Shrike (modified Firespray transport)

Check out the Build Log.

Additional notes:

1. I added the search lights after major construction, so I didn't have a chance to do light blocking.
2. I painted the figures (and later repainted differently) with acrylics and weathered with enamels. The figures aren't quite as good as I wish they were. Turning Jango into a female isn't all the easy. Strangely, the Micro Machine figure of Nien Nunb looks more detailed than the Fine Molds Jango figure.
3. I didn't spend as much time working on the underside beyond basic painting and filters. And yes, some paint has chipped off where the push-button and electrical connection are.

My wife later commissioned artist AdamKop to create a digital painting of my model.

Commissioned artwork of my models

Firespray-47 planetary defense craft (modified)

Kessalyn Cole - Mandalorian pilot, mercenary

Niir Nachter - Sullustan co-pilot, technology expert

Kess’s notorious personal transport, the Shrike, had a more humble origin as one of several KSE prototype ships. An offshoot of the Firespray-31, the new 47 version was designed a quick response and planetary defense craft, needing only a short startup time and no hull rotation. Firespray-47’s would perch on landing platforms with part of the nose hanging off the edge and landing gear connected to a central power supply. This connection powered the cannons giving pilots an extra edge during takeoff.

Kess “acquired” the ship somewhat accidentally when she rather angrily broke away from a former employer. Marooned on a prison world, she made quick friends with a Sullustan slicer and security expert, Nirr Nachter after his escape antics opened a hole in the prison wall. Niir had constructed a makeshift controller for 3 Firespray-47’s docked at the prison. After ejecting the engine on one ship, Niir managed to crash the other into the prison barricade, opening his cell and nearly all others. His foolish tenacity impressed Kess, and she decided to abscond with him and the remaining undamaged Firespray-47, only after threatening a gruesome death at the hands of the injured inmates left behind in the explosion.

With a new, tenuous partnership, Kessalyn found she actually enjoyed the company of little bug-eyed gear-head. Kess and Niir took great lengths to modify the newly-ordained Shrike with better thrusters for maneuverability, hidden missile launchers, and a triple-barreled rear blaster turret that Niir could remotely control. Being distrustful of anyone but Niir, Kess ripped out additional crew quarters, making room for basic prisoner cells and added cargo storage. Finally, Kess allocated space for a weapons training room, something that Niir later regretted when he drunkenly consented to train with a Mandalorian woman.

Several hundred bruises later, Niir, Kess, and the Shrike became an inseparable trio, noted for their precision, discretion, and loyalty to clients...so long as said clients didn’t lie, cheat, or hold back on payment. Of course if they did, Kess would take great joy in decimating everything in sight.