STARFIGHTER

From the 1979 TV series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century

Buck Rogers was created by Philip Francis Nowlan and first appeared as a comic strip US newspaper on January 7th 1929. in 1979 Glean A Larson - creator of Battlestar Galactica - developed Buck Rogers into a weekly TV show ‘ Buck Rogers in the 25th Century’. The first season was a mixture of sci-fi adventure and good natured fun, with Buck lRogers, a man from our time cryogenically frozen and is brought back to life in the 25th century where he helps the Earth Defense Directorate to protect the Earth from dangerous aliens and villains. The show’s first season was very popular and is fondly remembered today. It was a visual feast, especially for a TV show, and the Starfighter was Buck’s weekly spaceship of choice with the Earth Defense fleet, under the command of Colonel Wilma Deering.

The ship existed as a full size mock-up for scenes in the launch bay or when landed on a planet. When in flight the visual effects created with miniatiures shot against blue-screen with motion control and optically composited (the norm since ‘Star Wars’). This ship is often referred to as the ‘Thunderfighter’. but this name is never used in any of the actual episodes.

The design of this ship was done as one of the original designs for ‘Battlestar Galactica’, but was not used, in favour of the more ‘X-Wing-like’ Viper that we see in the show today.

Designed by Ralph McQuarrie

Special Photographic Effects Supervised by David Jones