UGH Models 1/350 Centauri Liner, by Scott Van Aken

In the Babylon 5 universe, the Centauri liner was a personal ship reserved for Centauri of important stature, such as Lord Kiro. This type of liner can be armed with pulse weapons. During the running of the show, there were two liners mentioned.

Molios: In 2259, the Centauri liner Molios was waiting to dock at Babylon 5, when the Narn transport, Na'Tan attacked and destroyed the Molios. The battle was witnessed by an Interstellar Network News crew on the Earth Alliance transport, Hyerdol. The survivors and bodies from the vessel was brought to the station. The Narn claimed the Molios was transporting weapons to the Centauri front. An investigation from Babylon 5 confirmed the presence of weapons on the Molios.

Vellurian: In 2259, the Vellurian left Babylon 5 for Centauri Prime. Lady Timov Mollari and Ambassador Londo Mollari's newly ex-wives were passengers on the vessel.

I have seen other kits by this company. They were also in light blue resin, superbly cast, and with a minimum number of parts. The castings are quite clean and will require a minimum amount of preparation. The 'worst' area I found was a step on the underside of the main hull, but only on one side and the upper surface was perfectly smooth. What this means is that the left boom will be a bit thicker than the one on the right and there will be a ramp from the forward hull to the boom which isn't on the right side.

With only six parts, assembly will be swift once the parts are prepped. The fins are on a sprue and the detailing on one side is considerably more pronounced than on the other. The kit comes with a semi-circular stand with nicely raised markings. There is a depression in the stand for a 1/4 inch post. Most folks, myself included, will probably use a plastic rod and then install a much smaller diameter section of wire in it on which to mount the model. Conversely, one could use magnets with one glued on the post and the other to the underside of the model. They make some that are quite thin and pretty powerful.

Instructions are quite basic and adequate for building the kit. A small ALPS printed decal sheet is provided in gold. There is no indication of the colors to be used on the kit nor is there any hint as to where to put any of the decals. The box art photo is no help in this regard. Apparently the vessel is an overall purple of some darkish shade with large gold stripes. There is some fan art on line, but it tends to be quite dark.

First thing I did was break out the sanding stick to get rid of the step. It took a while and it really did end up leaving a ramp on the inside of the boom. I also had to use some filler on this section. It is fortunate that this is on the underside and will be painted a relatively dark color so hopefully it will not be as visible in the finished model.

Once the seams were taken care of, I used a motor tool with cutting disc to remove the four fins from their pour block. Even then, I had to sand down the tabs on the bottom of each one to get a semi-decent fit. Several issues here. One is that the attachment areas are much longer than the tabs but shorter than the overall fins. They are also not rectangular in shape. Add to it that the attachment areas are curved and the parts are flat. This meant they fit great on the inside but had gaps on the outside. This meant lots of filler and sanding. In hindsight, perhaps I should have trimmed down the fins to fit entirely within the slots and should I ever run into a situation like this again, that is what I'll do.

COLORS & MARKINGS

Eventually, I got things to where they did not look too horrible and thoroughly traumatized by the situation, I let the kit sit for several months. Bursting with a resolve to finish a few long build projects, I returned to the fray and gave the kit a coat of Tamiya's superb grey primer. After fixing a few areas that showed up under the primer coat, it was sprayed, along with the base, with a nice metallic purple lacquer that I have.

I also primered the engine module and then painted it with dark aluminum from the Alclad II line. Then, using various Vallejo metallics, I brush painted areas to help break up the solid color. I also painted the gold trim on the base using these paints. Not unexpectedly, I found this to be a difficult task as the Testors paint dries very gloss and the Vallejo's rather thin acrylic did not want to stick. I found that I needed to sort of 'pool' the paint on the raised surfaces and allow it to dry before attacking it again with another round. This took quite some time.

The ship itself has large gold bands on it and one of the reasons it lay in waiting was my apprehension about masking and painting on these stripes. Thankfully, Fantasy Printshop has come out with a selection of stripes of various widths and colors. In among them are gold stripes. I was saved. These decals are absolutely superb. They are thin, but not too thin. The will adapt to curved surfaces and if you make an error, the patch piece basically disappears into the background. It also shows every lump and bump in the underlying surface. I know this sounds like an advert for the stripes, but I have nothing but praise for these decals.

Eventually I got all the stripes in place, and then started on the specific markings provided in the kit. The sheet provided is obviously generic as there is no placement guide. I picked a few that looked the part. The sheet is ALPS printed so the gold did not disappear once placed on the dark purple background. One does have to trim them pretty closely though. The engine piece was painted with various metallics and I painted the windows white.

Last thing was the stand. I used a section of clear rod I had and cut it to length. The opening in the base was drilled out to accept it. I then drilled a hole in the top of the rod to accept a small section of piano wire. A hole was drilled in the forward part of the engine section and the model was placed atop it.

CONCLUSIONS

This kit very much epitomizes the comments that few pieces do not always mean an easy build. Nothing horrendous, but more work than I thought it would be. The end result is quite pleasing and adds another interesting type to the shelves.

KIT #:
PRICE:	$ a gift from my friend Kevin.
DECALS:	One option
REVIEWER:	Scott Van Aken
NOTES:	Resin