by Thom Tordel

This is a scratch-bash of the Colonial Viper that I'm calling the Viper Mark IV. It's made from the Moebius/Revell kits with fan blades and guns from the ARC 170 snap-tight kit. The main body is of course the Revell with everything else coming from the Moebius. Although the nose sections of both kits were spliced together for a profile similar to the original Viper. The engine nozzles are resin copies of 1/48 SR-71 engines with inner details from the Moebius engines. The third 'high' engine was left in halves and placed under the hull as nacelles and housings for what became the turbo-boosters.

The colors are pretty standard, and I used the Moebius decals - a mistake I will not make when I build the next one. These are the worst decals I've ever worked with, cracking and splitting and disintegrating with a simple hard stare or squint, never mind even being touched! I did make some additions, such as the larger Primus ensign on the cowling and the Primus-1 under the cockpit.

After building the Blackbird 'Laura,' Chief Tyrol extended his innovations and incorporated jump engines into the larger fuselages from damaged Raptors and Cylon Raiders, giving the new Viper dubbed the Mark IV the ability to jump across hundreds of light years.

With the new scouting force jumping ahead, Galactica and the fleet were able to find resources of food and materials. This extended their long voyage until that fateful day when Xena Adama in Primus-One met with an alien craft in deep space, a fighter from someplace called Babylon Five...

Image: Badge

Image: Rear view

Image: Compressors