Sorry but i see more parallels to the pacific theatre as well. The fighters fit much better and on top of that, Its an american movie and they are quite obsessed with Pearl Harbor (understandably!) and what resulted.

Also the rebels lack heavy capital ships like the US Navy did after Pearl Harbor. So both rely on their carriers and fighters!

Also the Tie Fighter to me is a Zero rather than a 109.

I would still say the Spitfire is the X Wing since he did use mixed footage from WW2 movies for inspiration.especially Battle of Britain But he lifted whole and complete the finale of 633 Squadron so the Y Wing would have to be the Mosquito. Although if one goes to the orignal design concepts then the X and Y wings were both just fighters with the same speed etc. But this does fall apart since the TIE is definitely the Zero, At least in my mind anyway

You need to see the big picture. The Imperium is more or less the Third Reich in space. And I dont see any asians there. There is Zero japanese behaviour in the Imperium - they more act german-like

The Spitfire was the finest craft the allies could have in the early to mid stage of war ... so the X-Wing was the finest craft of the rebels. The 109 was the standard Luftwaffe fighter which outnumered the spit at the Battle of Britain. The 109 was the Spitfires' counterpart but the spit was superior in direct comparison. This equals the relationship between the X-Wing and the TIE-Fighter.

... and the Mon Calamari are the americans

do we have britons here as well ... or only americans?

Darth Vader's Helmet was designed off of a Kabuto... a Japanese War Helmet.. and the Sith and Jedi have elements of Kimonos in their style of Dress.. there is a lot of Japanese in the Empire..

Darth Vader's Helmet was designed off of a Kabuto... a Japanese War Helmet.. and the Sith and Jedi have elements of Kimonos in their style of Dress.. there is a lot of Japanese in the Empire..

Darth Vader's Helmet is a M35 Stahlhelm with longer neckguards ... well yes ... the Death Star Officers/Gunners actually have japanese style helmets ... but thats it.

well ... apart from light sabers - which is more kind of samurai behaviour ... so are the jedi

ok ok, there are japanese elements in star wars, but not particulary empire only

WWII definitely shaped Star Wars

http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Star_Wars

Yay! I love Han Solos DL-44 blaster pistol

As you can see the hand weapons are taken from the brits and the germans mostly.

I would BET Lucas originally had the Bf109 in mind when creating the TIE Fighters.

As a Brit and German i would like to agree, and you are probably right. But the mass swarm efficient but easily destroyed TIE just seems comparable to the mass swarm efficient but easily destroyed Zero. With the the Bf109 as the TIE Interceptor.

You can get cheap airsoft mausers easily i have made too many variations on that gun *L* one of my favourites.

What i would have liked to see was some capital ship to ship battles. But since the SW ships are carriers i was not destined for joy in that regard I know the Imperial ships had those rows of big guns down the side of the tower but you hardly see them used

Early design on Vaders helmet was all about the Kabuto and how it would work, or how it could evolve..

I agree with your overall idea here, but there are some elements that are more logical, as in the Zero idea, as just stated.. not a lot of armor and was just torn up when they got hit. Having watched many Pacific theatre dogfights and seen the details of the Zero... originally an american design by the way... it fits better as the generic TIE concept..

join the Dark Side we've got sushi!

And anime (also hentai ).

Early design on Vaders helmet was all about the Kabuto and how it would work, or how it could evolve..

I agree with your overall idea here, but there are some elements that are more logical, as in the Zero idea, as just stated.. not a lot of armor and was just torn up when they got hit. Having watched many Pacific theatre dogfights and seen the details of the Zero... originally an american design by the way... it fits better as the generic TIE concept..

What's the source of your information that the Zero was based on an American design?

Early design on Vaders helmet was all about the Kabuto and how it would work, or how it could evolve..

I agree with your overall idea here, but there are some elements that are more logical, as in the Zero idea, as just stated.. not a lot of armor and was just torn up when they got hit. Having watched many Pacific theatre dogfights and seen the details of the Zero... originally an american design by the way... it fits better as the generic TIE concept..

