to be a fun build to watch. Thank you for sharing!

 

[Awry_Chaos]

I decided to try my hand to making this version of the Thunder Fighter in 1:50 scale. This version is a fan-based design that @Revell-Fan and I came up with The wings and canards are from the X-29. The vertical stabilizers from the HBB version of the Thunder Fighter that have been redesigned, slightly.

View attachment 191211

Starting with the cockpit interior, here are the seats. I raised the buckle hardware.
View attachment 191212

View attachment 191213

Here is the cockpit tub. I raised the control panels.
View attachment 191216

View attachment 191217

View attachment 191218

I recessed the control screen on this joystick mount.
View attachment 191219

The rear seat is in.
View attachment 191220

The front seat is in.
View attachment 191221

The rear control panel is in place. I recessed the view screens and raised the controls and gauges.
View attachment 191222

The cockpit interior is done (for now).
View attachment 191223

View attachment 191224

There is more to come! So please say tune to your local Earth Directorate broadcasting channels for more updates.

Excellent detailing!

 

[spaceagent-9]

That really looks great!

 

[Rhaven Blaack]

Thank you one and all for the kind words and encouragement!

 

[Rhaven Blaack]

not my favorite Thunderfighter, but Looks Damn good. Great Start.

OK, you have peaked my curiosity. Which one is your favorite?

 

[micahrogers]

OK, you have peaked my curiosity. Which one is your favorite?

I am just a plain Jane season one Thunderfighter, that ship is a beauty. I'll never understand why they redesigned the viper, when they had this design first.

 

[Revell-Fan]

I'll never understand why they redesigned the viper, when they had this design first.

Erh, well, the Thunderfighter would have never been able to swoosh through a triangular launch tube..!
:Grin::Grin::Grin:

 

[Awry_Chaos]

I am just a plain Jane season one Thunderfighter, that ship is a beauty. I'll never understand why they redesigned the viper, when they had this design first.

I think it had to do with more keeping the designs and identities of the shows separate. @Rhaven Blaack probably can give you a much better and detailed answer on that one. Both the Colonial Viper and Thunder Fighter were designed by Ralph McQuarrie of Star Wars fame. And John Dykstra was the person behind the SFX for BattlestarGalactica, also of Star Wars fame.

 

[Rhaven Blaack]

I am just a plain Jane season one Thunderfighter, that ship is a beauty. I'll never understand why they redesigned the viper, when they had this design first.

I wholeheartedly agree with you! The original Thunder Fighter is a very beautiful plane. It would have been interesting to have seen the TF as the Viper. Interesting note. In the script for the pilot episode "Saga of a Star World", Apollo offers to take Adama down to Caprica in his Viper. Now, that line was written when the design of the TF was still being considered, and before the current Viper was finalized. So, now people who watch the original show ask; "Since the Viper is a single seat plane, where did Adama sit when they went to Caprica"?

As for the design of this particular TF that I am working on now. I have always liked the forward swept wing configuration of the X-29. So, when I had discovered the original paper model template for the TF, I decided to have some fun and see just what the TF would look like with that kind of wing configuration. The after I started working with @Revell-Fan in making the other canon variants of the TF (i.e. HBB and the QUAD, as well as the cockpit interiors and landing gear), he offered to help me bring this version to life.

 

[Awry_Chaos]

I wholeheartedly agree with you! The original Thunder Fighter is a very beautiful plane. It would have been interesting to have seen the TF as the Viper. Interesting note. In the script for the pilot episode "Saga of a Star World", Apollo offers to take Adama down to Caprica in his Viper. Now, that line was written when the design of the TF was still being considered, and before the current Viper was finalized. So, now people who watch the original show ask; "Since the Viper is a single seat plane, where did Adama sit when they went to Caprica"?

As for the design of this particular TF that I am working on now. I have always liked the forward swept wing configuration of the X-29. So, when I had discovered the original paper model template for the TF, I decided to have some fun and see just what the TF would look like with that kind of wing configuration. The after I started working with @Revell-Fan in making the other canon variants of the TF (i.e. HBB and the QUAD, as well as the cockpit interiors and landing gear), he offered to help me bring this version to life.

Maybe there could be a 2-seat Colonial viper we didn't get to see in the series. A two-seater would make sense from a military standpoint. You have the pilot and a systems operator to go along with him.

 

[Rhaven Blaack]

Maybe there could be a 2-seat Colonial viper we didn't get to see in the series. A two-seater would make sense from a military standpoint. You have the pilot and a systems operator to go along with him.

Actually, there is a two seat Viper. It was featured in Galactica 1980.


@Revell-Fan has plans to make a model of this version as well.

 

[Awry_Chaos]

Actually, there is a two seat Viper. It was featured in Galactica 1980.
View attachment 191248

@Revell-Fan has plans to make a model of this version as well.

Sweet! I can't wait! We need to figure out a way so @Revell-Fan can be a full-time modeler.

 

[Revell-Fan]

"Since the Viper is a single seat plane, where did Adama sit when they went to Caprica"?

That is something I have always been wondering myself. Even when I was little I just couldn't see where Adama would have fit inside UNLESS he was sitting on Apollo's lap or hidden behind his seat like some sort of cargo, pretty much crouched together. I chose to believe the latter and it would be very interesting to see a cross-section showing that option. Maybe he was hidden inside a "trunk" that was always be there to store a space suit or emergency rations straight below the canopy piston. He surely would have had a difficult time stretching his legs out and breathing properly. "Galactica 1980" offered another possibility (aside from the second seat): A storage room between the engines. But then, where would all the drive tech be if not exactly in that space?

We need to figure out a way so @Revell-Fan can be a full-time modeler.

We need to put up a pipeline. I'm pretty fast with SketchUp, so the modeling and unfolding is mine. Then we'll need someone making the texture, another one for test-building (Rhaven) and then one for making the instructions. I have so many things on my list keeping us occupied for several years.

 

[Rhaven Blaack]

That is something I have always been wondering myself. Even when I was little I just couldn't see where Adama would have fit inside UNLESS he was sitting on Apollo's lap or hidden behind his seat like some sort of cargo, pretty much crouched together. I chose to believe the latter and it would be very interesting to see a cross-section showing that option. Maybe he was hidden inside a "trunk" that was always be there to store a space suit or emergency rations straight below the canopy piston. He surely would have had a difficult time stretching his legs out and breathing properly. "Galactica 1980" offered another possibility: A storage room between the engines. But then, where would all the drive tech be if not exactly in that space?

I have to say that I thought of the very same thing, when I first saw that. My mum and I talked about it for hours. We came to the same conclusion.