by Daniel Cohn-Postar

Arillon, the bucolic "Breadbasket of the Colonies" was the last to be hit in the attacks. This gave the Fleet units there additional time to prepare for an attack-not that it helped them much. The Cylon virus had its way with the Colonial Navigation System installed on the networked computers of the Arillon Sector Defense fleet, and every last ship defending the colony was destroyed.

Except one. The frigate Dundas was on commerce protection duty, escorting a Colonial Logistics Vessel and three other ships on the risky Saggittaron-Arillon route. A relic of the First Cylon War, Dundas had yet to be fully modernized under the new Naval Programmes.

Still hours from orbit, the frigate's comm. suite picked up news of the battle, before being jammed by hostile forces. Faced with no orders and a tough decision, Captain Mian ordered his convoy to Mestel Anchorage, an armory in one of the system's asteroid belts to load supplies and conduct raids behind the Cylon lines, exactly what the Dundas was built for, nearly forty years ago.

Mian hoped that the raids would take attention away from the Civilian ships he was protecting long enough for the shorter-ranged ships to get some distance on the Cylons and then rejoin them. No one has heard from them since.

The Ships

Frigate Dundas:

• Crew Complement: 1200
• Small Craft: Vipers 12x, Raptors 3x
• Armament: 8 Heavy KEW turrets, Various locations, multipule CWIS turrets, 4-externally carried Vulcan's Hammer Nuclear Antiship Missiles

The Frigate class was designed for fast, deep penetration raids behind enemy lines, preferably marshalling points or supply areas. Most of the weapons are oriented forward, and the four nukes are carried externally, for a quick target acquisition and launching. Standarda Operating Procedure involved carring only two missiles, and launching them as rapidly as possible, then jumping out, in a Hit-and-Fade attack.

The bow of the ship and extending wings are from a Star Trek Runabout Science Pod, (actually the initial inspiration for the build, I thought it looked Battlestar-y.) The central hull is comprised of a dme light from a car, and parts of a Lunar Lander module. The engines are parts of a Russian submarine hull, and in between the engines are a post-it note holder, and the backpack of a stormtrooper action figure. The ventral hangar bay is part of a battleship hull. Various rockets and ship turrets also included.

Colors: Gunship Gray, Insignia Red, Black, Light blue

Logistics Vessel No. 57

Called "Lighters" not because of any design relationship to a freighter, but rather because of their massive fuel tanks that were lightly armored, these ships were essential in the resupply of the Colonial Fleet in wartime conditions. This one was headed to a museum on Arillon to commemorate the Merchant Marines who served on it when the attacks resulted and it was pressed into service.

I wanted to make a refueling and supply vessel of some sort, and it just kind of flew together in a few nights of frenzied building. The parts I remember adding were as follows: A-10 Warthog wings and tail (Smaller scale,) Engine fans (larger scale) Engine cowling from a prop plane, several fins from a Russian submarine, a plastic strap buckle, a Co2 Canister, two drop tanks from a jet fighter, various turrets and other greeblies.

Colors: Gunship Gray, Light Blue, White, Gold, Insignia Red

Transport Colonial Light 327:

Made using a small SAAB Draken model, some lifeboats and rafts from a battleship, and missile fins, this was an easy and fun bash into a smaller and lighter transport vessel than the famous Colonial Heavy 798 (soon to be Colonial One)

Colors: Dark Blue Gloss, yellow, Light blue, black, flat white.

Transport Meran Cor:

One of my first kitbashes, I had a Babylon 5 shuttle micro machine that I wanted to add to. Two wings, four boosters, a filed-down astronaut's backpack and some Olive Drab, Black and Light Blue later, I had it, a small transport perfect for the BSGverse.

Freighter Wayfarer:

If you haven't already guessed, this beauty is inspired by Serenity, from the short-lived TV-series Firefly. I asked myself what a tramp freighter with a similar purpose would look like in the Galactica-verse. Parts are from a store security tag, various battleship bits, parts tree sections, RCS thrusters and a rocket engine from a Lunar Lander kit.

Colors: Panzer Dunkelgrab, Rust, Black, Light Blue, Gunship Gray, Brown

Raptor: Reconnaissance craft- you know it, you love it. Built by cutting up a soft rubber spaceship toy, approx 1 in long, gluing parts together, and painting it. Colors: Tan, Gloss Blue, Black, and White.

Image: Frigate Dundas

Image: Bottom/rear

Image: Front

Image: Landing bay

Image: Port side

Image: Starboard

Image: Top/rear

Image: Launch Vipers!

Image: Colonial Light 327

Image: Port side

Image: Logistics Vessel 57

Image: Underneath

Image: Port side

Image: Meran Cor

Image: Right/rear

Image: Port side

Image: Fleet, from the left side

Image: Behind

Image: Top/left

Image: Raptor

Image: Wayfarer

Image: Top view