As most of us know, the latest re-imagined version of Galactica has been a huge success not only with fans but has achieved critical acclaim too. Although the writing is nowhere near the same and it certainly reflects the time it was made, I’m still fond of the original show. The miniatures were some of the best on TV and the Viper is no exception.

Here we have the newest kit of the Galactica’s main line of defense. Originally released during the run of the show, the Monogram kit lacked detail, had no visible cockpit and no decals were included for the underside. This latest version makes up for a lot of these deficiencies. The kit not only sports a visible cockpit and pilot but also enhanced detail to the engines along with all those missing underside decals too. The engines in particular have new exhaust ports and redefined lines.

The model is a straight forward build and I found no real difficulties. It pieces together well and takes little time to put together. You can tell that the model is set up for lighting and since I wasn’t doing that I left out the clear circular pieces that are supposed to go over each exhaust port. Just didn’t think they looked right to me but I certainly could see how they would help if you lighted the engines. I detailed and weathered my model with black pastels. The hull is painted with Testors light gray and I used metalizer magnesium for the engines, side details and laser turrets. Overall this makes a very nice model to display and is a decent replica of the ship. No doubt a much better version than the original release. Definitely worth getting one.

Orlando Guiang