Master Wom-Niii Gnaden's NTB-630 bomber

[Commander_Rob]

This is my entry for the "Personal Ship" category of the Character Rides Contest, the NTB-630 naval bomber piloted by Jedi Master Wom-Nii Gnaden.

Ship and character are inspired by passing mentions in Revenge of the Sith: Incredible Cross-Sections, which explains the ship being of similar layout to other Incom/Subpro fighters (narrow fuselage flanked by large engines and wings), and explains battle damage on a Munificent frigate pictured in the book was the result of a Master Wom-Nii Gnaden crashing his NTB-630 into it in a battle far out in the Outer Rim.

The NTB-630 was a related design to the ARC-170, a fighter bomber with heavy emphasis put on the "bomber" part. It wasn't as widely used as its more famous cousin, being a bit slower, far less maneuverable and not as versatile. That meant that most units were shifted to task forces fighting less intense battles in the Outer Rim regions, such as the Master Gnaden's fleet. The NTB-630's high survivability compared to other Republic fighters, with heavy armor plating and relatively strong shields and its large weapon load, up to four times as many proton torpedoes as the ARC-170, made it the favoured starfighter of the Jedi General. He piloted his faithful fighter, nicknamed the Belsmuth Folly, during several battles in the Belsmuth Sector, leading his clone pilots into battle against Separatist forces. Flying with him usually were his astromech droid "Brassy" and a clone manning the bombadier/turret gunner position, most of the time the squadron's "new guy" who had only recently been transfered to the unit. During the decisive Battle of the Crombach Nebula a lucky Tri-fighter managed to hit the fighter's rear stabilizer jets, causing it to spiral out of control and crash into the Separatist frigate Tide of Progress XII, ending the life of Master Wom-Nii Gnaden.

The model features a cockpit with a removable roof that seats the pilot and gunner, with space for an astromech droid right behind, a rear ball turret and a working landing gear.

Flickr set with further photos. I can put up more if so desired.

The proud crew in front of their ship.

Front and rear quarter:

The cockpit and astromech position:

Illustrated here are the landing gear and ship's sleek profile:

Hope you enoy, C&C much appreciated.

Edited April 18, 2011 by Commander_Rob

[KimT]

Nice work Commander Rob.

Cheers on the description and the pics.

A real treat

[lightningtiger]

Excellent creation and also an excellent back story too, plus it really has that designed in 1999 feel about it !

Great work 'Commander_Rob' and may the brick be with you.....always !

[Commander_Rob]

Thanks very much guys.

I'm quite pleased with the design myself actually, it comes pretty close to the initial sketches I made.

[XimenaPaulina]

Looks good Commander_Rob, I agree with LT, the build has that basic '99 feel into it. The description is very well done too. Good luck in the contest!

[L-space]

Love the Classic Space look of it.

[KimT]

Added to the index