I've ordered prototypes of these, just to make sure everything is working before I release them to you guys. :) I'll also update the single Scimitar when I confirm that the prototype is working.

All ships are scaled to their correct sizes, except I actually made the Dralthi a couple meters shorter than cannon (28M) since it already looked to big by comparison. The Super Rapier has similarly been scaled up slightly, reflecting a slightly larger spacecraft. Mostly to keep the canopies the same size as modeled.

The 1-600 scale ships wind up being nearly the same size as some of the old Star Wars action fleet Micro Machines, and conceivably if you had any of those little stands remaining, you could drill a small hole and mount them on a stand.

Hmm... Might have to design a stand...

A spirited and elite corps of novice fighter pilots attends the Wing Commander Academy in the year 2655. Often thrust into battle against the mighty and ruthless Kilrathi race, the crew must master daring manoeuvres and veer through constant danger to save the world. Sedate and honorable Maverick, devil-may-care and impulsive Maniac, and serious-minded, cautious and competent Archer make up a quarter of the cadet wing at the academy under their brilliant, if argumentative, captain, Commodore Tolwyn.

The Olympia, one of Lar's designs: a frigate with a full hangar. I was aiming for a coast guard setup.

The Cougar, from the earlier post.

Peagasus, one of Aldo's models, scaled down from a FS2 destroyer to a bomber size.

Greetings Crusaders! Welcome to the all-new Echo Sector website. I’ve been wanting to redo our website for years now, but the attack to our vulnerable, out-dated website by a script kiddie recently kicked me into overdrive.

And now.. one big kitty

The model itself is largely based on the game sprites (like the Rapier II in Hostile Frontier), but it also draws inspiration from the Claw Marks drawings and other fan art as well.

Have you played one of the following: Wing Commander, Ultima Underworld, The 7th Guest or the 11th Hour? If the answer is "yes," then you've heard the Fat Man's work! The Fat Man--aka George Sanger--is the greatest of all PC game audio composers and pretty much invented modern game audio. Plus, he's an epic storyteller and one of the original Cool Dudes.

It's real, and it works! Really surprising how much detail came through. The Super Rapier is now available in 1-600 scale! You'll note that the new version has the guns moved further outboard, just like the SWC version.

Long range scanners are also picking up some sort of "flying pancake".

As an extra for all of you, we’ve got just what you need if you can't get enough of the game - we have decided to release the music of Wing Commander Saga: The Darkest Dawn. This huge compilation of all-new music was created by our team of talented composers: Jeff Ball, Tim Janssens, Edward Bradshaw, Glyn R. Brown, Jeff Broadbent, and Peter Dmitriyev. As an added bonus, there are several deleted songs that are included in the archive. You know that's right.

We will also release a second album soon. It will be a collection of remastered Wing Commander 3 music, based on the originals composed by George Oldziey, whose electrifying soundtrack provided the inspiration for the original music created by our composers for Wing Commander Saga: The Darkest Dawn.

Firmly ensconced in the geeky pantheon of computer legends since high school, Richard Garriott can afford to pursue his dreams - even the wildly improbable ones. For instance, following in his astronaut father's footsteps. NASA won't take you because of bad eyes? No problem! Pioneer your own private space industry and buy a $30 million seat on a Russian Soyuz. Richly funny and invigorating, Man on a Mission tags along with Richard on his years-long quest to be the second Garriott into space. And maybe come back.

The textures and thrusters will be changed again. Turrets are also not done yet on the model. Armament will be only in turrets (you can't give the capship guns in Saga). So I want to install: 2 Dual-Tachyon turrets, 4 Dual-Laser turrets and 2 IFF Launchers (1 up/down).

I had the idea of building an online 3D shipviewer for the wcnews shipdatabase, so I sat down today and created a very basic first version. Please not that the GUI is horrible (I just wanted to try some things out) and most likely isn't needed at all. Press and hold the left mouse button to orbit around the ship. Use the mousewheel to zoom in and out.

The intention of this is not to create another standalone shipviewer, but rather to create a web application that can be easily included whereever you like. Want the viewer in the wcnews shipdatabase? Inlude it. Want to post on the forums and to make your post more clear include some shots of a ship from a specific angle? Inlude the shipviewer in your post along with coordinates for the camera and you're done. The purpose is to have some sort of interactive screenshot that can easily be shared with others.

The only thing that's stopping me from finishing this up is this: Would anyone be willing to prepare the needed models for this (remember that the database can be filled step by step)? There's some in the wcnews.com download section, but not every ship is available. Also, would you guys back this up if I open up a kickstarter for this to get the needed funds for Flash support (remember that this is optional)? And most importantly: Would anyone use it at all?

One of the reasons why the Wing Commander and, to some extent, Freespace franchises were so great is that both of them allowed you to fail. They handled the concept differently -- Wing Commander had a "Losing Tree" of missions that was separate and distinct from the main game, while Freespace handed you difficult mission objectives that you could fail without losing the game. Both approaches created uncertainty and left the player wondering if better performance in-mission would change elements of future missions.

