by Robert Merrill

After the Hoth fiasco the Rebel Military determined the need for a high powered fighter for use against ground targets. Unable to develop or build a ground attack specify craft the B-Wing was chosen to convert due it's innate volume of fire and maneuverability. Unfortunately the B-Wings were in short supply and deemed unavailable for the conversion to a ground attack version. After reviewing the Rebel fleets inventory the Incom X-Wing was chosen to modify.

Due to the possibility of massive firepower being directed at it the X-Wing received additional armor and shielding. The long missing engine covers were replaced and armored to further reduce the chance of an engine being taken out by hostile fire. The engineers also wanted to replace the vulnerable astromech droid with a built-in unit, or to at least place itin an armored enclosure. This was turned down by the pilots who wanted the versatility of the astromech so the engineers simply up-armored the droids.

Weapons were the next concern, the X-Wing needing weapons able to punch through the armor and shielding of the Empires AT-AT's. The proton torpedoes where removed & replaced with smaller, rapid fire concussion missiles for use against troops. The Talm & Bak KX9 Laser Cannons were replaced with much heavier Gyrhil XP-70 Laser Cannons whose combined output was near that of a capital class ship's turbo-laser. The trade off was a lower rate of fire and shorter range.

The atmospheric maneuverability of the X-Wing was never the best and the addition of the heavier weapons and armor didn't help so the engineers added air-brakes much like those on the Snow Speeder to enhance the turning of the T-65g.

Only a single wing of X-WIngs were converted before the Battle of Endor. Blue Flight was the first wing in taking out the turbolaser towers surrounding the portal that the Millennium Falcon flew down.

The Model.

I started with the standard Ertl X-Wing. I cut of everything that didn't look like I wanted and added plastic where I needed it.

That's the short story.

It'd almost be easier to tell you want I didn't alter. The tube thats the axle for the wings, I didn't alter that at all. Everything else has been detailed, re-shaped, or drilled out.

The cockpit was rebuilt, scratching new consoles and building up the entire behind the seat section with wire, tubes, etc. I shaved the canopy down to make it thinner. As usual I left the windows out to facilitate better pictures. The figure was re-scuplted to make it more in line with the rebel pilots.

I shaved most the detail off the inner engines and replaced it with small diameter solder & springs. The hollows on the wings got detailed with half round styrene & some train parts. Then, in a fit of detailing, I added some support to the inner wings and made the axle mounts look geared. Don't worry if you can't see it. I also extended the bulkheads where the wing axle mounts to eliminate that annoying empty area. Then came the wing extensions. Each extension has 8 pieces plus the 12 pieces for the air brakes.

The engines where covered with brass tubing which was scribed with a carbide scribing tool for the panel lines. Extra detail was added to the engine intakes, fronts, supports & rear greeblies.

Image: Modified cockpit and pilot

Image: New exhaust detail

Image: Detail inside the S-Foils

Image: Armored intake covers

Image: Right side

Image: Detail

Image: More detail

Image: Top view

Image: More detail

Image: Rear, detail