68 Z-Fighter

Build: 4/1 2006, Pieces 390, Steps 98
LWH: 37/20/11 studs, 29,05/15,56/8,33 cm

No, it wasn't intended to be Trekky

Inspiration: Podcrafts, black sleek nose of Kevin (Kevoh) Blocksidge's Harlequin, engine of Roger Leloup's "Sal Kolibri" (appearing in the comic book Yoko Tsuno 15: Le canon de Kra.

Goals:

1) Use some of those long slopes that I've pick a bricked loads of but never really gotten around to use (they're the perfect studless alternative to 4x8 wings for making my earlier clawstyle).
2) Make a kind of pointed oval version of podcraft: a style of cockpit in fashion some years back (links to some examples).
3) Try to keep it technically simple this time, and concentrate on making a better colourscheme than the 65 Piranha.
4) Make it a little Soren-esque with a slightly disassembled look with cracked body (see for instance his Super Spartan) and lots of stuff and pods sticking out everywhere.

... and those aren't warp nacelles, they're dual railguns! I thought it was some kind of mecha convention that they should look like that, but I was only able to find this example by Joseph Sibilia-Young: Norton

The craft was presented in this thread on CSF and received very well by the community.

...not one of the prettier angles. As mentioned before, the "cracked hull" with greebles between the cockpit/rocket section and the engine/railgun section is inspired by some of Soren's mocs.
The long black nose, and vertically offset engine is partially inspired by Kevin Blocksidge's Harlequin craft.

Cockpit close up, like the 65 Piranha it has a very narrow cockpit, and therefore need a strip of thin side to make room for the arms. With the Piranha, I used 1x6 arches, in this model I wished for a smooth shape that didn't break up the smooth curve of the slopes, and used a 1x6 tile displaced one plate just like in the sterns of the 67 Longship.

Belly, notice the landing gear and the rocket rack. Inspired by WW2 rifle clips, the rockets are supposed to move out of the craft and gradually down the rack to be fired from the lowest point.

Rockets again

I like a thin profile to make fighters harder to hit -just like WW2 fighterplanes. Less air resistance too.

Engine.
The curving around the cockpit is pretty simple: just 1x4 plate hinges, but they're pretty tight and hold the shape fairly well. The rest of the construction is just basic 90-degree snotwork build around 1x4 bricks with studs on the side.