I adore the design of this ship. I also had an idea to make a special one-off prototype corvette-killer version of this named The Whale. It would be intensely-modified with very heavy armour plating and a unique super-heavy turbolaser-ion cannon hybrid weapon with spinal energy cells to support it. I imagine that it was operated by a top-secret imperial spec-ops team and had heavy modifications to the engines to maintain the incredible speed of the vessel even with the added armour and heavy weapon. The engines were, however, highly unreliable, but when operative, allowed The Whale to go at silly speeds, allowing it to drop out of an ISD’s hangar and race throughout a rebel fleet, cutting corvettes, freighters, and light frigates to pieces.
I’m really not that interested in gaming out matchups like this. Within the same rough size range it always depends, with crew performance and luck almost as important as structural differences. A well handled Victory can take down a poorly handled ISD or the ISD can roflstomp the Vic. It depends.
Right ok then so the question i should have ask is which is more powerful this or raider?
I guess the Aiwha would have more power due to it’s duel MTL on the top and it’s Ion cannons but might lack the speed of the raider right?
Hecatomb
8 years ago
Now this is what the Raider Corvette should have looked like. The design brings to mind the Defiant from DS9: something very fast and highly maneuverable, but also heavily armed and tough. Not a ship I’d want to tangle with!
George Apley
8 years ago
Wonder who makes this puppy. Doesn’t have the aesthetic of a KDY design. Good stuff!
KDY has a pretty wide aesthetic range. Goes from Star Destroyers to the Nebulon B to the Ton-Falk. I think it’s more like KDY than anyone else in the big core manufacturers – Sienar’s capships are mostly either upscaled fighter aesthetic (Marauder) or a play on KDY aesthetic (Vindicator), it has none of CEC’s beloved tubes, Rendili’s designs seem to mostly be blister-ridden, Incom doesn’t go bigger than gunships, it doesn’t have the big fins of a Cygnus design, Telgorn does shuttles, Damorian only has the Carrack for a sample and it sure looks nothing like that, we’re kinda running out of traditional manufacturers.
This isn’t a stereotypical wedge but it’s pretty angular in KDY’s most favoured style, and the only other manufacturers who make anything that could look a little like this are Silviut (which only started making domestic designs way later) and Sorosuub, maybe? Even then, no closer within their aesthetic range than it is to the KDY range.
Also KDY is the one most likely to call something an Aiwha – that’s a Kaminoan domesticated animal, and KDY (specifically, Rothana Heavy Engineering) worked pretty closely with Kamino for over a decade to equip the clone army. They have the exposure and potential interest.
Steve Bannon
8 years ago
I wonder if there’s any room in Palpatine’s order of battle for a dedicated heavy missile corvette based on this chassis. If one removes all the turbolasers/ions, you could probably pack 12 ordnance tubes of the same size as the Dreadnaught-Refit’s tubes Fractal did a while ago, which would allow such an Aiwha-II to deliver a punishing alpha-strike to any Rebels it stumbled across before jumping out. A fleet outrider recon-ship with the ability to punch far out of its weight class for a few moments before getting out is a capability that not only the Alliance should have.
Missiles are good for amplifying power. Theoretically great for fixed battles. But in Imperial service, I think they’d be limited. Why? Rebels fight on ground of their choosing (if they’re at all smart) – at that point, having missiles is great. But the Imperial Navy has to be ready everywhere. So the relative value of “ship” money vs “warhead” money is different. A warhead carrier is pretty much only good for fixed battles – at all other times they are at best saddled with mass they won’t use (because who uses a multi-hundred teraton anti-capital warhead on a blockade runner?), and at worst an explosion hazard. On the defense they may never be in a situation to properly use their main battery, which is a waste of money. Better then to spend it on “ship” – less alpha power, but usable everywhere.
Now the Aiwha does have alpha power (relative to its class), because MTL is pretty damn dangerous to anything short of a frigate. But those guns can find use all the time, while a hypothetical Aiwha-II would rarely get to use its weapons.
Arguably, missiles are actually really good for the Imperial navy. They have to be ready everywhere, so missiles have a pretty strong use case. Like on your Dreadnought – it has the mainline ‘ship’ armament to cover its backwoods patrol duties, and then the one time in the ship’s life a serious rebel threat emerges, it has the missiles to entertainingly spike its firepower. It’s genuinely really good on those sort of backwoods ships and escorts that are equipped sufficient for their regular duties, but not for when they get jumped by a concentrated rebel task force.
Though yes, the Aiwha wouldn’t really want a full-missile configuration. The Aiwha is a fast-attack ship but a lot of its duties are patrol and pursuit and like… it has duties that aren’t fleet action against heavy rebel ships. It’d be great at it once you get to that fleet action, but the Empire will already have numeric and firepower superiourity and adding a little extra isn’t massively worth a ship that’s doing nothing for the times when it’s just general patrol rather than fleet action.