GC: Well, I think we're all glad you made that choice. Now, I'm afraid I'm relying on Wikipedia for this question but it seems like your first game, or at least first retail game, was one of the Wing Commanders, is that right?

WS: Ah, no. [laughs] I actually did some uncredited testing on the very first three gold box games from SSI, Pools Of Radiance and the others. The first thing I actually did in the electronic games world is I went to work for Origin and I worked on quests and adventures on Ultima VI, I did all the story flow-charting and dialogue writing for a game called Space Rogue. And then I did some work on a game called Knights Of Legend and then after that was Wing Commander. I worked on Wing Commander and a game called Bad Blood about the same time.

Far from slicing through the tension as her antics often do, my pet cat nearly got the both of us killed yowling into my small craft's mouthpiece. It took many assurances before my captors accepted that I did not belong to the apparently feline 'Kilrathi' race, though the benignity of my intentions remained in doubt.

Here I used the Confederation Class from Klavs and the converted Broadsword from Standoff. The Confederation is 990m long, the Broadsword 36m l, 32 w, 14h. Close fit.. but it can launch :)

The prototype Super Rapier got ordered today, if it works out, I'll make it available too!

Wasn't happy with the stupid amount of lines on the old Scimitar texture, so I K.I.S.S.ed it goodbye and re-did the bumpmap.

This is my final post before the big reveal. Here's a quick and dirty picture I took of the engines. Enjoy!

Both Wing Commander Prophecy and Star Trek: First Contact feature a Calico M951 submachinegun with helical magazine. That gun isn't especially rare in movies, but I've only ever seen it two times with a Bushnell holosight mounted on top - that was Prophecy and Star Trek: First Contact. The sight and addons really appear similar.

However, thanks to the hi-res DVD cutscenes, I could see that the Prophecy gun has its foregrip mounted backwards (movie armourers enjoy doing stuff like that), plus it doesn't even appear to have a Calico scopemount (like you see it in First Contact). Instead, it looks like the Bushnell sight is attached directly to the magazine for whatever reason.

Also, the Wing Commander: Prophecy armourer was Terence Morgan, and I couldn't find any Star Trek references in his portfolio.

I've made for the Enigma mod fighters for every fighter in a Gauntlet. So flying an Hornet? No problem. I've made some historical missions too (not a complete campaign, just 5-6 Missions from WC1+SM1+2). The fighters from Enigma are all playable ships in the campaign. So you can create your own missions and just put them into the missions folder of the mod and play. ;) But first, we need help: texturers and modders who can help to push the old prologue ones into Saga Darkest Dawn. These models needs some work. So please help.

I had originally all but given up trying to fix the Galactic Conquest test map that had been made as the AI refused to move its butt from its home planet and start spreading out. As it turned out, I had simply forgot to alter the amount for each planet's capture from the "60" that was assigned. A quick editing and retesting and the AI now moves, so the mod is back on. It'll be a while before there's a new release, but at least I can get back to working on the damn thing now and add in the features I had originally planned.

- Special structure to provide income in additional GC content. The reason for this is simply because the GC's rely on ground based income streams provided from ground based structures.
- Additional space base skirmish maps. Now these will probably be fairly basic as map making isn't my strong point.
- Additional space props. These are being added more as a means to give some eye candy than anything.
- Additional map based support structures. I'll be looking over what the WC universe has to offer in the way of structures and seeing what I can put together to reflect these.
- Additional Galactic Conquest scenarios. Although these will be playable in any order I'll be trying to tailor them so that the player will get some sort of feeling they are playing a "story" style if played in order.
- I'll be looking at the Border Worlds for this. That means new structures, ships and planets for this groups. They won't be directly playable, and will act in place of the original stock pirate faction.

Once this is complete I'll be making a v3.0 Beta Edition. If no bugs are reported (or there's some minor editings and suggestions which are feasible to do), then a small handful of minor additional content will be done to mark the v3.0 Gold Edition (as in final version) and I'll consider the mod as finished.

After a lot of design analysis and a period of prototyping, I'm very pleased to be announcing 3d prints of my WC inspired fighters!

First up, the Rapier & Scimitar available in 1/600 scale (About 40 cm [1.57 in] long) and 1/300 scale (About 80 cm [3.149 in] long). These models cheap as I can make them for you guys, and thank you for your support over the years! I'll be making my version of the Raptor and a new Hornet and Rapier available soon. There may also be some more "feline" models in the future.

The Frosted Ultra Detail printing from Shapeways allows details as small as 0.003 mm to show through. You've got panel lines, thrusters, radiators. The only thing missing is the scorch marks on the sides of the ships. Keep in mind that the final product will require a bit of sanding, as the 3D printing process applies some extremely minor "terracing". Regular model paints and glues will work fine after gently washing the model with dish soap. I am also entertaining the thought of making a basic decal sheet available, based on interest. It would include insignia, squadron markings, lights, "INTAKE" & "NO STEP" markings, etc.

Please let me know what you think! I love my little Rapier, I just wish I could find a cheaper way to get these to you guys. Let me stress that the markups are kept to an absolute minimum, this is about showing off the work, not making money. I WANT you guys to have fighters on your desks!

Enjoy!