Could be ship debris with the proper cutting/melting/painting.

So, I was fundamentally displeased with my initial outing on this fighter, and I decided that rather than just throwing something together, I needed a design principle to guide me. To that end, I invented a story for the fighter and then designed the fighter to fit the story. Indupar isn't much talked about in the EU, but we know it's a Mid-Rim Monarchy, a bit like Naboo. I decided to run with that, and figured that the Induparan Royalty would want to compete with Naboo, and so when they went to design a fighter, they'd probably go to Nubian as well, for its luxury parts. To that end, I considered what type of fighter they would want to build, and I decided that they would want the most powerful engine they could get to build their fighter around. Since the Naboo Royal Space Yacht was based on the SR-71 Blackbird, I thought that one of its engines, the Headon-5 Sublight engine, might be the biggest, baddest beast around for generating high levels of thrust in a relatively compact package. So, the Induparans acquired a bunch of Headon-5 Sublight engines, and decided to build a single-seat fighter around them. The first thing they had to do was eliminate the long spike coming out the back, because it was too much length and mass for a small, maneuverable fighter. This created an instant problem, as in the design manuals, the spike is a form of heat sink to help keep the engine cool. Without it, the engine would presumably be prone to massive overheating. To compensate for this, the Induparans would need fins on their fighter, or wings - basically any kind of flat surface they could manage to dissipate the heat as best they could. Therefore, a relatively flat fuselage plan, with a blended wing would make the most sense. In addition, I thought it would be a fun mechanic if they added a cannon that shoots the built-up heat energy at enemies, but which can only be fired when it's been charged up by enough heat generated from the engine. So, it's a big boom that can only be shot occasionally, and which must be shot periodically, even when not in combat, to keep the ship from overheating. With all that in mind, I kitbashed the starfighter based on a single engine from an SR-71 Blackbird model. I'm kind of happy with the result.

I'm actually not convinced the Persians even brought 100,000 men to the battle. It's possible I suppose. But it's unlikely that size force was ever deployed at Thermopylae in a way that it could have engaged the Greeks all at once.

Fortunately, Mel sells that exact Vaksai model and it looks fantastic in frosted ultra detail.

Pics please once they arrive! I'm interested in adding some V-19 and ARC-170s. I didn't get the V-19s, I got 2 ARC-170s, 2 V-Wings, a bunch of droid stuff, 3 Jedi Interceptors, the Naboo Royal Starship, and some more Naboo N-1s. I was going to get some clone Y-Wings, but it was getting expensive, so I held off. Mel said he'd make me the Rogue-class Starfighter, AKA Porax P-38 though, so I'll definitely be ordering some of those too.

I have such a huge shapeways order coming in from Mel - basically the entire Clone Wars in a box. I'm so excited.

Well done. Love the repaints. That Captain America Y-Wing is fabulous.

the "Greeks" weren't 100x outnumbered buy the Persians :) If you believe the Greek sources they were. I was comparing Samar to Thermopylae with the "Greeks" being the Americans. Ah gotcha. Not that the actual Greeks were that badly outnumbered either.

My modeling skills leave so very much to be desired, but here is version 2. I stuck some wash on the engines as my phone camera hates stark white. Now that I look at this again, I see a lot of F4U corsair elements too. I may be better off starting over with F4U and IAR 80 parts.

I'm working on using the engines from a 1:144 B-1B to give the fighter a new look. I wasn't keen on just adding engines at first (K-Wing principle) but I think it actually is turning out nicely.

It's about double the size it's supposed to be - 1/144 scale instead of 1/270. So, it's on the large base because it's way too big for the game, but it's supposed to be a single-seat starfighter like the N-1. And yes, I do get an N-1 vibe off of it. If I have it going the direction you suggest, then the ship is essentially a single-engined N-1 type fighter, which makes sense if this other royal house also bought from Nubian, who makes the engines on the N-1. I want to try this kit bash again, similar idea, but with X-wing cannons in place of the pod-things I've got on the wings. I'll see if I can make that work at some point.

