Description

Another excellent issue from the folks at Happy Medium Press with high quality production materials and a variety of articles to suit to suit many themes and interests of the Sci-Fi and Fantasy modeler. Between the heavyweight glossy covers are 98 color glossy pages containing 13 articles. There are fewer than 6 advertisements so the content is very high.

The articles are well researched and relevant to the topics they cover.

What I like about the articles is the balance of Sci-fi and fantasy along with a lot of subject matter variety within each genre. Also, there are OOB builds, kit-bashing, scratch building (both partial and complete), painting, in-depth background articles and enlightening interviews.

Description and History

From the Moebius Models web site:

“Galactica was one of the first twelve Battlestars to be constructed by the Colonials, each representing one of the twelve colonies; Galactica represented Caprica. As such, she is some 50 years old. Galactica (BS 75) is a veteran Battlestar and the last of her kind still in service with the Colonial Fleet at the time of the destruction of the Twelve Colonies. Built during the early days of the Cylon War, she becomes one of only two known Battlestars (the other being Pegasus) to survive the renewed Cylon attack on the Twelve Colonies. By the time of this attack, she was part of the 75th Battlestar Group (BSG-75).'

In the Box

Several light beige sprues with parts numbered 3 to 45. There are multiples of some parts, 2 major hull parts, 1 clear sprue, 1 metal rod for the base, a sturdy base and 1 decal sheet, and a partridge in a pear tree.

For Star Trek fans [trekkers], the recent re-releases of the AMT line of Star Trek models has been welcomed with open arms. The re-releases feature all new decals, and in some cases, some new tooling. The Vulcan Shuttle is no exception. First seen in "Star Trek: the Motion Picture", the shuttle Surak is most known for delivering Cmdr. Spock to the newly refitted USS Enterprise NCC-1701. The original release of the Surak featured only a few decals, leaving the modeler the task of masking and painting the complex paneling. Round 2’s new release of the shuttle has solved this.

Background

It’s hard for some of us to believe it’s been nearly a half-century since Star Trek’s debut in 1964. Over the decades, the Starship U.S.S. Enterprise, NCC-1701, has arguably become the most recognizable, esteemed, and influential vessel in intergalactic travel -- so influential that even the first NASA Space Shuttle bore her name as the result of a massive write-in campaign from Star Trek fans in the mid-1970’s.

Her incarnations have been many, starting with the original “made for TV” Constitution-Class NCC-1701 in 1964, “refitted” in 1979 for Star Trek the Motion Picture, carbon-copied as NCC-1701-A in a sequel, then finally being outright up-classed in the form of the Excelsior-Class NCC-1701-B in Star Trek - Generations in 1994. Other Starfleet vessels bearing the Enterprise moniker have followed, and proceeded, but the “Refit” version from the 1980’s movies is the subject this offering under the Polar Lights brand from Round2 Models.

TSDS makes products designed for the Sci-Fi modeler and the decal set for the Moebius Moon Bus is just one example of the excellent quality for which TSDS is known.

The decals are advertised as color water-slide decals and indeed they are both colorful and use the traditional dunk-and-slide application technique.

The decals are printed on a single sheet, approximately 5x9. The markings are clear and crisp. Since the entire sheet consists of one large piece of carrier film it is important that each decal be removed from the carrier sheet with the “cut” lines being as close to the actual marking as possible.

The decals responded very well to a short dip in water and none were damaged in the application process even though I handled some of them rather roughly. For all intents and purposes one can apply these decals in the same fashion as one uses for those decals that are supplied in any typical model kit.