B-Wing Mark 2: A complete History (fan design/lore)

i thought it was high time to revisit my old b-wing mark ii design i designed this successor to the b-wing back in early 2019 based on the fact that the b-wing mark ii is indeed a canonical ship but just one that we haven't ever seen on screen well apart from its heavily modified cockpit module but i'm excited to share this new video with you because since then i've had a lot of new ideas for this ship firstly for those of you who haven't seen my original video from a few years ago where i first went over this design this b-wing is a completely original variant of the ship and is much larger than the original b-wing this is partially due to the fact that canonically this shuttle cockpit from the last jedi is a heavily modified b-wing mark ii cockpit module and it's positively massive inside so the ship needed to be scaled up as a whole to make it work and secondly it does create a nice connection with some old ralph mccrory art that depicted the b-wing as more of a multi-man bomber with 360-degree cockpit windows both things that i retained in this bigger successor to the b-wing now clearly this ship wouldn't fill quite the same role as the original b-wing starfighter so i pushed it more into the territory of world war ii patrol bombers or gunships with heavier weapons than a fighter would typically carry a multi-man crew and a turret to more effectively combat fighters so although it retains most of the outward configuration of a b-wing starfighter it's really a completely different kind of ship which is something i've given a lot of thought to in coming up with my fan fiction lore for this project so let's get into that the beaming mark ii found its place for a brief moment in time as the new republic transitioned to their unique model of space combat essentially the vast disarmament campaign following the fall of the empire meant that the new republic was broadly phasing out the sort of massive capital ships that had typified the last conflict additionally the new republic was distancing itself from large-scale fighter tactics as well under the old model thousands of fighters required constant high precision maintenance from tens of thousands of ground-based personnel in order to function with the guarantee of top combat effectiveness furthermore without the limitless industrial might of the empire there was simply no galactic power that posed a significant threat demanding large squadrons of fighter craft so as the new republic backed away from both fighters and from large-scale capital ships that left this interesting gap in the new republic fleet one that would be filled with patrol bombers like the pbn y-wing and gun ships like the b-wing mark ii now there was significant overlap between the two vessels but the pbn y-wing would go on to fill more peace time rolls like search and rescue as well as personnel and light cargo transport while the b-wing mark ii was almost always employed as a long-range combat patrol ship and it was seen as a serious threat to both fighters and small capital ships while officially designated as a successor to the b-wing starfighter this vessel shed virtually any pretense of being a fighter it completely redefined the role of a b-wing and was consequently often referred to as a b-wing gunship due to its wingtip turbo laser an artillery-grade weapon that no fighter craft to date had ever carried this impressive cannon in addition to an ion cannon torpedoes and variable ammo launchers allowed the b-wing mark ii to single-handedly engage targets at least as large as corvettes and while not nearly as maneuverable as most fighters the beaming mark ii was armed with more traditional fighter weaponry each s-foil supported two computer-assisted swivel tip blasters and a medium laser cannon additionally the ship was well defended with a rear-facing blaster turret boasting an abnormally wide cone of fire both of these simultaneous loadouts would allow the b-wing mark ii to contend with virtually any threat in the newly emerging post-imperial galaxy which mostly consisted of small groups of scrappy fighters and under-crewed small warships operated by pirates and local warlords but ultimately most of the duties of the bba mark ii would be extended duration missions in border territories part of the appeal of this sort of vessel is that it can operate indefinitely or at least as long as supplies last and it requires no specific home base or mothership furthermore the b-wing mark ii was made even more versatile by way of the distinctive cutout on its main wing this cutout was in fact a modular equipment bay that could interface directly with a variety of the b-wing systems essentially standardized modules could be fitted into the space and could contain specialized ordnance mission-specific sensor suites and even certain kinds of cargo between this and the fact that it was operated by a crew of at least three constantly rotating in shifts the b-wing mark ii could take on virtually any mission profile or mission duration and the new republic could maintain an ever-present watch in the fringes of their territory without ever having to man or maintain large crew-intensive ships the b-wing mark ii supported its crew with a surprisingly expansive interior including a small cabin located in the main hull beside the cockpit these interior spaces could be accessed via the airlock hub situated between the cockpit and the rear turret this hub featured a corridor on the starboard side leading into the ship this corridor gave access to a boarding ramp before opening into the main cabin the cabin was by no means spacious but with an efficient layout it managed to provide the crew with every basic amenity equipped with a network-enabled computer terminal storage compartments a well-stocked galley and a bed this cabin would provide the perfect place for off-duty crew to relax and regenerate on long patrol missions extendable furniture would allow for multiple crew members to use the space simultaneously though this would be rare as a crew of three would only ever really have one off duty crew member at any given time though these ships were known to operate with as many as four crew members or with a droid which while not