In-Universe History
After the Victory over the Trade Federation, Nubian designers realized there was a new market for small yachts that resembled the Queens Starship. Not wanting to directly copy her design out of respect, Nubian designers took inspiration from the basic design, but provided additional provisions for a small star yacht. As the Galactic Republic fell and transformed into the Galactic Empire, these ships became targets of pirates and gangsters since they signified some level of wealth. In those years, several smaller companies offered after-market modifications to Nubian designs including better long-range communications and more advanced and powerful weapons systems. By the time of the Rebel evacuation from Hoth, the F-type was almost unrecognizable on the inside as a Nubian starship, though retaining its beautiful lines on the outside. The starship was mostly
Real World History
Celestial Fire was a fun project, and I walked away feeling a little sad that there wasn't anything else to follow up with it. But I had thought about, and played with, doing a Nubian design for the hero ship in lieu of a more traditional Corellian-inspired design that is somewhat over-used. Besides, the original J-Type from the Phantom Menance was inspired by one of the best airplanes of all time: the SR-71 Blackbird.
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| ooh yeah...thats the stuff |
So with lineage like that, how can one say "no" to trying to design a Nubian starship? I walked in thinking there was a lot more potential in this design lineage that was un tapped. However, I walked away with a completely different opinion. Nubian designs are boring! The reason is because there is only so much you can do with them from a configuration standpoint without seeming ridiculous. And that is an easy trap to fall into. The second thing that makes them boring is that to keep with the sleek and artistic design aesthetic requires almost no paneling and therefore no greebling. Those are the little details that make things seem real and visually interesting.
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| What was to be the tailgun position |
In fairness, other than doing "Nubian" I had no other plans or requirements. Unlike the original Celestial Fire where I knew that it was a surveillance vessel that would go out alone and unafraid, this starship had no clear direction. Therefore its a mis-match of parts and design concepts with no real direction. I also was struggling with the limitations of Sketchup. Its a powerful tool but still has its limits. It doesn't do curves very well and Nubian designs are nothing but curves. Midway through I decided I wanted a tailgunner position, as if the Nubians decided to build a small gunship of some kind. Then after I added the ventral and dorsal turrets, the tailgun position seemed moot.
I added the turrets mostly because I still had some thoughts for cones of lethality during the Galactic Civil War. But I made them too blocky whereas Nubian design language would be to use curves or domes for such a design. I was mostly facing issues with my ability to manipulate Sketchup that lead to the implementation of a more boxy style turret.
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| Dorsal Turret. I would like to have made it more streamlined to go with the 1930s aesthetic |
Simply in the interest of adding details, I put vertical stabilizers from an F-18 onto the back. Part of that was because the SR-71 has vertical stabilizers, but I wanted to have something that looked moer aggressive. So I took the ones off of a modern F-18.
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| Anyone Else feel the Need for Speed? |
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