Models

Interview with Steve Parady
By Michael Faries

Steve Parady (right) with Richard Hatch at the August 1999 GoMainLine event in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Photo by Shawn O'Donnell. (....)

BattlestarGalactica.com talked with Steve Parady, modeler and CGI artist in September 1999 about his craft, plus his contributions to Richard Hatch's Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming production efforts.

Q: Steve, I first became familiar with your work when I saw the Scarlet-class Viper, Mark II model that you'd given to Jack Stauffer. And I was very surprised to learn that I'd already seen your work in Richard Hatch's trailer! Let me start by asking how you met Richard and Jack.

A: I met Richard Hatch at DragonCon in Atlanta in 1997. He was signing autographs there. By coincidence I had done a CGI image of the battlestar Galactica a few months earlier and had a copy with me. He was very impressed with the picture and asked me to send him a copy. I met Jack Stauffer at DragonCon in Atlanta, Georgia this past July. I was sitting at Richard's table fielding questions about the new Viper design. Jack's table was right next to Richard's, and we got to talking about the trailer which premiered at that show.

Jack and Richard said that they wanted a model to take to shows and show the fans something related to the new ideas they were promoting for Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming.

Q: Jack has been taking the model to various convention appearances; it's getting a lot of positive commentary. In Richard's trailer, the Colonials have improved the Viper design since fleeing the Twelve Colonies twenty yahrens ago. Can you describe how the new Vipers are better than the original ones?

A: First, let me point out that the new viper only a supplement to, and not a replacement for the older Vipers. Many battles with the Cylons would give the Colonial forces new ideas on how best to defeat the enemy, and these ideas would be incorporated into new and revised military hardware. Improved speed, maneuverability and more flexible weapons systems options are in the new version. Having captured Baltar's Cylon Raider, some reverse engineered Cylon technology might be in there too!

Pictured: Various Scarlet Viper model designs, built by Steve Parady. Photos used with permission. Copyright 1999 Steve Parady.

Q: Were you aware of how receptive Richard was to fan participation? (ie. using the Scarlet Viper design)

A: Not at first. I met up with Richard a second time at Tachycon in Orlando, Florida in June 1998. That's where I heard about his plans for a demo trailer for the new Galactica, twenty yahrens after the original. It just occurred to me to do a quick sketch of what an updated Viper might look like. I did this on the back of a convention flyer and showed it to Richard. That was the first Viper design I did with forward-swept wings. He encouraged me to send him some designs to him.

Q: Richard's "Battlestar Galactica: Armageddon" and "Battlestar Galactica: Warhawk" novels mention new Viper designs, including the Scarlet Viper. Did you draw inspiration from these sources?

A: I wasn't at that time aware of the Scarlet Viper mentioned in "Armageddon." But I read the book later and the design concept fit right in.

Q: You could have completely overhauled/redesigned the original Colonial Viper. Instead, you improved upon it. It really looks like the next generation of Viper vehicles. Can you describe what you had in mind when you did the Scarlet Viper?

A: The original sketch I did had more radical changes. It was sleeker and had a rounded, modern canopy. It didn't seem quite right, so I went back to the original Viper. I figure the Colonials have very limited production capability in the fleet, so would want to use as much existing materials and tooling as possible. It wouldn't be practical to create an entirely new space fighter, especially when they have something as good as the Viper already. So a new design would be an evolutionary one, not revolutionary.

The forward swept wings come from a real aircraft, the X-29, which was a highly maneuverable fighter demonstrator. They really look neat too. The engine nozzle extensions are supposed to gimbal like the space shuttle main engines to provide vectoring thrust, again for increased maneuverability.

The guns on the ends of the wings are supposed to be replaceable with other weapons, missiles, cannons, electronic jamming and surveillance pods, fuel tanks, etc. Whatever can fit inside the Galactica's launch tubes. It's like one of today's multi-role fighters, attach what weapons you need for different missions. Surprise the Cylons with something new. This can lead to many story ideas. Not to mention the toy and model possibilities!

