Moebius Models' 1/4105 Battlestar Galactica Build Review

by Steve Causey

Build Review

I've been building model kits since I was 4 (Dad and Mom would help with tricky parts and some painting until my skills increased). The reason I'm saying this is that I've never built a model with a Lego- like fit until I build the Moebius Battlestar Galactica. The parts click together with an almost seamless fit. It's not a snap kit, but the positive way the parts lock together will remind you of one. However, I've never seen a snap kit with parts that fit like these do.

The kit comes in a sturdy box with pictures of the kit and the TV show on all sides. It's molded in white styrene (89 parts) with 1 clear plastic piece for the engines. A big decal sheet is also included. The parts are deeply molded with lots of detail; I found no evidence of sink marks or warping on any part anywhere. Any mold release pin depressions are hidden after assembly. The kit can easily be lighted, but only the engines would be light able without scratch building.

I started assembly by washing all the parts in purple power and then dish soap. The parts are molded to the sprues so that removing them without damage is very easy, a few swipes with a sanding stick is all that I needed to clean them up (you will need to make sure all part surfaces are clean of any burrs, the fit of the parts will demand it).

Your efforts in clean up and careful pre fitting will be rewarded by a precise seamless fit. The parts fit so tightly in most cases that you might have a little trouble removing them once you have tested the fit, some gentle prying with a dull blade will pop them back off with no damage so glue can be applied.

You will need to pay careful attention to part numbers and orientation of the individual parts. The kit's hull is constructed of dozens of inter-layered parts to give a very high level of detail. Moebius has come a long way in the instruction department since their early kits, and this set of instructions are a big help in getting the many hull pieces into place. I noticed four small errors in part installation, part #s 49 & 50 are reversed as well as parts # 89 &88) they only fit one way, so it's pretty easy to notice how they go together.

As I was building the kit I was impressed by the 'heft' of many of the large parts, they feel very solid and sturdy. One part that is a bit less than sturdy is the stand; the Galactica when assembled measures 17.5 inches in length, while the stand is a disk 2.5 inches in diameter. I added a bunch of sling shot BBs inside my stand to try and lower the kit's center of gravity. The model weighs almost a pound when completed so I thought a little weight in the base would be a good idea.

Although highly detailed on the outside, the ships two launching/hanger bays are hollow with no internal detail. Two small matte like pictures are printed on the box so the builder can place them inside the landing area of the bays to simulate detail.

I pre-painted some of the smaller detail parts but I mostly built the kit as per instructions before painting. The instructions offer a painting method that I tried on this kit so readers can judge for themselves its effectiveness. They suggest you paint the entire model in a dark gray overall first, then a coat of white is misted all over the ship, trying to keep recesses somewhat darker than the raised portions of the hull. I like the way it turned out!

The decals are the best I've seen in any Moebius kit, precise register and they respond to Micro Sol. The fit of the decals is very accurate, and the builder will need to be patient and take his time in applying them (I spent 2 days). After decals were applied I shot the model with Amory Clear matte sealer to tone down the decals' high gloss.

If you want an excellent kit of the TOS Galactica, and would like a bit of modeling 'vacation' (due to the almost perfect fit and ease of assembly) this is a great kit. It's light years ahead of the old Revell Galactica, and fits better than ANY science fiction kit I've ever built, heck it fits better than any kit I've built before. I had a lot of fun building this and I highly recommend it to any modeler with a few kits under their belts.

My sincere thanks to Moebius Models for this review sample!