I want more hutts! But mostly the HH87 Starhopper...

By urbanyeti, in X-Wing

I picked up the Lords of Nal Hutta Sourcebook for Edge of the Empire and I enjoyed it immensely! But it got me thinking about how under represented the hutts and their dealings are in the scum (ok, their not, but I want more).

Anyway, I would absolutely love to see a HH87 Starhopper. It shares the awesome visual language of the Minstrel-Class space yacht and just oozes scum and villainy flavor. Anybody else?HH87Starhopper-SWE.jpg

God, that's ugly. I agree with you on more Hutt Cartel though, I just hope that thing isn't it. I'm hoping for more MandalMotors ships to go along with the M3-A.

I'm not sure how I feel about this, probably because of its rendering. If someone with good art skills changed it I would recommend the following:

1 - elongate the nose and sharpen its point

2 - sweep the wings back by about ten degrees, and change the wing shape so that there is not that angular anhedral at the end, but rather the wing has a smooth, drooping curve to it, like a blue heron gliding

3 - Move the cannons (which appear to be on turrets) slightly forward so they're out from beneath the shadow of the wing and can thus rotate upwards (the most useful rotation direction in a dogfight) and then extend the length of the blaster cannons to make them more menacing

4 - Shorten the tail fins and sweep them back more

5 - Cut down the fuselage so that the ship has vertical and rear visibility. Turn it into a bubble canopy, with a smooth curvaceous fuselage leading to the engine

Do all of those things, and this ship would be STUNNING

Is it just me, or does it look like a shoe with wings?

Is it just me, or does it look like a shoe with wings?

Yeah it has some major looks issues, but I think the front of it is salvageable. I love the nose of the minstrel class space yacht. It has great character to it. And I like the fuselage-mounted guns on swivel turrets, very logical if you don't have a parasol-wing monoplane (which this is). So, we change the wings a bit, change the cockpit and the fuselage, adjust those giant ear-like tail fins, and we get something that looks like a killer Hutt starfighter. I wish I could draw or use photoshop, as I've got it pretty clear in my head, and in my head it looks terrific.

The front half of a skiff with wings? hmm.....I dunno...

To me, it seems like the tail fins can rotate backwards and the primary wings can fold upwards. Not sure what the purpose would be, but it is interesting regardless.

So, I'm terrible at editing pictures, but this is kind of what I was thinking in terms of shape:

Starhopper%20Edit_zps6uedjseg.jpg

Basically, imagine a minstrel-class space yacht mixed with the F-117 Nighthawk

f117-sa3_zpsf20d4c0b.jpg

With a dash of YF-23 Black Widow thrown in for good measure:

YF-23-015aaa.jpg

Edited by Nightshrike

Am I the only one that misread the title as 'I want more butts'? Anyway, more Hutt cartel stuff would be great and seeing as the Scyk has some sister ships I would be surprised if we didn't see more of them.

So, I'm terrible at editing pictures, but this is kind of what I was thinking in terms of shape:

Starhopper%20Edit_zps6uedjseg.jpg

Basically, imagine a minstrel-class space yacht mixed with the F-117 Nighthawk

f117-sa3_zpsf20d4c0b.jpg

With a dash of YF-23 Black Widow thrown in for good measure:

YF-23-015aaa.jpg

OK...I smell what you're stepping in. I could get behind that, but that (unfortunately) it seems like it would stray a little far from the original design to be acceptable. I mean, I doesn't seem like *anyone* has really heard of this ship before, so I don't know how faithfully the X-Wing team needs to be,

If it does get into the game, I'd much rather see it as pictured above with some half-assed variant justification, than stay faithful to the original.

Yeah, and I apologize for my editing skills, but if you elevate the cockpit to give it 360 visibility, and make the nose even slightly longer and pointier, so that it looks like it could stab somebody to death, while still retaining that saucer-like curve, you end up with a great look to the nose, and not a bad design for stealth either. And I didn't include the guns turret just in front of the wing root, or the fact that I want the wing to sweep slightly more and curve gently downward. And, of course, I want two tail fins which lean towards the outside of the vessel. And I didn't have the engine in there, which should be big and awesome like the Scyk. So, the design needs a lot of TLC, but once you do, it becomes beautiful.

I'm not sure how I feel about this, probably because of its rendering. If someone with good art skills changed it I would recommend the following:

1 - elongate the nose and sharpen its point

2 - sweep the wings back by about ten degrees, and change the wing shape so that there is not that angular anhedral at the end, but rather the wing has a smooth, drooping curve to it, like a blue heron gliding

3 - Move the cannons (which appear to be on turrets) slightly forward so they're out from beneath the shadow of the wing and can thus rotate upwards (the most useful rotation direction in a dogfight) and then extend the length of the blaster cannons to make them more menacing

4 - Shorten the tail fins and sweep them back more

5 - Cut down the fuselage so that the ship has vertical and rear visibility. Turn it into a bubble canopy, with a smooth curvaceous fuselage leading to the engine

Do all of those things, and this ship would be STUNNING

HH87Starhopper-Shrike_zpsh3p0uszy.png

A quick attempt. It's still ugly ;)

More Hutts - yes - if FFG have an ounce of sense, Hutts will make up a major part ofthe faction.

