by Kenneth Milano
Scale: 1/48
The year was 1999. Alien spaceships appeared in the skies over the major cities of the world and, in a single moment, declared war on humanity in a devastating attack. We were brought to the edge of extinction. Only a crazy, last minute plan in a secret facility in Nevada saved humanity from the Grey Menace.
Fast-forward five years. The nations of the earth joined together in unity and slowly rebuilt civilization. Half the world’s population had died in the alien attack, or in the early years afterward from disease and starvation. Fearing another alien attack, the world’s scientists joined together to reverse engineer Grey technology that survived the war. The WTF (World Technology Factory) developed the critical technology that would build the President Whitmore Battle Station and the Levinson Early Warning Satellites around the Earth.
Present day – On the 12th anniversary of the Grey Attack, the Whitmore Station is fully operational and outfitted with a squadron of the first Terran Starfighter – the F-22 Raven. Built at the General Hiller Fighter Base, the starfighter sports a hybrid Terran/Grey propulsion system, capable of reaching orbit from earth and engaging alien fighters in space. Primary weapon systems include twin vulcan gatling guns and twin Grey green lasers. The Raven is loaded with modified sparrow and sidewinder missiles for combat in space. Two anti-radiation missiles and two “grey matter” torpedoes are for defense against “city killer” ships. The armored skin of the starfighter was adapted from alien fighter material. Unfortunately, scientists could not develop a small scale protective shield system for the fighter (only the Whitmore station has the power to support shields).
Even though there has been no sign of any new alien hostility, humanity will not be caught off-guard again. The best defense is a good Raven offense.
The model is a kitbash of an F-18 Super Hornet and the bottom halves of two ID4 Alien Attacker models with parts from a TOS Cylon Raider thrown in. The model is painted with Tamiya paints and weathering kit in the F-22 Raptor color scheme (another great fighter). Given the alternate history, the F-22 Raptor was never developed, so the Raven took the designation. The gattling guns came from a Super Deformed Gundam kit, and the lasers from the ID4 kits. The Sparrow and Sidewinder missiles came with the F-18, and the anti-radiation and grey matter missiles from my junk parts. The wood model base represents the Raven Squadron patches – a red circle representing the blood spilled in the Grey attack, and Humanity’s battle cry against any alien invader - “Nevermore!”
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