In the original 1978 show, the Battlestar Galactica was an advanced vessel that led the Colonial fleet. It had a crew of 500 and carried 75 vipers. The ship was designed by concept artist Ralph McQuarrie who started on the new TV show after working on Star Wars. The brief was to create an aircraft carrier and he gave the ship twin pods on outriggers that provided the vipers with a runway they could land on. The model is just over 10.5 inches (27 cm) long.