by Joe Brown

(as seen in Attack of the Clones)

Background

In Episode Two, the AA-9 Starfreighter/Refugee Transport carried Anakin and Padmé from Coruscant to Naboo, and it was clearly called “one of the refugee transports” by Mace Windu during the movie. Something that George Lucas doesn't elaborate on is the disturbing thought that maybe there is a reason why these ships are thus named when leaving from the capital world of the Republic? Foreshadowing perhaps? Plot points aside, it is a high-volume, bulk freighter that uses essentially the same drive system that the Republic Cruiser used in the beginning of Episode One.

As described in Inside The Worlds of Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, these ships are cargo carriers that transport luxury goods from Coruscant to worlds all over the galaxy and return with raw materials that are not available on the urbanized capital planet. The carriers are not designed as passenger ships, although many impoverished emigrants obtain steerage on them. Passenger areas are made and furnished with makeshift components.

The Model

My model of the AA-9 Starfreighter/Refugee Transport was made by first removing the engine section from a Republic Cruiser (Action Fleet toy) from aft of the sensor tower. I used the DVD of Episode Two to obtain details on the freighter, along with several print and internet resources. Next, I carved the form of the freighter's hull from insulation styrofoam. Once those pieces were sanded into shape, I used Elmer's PVA glue to attach the foam sections of the hull together.

I covered all of the finished foam model with two-part epoxy glue, spreading that into a nice thin layer about 2 mm thick. Using this glue forms a very tough, lightweight surface atop the foam and makes for a more durable model. This was followed by sanding the surface of the epoxy smooth and then attaching the engine section from the Republic Cruiser. The engine section on the Starfreighter is actually slightly different in the film, with a larger centerline engine, but I chose to make this a freighter variant that has three identical engine units.

I primed the model and filled in some low spots in the surface. After a second coat of gray acrylic, the entire ship was airbrushed with Tamiya Dark Green. A contrasting pattern of Applebarrel acrylic Concrete Gray was then hand-brushed on, and details of the engine panels were highlighted with this color as well. After those paints dried, I used the airbrush to carefully mist on Tamiya Metallic Gray to help blend the dark green and the concrete gray. I drilled a hole in the aft end of the model, mounted it on a curved styrene tube, and then mounted the model on its base.

Image: Right/rear view

Image: Right/front

Image: Head on

Image: Top/right