Richard Baker

Looks fantastic! I am moding my kit a bit- getting an aftermarket hatch and adding running lights. I was going to get the new Paragrafix cockpit but it is just too expensive, just going to work with the stock one and correct it some.

Always loved that ship. I hate the rocket engine bells which have been around since before Buck Rogers, you have all this exotic technology, why not have an exotic drive system as well? The Liberator was way ahead of it's time. THat looks to be a wonderful kit you got, please take some build photos, I would like to see this evolve to final display

IMO what really made Lando and G'Kar work for me is not just the outstanding performances but the two character arcs which weave around each other as they travel in opposite directions. K'Gar was at first a heavy who surprised us with monemts of kindness (like saving Sinclair's girlfriend from dying when she encountered one of the First Ones). Lando started off as a drunken buffoon and comic relief. Towards the end of the series they were totally different people but they were constantly woven fates around with each other, to the point you could almost consider them as two aspects of the same character.

From what I remember the 3d files have been lost and need to be recreated. The original SFX was produced on an Amiga render farm using the Video Toaster software. Cutting edge back then and largely incompatible with the PC world today. I do think those ships can be recreated with all the references available, much like how they rebuilt the Discovery XD-1 for the film '2010'...

In my opinion what really made Babylon 5 work so well is that in addition to a massive epic story arc there was a superb cast with which each character also underwent a unique story arc themselves. I would love to see the classic series take a cue from TOS Trek and have a remastered version of the SFX and some digital adjust to some of the sets (insert animated video into the backlit screens for instance). This would retain the fantastic performances while updating the visuals for modern audiences to enjoy. That B5 Station kit was so bad I never bothered to assemble it, the Starfury was pretty good except for a couple fit issues and the fact it was out of proportion due to the fact the ship was referenced by the digital model not allowing for the fact the pixels were not true squares. I do have a Narn Cruiser resin kit which is one of my favorite designs from the show. It needs to have a lot of detail added to make it look right, being about 20" long it is going to be great when completed...

Not super excited with the idea of a B-5 reboot, the story has been told and the show's epic story line has been closed. I do think if the reboot does really happen we have a chance of getting kits both from it and the classic series like we did with Battlestar Galactica. I love the varied ship designs seen on Babylon 5 and how each race had a distinctive technology and approach to engineering.

That buildup is incredible- excellent work!

This is a fantastic build- some truly great enhancements. I have one of these kits in my Closet of Doom I was planning on converting to flight mode, was gathering parts then I got married and the project got shelved. You have inspired me to push it up in my build queue, I may be using some of your ideas as inspiration!

Pictures? Sounds great!

Best photoetch set: https://www.paragrafix.biz/product_detail.asp?PPartNum=PGX127 Personally I think the biggest issue with the kit is the forward "shoulder thrusters" which are just general hollow shapes as given. They arexsupposed to have thrusters in the open areas and vertical surfaces. The back of the Moonbus is missing thrusters also. Paragrafix made a wonderful correction set in resin which I bought, I just checked and he is releasing an updated one with improved parts being consolidated. Not out now but if you contact they can give you more info. https://www.paragrafix.biz/product_detail.asp?PPartNum=PGX128 Stargazer made a full interior resin set, turns out the kit is very wrong. It was available through Starship Modeler but no longer seems listed. I am hoping it will be available elsewhere soon https://www.google.com/search?q=stargazer+2001+moonbus+interior&oq=stargazer+2001+moonbus+interior&aqs=chrome..69i57.20862j1j4&client=tablet-android-samsung&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8

Very well done!

It is great to see that kit get a second chance! There are a number of fairly good references out there for this ship, including ones showing it with the original industrial yellow coloring. The thing is that the entire surface is covered in heavy paneling so even if you do not match the film miniature you can still get that authentic feel to your build. Please post more images of your progress- I never got a chance to have one of these kits and look forward to seeing one come together

Great find, love that kit! I did change the front windows in mine, the kit matches the new filming model built for the sequel but from what I have seen they got that detail wrong.