Though if you could cram a couple of missiles on the Aiwha without cutting too badly into its core armament it might work out very nicely. The Aiwha’s main duties outside wolfpacking are going to be patrol, pursuit, and picketing, all things where it’s what makes first contact with the enemy. It needs enough guns to cover those duties against typical opposition (pirates, blockade runners, scouting elements, etc), but if it could cram a few missiles on, it can respond to encountering non-typical opposition with a kick in the teeth and running off, and it’ll enhance their alpha-strike when they’re working as a wolfpack to fight fleet actions.
RhysT
8 years ago
Holy Cow! Awesome stuff. Oh how much I wish you were one of the design leads for the Star Wars Films. Not that I’m in any position to criticize the guys who are. I mean, I’ve got enough art and design education under my belt to realize just how much work has gone into even ONE of their creations. And I admit I certainly couldn’t do their job… Just wish they’d gone for different look for a lot of the new trilogy stuff. I digress, this is awesome. Keep up the good work.
gorkmalork
8 years ago
This star stingray sports a fine blend of clean lines & fire arcs, and the scale comparison with your Vigil class is much appreciated. Incidentally, would the Aiwha boast enough thrust to keep up with, say, an Indictor on fast recon duty?
I think the real question is if the Indictor has the thrust to keep up with the Aiwha. The Aiwha is like 50% engine. The Indictor’s like, 33% to 40%? The Aiwha’s twin engines might be the same model as the Indictor’s single.
On close inspection, they don’t quite look the same, but still, the Aiwha has a whole lot more engine relative to its mass.
Soren
8 years ago
Quick question; her bridge, where is it?Since I can’t see it I assume it is an internal bridge, instead of the standard outer bridge seen in most SW ships. Great! A ship without an immediately visible target!
Soren
8 years ago
Beautiful ship! Looks like the sort of ship I’d want in a fleet!
Certainly good to challenge the Mon Cal monopoly on spaceborne ‘marine’ aesthetic now & again, even if their designers seem stuck in a ‘submarine with skin condition’ rut. And the bridge is probably somewhere near/beneath that little sensor dome just above/behind the bow turret, though good luck pinpointing that while chasing a ship with this much thrust.
I adore the design of this ship. I also had an idea to make a special one-off prototype corvette-killer version of this named The Whale. It would be intensely-modified with very heavy armour plating and a unique super-heavy turbolaser-ion cannon hybrid weapon with spinal energy cells to support it. I imagine that it was operated by a top-secret imperial spec-ops team and had heavy modifications to the engines to maintain the incredible speed of the vessel even with the added armour and heavy weapon. The engines were, however, highly unreliable, but when operative, allowed The Whale to go at silly speeds, allowing it to drop out of an ISD’s hangar and race throughout a rebel fleet, cutting corvettes, freighters, and light frigates to pieces.
Looks like an armed fish. With ion engines.
It does look like it should be swimming in the sea! >
Where is the bridge on this thing?
Fractal said it is a internal bridge.
It a CIC
So Fractal if the Aiwha a light corvette and the Vigil a heavy corvette then what your idea on the medium corvette?
I would guess a Raider class. He hasn’t done one of those yet but I hope one comes. It deserves better representation than what it’s had so far.
Reminiscent of a horseshoe crab. Very nice design, but unfitting of an Imperial ship though.
Great job Fractal, what are its dimensions?
Flounder, with TEETH.
What is the other ship in the photo
The Vigil class star corvette (it is a heavy corvette)
What are the triangular louvrered sections on the upper hull, and if those ball turreted cannons on the nose are ion weapons, what’re grade are they?
What are the triangular louvered areas on the port and starboard side upper hull?
Sensor panels.
Thank you! Is this about 170 meters in length or a little longer?
150 meters the same as the CR90.
Wow! Those are big escape pods!
So Fractal if you are going to make a Raider class Corvette will it have a similar role to the Aiwha class or a much different role?
I wonder how fast this corvette is like 3500-3700g?
Love the look. It screams Mon Call to me, due to looking reminicent of a crustacean.
How far off axis can the ball turrets traverse? I’m guessing 45 degrees. Please correct me if i am wrong.
Pretty much right.
Fractal which ship do you think will win in a battle this one or the Raider?
I’m really not that interested in gaming out matchups like this. Within the same rough size range it always depends, with crew performance and luck almost as important as structural differences. A well handled Victory can take down a poorly handled ISD or the ISD can roflstomp the Vic. It depends.
Right ok then so the question i should have ask is which is more powerful this or raider?
I guess the Aiwha would have more power due to it’s duel MTL on the top and it’s Ion cannons but might lack the speed of the raider right?
Now this is what the Raider Corvette should have looked like. The design brings to mind the Defiant from DS9: something very fast and highly maneuverable, but also heavily armed and tough. Not a ship I’d want to tangle with!
Wonder who makes this puppy. Doesn’t have the aesthetic of a KDY design. Good stuff!
KDY has a pretty wide aesthetic range. Goes from Star Destroyers to the Nebulon B to the Ton-Falk. I think it’s more like KDY than anyone else in the big core manufacturers – Sienar’s capships are mostly either upscaled fighter aesthetic (Marauder) or a play on KDY aesthetic (Vindicator), it has none of CEC’s beloved tubes, Rendili’s designs seem to mostly be blister-ridden, Incom doesn’t go bigger than gunships, it doesn’t have the big fins of a Cygnus design, Telgorn does shuttles, Damorian only has the Carrack for a sample and it sure looks nothing like that, we’re kinda running out of traditional manufacturers.