Q: James Betteridge did a terrific job of modeling your Viper in CGI for the trailer.

A: Yes! It was great to see Apollo flying my design up there on a screen in front of a crowd of eager fans. The CGI in the trailer is just fabulous, even more so when you consider the no-budget production the trailer is. It is truly a labor of love by devoted fans guided by Richard's leadership. It's much more exciting than a lot of real movie trailers I've seen.

The best comment I heard was from someone who wasn't a sci-fi fan and didn't know anything about Battlestar Galactica. He wanted to know when the movie was coming out because it was something he wanted to go see!

Q: So, can you tell us how you got involved with Richard's trailer project?

A: I'm really kind of peripherably involved. After doing the original sketch for Richard, I built a model. It was from one of the Revell-Monogram Viper kits that I heavily modified. I'm writing an article for Fine Scale Modeler on how it was done, if anyone is interested in building one.

Anyway, I took the model to DragonCon in 1998 and showed it to Richard. He did like a double take on it, and said it was just what he was looking for! It was still a Viper, yet different. He asked if he could have it to show to the guys working on the CGI. I didn't hear from Richard again until I ran into him at DragonCon this year. He was standing in the VIP registration line. I wondered if he would even recognize me when he said, "Hi Steve. By the way, I'm using your Viper design in the trailer."

Later during the convention, he premiered the trailer to a hugely enthusiastic crowd, which gave the longest and loudest standing ovation I ever heard. Even though my design wasn't in the unfinished version he showed, Richard asked me to stand up as he introduced me as the designer of the new Scarlet-class Viper. Kind of made my day! Thank you, Richard.

Q: I noticed that the Scarlet-class Viper has red stripe marks, like the original Viper. But the Scarlet-class Viper, Mark II has blue stripes instead.

A: The original model I built was painted red and used the orange stripes from the kit. After all, it is Scarlet-class, so red seemed appropriate. Prototype craft are often painted bright colors to attract attention at special events like airshows. That model also had missiles rather than lasers attached to the wings. It really looks neat in red, but the CGI guys decided that gray worked better. They made some other changes to the markings so it would stand out better from the other Vipers.

When I talked to Jack Stauffer and Richard about building a model to take to shows, Richard asked that I try blue stripes. It may be that different squadrons use different color markings, something that couldn't be shown in the original show. Back then the same stock footage was used again and again, so all the Vipers had the same stripes regardless of whether it was Red or Blue or Siver Spar Squadron. With todays computer generated effects it will be much easier to show different squadron's markings, even individual customized ships.

Q: One time, Richard and I were discussing special effects, past and present. He thought there's still plenty of room for both physical models as well as CGI models in some productions. Any thoughts about this?

A: I agree most definitely. I also do CGI work, so I speak from experience. I have a friend who works for Digital Domain, who told me this story. When Jim Cameron was doing Titanic he originally had an elaborate CGI model of the ship created in Lightwave. They found that it just didn't have the same sense of reality they wanted for the movie. So most of the shots were done with a forty-foot model. The CGI model was used only for the hull in a few composite shots.

Mike McAdams did a terrific CGI Galactica for the trailer, but because of the intricate detail I think only a model will really do for the beauty shots and close-ups of the ship in any movie or TV production. The Viper with its clean lines, on the other hand, works really well as a CGI model. Especially for the fast and furious battle scenes.

Q: Maybe you saw it: There was an article on IGN.com covering the "other" Galactica production effort. He mentioned the prospects of Vipers that walked in their story. Since you were involved in visualizing a new Viper design, how did their idea strike you?

Steve Parady's Cylon walker concept. Copyright 1998 Steve Parady. Picture used with permission. (....)

A: If Todd was making Robotech: the Movie, sure it would work. I have trouble with it in Battlestar Galactica. That type of technology is incompatible with what's been established in the original series. I actually did a design for a Cylon walker a year before the Moyer interview. It is supposed to be an intelligent tank, not a raider that grows legs.

