A joint-effort project was developed by “Quint” and Frank V Bonura. This project is based on the original “Shadows of the Empire” novel by Steve Perry published by Bantam Books. The Exterior of the ship is also based mainly on the drawings, and schematics by Doug Chiang and Troy Vigil from “Star Wars ® — The Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels” published by Del Rey Books.
Stinger
Guri, first lieutenant to Black Sun's chief Xizor, makes her rounds in a sleek and heavily modified Surronian assault ship called the Stinger. It is as beautiful and deadly as its mistress.
The Stinger's soft curves seem to have been artistically crafted by her designers, The cluster of eight ion drives fitted aft provide fast propulsion as well as smooth maneuverability, Coupled with forward braking jets and a complex control computer, the engines make the Stinger as agile as an angry insect. Guri also uses the forward braking thrusters1 in ruthless combat maneuvers, most often decelerating so fast that a pursuing enemy flies right by her and into the Stinger's gun sights.
The Stinger's weapons complement is also impressive, Forward-firing ion cannons are useful in disabling targets to be captured or subdued, and a double laser cannon turret mounted dorsally provides adequate fire support when lethal force is required. Although the lasers can be targeted from the turret, a redundant fire-control link to the cockpit allows the pilot to operate them at a slightly reduced accuracy.a
The state-of-the-art equipment outfitting the Stinger does not leave much room for amenities, but the craft's pilot requires few comforts. The cockpit has room for two passengers, and a survival pod directly aft provides escape should the Stinger be destroyed. The main cargo hold is small by light freighter standards, and much of it is filled with systems overflowing from the aft engineering crawl space - shield generator capacitors, power core control systems2 and reserve drive modules. No crew quarters exist. Portions of the cargo hold can be modified to accommodate passengers, but a small fresher and a package of old foodstuffs provide the only comforts.
Guri has modified the Stinger with several systems to assist her in duties for Black Sun, The vessel's communications package has been upgraded to better monitor comm channels in-system for hints of the activities of enemies, allies and others she might encounter.3 The sensors system has also been modified for greater efficiency. Guri has also installed several security precautions as well4, including an auto-destruct mechanism linking the cockpit to the power core. Those attempting to steal the Stinger would soon find themselves at the center of a small sun.5
Xizor has had the Stinger in his hangars for several years - a unique gift from an unknown Surronian hive craftguild for some unspecified favor performed by the Falleen Dark Prince. Xizor granted it as Guri's personal transport when she first came to serve him. Guri uses it when ever she is sent off Coruscant to carry out her master's bidding. It has served her well as a basic transport, mobile base of operations, and smuggling ship. Unlike most captains, however, Guri has no sentimental attachment to her ship, and sees it only as a tool to be effectively used to further Black Sun's ambitions. The Stinger's profile is as notorious as its captain. Wherever the Stinger goes, people know Guri is On the prowl.
— “Shadows of the Empire Sourcebook”, pp. 121-122
MODIFIED SURRONIAN CONQUEROR ASSAULT SHIP
The enigmatic woman known only as Guri is a bodyguard and operative for the powerful criminal overlord Prince Xizor. Little is known of Guri's history before she began working for Xizor, and despite her prominent status within Xizor's organization, she remains a being of mystery.
Guri pilots the modified assault ship Stinger The distinctive profile of the Stinger is known and feared by criminals throughout the Empire, from the capital of Coruscant to distant trading worlds like Nar Shaddaa, Celanon, and ORDb Mantell.
The Stinger is a modified Surronian assault ship that Xizor owned long before he entrusted it to Guri. Guri uses the ship as a mobile base of operations when she is commanding Xizor's various paramilitary groups, but she has also been known to use it to smuggle precious cargoes for Xizor.
The Stinger is roughly twenty-eight meters long, with a hull that is curved and appears to be somehow sculpted. The ship is powered by a cluster of four Surronian A2-grade and four A2. 50-grade ion engines, with a sublight speed faster than that of an X-wing and only slightly slower than that of a TIE fighter. In an atmosphere, the Stinger can achieve a top speed of 1,150 kilometers per hour. Its maneuverability is enhanced by having the pilot individuality adjust each engine's exhaust nozzles through the onboard computer system; this eliminates the need for maneuvering jets. Guri has installed a set of four emergency braking jets1 in the forward wings and on more than one occasion has used them to slow the Stinger so rapidly that pursuing ships overtook it, thus providing an easy target for her weapons. The modified Corellian Engineering Corporation H2-1 hyperdrive gives the ship a Class One hyperdrive rating.c
The weaponry consists of a pair of fire-linked ion cannons facing forward as well as a turret-mounted double laser cannon The laser cannons can be handled from the turret's gunnery position or Controlled from the cockpit, although at significantly reduced accuracy.a
The forward compartment has the cockpit, with seating for the pilot and two passengers. The small emergency escape pod is set immediately behind the cockpit. Behind the ship's "neck" is the main cargo hold, although cargo space aboard the Stinger is at a premium Most of the rear compartment has been filled by the Stinger's large power core, reserve engine components, and modified shield generators.d The Stinger's internal systems are monitored by an advanced MicroThrust computer system2 that automatically reroutes power and activates reserve systems if there is a major system overload, leaving Guri free to concentrate on piloting and combat duties.
