B5 Space Station - 16 Dec (Done)
Nov 3, 2021 10:35:55 GMT -6
dogfish7 (R.I.P.), JCON, and 1 more like this
Post by RLFoster on Nov 3, 2021 10:35:55 GMT -6
So, after shooting some primer on my current build this morning, I pulled out the next project. This one has been sitting on my shelf for literally 10+ years. It's the first retooled (and oldest from 1997) Revell kit of the Babylon 5 Space Station in 1:26100 Scale...or so they claim.
The thing is, I really have no interest in building this kit as a replica of the station from the TV series. I want to build it as a replica of the PROP station as seen on-screen in the actual show.
You see, many years ago, I was rewatching the entire B5 series on DVD (yes, I still own them) and noticed that both the Revell station and the Revell Starfury model kits had been built and used, on-air, as props inside Captain John Sheridan's office. After subscribing to HBO Max last year, I discovered that B5 was available for streaming and worked my way through the series once again. It was really my seeing the prop on screen this time that moved the build up on the schedule and got me looking for reference photos online.
For those of you who might be completely lost at this point, here is what I'm talking about. First, I located a screen shot from the episode entitled "Fall of Night" where you can just make out the kit, built as a bronze replica, sitting on a pedestal in the far left of this image:
Not a very good photo, but it spurred me on and later that day I found another screen shot, this time from the episode "In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum". In this one, the model is more easily seen between Bruce Boxleitner and Jerry Doyle:
However, it wasn't until the next day when I found the Holy Grail...the model in all it's glory, front and center in this screen shot from "Divided Loyalties":
As you can see in this image, the art department did not use the solid plastic kit base and instead created a simple clear acrylic stand, presumably to allow the light mounted in the pedestal below to illuminate the model from below on set. Since I'm not worried about lighting the model and really think the base provided in the kit will build up nicely, I'll likely be using it. However, the station itself will be built as a "desk replica" in this simulated brass/bronze finish.
Anyway, I'm jumping the gun just a bit since the current build in still in-work, but I might tinker around with this one if I need to wait on paint to dry with the current build.
Until next time...