Battlestar Galactica from "Battlestar Galactica"

(ABC-TV 1978-1979)

SCALE: 1/4169

INITIAL RELEASE: 1979

MEDIUM: Polystyrene

Rarity  (Original): (4)

Rarity (Re-Release): (3)

ABOUT THE DESIGN

ABOUT THE KIT

Created to be "Star Wars"-for-television, ABC-TV's "Battlestar Galactica" featured as its titular centerpiece this mile-long battlewagon that somewhat resembled a high-tech Gila monster on skis.  Basically a space-going aircraft carrier, the "Galactica" bristled with detail, courtesy of gribblies from innumerable commercial plastic model kits.  The six-foot-long miniature -- and all the other ships created for the short-lived, über-expensive TV series -- were built at the Universal's Heartland special effects facility, a then state-of-the-art SPFX unit created especially for this program.  (Heartland would subsequently do the SPFX work for ABC's "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.")

The four "Battlestar Galactica" kits produced by Monogram hit the shelves of retail stores and hobby shops in the winter of 1979, just months after the series' September 1978 premiere.  Although the "Galactica" was a large model, it lacked the detailing of the filming miniature as well as adequate decals.  It was subsequently re-released in the mid-1990s by the newly merged Revell/Monogram Co. with new box art by Randy Asplund. 

This model is an original 1979 issue with modern JT Graphics decals.

Original Box Art

Re-Release Box Art by Randy Aspland