If you have a Moebius 1/32 Studio Scale in your stash waiting to be started, or are about to get one at your local hobby shop or on-line retailer, you might want to take a look at this photo etch cockpit louvers set from Paragrafix. Although the 1/32 Cylon Raider is the best injection molded kit of this classic ship not to mention and steal for the price (compared to garage resin kits offered over the years), the truth is that the studio props never had louvers like this. But the close up scenes of the Cylon Raider’s cockpit set actually did show these louvers (see the pictures below).
The Moebius Cylon Raider model as the original studio miniature did inherited the solid louver (so did the Revell Cylon Raider. The folks over at Paragrafix came up with this wonderful photo etch set to mimic the full studio set louvers. The instructions are quite pictorial and explained in a way that a 5 years old could understand the steps by steps (see the instructions in PDF here). However there is some surgery to do on the upper hull of your model kit and plenty of photo etch bending will be required.
It is a delicate job, but I know that someone that previous photo etch experience can have this conversion done. Unlike other photo etch projects, the parts here are rather large to work with. BUT, once they are bent, the would become flimsy so play your Enya or favorite relaxing music CD while working with this set.
If you have no plans on adding a resin cockpit, obviously you will have a hollow fuselage showing thru the louvers. Paragrafix took care of that with a sheet of frosted styrene to glaze the windows. A paper template to cut the 3 parts that comprise this step is provided with the kit eliminating some guess work.
Templates on the photo etch fret for the Cylon Insignia are also provided to paint it on with your airbrush. This model kit is about to get on our work bench soon. We are expecting yet another AM accessory to complement it. If you’d like to see the Moebius Cylon Raider model kit finished, we recommend you to follow us via our RSS Feed or follow us on Facebook.
MSRP: $39.99 which in all honesty will give your Moebius 1/32 Cylon Rider a whole new realistic look.
Cylon Raider Cockpit set photos
UPDATE 2/19/2015
We don’t normally follow up entries unless they are WIP’s (work in progress). But since this is a project involving some great after market providers in the Sci-Fi model building industry plus the fact that this is an ongoing project, we have nothing to loose to spare a few minutes and go into more detail.
The pictures below show the unpainted Paragrafix photo etched louvers after being installed on part #10 from the Moebius Cylon Raider model kit. You will start your installation with the mount base plate (PE part #11). Both parts: number 10 from the kit and the mount base PE plate were sanded prior to be mounted with wet/dry #400 sandpaper to ensure the best possible bond. It does pay dividends sanding them. I applied a thin bead of CA (Crazy Glue) to the mounting plate. DO NOT USE too much CA glue during this step. Glue will come out thru the louver’s mounting ‘slots’ and you don’t want to have dried glue around the slots. Clean and free of glue slots will result on a easier louver installation experience.
The louvers have been designed in the right thickness. The whole louver installation took me some 2 hours from which some 30 minutes went into the louvers ‘cover’ part #13. Look at the close-up picture below to get an idea of the folding degree it will require. I started folding them from the bottom up. Go in small increments, take your time here.
Last was the slats over the louvers. Even though these slats are provided on the PE set, they are a bit thin in proportion to the entire louver assembly. Feel free to use them but even Paragrafix recommends Square Plastic rods Plastruct item #907000 or Evergreen #6-375 for more accuracy. To avoid another trip to my local hobby shop, I did cut these slats from .30 styrene card I had handy.
Below you can see a picture depicting the difference between the Photo Etch set from Paragrafix vs the stock part for the Moebius kit. Remarkable difference in my honest opinion. You can also see the model with a coat of black primer waiting for an after market cockpit. Lights have already been installed. Stay tuned for the finished model.
Correction,
Paul Bodensiek from Paragrafix brought to my attention that the frosted clear plastic to be used behind the louvers is actually a protective layer. The plastic is actually clear. Thanks Paul.
