by Terry Miesle

Bad things ply the dark voids between inhabited planets looking for trouble and profit. Droids look for the bad things - untiring, unrelenting, and undaunted in their hunt. They know their role and, as much as a machine intelligence can, relish it.

Clawdroids, the first droids deployed in Csilla’s defense, patrol alongside their partner Chiss pilots. Developed from the Chiss’ modified TIE design, the droid fighters have nearly unlimited range and increased firepower compared with the Clawcraft fighters. These larger weapons required a field-modified power coupling between wings, an aesthetic compromise the Chiss engineers hope to eliminate during an upgrade cycle.

The model is a pre-production trial kit from Blue Moon. Its engineering and casting was inferior to that found in the commercially available kit. I replaced the original weapons, part were cast on the wings and not good. When I eliminated the casting channels between wings, I was dismayed to find the wings bent inwards and down, the steel rod spacer is the best solution I had. In retrospect, a better solution would have been more akin to the spacing channels.

Paints used are mostly Tamiya, though some Acrylos Vallejo and others are used in spots. The droid “cockpit” is a casting from a Gundam kit, a great little sensor suite and some other greeblies to dress up the front. The guns are brass and aluminum rod, plus some styrene strip.

Image: Top/left view

Image: Rear

Image: Front

Image: Sensors

Image: Right side