— “The Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels”, p. 58
Stinger
— “Shadows of the Empire Sourcebook”, p. 122
- Craft: Modified Surronian Conqueror Assault Ship
- Type: Modified assault ship
- Scale: Starfighter
- Length: 28 meters
- Skill: Space transports: Surronian assault ship
- Crew: 1, gunners:1 (optional)a
- Crew Skill: See Guri
- Passengers: 2 (one can serve as an optional gunner)a
- Cargo Capacity: 25 metric tons
- Consumables: 1 month
- Cost: Not available for sale
- Hyperdrive Multiplier: x1c
- Hyperdrive Backup: x10
- Nav Computer: Yes
- Maneuverability: 3D
- Space: 9
- Atmosphere: 400; 1,150 kmh
- Hull: 4D
- Shields: 2Dd
- Sensors:
- Passive: 40/1D
- Scan: 80/2D
- Search: 100/3D
- Focus: 5/4D
- Weapons:
- 2 Ion Cannons (fire-linked)
- Fire Arc: Front
- Skill: Starship gunnery
- Fire Control: 3D
- Space Range: 1-3/7/36
- Atmosphere Range: 100-300/700/3.6 km
- Damage: 4D
- Double Laser Cannon
- Fire Arc: Turret
- Crew: 1 (or from the cockpit)a
- Skill: Starship gunnery
- Fire Control: 2D (0D if fired from cockpit)
- Space Range: 1-3/12/25
- Atmosphere Range: 100-300/1.2/2.5 km
- Damage: 5D
Crew: 1and
Passengers: 2were listed incorrectly on page 122 of the “Shadows of the Empire Sourcebook”. The stat for the ship's double laser cannon lists a stat for
Crew: 1. Thus there is a need for an optional gunner in addition to the 1 crew member (Guri) who pilots the ship. This change in crew capacity has been integrated into our deckplan design.
Ordon page 58 of “The Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels” the term is an abbreviation for “Ordnance Regional Depot” and should have been all capitalized
ORD.
Hyperdrive Multiplier: x1had the same hyperdrive speed as listed on the Stinger so being that the stock model came after the stats for the modified Stinger we realized the stock model was in error and we lowered the hyperdrive performance on our stock stats to reflect this.
Shields: 2Dhad the same shield rating listed on the Stinger so being that the stock model came after the stats for the modified Stinger we realized the stock model was in error and we lowered the performance of the shields on our stock stats to reflect this.
After being first mentioned on the pages of the novel, this ship made its first appearance in 1996 in “Star Wars® - The Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels”. The drawing and schematic from that publication formed the basis of the 3D model we created for this project. The 3D model allowed us to align details of the hull that did not line up between the top and side views and allowed us to produce exterior views of the complex curves accurate to the pixel.
We realized these two images were the primary evidence of what this ship looked like so we carefully used elements of both, in our model, blending the influences of both Doug Chiang and Troy Vigil. This was one of the very rare instances where “The Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels” served as a primary influence in one of our projects. Due to the fact the original schematic drawings were produced with 2D drawing methods, some of the exterior details had to be adjusted to produce the 3D model. These changes were kept to a minimum whenever possible.
We also studied other sources of artwork that came after the originals to see if we could fill in any details in areas the originals failed to address. Sources like the “Shadows of the Empire” collectable cards drawn by Greg and Tim Hildebrandt and the “Star Wars ® Collectable Card Game” published by Decipher. Whenever conflicting details that did not agree with the original artwork were encountered on these newer sources, they were ignored or modified in favor of the original artwork. Details that expanded on our project from these newer sources were incorporated into our design.
Our last step was to remove the subtle traces of modifications to produce the production model of this ship used in the roleplaying game. The Stock model also has a second turreted laser cannon and we decided to install this cannon on the ships underside opposite the turret on top. We followed the example of Han Solo's Millennium Falcon in the placement of the second turret. The stock model was also significantly slower than the Stinger so when we modeled the ship, we developed smaller engines for this model to reflect this. The smaller engines required additional sculpting of the hull to make them fit in a similar fashion to the Stinger.
