How The Galactica Was Made
By Jim Creveling

In September 1999, BattlestarGalactica.com featured an article on Jim Creveling by Charles Adams. Now, in January 2000, Steve Parady follows up with an in-depth discussion with Jim -- and some truly amazing pictures of his work.

I first saw Jim's incredible model at the International Plastic Modelers Society annual convention and model contest held in Orlando, Florida in July of 1999. This is a gathering of the best models and modelers from all over the world. Everyone there was talking about Jim's Galactica recreation. It was quite a surprise when I walked into the huge contest hall and saw this gigantic, beautiful spacecraft.

I had seen the original Battlestar Galactica miniature on display at Universal Studios Florida a few years ago. Jim's model affected me the very same way. My jaw dropped. I was frozen in my tracks for a moment. From about 10 or 15 feet away of either Jim's model or the original, it is an absolutely stunningly realistic spaceship. As you get closer, the fun and amazement increases as you begin to recognize some of the thousands of model kit parts that make up the intricately detailed surface. Here are tank bodies and cannon, truck chassis, a cockpit from a racecar, drop tanks from an airplane, Saturn 5 rocket parts, railings from battleships and an engine part from a Star Trek U.S.S. Enterprise! And lots, lots more.

I took a lot of pictures and later compared them to photos of the original battlestar which are posted on Kobol.com. Jim's model is absolutely faithful to the original as far as I can tell. The only difference I can see is that the rear entrance to one of the landing bays on the original had a back-lit photograph of the interior of the bay placed a few inches inside the entrance. Jim didn't use this photo but built a forced perspective illuminated interior inside each bay. Both models have the tiny sequentially flashing landing approach lights. Removable access panels reveal the interior of the model filled with fiber optic strands, transformers, flourescent lights for the engines, cooling fans and circuit boards. Small removable sections on the front, rear, and sides of the model provide access to the attachment points of the metal armature "backbone". This allows the model to be positioned for filming from different angles. Wood framing inside supports the styrene skin.

I met up with Jim again at a recent sci-fi convention in Orlando, Florida. He had recently completed a model of the Cylon tanker. Jim graciously allowed me to photograph his models for the readers of this web site. He even placed his Galactica upside-down on the floor so I could photograph the underside for you model fanatics! Here are some questions I asked, with Jim's answers:

Q: How did this model project come about? Why would you build a build a six foot battlestar Galactica?

Q: This model is truly amazing. Compared to photos of the original Galactica model, you are dead-on accurate. How did you do this?

A: Well I wouldn't go so far as to say it's "dead on", but it's as close as I could get using the reference I had at the time. I'm just glad it turned out so well.

Q: What differences are there on your model compared to the original?

A: I had to make some changes on my model. The original Galactica had tiny panel lines drawn on with an architectural pencil clustered around the front and rear of the landing bays to give a larger sense of scale when these areas were filmed in close up. I put the lines on my model as well, however when viewed with the naked eye, these areas appeared darker and dirtier than the rest of the model, so I took them off. I also had no reference photos of some areas of the bottom of the ship (areas never seen in the series anyway), so I detailed these areas in a similar manner to the rest of the ship.

Q: Where did you find your reference material? Have you seen the original shooting model?

A: My friend has just about every picture of the Galactica ever published. I also tracked down a guy who restored the original a few years ago. He had the accurate dimensions and some good close up photos. He also provided me with samples of the actual colors it was painted. Finally I contacted some collectors who had many photos taken of the Galactica when it was being built back in 1977. I then started buying models, lots of models!

Q: What has happened to the original Galactica?

A: The last time the Galactica was seen in public was at Universal Studios Florida around 1990 or '91. Unfortunately I didn't know it was there so I never got to see it.

After a couple of decades of storage and rough handling it was apparently in pretty bad shape. I have since learned it is finally in the possesion of someone who will respect and care for this fantastic model. The Galactica has recently gone through a complete restoration by a top industry prop maker and is back in pristine condition.

A: CGI has improved special effects tremendously. With computer animation, literally anything can be done. But I still think that a well done miniature looks better on screen than a CGI version.

Q: Look at the miniature work in Phantom Menace, Starship Troopers or Titanic. The level of realism couldn't be done just with CGI. Of course those effects are enhanced with CGI and matted digitally. Any other comments on special effects?

A: There is some serendipity, happy accidents if you will, in lighting models with real lights that computer rendering just can't duplicate. However, I know that model photography is expensive and time consuming, and CGI can be done pretty fast and cheap these days. I believe miniatures and animation will end up being used together to augment each other.

Q: Was your model used in Richard Hatch's promo trailer for Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming?

A: I was first contacted about actually filming my model for the trailer. It was later decided that doing the effects in CGI would be easier. So I sent a bunch of close up photos so they could beef up the detail on their CG model. It seems I'm the only one who hasn't seen the trailer, but I hear it's awesome!

Q: Any other Battlestar Galactica ships in the works?

A: I would like to build a Colonial shuttle, but it will have to wait until I find more reference on it. As of now I only have photos of it before most of the final kit bashed detil has been added.

Q: What are your favorite memories about Battlestar Galactica?

A: The effects and the models! For a TV show made in the '70's the special effects were of extremely high quality. They even hold up well today. A good example is the scene in the pilot episode when the ships of the rag tag fleet are first seen leaving thier home worlds to gather togethear in space. And there's that shot of the Colonial Movers ship passing by with that gorgeous music playing in the background. The special effects in that whole sequence are fantastic!

Q: Do you build other subjects besides science fiction?

A: I really enjoy building large radio controlled model ships.

Q:What other projects are you working on?

A: I am currently building a 1-to-1 replica of the Excelsior from the third Star Trek film. I am also gearing up to build another Galactica.

Thanks, Jim!

Battlestar Galactica model by Jim Creveling
The Cylon tanker model by Jim Creveling
The Colonial Mover model by Jim Creveling