Opened fine on my Droid tablet...

Never followed the series but that is an awesome model!

Some construction photos- I do not take these often, I get into the zone and documenting things is my last thought during this. These two focus on adding the new aft engines: As you can see- they fit back there like an original Bandai part- no glue needed. I did trim the back of the joined wings back about a half inch for clearance. Lower view of unpainted sensor units. The two empty housings are awaiting the silver "smooth Pods', which began life as the landing skids for the 1:48 Paraglider Gemini Capsule. I wanted a large out of scale sensor pod like it was pulled from a much larger capital ship. The lower cargo doors have been cut away and the edges being sanded. I placed a support behind for the FineMolds Falcon Dish to attach to Engine Section - new engine bells not finished yet: Port side nose weathering- I wanted to have all the weathering streak front to back with the theory the stresses of full thrust flight caused the panel gaps to flex and oils and other dirt escape being drawn backwards.

Yes I did! I figure there are plenty of builders out there making perfect replicas, I like to go for things which we did not see on screen but fit the universe well. I liked the boosted X-Wing Poe used and wanted to back date it to the original trilogy. I gave it a reason and enjoyed letting my mind wander through what the Rebels would do with what.resources they had on hand...

The Story: Wedge Antillies was tasked by the Rebellion to come up with innovative ideas to help overcome the numerical superiority of the Empire. One of his special projects was to find a way to obtain reconnaissance data about Imperial forces in heavily fortified areas. Stealth probes and disguised vessels had little success- the Imperials detection equipment was able to isolate and target them far too quickly for any useful data could be obtained. After many unsuccessful attempts Wedge hit upon a new strategy- a high speed probe which hopefully could arrive, pass through and jump out before it could be targeted. He rigged up a test drone with a high thrust short range sublight engine, a preprogrammed hyperdrive with only one jump prepared and sent it through an imperial shipyard storage area. The probe was able to jump in, take one reading and jump out before the targeting sensors locked on. The info gathered was not particularly useful, but it did prove that a fast probe was the direction to pursue. Now to make something useful. Wedge checked what was available and having a preference for the reliable T-65s he found one which had been removed from active service due to failed S-Foil actuator. The mechanism had been deemed irreparable and the fighter was being stripped for parts. He gathered a team together and they began work. First thing was to remove the ruined S-Foil actuator entirely and weld the wings together and secure them to the air frame. With the space in the aft end now available he looked around for a suitable booster engine unit. He found a four engine cluster used in rapid deployment escape pods, this was ideal since the engines were designed to provide a very high thrust for a short time. He next removed the two lower laser cannons and redirected there power for use in the sensor suites he was adding. The sensor suites were modular and mounted on the ventral side of the now solid wing. Wedge replaced the Droid socket with a simple navigation computer since the craft would be used for preplanned jumps. He added fuel tanks for the boosters and gave the a test flight. That first flight was a disaster, when the additional engines ignited the sudden acceleration almost ripped the wings off. He brought the ship in and after reinforcing the welds he added two trusses from the wings to the nose. The next flight worked well and they decided to use the new craft to scout an Imperial base on Enjuus Prime. The T-65-B-R exited hyperspace and Wedge adjusted it's alignment, activated the recorders and then hit the boost. Despite having the internal compensators on full he almost blacked out from the surge of speed. The X-Wing crossed over the base, even passing between some orbital defense ships and then disappeared back into hyperspace. When the recordings were analyzed they not only had the exact position of all the Imperial forces but even the placement of the Stormtroopers on patrol. Wedge returned to his personal starfighter and Red squadron took turns on the scouting missions. This new craft proved very useful in giving an edge to the Rebels during the conflict. Sadly it had one of the aft boosters blow during it's last mission, sending it pinwheeling out of control. The pilot ejected safely but the damage was too severe to repair quickly. During the Battle of Endor Wedge kept thinking how things would have been so much different if only they had been able to properly scout the location before the fleet had jumped into the trap. Many years later when Poe Dameron was going through the archives he came across this unusual project- he applied the the concept to his personal fighter which did not need much modification due to it's newer construction, plus he did not need the advanced sensor suites, he had a different idea on hot to use that boosted speed advantage... The Build: This build started off as a ponder of what to do with some left over parts from the Lando's Falcon build. The quad of engines from the escape pod seemed to look good on the back of the classic X-Wing, but why would the original trilogy era need a boosted ship?