I could believe in walking tanks for Colonial ground forces, maybe, but not Vipers that convert to walkers. The only way the Colonials could make that kind of technological leap would be to have a lot of help from an advanced alien race. What's the point of it anyway? It sounds like Special Effects for Special Effects sake. That's kind of a cheap excuse for making a major change that's not needed to produce a good Galactica story.

Q: What's your personal passion: Computer generated imagery (CGI) work, or physical model work? A: Both have advantages. In physical modelling there's nothing like having the real model to handle and feel the weight of. In CGI, it's sometimes easier to create any size or shape object you might need. It's like having a parts box filled with any size and shape parts you can possibly imagine.

You can make changes to your designs easier and faster. And you can fly them around in animations!

Q: When you're conceptualizing new models (new designs), what's your process? (Do you sketch a new design? Build it from scratch based on ideas? Bounce ideas off of people/friends/family, then start? All of the above?)

A: That pretty much covers it. Every project is different, but I usually start with a pencil sketch. It is very important to me to imagine what function the "real thing" will perform, and design around that. Do I need heat shields, aerodynamics, fuel tanks, thrusters, etcetera? For some models it's fun just to look at a bunch of parts and see what you can make out of them.

Q: It's obvious by your model work that you are a huge Battlestar Galactica fan. What are your favorite memories of the series?

A: My favorite episode is "The Living Legend." I really liked the contrasts between the command styles of the two battlestar commanders. The cautious, conservative Adama versus the flamboyant and aggressive Commander Cain. He was obviously very much like General George Patton, one of World War II's most interesting characters.

Also Baltar and Lucifer had some interesting scenes in that one too. They are two of my favorite characters. It was a thrill to meet John Colicos at the GoMainline show this year. He signed a Cylon Raider model for me, which he kept on his autograph table during the show.

Q: Were there more Battlestar Galactica-influenced designs that you've created?

A: Yes, a whole bunch. There's a Cylon Interceptor, which Realm Press wants to use in the Galactica comics. Also a Cylon cruiser, a Colonial cruiser class ship called the Lemuria, and a modular transport ship. Richard also asked me to come up with some new weapons for the Galactica. One design I had was a gatling gun rapid fire turbolaser. Then I saw the exact same thing on the starship Excalibur in Joe Straczynski's Crusade! Someone beat me to the punch on that one. Great minds think alike, so they say.

Pictured: The Lemuria, a Colonial cruiser class ship built by Steve Parady. Photos used with permission. Copyright 1999 Steve Parady.

Pictured: The Lemuria, bottom view. Built by Steve Parady.

By the way, Mojo admits that the defensive cannons he created for Babylon 5 were inspired by the turbolaser turrets on the Galactica.

Q: Anything in particular (not mentioned) that you're most proud of? Something else to share about yourself?

A: First of all most of the credit for the Scarlet-class Viper design must go to Ralph McQuarrie, John Dykstra, Joe Johnston and the other effects artists who created the original in Battlestar Galactica. I just added a little update to that classic sci-fi design. I used to work as an engineer for Chrysler Corporation. I really believe that by applying engineering principles in the art and design of science fiction films, you can make those films more believable, more able to pull the viewer into that world and give them that excitement of "Wow! That might actually be possible!"

 

Steve Parady's Scarlet-class Viper, Mark II. Copyright 1998 Steve Parady. Picture used with permission. (....)

The seeming lack of science principles in the original Battlestar Galactica led to scorn by many nit-picking sci-fi fans. This need not be the case in its next incarnation.

For example, take a close look at the Viper Mk 2 model I built for Jack Stauffer. You might notice small circles with a black dot on the center on the wings and nose. These are reaction control thrusters. Now you know how the Viper can do those fancy maneuvers in airless space. The big engine intakes enable the Viper to replenish its reaction mass used up in Turbo Mode by skimming planetary atmospheres.

Does it make more sense now? You bet!

Thanks, Steve!