by Nathan Kelley

The Griffin class star fighter was introduced in 2186 by the IHMJ Engineering Corp. as a multi-use star fighter platform. Griffins are equipped with two heavy blasters mounted to the swept wings, a KTB-900 targeting/sensor suite, and heavy shields. The engines and reinforced airframe were designed to accommodate a variety of weapon hard points for multiple weapon payload types and sizes. Griffin variants include ground support, fighter interceptor (shown), heavy assault, and reconnaissance.

Due to a recent move, I have several old broken models that are providing plenty of kit bashing material. The fuselage, side engines, missiles, and cockpit come from a broken Apache helicopter model I had. I took the propeller nose cone from an Osprey along with a fair amount of putty to form the nose of the Griffin. After filling in the top propeller hole in the nose cone, I realized that it would be easier to use two P-51 Mustang wheels to form the shield generators and also cover the bottom two propeller holes in the nose cone.

The main wings were cut from a sheet of aluminum and supplemented with several leftover wing panels from a few Ep. III Jedi star fighter kits and the relocated Apache's original wings. I then mounted the original Apache engines upside down and a little lower and further back on the fuselage. The wing guns came from a B5 starfury and a couple leftover missile tube parts from a Hind helicopter I recently finished. I then cannibalized the engine intakes from another Apache and placed them in the gun turret hole and to the underside of the wing engines to form the landing thrusters.

After an initial coat of white primer, I decided to finish of the Griffin with flat white and red stripes.

Image: Front view

Image: Rear

Image: Underneath

Image: Cockpit

Image: Top

Image: Right/Front