Moebius' 1/32 Colonial Raptor & Armament Set Kit Previews

By John Lester - images & text © 2017 Tweet Scale: 1/32 - about 12"/ 305mm long when built. Parts: Injection molded styrene - 95+ (Raptor), 60 (Armament Set). Instructions: Raptor: 17 pages (9 assembly steps + paint/decal guide) Armament:9 pages (9 assembly steps + paint guide); english text with drawings & photos Decals: Commercial waterslide; includes stencils and 8 pilot names. Molding Quality: 9 - No defects Detail: 8 - Very good. Accuracy: 9 - engineered from studio CDI files. MSRP (a/o 9/2017): Raptor: $69.95 USD (~$85.57 CAN/ € 58.76 EUR) Armament Set: $19.95 USD (~$24.46 CAN/ € 16.79 EUR) available for less from Starship Modeler Overall Rating: 9 - Looks to be a fun kit with lots of possibilities Moebius' 1/32 Colonial Raptor from SyFy's re-imagined Battlestar Galactica has been a long time coming. Is it worth the wait? Read on!

What You Get The Raptor comes in a box somewhat taller than the 1/32 Vipers. It contains 9 sprues of parts in four plastic bags, plus two more bags, one with loose clear parts and the other with main hull halves.

The parts are nicely detailed - perhaps not as sharply as the latest Bandai wunderkit, but certainly acceptable. (For those looking for more enhancements, Paragrafix has a photoetched brass set). You get two main hull halves which ultimately will enclose a complete interior - including the rear flight engineer/ EWO station. Two seated pilots are also provided. Clear parts are pretty much distortion-free, so you should be able to see it all - if you light the beast, or open the crew hatch. About the only thing I see missing is interior detail on the main door. My kit shows no obvious molding flaws or ejector pin marks in awkward places. I've only taped a few parts together, but fit seems decent. I did have to enlarge the mating pin holes a bit on the main hull halves, but that took just a few moments with a needle file.

Almost all of the exterior detail consists of raised panels and piping, which is faithful to the "original". The 'diamond-tread' cabin deck is well-rendered. What little engraving is present looks soft; I may do a bit of light rescribing so it stands out better under a coat of paint. The smaller parts are well-cast, and the 'nubs' where they attach to the parts runners are small enough that removing them (and cleaning up the attachment point) shouldn't be a hassle. (Unlike those old ERTL Trek kits!). Engine bits and pilot figures round out the kit's parts. The pilots are rather stiffly posed, but should look OK when painted.

Waterslide decals are provided with full markings, including stencils and computer displays, for one Raptor. Pilot names/ callsigns are provided for Boomer, Athena, Hotdog, Helo, Starbuck, Kat, Racetrack and Shark. You also get patches for the pilots' flightsuits. Like all Moebius decals, they're thick and glossy, but should settle down well with a touch of setting solution. Instructions for both kits are very similar: multi-page booklet with assembly guide (drawings and English text) with full-color photos for the paint and decal guides. Moebius does a good job with their instructions, and I see no glaring ommissions or errors in either set.

The Raptor Armament Set provides all the (ridiculous) weapons first seen in the epic rescue of Anders and crew back on Caprica in the second season. It contains three sprues of plastic plus instructions. You get two box launchers, two cylindrical rocket launchers and two mini-guns with ammo drums and feed chutes.

Conclusions Are these latest Battlestar Galactica kits from Moebius worth the price? I'd say so. You get two boxes stuffed with thoughtfully-engineered, sharply-pressed parts. Assembly should be straightforward despite the parts count (which is not excessive - certainly not like those tank kits with four separate pieces to build just one track link!). The model builds up to a decent size without hogging all the space on your shelves, and presents a broad canvas for weathering and detailing - and lighting, if you want to do that. Highly recommended

Many thanks to my wallet for providing the review samples. Manufacturers and retailers, interested in getting your wares reviewed and publicized on a site averaging 6000+ readers a day? Contact us!

Please note that the opinions expressed in this article are those of the reviewer.

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This page copyright © 2017 Starship Modeler™. First posted on 5 September 2017.