The HH87 is a little underwhelming, but that's what I thought about the entire Scum faction when it was first announced, so what do I know!

I'm not sure how I feel about this, probably because of its rendering. If someone with good art skills changed it I would recommend the following:

1 - elongate the nose and sharpen its point

2 - sweep the wings back by about ten degrees, and change the wing shape so that there is not that angular anhedral at the end, but rather the wing has a smooth, drooping curve to it, like a blue heron gliding

3 - Move the cannons (which appear to be on turrets) slightly forward so they're out from beneath the shadow of the wing and can thus rotate upwards (the most useful rotation direction in a dogfight) and then extend the length of the blaster cannons to make them more menacing

4 - Shorten the tail fins and sweep them back more

5 - Cut down the fuselage so that the ship has vertical and rear visibility. Turn it into a bubble canopy, with a smooth curvaceous fuselage leading to the engine

Do all of those things, and this ship would be STUNNING

HH87Starhopper-Shrike_zpsh3p0uszy.png

A quick attempt. It's still ugly ;)

Brilliantly done! Okay, so now what you need to do is take the wings down to the mid-line of the ship or below, and introduce a curved sweep to them downward. Move the turrets slightly forward. Cut down the fuselage aft of the cockpit, so that the cockpit sits above the fuselage like it does above the nose. As you're doing that, elongate the tail slightly and move the tail fins down to the back of the tail, shortening them and making them wider. Then, I think we'll have something cute.

So, I'm terrible at editing pictures, but this is kind of what I was thinking in terms of shape:

Starhopper%20Edit_zps6uedjseg.jpg

Basically, imagine a minstrel-class space yacht mixed with the F-117 Nighthawk

f117-sa3_zpsf20d4c0b.jpg

With a dash of YF-23 Black Widow thrown in for good measure:

YF-23-015aaa.jpg

OK...I smell what you're stepping in. I could get behind that, but that (unfortunately) it seems like it would stray a little far from the original design to be acceptable. I mean, I doesn't seem like *anyone* has really heard of this ship before, so I don't know how faithfully the X-Wing team needs to be,

If it does get into the game, I'd much rather see it as pictured above with some half-assed variant justification, than stay faithful to the original.

It's canon - it was piloted by Obi-Wan, disguised as a Bounty Hunter, in an episode of The Clone Wars.

It even has a Lego version!

Who cares about canon? Ugly canon starfighters are still ugly. Also Star Wars desperately needs to consider the value of all-around visibility in a fighter. We can rebuild it. We can make it stronger, faster...

Scum ships especially Hutt ships are going to be ugly. Its what they can do that counts. Or what all sorts of toys you can out fit them with

The Scyk isn't ugly, the Dunelizard isn't ugly, the Z-95 isn't ugly, the Y-wing isn't ugly. There's a difference between a ship looking brutal and thuggish (like the Y-wing) and being just an ugly, stupid design like the Starhopper. I'm still working on a good Hutt-inspired starfighter now, as I've been inspired by this thread. I think Jabba's sail barge and the Sand Skiff provide all the right lines for a good fighter, but the Starhopper is clearly not the answer.

In my opinion, the Starhopper owes more to the droids from the prequels than from the Hutts as inspiration and that can't possibly be a good thing.

Edited by Nightshrike

m22t-hutt-gunship.jpg

This is the Scyk's big sister, do not call her ugly or she'll blast you into space debris.

The Krayt is cool, though I prefer the Kimogila. I'm really inspired by this thread though. Imagine a cross between Jabba's Sail Barge, the Minstrel Class Yacht, the Sand Skiff, and an A-wing, and you'll see where my mind is headed.

m22t-hutt-gunship.jpg

This is the Scyk's big sister, do not call her ugly or she'll blast you into space debris.

LOVE THIS!!!!!! This can be Scums large turret ship. FFG make this happen

It's not a large ship, I don't think. It's a big small-base ship, more like the B-wing.

Is it? Looks kinda big....like HWK big

Is it? Looks kinda big....like HWK big

Right, but the HWK isn't large base. Is it? Now I have to go look and check...

the HWK is largest small base ship (length wise). There was a size discrepancy between the two video games it appeared in, but Lucasfilms settled on the smaller of the two as the official version.

Ugly ship but it definitely has some flavor and personality. I'd buy it!