consuming resources could still take up precious space in the tiny cabin and occasionally while landing on inhospitable worlds or at facilities lacking accommodations the cabin would have to support the entire crew all using the space simultaneously for different functions needless to say it could get a little hectic and crew members absolutely required a strong bond to function properly this particular b-wing mark ii was known as the trident protector and it was operated by a three-man crew the captain and lead pilot argo otoko was a native of sereno and although he rarely talked about his homeworld his helmet did boast some mysterious serenian iconography while most topics didn't interest him he could easily talk at length about the strengths weaknesses and technical specifications of virtually every conceivable starship class jethro's stormsailer acted as navigator and bombardier born and raised on freighters in the outer rim he felt right at home within the tight confines of the trident protector given his lifelong adaptations to putting up with the same people for months on end he had a permissive attitude and could make friends with almost anybody though he was also known to tell the occasional tall tale the protector's third crew member was known only as iso who served as the ship's flight engineer and doubled as the gunner in combat for the most part he spoke only when absolutely necessary and spent large portions of his off time directly plugged into the ship's computer systems via his cybernetic implant consequently virtually nobody knew anything about his history but he was a valued member of the crew as his direct link to the ship's targeting systems made him an impeccable shot while manning the turret but despite the fact that ships like the trident protector and her heroic crew were very good at their assigned missions the capricious policymakers of the new republic would ultimately spell the downfall of the b-wing mark ii program while the effectiveness of the mark ii was superbly well established the optics of these powerful gunships somewhat casually exploding entire bands of pirates evoked distasteful comparisons to the empire's enforcement tactics this meant that in the end only a very small number of these craft were ever produced after a relatively brief period of active service most of these ships were stripped of their weapons and sold to private individuals some finding their way into the hands of independent governments in the outer rim where they would be re-equipped and would essentially take on their original role just under the control of local defense forces there's no record of resistance forces ever possessing a functional b-wing mark ii but after the cancellation of the mark ii project slaining corporal's manufacturing facilities were just filled with surplus parts from unproduced ships engine housings cockpit shells hull panels these would be sold wholesale at auction and through this channel would find their way into resistance hands where they would be incorporated into the largely ad hoc ship designs of their ragtag fleet the true potential of the b-wing mark ii was never fully realized but its legacy would live on in corners of the galaxy largely ignored by the major powers and that's the b wing mark ii i made this ship over two years ago but i've been wanting to revisit it pretty much ever since it was a ton of fun bringing new life to this design i loved fleshing out an entire interior and coming up with a cast of characters to crew the ship that's something i've never done before but i would love to do it for future projects as well to achieve the characters the interiors the exteriors and to flesh them out to this level of immersion meant that this was a huge project involving multiple artists working on completely different aspects simultaneously ryan fletcher known for his incredible star wars fan films over at skyforge provided the exciting battle animation of the b-wing mark ii in action his sense of motion and the energy that his animation has is really kind of unparalleled he also provided the three unique characters that crew the trident protector another team member is margaret herbiner the owner of morning cloudshine where she makes exquisite paper cutting art but she took the time out of her busy routine to provide the designs for each crew member's personalized helmet blending new imagery with classic rebel helmet design to create graphics with a unique vibe for a relatively underexplored era of star wars history i would then digitally transfer these designs to helmets that i modeled and would then pass them to angalos cartarinis who would make the stunning renders that you see here and speaking of ogalos cartarenas he of course brought his amazing rendering talents fully to bear his lavish cinematic still renders make up a massive portion of this video ongalos is also an irreplaceable creative springboard for establishing the design the backstories and the general atmosphere that really bring these projects to life our process of sharing inspiration passing concepts back and forth and slowly honing and refining them is an integral part of the entire project i love working with this team of incredible artists but it does mean that these projects are huge undertakings that occasionally take months of collaboration and meticulous craftsmanship by several artists to produce i try my absolute best to fairly compensate the artists i work with and that's really only possible through the support of over 230 amazing supporters on patreon it is not hyperbole to say that i literally could not have produced this video without your support and i cannot thank you guys enough for your dedication and your enthusiasm toward the artistic work that we do on this channel if any of you who don't already support me want to be a part of that it would mean the world to me if you would consider heading on over to patreon and seeing if that's the sort of thing that you would like to do to everybody watching i hope you enjoyed the video i hope you have a great day and i'll see you next time

Channel: EC Henry

Views: 426,216

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Id: vrI7B20tS0o

Length: 12min 0sec (720 seconds)

Published: Sat Nov 27 2021