Star Wars Poster #30 B-Wing Star Destroyer Death Star

Description

The B-wing heavy assault starfighter, known simply as the B-wing starfighter, was one of the largest and most heavily armed starfighters/bombers in the Rebel Alliance’s fleet. The name B-wing came from the craft’s remote similarity in appearance to the lowercase letter “b”, although its swordlike shape in attack mode has earned it the nickname “blade-wing”, which may be another reason for the “b” prefix. Known as “crosses” due to their distinct shape, the B-wing was designed by the Verpine company Slayn & Korpil in cooperation with then-Commander Gial Ackbar as part of the Shantipole Project. The B-wing, though difficult to fly, participated in numerous engagements across the galaxy during the latter parts of the Galactic Civil War, including the Battle of Endor and the liberation of Coruscant. The B-wing was used in its primary role of assault starfighter by both the New Republic and the Galactic Alliance throughout the Yuuzhan Vong War and beyond. Later models included a two-man version that could be used as a small transport. “You’re among the best pilots in the galaxy. You’ll have to be if you want to control this starship.” ?Admiral Ackbar briefing B-wing pilots prior to the Battle of Endor. Its weapons systems included three wing-tip ion-cannons, a heavy laser cannon with a low-power targeting laser, twin auto blasters with a low-power targeting laser, a mount for additional weapons consisting of an auto-blaster or others, and a proton torpedo launcher magazines, including one that carried four torpedoes total on the lower wing launcher and a secondary torpedo launcher magazine just below the cockpit area. Like its predecessor, the Y-wing, the cockpit could be detached from the rest of the ship, but unlike the Y-wing, the B-wing’s cockpit could be ejected into space and support atmospheric re-entry. The craft’s unusually thin shape was problematic for blue-screen photography; the model tended to blend into the starfield. As a consequence, some planned sequences with the B-wing were cut from the original release of Return of the Jedi, and the B-wing is not explicitly shown in action during the Battle of Endor in the film. In fact, after the ships fly away from the still-active Death Star II shield at the start of the battle, the B-wing is hardly seen at all. The rotating cockpit design of the B-wing was based on early concept art for the Millennium Falcon. The craft derives its name from the fact that the crew labeled the two new Rebel starfighter models in Return of the Jedi as “A fighter” and “B fighter”. While the A-wing looks similar to a capital A, the B-wing, on first glance, does not resemble its namesake. However, when viewed upon from a certain angle, it looks like a lowercase b. The in-universe answer is that “B” stands for “Blade”, making the craft’s full name “Blade-wing starfighter”. B-wings are made to land with the cockpit on the right side. However in Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader and Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike the B-Wing hovers in the hangar with the cockpit on the left side. Still in these two games, for technical reasons, it is impossible to make the cockpit spin as the ship rotates. In 2000, LEGO released a set titled “B-wing at Rebel Control Center” which included a B-wing and a rebel command center with B-wing pilot, Rebel mechanic, and R5-D4 minifigures. LEGO released another set in 2006 titled “B-wing Fighter”, which included an improved B-wing model, a display stand, and two minifugures: Ten-Numb and a Rebel pilot. In 2012, LEGO will release an ultimate collector series edition called “B-wing” that includes a bigger, non-minifigure display model of the ship, a stand with name plaque and no minifigures.

Near mint condition.