by Rob Stephens

There is a short span of about 20 years in which the humans of Kallistos - survivors of Galactica's Rag-Tag Fleet, remnants of Earth, and other scattered tribes of humanity - are able to rest, rebuild, and prepare for what would be a 300 year war. Most of the Battlestar Galactica crew settled on the planet. Humans became increasingly aware of the many alien races existing in this part of the galaxy. The planet was explored and outposts established.

Initially the most derelict 'rust-buckets' of the space fleets were cannibalized for raw materials. Others were refitted until shipyards and newer designs could be constructed. All sorts of mechs, treaded vehicles, ships and aircraft were built to help humans establish a foothold on Kallistos.

One such type were the very fast aircraft are called DART's. Starbucks' craft is named SEFU (Egyptian for sword). This jet was designed to fly at high altitudes and at tremendous speeds. It is more likely to fly over or around the fierce weather systems of Kallistos than through them. It is used primarily to perform high-altitude surveys, weather-monitoring, and transport of individuals quickly over very long distances. It is capable of sub-orbital flight. Pilots of this craft are witness to breathtaking scenery while on assignments. The craft is so enjoyable to fly that pilots routinely stray from their flight plans to perform acrobatics. Pilots relish being assigned to a Dart.

After reaching Kallistos, Kara Thrace (Starbuck) spent her first six years in orbit instructing cadets in the 'Top Gun' space fighter academy. After a younger generation of pilots was capable enough and her own reflexes diminishing, Kara was offered a command posting of her choosing. She asked instead to be assigned to a DART.

It was a position of low responsibility requiring only a low-ranking pilot of fair skills, and there would be no-one under her command.

Kara flew most of her missions alone. She sometimes ignored flight plans altogether and soared wherever her heart desired. The stories of her service to Battlestar Galactica gained her widespread respect and few officers had the courage to confront her anyhow, so her deviations from assignments and protocol were tolerated. Here, flying alone through the atmosphere at two thousand miles per hour over a sprawling planet, Kara Thrace conquered her demons, healed somewhat, and made peace with herself.

Most people of the rag-tag fleet and certainly the fighter pilots had been overexposed to space radiation. Eventually it took its toll on Kara. When finally her health was so poor that the doctors could no longer fudge her medical reports Kara was grounded. Kara's soul was too restless to endure a prolonged illness as an aging invalid. She was 54 years old and all she wanted from life at this point was to fly once more. One afternoon Kara broke the rules as she had done so many times before. She took SEFU without permission and filed no flight plan. She put her memories out of her mind and simply flew for the fun it, freely weaving through the multi-hued nimbus clouds rising thousands of feet. She played like a child for many hours until finally Kallistos' twin suns sank low in the sky painting the clouds bright orange.

Kara set SEFU to return to base on autopilot after she had completed one last well-practiced stunt. She flew a slow outside loop and initiated the gravitational dampers used for landing. The aircraft stalled and nearly came to a complete stop mid-air at the apex. She popped open the canopy and lifted her tired, battle-worn body up and over the side of the jet. She extended her arms like a bird in flight and soared one last time.

The Model

The characters of Battlestar Galactica went through a lot (understatement), and l read that stuff blows up and people die in the last episodes of the current series. So I kit-bashed this jet for Starbuck and wrote as good an ending as I think she could have. This kitbash is based on an AOI OGRE AN-21 race car by Aoshima. The original design looks like a jet with racing tires. My aim was to change the single-seat 1/24th scale racer into a two-seat 1/72nd scale jet.

I bought a 72nd scale F-16 model whose interior fit well enough. The front underside of the model and rear wheel wells had to be cut away. I used a cone section from a large SR-71 model for the underside and a couple of pieces from a Zoid to fashion the lower half of the rear engines where the wheel wells used to be. I fashioned a scoop for the underside from a Zoid piece to fill a gap between the intakes. Only after finishing the model did I notice that the F-16 scoop would have looked better. I liked the looks of the landing gear on the Crusher Joe Skateboy Hunter and picked one up on ebay. The 1/35th scale version gear fit snugly into the rear axle holes on the Ogre body, and I drilled a hole and added a part to support the front gear. They're removable.

I wanted to use some vibrant metallic colors rather than the military grays, green and tan of my other projects. I chose metallic plum, blue, and silver for the exterior. Among my mistakes was trying regular thinner in my airbrush. The plum body came out orange-peel. And the brush touch-ups caused buildup of paint and texture. There's also a fingerprint, a knife-cut, and airborne dust settled on the wet paint ('sigh'). Also the interior would've come out better if I'd sprayed it. The brush added too heavy a coat of paint and texture. And I could've sanded more. These colors are all gloss metallic so every blemish is highlighted. On a positive note I tried using Liquid Masking Film on some of the difficult curves and found that this stuff works really well.

I wanted the canopy to have the same color as the body for aesthetics but still see through it. Two light coats of the metallic plum worked well.

I like to design my own insignia but light ink-jet colors printed on transparent decal sheets do not come through strongly enough on dark models. So I used decals from a Warhammer Grav Tank. I'm not gloss-coating the model yet. I still hope to print satisfactory decals of my own design somehow.

Thanks to the original design, the jet looks very fast. I also have the V. ASURADA-0 which is a similar model and if I ever have time I'll kitbash it as well.

Image: Left sid, landed configuration

Image: Interior

Image: Rear view

Image: Left side, in a bank

Image: On the ground

Image: Starting point