Battlestar Galactica Fan Building $20,000 Cylon Raider Replica In His Backyard
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It’s amazing the lengths fans will go to when it comes to celebrating or honoring their favorite shows, movies, games, books, and so forth. Just go to Comic-Con any year and you’ll see cosplayers sporting home-built props, costumes, and makeup that rival some Hollywood movies. Fans spend thousands of dollars of fan films, LARPing groups, you name it. We report on a lot of those projects here at GFR, and one of the more insane (in a good way) ones we’ve heard about recently is a chap in Clearwater, Florida who is building a half-scale replica of a Cylon Raider ship from Battlestar Galactica in his backyard. Why, you might ask. But if you have to ask the question, you probably wouldn’t understand the answer.
Eugene Haggerty is creating the replica to be a centerpiece of the upcoming Galacticon 3, and will also be traveling to other conventions, including DragonCon, Shoreleave, Hurricane Who, and more. Here’s a shot of the frame of the Raider replica.
Haggerty has been building the Raider since this past October, working with his fellow members from the Colonial-Cylon Alliance fan group. “We couldn’t get the blueprints so we used a small scale model to work from,” says Haggerty. He estimates the final cost of construction could surpass $20,000, all told.
That sounds like a lot, but the Raider replica is going to be more than just an inert prop; it will also be driveable. The final product will include hydraulic steering, power brakes, auto transmission and a 4 cylinder diesel engine. Haggerty told RedEyeRogue that “the base chassis is a 1978 Cochran Airport Systems model 660 belt loader that was originally an e350 Ford chassis. These are used on the airports to load baggage into the aircraft.” Haggerty says he and his team are about ⅓ of the way done, with their deadline being Galacticon 3 in May.
If you think the project is cool enough that you want to pitch in, Haggerty has adopted the Kickstarter model, where different levels of donations will get you different levels of thank-you goodies. Here’s how it breaks down:
All donations above $20.00 will have their name engraved on the standing plaque that will be with the unit on display. Donations between $20 and $100 will, in addition, receive an autographed picture of the raider mailed to them, and emailed if requested. Donations from $100 and up will receive, in addition to the picture, a tee shirt and their name engraved on the plaque inside the unit, as well as on the standing plaque. Any donation above $500.00 we gain them an opportunity to drive and operate the unit at one of the conventions.
You can find out more info about the project at ByYourCommand.net.