What's the source of your information that the Zero was based on an American design?

It's been claimed that much of the Zero was stolen from an American design, but the evidence is weak, largely based on the claims of one man. The wiki entry on Zero has a paragraph about the situation near the end of the Design section. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_A6M_Zero#Design_and_development ). It's an interesting hypothesis, but I personally would need more evidence before giving it much credence.

It's been claimed that much of the Zero was stolen from an American design, but the evidence is weak, largely based on the claims of one man. The wiki entry on Zero has a paragraph about the situation near the end of the Design section. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_A6M_Zero#Design_and_development ). It's an interesting hypothesis, but I personally would need more evidence before giving it much credence.

Early design on Vaders helmet was all about the Kabuto and how it would work, or how it could evolve..

I agree with your overall idea here, but there are some elements that are more logical, as in the Zero idea, as just stated.. not a lot of armor and was just torn up when they got hit. Having watched many Pacific theatre dogfights and seen the details of the Zero... originally an american design by the way... it fits better as the generic TIE concept..

What's the source of your information that the Zero was based on an American design?

I too would need more evidence. The last sentence in the Design and Development section states: "Allegations about the Zero being a copy have been mostly discredited."

(Sorry for the lost of formating in my post. Something is wrong with my browser.)

Indeed it is as mentioned, rumored.

The Zero was a very effective fighter and the pride of the Kaiser, I don't see the comparison to the cheap mass-produced TIE Fighter

they were cheap and mass produced.. they also blew up real good as well.. no real armor on their fuel tanks do they popped easily..

The Zeros were superiour to the american carrier based fighters at least until mid-war. The Zero was the sword of the modern samurai. I wouldnt consider them as cheap. And speaking of masses - well i don't have to tell americans about mass-production for this was the greatest strength of the usa: masses and masses of planes tanks and bombs

.., but consider this: the Zero was produced 11000 times. The Bf109 33000 times

the 109 was no dog either.. in my view the Zero wins this hands down, you can't get the axis and allies out of your head to see that it is.. and that's fine.

Both had excellent qualities. The Zero could out turn and climb better that the 109 i believe. But the cost of that agility was in armour and fireproofing which is where the TIE comparison comes in for me. Faster and more agile but lacking armour and more likely to burn. The 109 could dive more efficently was a bit faster and had armour protection which counts for a lot. Though the Zero (again i think, but not sure. I should look it up i suppose) had better range,+ which contradicts the TIE comparison since (according to Han and Obi Wan) the TIE is "a short range fighter" "couldnt get out here on its own, must have gotten lost, been part of a convoy or something"

Of course, and im just throwing this out for the heck of it, since most Imperial personnel were British and 1976 was the American bicentennial it is possible that the TIE was the Spitfire and the X Wing was the Mustang *L*

Gentlemen,

may I propose that the WWII equivalent of the TIE/Ln would be the Japanese "Oscar"- light, nimble but fragile and under-gunned. The Bf-109 was reasonably fast, agile and had some armor protection. Firepower-wise, it was no slouch, either, especially the later marks with underwing cannons ("upgrades" anyone?). Likewise, the "Zero" also packed some firepower, including a pair of cannons. Plus, the "Zero" was a high tech, pricey ride. The "Oscar" defiinately wanted for firepower and protection (like your basic TIE).

BTW- if you looked strictly at the technical data, the "Zero" completely dominates the Grumman Wildcat, which is why the Hellcat was designed, incorporating lessons learned and was definately the superior of both. But, if you look at the historical record, you will see that it was the Wildcat was the one that broke the back of Japanese naval aviation at a time wen the Allies were superior in neither numbers or technology. In the right hands, the Wildcat could do wonderful things and allow a pilot to survive to learn from their mistakes.

Chris

True, the Bf 109E and later versions sports 20mm MG/FF cannons and later versions even allowed to add additional 20mm or even 30mm cannons below the wings (or rockets, bombs, fuel tanks) The german word for this is Rüstsatz which can be translated like 'field modification kit'.

In X-Wing this would be like adding a HLC on a TIE Fighter ^^