Might of the Empire

I couldn't let the E-Wing I posted last week go without an opponent, so I purchased one of my personal favorite Star Wars ships to battle it- a TIE Interceptor. First encountered by the Rebellion in the months leading up to the battle of Endor, it improved upon the TIE Fighter's already considerable maneuverability, while adding improved firepower and visibility. It is also, in my opinion, one of the most lethal looking space fighters inside or out of Star Wars canon, and is flown by some of the greatest aces the Empire has to offer.

The pilots included with the expansion pack show a strong focus on the 181st Imperial Fighter Wing, lead by Baron Soontir Fel, first seen in the Rogue Squadron comic series. This is to my liking, I even added bloodstripes used by the 181st to the side solar panels. The pilot abilities and upgrades included seem to take advantage of the Interceptor's greatest asset, its speed and maneuverability. Turr Phennir (the 181st's XO and later commander) in particular will be able to pull hit and run passes with ease, darting in and out of range to strike at slower Rebel opponents.

I did not do as much detail work on this model as on the E-Wing. In looking back at its only screen appearance in RotJ, the Interceptor is relatively clean and is painted a uniform grey. Weathering was really restricted to a heavy wash and carbon streaking around the laser muzzles. In researching this fighter, I discovered that some argue that the Intercepors at Endor had 10 cannons- four on the wingtips, four inside the cutaway portion of the wings, and two below the cockpit. I re-watched the Endor space sequences specifically looking for this, and all the shots fired appeared to be coming from the wingtips, so I only detailed these.

This shows the bloodstriping to good effect. These stripes were all painted by hand, without masking, so there is some slight deviance in the lines. I was expecting them to be much harder to paint than they ended up being. I had no trouble painting over the actual solar panels, the detailing on them actually helped keep the lines straight.

The twin ion engines, which give the TIE its name, were the only other spot of detail I added. You can also see the extra depth that the ink wash added around the engines and on the inside of the solar panel.

Squints incoming!