Colonial Viper - Brief introduction

The Viper is a single-seat fighter, suitable for zero-g and atmospheric combat. Like modern day jet fighters on a aircraft carrier, the vipers are carried aboard a "Battlestar", the main battleships of the Colonial Fleet. A battlestar can carry around 160 Vipers, not counting shuttles and Raptors. The Galactica carried only 40 at the beginning of the series, due to being decommissioned as a museum.

If I just lost you at zero-g, Battlestar or Colonial Fleet, you might as well stop reading, because you're either completely oblivious towards science-fiction or only 3 years old (in which case you wouldn't be reading this, I guess).

I'm not going to recap what can easily be found on dedicated Wikipedia-pages, but there have been several versions of the Viper.

Viper, mark I
Used in the original series Battlestar Galactica, which ran from 1978 to 1980.
Model kits exists in 1/32 and 1/48.

Viper, Mark II
An upgraded version, used throughout the remake of the series starting 2003.
Model kits exists in 1/32 (Moebius, Revell) and 1/72.

Viper, Mark III, IV and V.
Description about these versions can be found here and there, but they appear to be fan-based, not "official" to the series.

Viper, Mark VII
The latest, most modern incarnation of the viper, shown at the beginning of the new series. Unfortunately, most of these where instantly destroyed or at least crippled at the launch of the Cylon attack. A backdoor vulnerability had been planted in advance by a Cylon cooperative in all navigation software, disabling the entire defense grid and all modern Vipers. Only the old Mark II (still carried aboard the soon to be decommissioned battlestar Galactica) had outdated software systems and were unaffected, making it possible to resist enough to make a hasty retreat.
Model kits exists in 1/32 (Moebius, Revell) and 1/72.

I'll be building the Mark II and VII in 1/32 from Moebius. (Technically, the Mark II is from Revell, but it's the same kit). Construction should start in a few days.