- how would excessive speed be useful.I then thought about the SR-71 Blackbird and the overflights with the USSR. That spyplane was so fast it was out of range before the Soviets could launch interceptors. A boosted X-Wing could fly through Imperial forces in a similar manner.Placing the engines at the rear of the fuselage required removing the rear plate which (according to references) was integral to the S-Foil separation control. This was not a problem since this was not going to be needed, so I fused the upper and lower wings together. The engines tucked in nicely but ironically fit so well they looked like a production option. I wanted to make this to look like something a bunch of techs cobbled together with what was just on hand. Since this additional booster was added on, having it's fuel and control systems should looked slapped on as well.OK, we have a bunch of new thrust on the fighter, now what mods would be good for taking useful reconnaissance. I figured since it would be flying over it's targets, placing most of the sensors eould be useful on the underside. I wanted to have some massive sensors, like they were pulled from much larger vessels. Since it was not intentionally going into combat, I removed two lower laser cannons. I ran power feeds from the laser cannon mounts to the new sensors. The underside of the X-Wing has a storage compartment, seen in TESB and no longer of use for the fighter's new mission. After spending some time carving away the access hatch it was ready.. The FineMolds 1:144 dish was just about perfect for this new location I bashed together some wing tip sensors to match angle of the big dish, all are static but it is implied by the design to be adjustable to face forward or straight down, with the wing tip ones also pivoting from side to side.I played around with the idea of removing the distinctive nose cone, exposing the cool hidden sensor unit Bandai included, adding some sensors to front. I decided to leave that area stock, figuring that the avionics and basic functions of the ship still be original. I did remove the R2 unit though.The last real mod was the two girders. The T-75 was a new ship, the old T-65 was worn out and past it's prime. The new booster thrust would be considerable and obviously stress the ship past original specs. Reinforcing the X-Wing would seem necessary and I wanted something dramatic looking. As a finishing touch I gave the ship brand new red squadron markings, not a fighter designation though. Wedge was proud of his new creation and wanted the universe where it belonged. Odd build notes: When I trimmed the wings back about a half inch at the rear for the engine package, the new piece fit in so well when the fuselage halves are together no glue was needed to keep them in place, just like an original Bandai part.A water spill destroyed most of the included decal sheet, I took that as a sign and left off just about all the traditional hull markings. This sort of works for me, giving an impression of a one off build instead of a production model. When weathering I kept the Red Squadron striping clean, I figured a proud Wedge applied that last... About the photos: This has been a fun project and seemed to take it forever to complete. I took these photos in a hurry (not even using the stand mount plug for the underside shots). I will be taking some additional photos with better lighting and also will be posting some of the underconstruction images as well.

Just found this thread and oh what a ride! Enjoyed the build up and those wonderful adaptations to the circumstances of assembly, then the decal dilemma with a nice ending.... Looking forward to the final images

Love that version of the Emperor Dalek, please post you build of him when you get finished

A lot happened in those two years... I plan to get the larger Pike's Enterprise kit when I can. Love that take on the TOS design, even more than the movie Refit

Just got the Crusher Joe 'Fighter 2' kit! 1:72 scale, love the design- one of nicest future ships out there in my opinion https://www.hlj.com/1-72-scale-crusher-joe-fighter-2-w-alfin-figure-hsg64775 I am going for a display of 1:72 scale fighters for different universes - Star Wars, BSG, anime..., just a fun comparison

Thanks! I am currently working though the DVDs of Crusher Joe I got for Christmas (movie plus OVAs). I am trying to remember where that powered suit appears...

Both sound good, I would love to see some photos

Very nice build and I love the subtle paintjob! Always wanted one of these kits, great to see one finished and resdy gof action...