[M4-22 - Alphabet Fighter] Arrr Wing

[carpandean]

Disclaimer: credit where credit is due; this is a modification of the amazing X-wing moc (V2) by @Jerac (see here.)  I had to make some modifications to make the theme work, but it's mostly his design.  Don't know if that will disqualify me, but at the very least, treat it as a reskin.  I was in the middle of designing it in Studio at the time that the contest was announced, but have since built it.

In-universe (SW) history:  Blackburn Squadron is group of former pirates from the outer rim who chose to align with the Rebellion when the Empire started taking control of systems in their territory.  Much like the great Saw Gerrera's Partisans, Blackburn's methods are often deemed too violent for much of the Alliance's leadership.  Their results, however, are rarely questions.  Candidates for the squadron are heavily trained and tested before they can be considered for membership. Upon selection to the unit, every pilot must travel to the fourth planet of the unit's home system to hunt and kill two Jakerni, giant indigenous primates that rival Gundark in size, strength and ferocity.  Their skulls and leg bones are then fused to the wings of the pilot's new X-wing.

Real world history: The scheme is based on the Jolly Rogers series of U.S. Navy squadrons, beginning with VF-17 in WWII and passing most recently to VFA-103 in 1995.  Initially, bearing just a small black "Jolly Roger" (skull-and-crossbone) flag on an otherwise normal paint job, they began to adopt the more-recognizable scheme currently utilized with VF-84.  While there have been different variations, the common components are the black tail fins with large white skull-and-crossbones and gold tips, black around the cockpit that continues to the nose and "Vagabond" stripes (gold w/ black chevrons or black with gold chevrons, barrowed from VF-84's previous name.)  Some have gray noses, some black and some F-4's had white ones. 

Build history: I adopted mostly the current version of the paint scheme, but thought the white nose was distinctive (like a skull itself), so I used it.  Originally, the wings were done with stickers, but I wasn't satisfied with the results (it would have helped to have a 6 x 4 tile without studs), so I decided to "brick build" them instead.  This was tricky due to the pins that stick out of the bottom.  With such thin wings, I decided that they had to be fused to the top.  Ended up using these to turn technic bricks for the pins to mount in.  The long bones are attached with black clips, one raised by a 1x1 plate to clear the other.  I haven't settled on the Vagabond stripes yet, as I had a few ideas (for example, as seen here.)  Even had some sticker chevrons, but didn't use them after I went brick build on the S&CB.  For the gold color, I went back-and-forth between Yellow or Bright Light Orange.  Most of the actual designs are closer to yellow, but due to lighting, often look like BLO.  I went with the one closer to the Trans-Yellow windscreen, which I knew I had to incorporate as soon as I saw it.  Using yellow did, however, require redesigning the rear portion of the laser cannons, since ingots do not come in Yellow (but do in BLO.)  Finally, the red corresponds to the inlet caution labels on many of them.  At first, I used dark red, but decided to try red instead, thinking it look more like vibrant blood coloring.

 

Edited May 31, 2022 by carpandean

[MKJoshA]

Thank you for giving credit to Jerac. I don't think that disqualifies you, but you won't get as many points as if it was your own design from scratch.

Fantastic color scheme and backstory!