This isn’t a stereotypical wedge but it’s pretty angular in KDY’s most favoured style, and the only other manufacturers who make anything that could look a little like this are Silviut (which only started making domestic designs way later) and Sorosuub, maybe? Even then, no closer within their aesthetic range than it is to the KDY range.
Also KDY is the one most likely to call something an Aiwha – that’s a Kaminoan domesticated animal, and KDY (specifically, Rothana Heavy Engineering) worked pretty closely with Kamino for over a decade to equip the clone army. They have the exposure and potential interest.
I wonder if there’s any room in Palpatine’s order of battle for a dedicated heavy missile corvette based on this chassis. If one removes all the turbolasers/ions, you could probably pack 12 ordnance tubes of the same size as the Dreadnaught-Refit’s tubes Fractal did a while ago, which would allow such an Aiwha-II to deliver a punishing alpha-strike to any Rebels it stumbled across before jumping out. A fleet outrider recon-ship with the ability to punch far out of its weight class for a few moments before getting out is a capability that not only the Alliance should have.
Missiles are good for amplifying power. Theoretically great for fixed battles. But in Imperial service, I think they’d be limited. Why? Rebels fight on ground of their choosing (if they’re at all smart) – at that point, having missiles is great. But the Imperial Navy has to be ready everywhere. So the relative value of “ship” money vs “warhead” money is different. A warhead carrier is pretty much only good for fixed battles – at all other times they are at best saddled with mass they won’t use (because who uses a multi-hundred teraton anti-capital warhead on a blockade runner?), and at worst an explosion hazard. On the defense they may never be in a situation to properly use their main battery, which is a waste of money. Better then to spend it on “ship” – less alpha power, but usable everywhere.
Now the Aiwha does have alpha power (relative to its class), because MTL is pretty damn dangerous to anything short of a frigate. But those guns can find use all the time, while a hypothetical Aiwha-II would rarely get to use its weapons.
Arguably, missiles are actually really good for the Imperial navy. They have to be ready everywhere, so missiles have a pretty strong use case. Like on your Dreadnought – it has the mainline ‘ship’ armament to cover its backwoods patrol duties, and then the one time in the ship’s life a serious rebel threat emerges, it has the missiles to entertainingly spike its firepower. It’s genuinely really good on those sort of backwoods ships and escorts that are equipped sufficient for their regular duties, but not for when they get jumped by a concentrated rebel task force.
Though yes, the Aiwha wouldn’t really want a full-missile configuration. The Aiwha is a fast-attack ship but a lot of its duties are patrol and pursuit and like… it has duties that aren’t fleet action against heavy rebel ships. It’d be great at it once you get to that fleet action, but the Empire will already have numeric and firepower superiourity and adding a little extra isn’t massively worth a ship that’s doing nothing for the times when it’s just general patrol rather than fleet action.
Though if you could cram a couple of missiles on the Aiwha without cutting too badly into its core armament it might work out very nicely. The Aiwha’s main duties outside wolfpacking are going to be patrol, pursuit, and picketing, all things where it’s what makes first contact with the enemy. It needs enough guns to cover those duties against typical opposition (pirates, blockade runners, scouting elements, etc), but if it could cram a few missiles on, it can respond to encountering non-typical opposition with a kick in the teeth and running off, and it’ll enhance their alpha-strike when they’re working as a wolfpack to fight fleet actions.
Holy Cow! Awesome stuff. Oh how much I wish you were one of the design leads for the Star Wars Films. Not that I’m in any position to criticize the guys who are. I mean, I’ve got enough art and design education under my belt to realize just how much work has gone into even ONE of their creations. And I admit I certainly couldn’t do their job… Just wish they’d gone for different look for a lot of the new trilogy stuff. I digress, this is awesome. Keep up the good work.
This star stingray sports a fine blend of clean lines & fire arcs, and the scale comparison with your Vigil class is much appreciated. Incidentally, would the Aiwha boast enough thrust to keep up with, say, an Indictor on fast recon duty?
I think the real question is if the Indictor has the thrust to keep up with the Aiwha. The Aiwha is like 50% engine. The Indictor’s like, 33% to 40%? The Aiwha’s twin engines might be the same model as the Indictor’s single.
On close inspection, they don’t quite look the same, but still, the Aiwha has a whole lot more engine relative to its mass.
Quick question; her bridge, where is it?Since I can’t see it I assume it is an internal bridge, instead of the standard outer bridge seen in most SW ships. Great! A ship without an immediately visible target!
Beautiful ship! Looks like the sort of ship I’d want in a fleet!
In my* fleet!
Certainly good to challenge the Mon Cal monopoly on spaceborne ‘marine’ aesthetic now & again, even if their designers seem stuck in a ‘submarine with skin condition’ rut. And the bridge is probably somewhere near/beneath that little sensor dome just above/behind the bow turret, though good luck pinpointing that while chasing a ship with this much thrust.
SWEET!!!