Viper & Landing Bay:
Some very poor photos of the Viper on the Landing Bay set.

Viper in the Scene Dock:
The mock-up seen in storage at the scene dock.

Galactica 1980 Two-Seat Viper:
The same mock-up after it had been modified to a two-seat cockpit for the second series.

The Full Scale Mock-up

The full scale studio mock-up was built largely of plywood with some metal detail components.  Inside the shell were hoses to direct steam to various points as well as hydraulic lines to operate the rather heavy metal canopy.  No cockpit details were fitted beyond the seat for the actor to sit in, the actual cockpit being a separate set.  The landing gear units were fabricated from metal stock and featured wheels taken from camera dollies.  A second "forced perspective" set was built of the Viper (see photo) which included the intakes, canopy and nose section.  This was built on a rocking table and was used to film the scenes where the camera was looking back over the nose towards the pilot.  The third "Viper" was a roughly full-scale painted flat (see photo) that could be positioned behind the actual 3D mock-up to give the impression of another ship.   This was usually used in the landing bay set with an actor positioned behind it, appearing to be seated in the cockpit.  In one episode all three set pieces were featured in the same shot.  It was a scene where three of the Galacticas pilots had landed on a planet to investigate the crash of another Battlestar.  Filmed outdoors in a field, the scene was shot over the forced perspective nose section in the foreground with the full mock-up in the mid area and the flat piece in the background.  It was a cheap but effective way of filling out the full-scale fighter force.

NOTE: The "photographers scales" seen in many of these photos are marked in inches.