Your uglies are badass. I love the X-wing Ugly, and the new Deathraven is stunning. Your painting skills are super enviable. Great work!

Thanks. Yeah, I get the backwards vibe from the picture. Part of that is probably because of the canopy. It's actually a seamless fit, as this was the canopy for the F-104, and the front fuselage of the F-104 is totally intact. So, the canopy makes me think it's moving towards that engine nozzle. I'm not sure which way I like better. Going that way, it has a first generation jet look. Going the other way it has a kind of pod racer look.

So, for whatever reason, I thought it would be cool to design the royal starfighter for the Indupar system. I made a kit bash, primarily from a 1:144 scale F-104 Starfighter, with elements from a 1:144 scale B-25 Mitchell. I've got lots of other parts lying around to try something else too, but I was pretty happy with this. My biggest disappointment was screwing up the spray primer and basically ruining all the panel lines. I did my best to cover it up, but the paint job is awful. I'm going to have to get a new F-104 and B-25 to try it again I guess. This time, I'll forget about the stupid spray primer for sure. Also, which direction should it be pointing? Originally, I was going to have it face the way the needle is pointing, but the more I look at it, the more I get this kind of F-86 Sabre vibe that makes me think it should be going the other way (in which case the cannon emitters need turning around). My first thought was to make it look a bit like an IAR 80 from World War 2, and I kind of like that look, but I'm undecided. I'll take any and all input.

the "Greeks" weren't 100x outnumbered buy the Persians :) If you believe the Greek sources they were.

Aye - but there is a difference between mandatory to play the game at all vs a personal decision include a card in your list to make a ship more competitive Well, I was merely referring to the idea that there is some debate about whether or not it's worth the 2 points. I didn't know that was a discussion that was being had.

Really? You think autothrusters isn't an auto-include on interceptors? Flipping that blank to an evade has saved me a ton of times on range 3 shots. It's so nice. Sometimes, surviving that initial long-range shot means getting a great set-up the next turn.

You're paying for some serious design acumen, of course.

Keep in mind that the first air-to-air kill of a MiG-17 in Vietnam was by a piston-powered Douglas Skyraider! One of only two aerial victories in the war. If somebody wants to slow down and turn with you, you'll kill them. That's how MiG-17 pilots were able to get shots on US jets. Works the same way with A-1s.

That looks great! Very nice paint work. I'm surprised you were able to get white strong and flexible to turn out so smoothly.

I ran Backstabber for the first time ever last week and I was shocked by how good he was. When paired up with Soontir Fel and others who take the enemy's full attention, he tends to get some fabulous shots and to do some real damage.

Lots of German sources have been consulted for WW2 histories since the end of the war. It's actually the Soviet story that got silenced in the West as a result of the Cold War, but the last ten years have seen that begin to change.

They actually sell her stuff at Hot Topic, a major US chain store, so I think it's all licensed.

Feminism has been a dirty word almost since its inception. It isn't the last two years by any stretch of the imagination. Also, when we're talking about sexual assault and sexual violence, as we have been in this thread, started because of the camera incident, then we are not wrong to focus the discussion on women, as 90+% of sexual assaults are inflicted upon women. To bring this thread back to what it started out with, on Friday I was standing on the street corner under an awning, waiting for a ride from a friend because it was pouring rain. As I stood under the awning, I saw an old man with a camera, and my first thought was that he had come to get some artsy photos of State St. and the Capitol Building, and it had been ruined by the rain. Instead, I saw him taking pictures of girls who passed by, angling the camera to get under their umbrellas. Then, he would look at the image he had snapped, smile to himself, and do it again. I couldn't believe what I was watching. One girl even said, "Could you not!" and he just laughed and shrugged and kept doing it. This is the daily reality young women live with, and it's a reality that is very, very different from the one young men live with. So, if we're talking about the problem being fighting to put women's rights above men's rights, I have to ask you, Hobo - how many times has a pervert taken your picture without your permission?

Awesome! You just need a Ladybug Girl custom pilot card.