News categories list

  • 12

    Dec

  • 10

    Dec

    I've been waiting for this day: AD has discovered the first ever bootleg Wing Commander LEGO set on AliExpress!

    aliexpress_lego1t.jpgaliexpress_lego2t.jpgaliexpress_lego3t.jpgaliexpress_lego4t.jpgHere's the original source - a fantastic design by Paul Magurean.

    The F-107 Lance was developed in the immediate aftermath of the Terran-Kilrathi War by the Black Lance, an elite special forces organization created by Admiral Geoffrey Tolwyn. It was designed as an all-purpose heavy fighter to be used exclusively by the Black Lance for its intended use in defending humanity in future conflicts. It was funded by the Black Lance's many elusive backers and like all Black Lance projects, was designed and tested in the utmost secrecy. Ultimately though, the Dragon was an illegally-produced spacecraft that had been fielded without the approval of the legitimate Confederation authorities.

    The Dragon was a heavily-armed fighter with some of the most advanced equipment to emerge in the 2670s. It was

  • 08

    Dec

  • 07

    Dec

  • 07

    Dec

  • 07

    Dec

    Here's a great little time capsule from the fantastic X-Wing Game Series account. It shows a snapshot of the best selling PC games in early 1994. Due to print lead times, this would basically have depicted the holiday 1993 sales. Wing Commander Privateer and Academy are both included as they launched within a month of each other in September and August respectively. X-Wing and its Imperial Pursuit expansion are also up there. Plus, there's MS Flight Sim 5, the original Sim City, 7th Guest and more. What a time to be alive!

    electronic_entertainment_1994februaryt.jpg

    X-Wing, Imperial Pursuit together with Privateer and Wing Commander Academy (plus MS Flight Simulator 5.0) in the Top 10 best-selling PC games from February 1994 issue of the Electronic Entertainment mag.Great times for flight games!
  • 05

    Dec

    Mods are asleep, post the Wing Commander III mini-shuttle.

    wc34_pods1t.jpgwc34_pods2t.jpgwc34_pods3t.jpgIt's one of the destructible cargo units that attach to the Confederation transport.

    wc34_pods4t.jpgwc34_pods5t.jpgwc34_pods6t.jpgwc34_pods7t.jpgAttachments like these were pretty bugged and a bunch were cut from the game late. Here's the set that were intended to attach to the latticework on the Kilrathi freighter!

    wc34_pods8t.jpgwc34_pods9t.jpgwc34_pods10t.jpgwc34_pods11t.jpgUnfortunately the bug persisted into Wing Commander IV and so the Confederation transports are all naked. Which is too bad given the number of convoy-related missions you fly! (And: the aforementioned Kilrathi transport.)

    wc34_pods12t.jpgwc34_pods13t.jpg

  • 04

    Dec

  • 04

    Dec

  • 03

    Dec

    macs_lore40t.jpgWoah, it's December! That means the year will be over in a blink, and we've got some annual CIC traditions to get to! In order to prepare, we're accepting nominations now for any Wing Commander fan projects that you'd like to recognize for their contributions in 2023. Email news@wcnews.com and let us know! There are some very strong contenders this year. Below is a rundown of our past winners:

  • 02

    Dec

    The star system Hyades Sector FB-N B7-6, which contains Thargoid Titan Taranis, has been surrounded by human forces.
    Aden Tanner, special advisor to Aegis, provided the following update:
    "Our pilots appear to have pushed Thargoids out of all systems in Titan Taranis's area of control. It's taken a huge effort, one which should rightly be recognised as outstanding. We don't know for certain what will happen next. But for now, the region is back in humanity's control."
    "I strongly urge pilots to keep fighting the Thargoid fleet wherever it is encountered. We must not become complacent - the Thargoids have surprised us before, and have demonstrated the ability to respond when defeat seems inevitable. Those who fought in the HIP 22460 campaign and witnessed the Proteus Wave event will testify to the dangers of assuming the war is won."
    Systems in the immediate vicinity, such as Hupang, Swahku and

  • 01

    Dec

    Knight26-77 has posted a very cool video of his 3D printer manufacturing a slick Excalibur fighter. We've seen a lot of gorgeous plastic craft in recent years, but I don't think we've seen a perspective quite like this before. Definitely check it out!

    Timelapse 3D print of the Excalibur Fighter from Wing Commander 3.Original design by Origin Systems. Redesign by Klavs and 3D printable model by Chronocidal Guy

    Here's a fleet shot of some of his other craft all together:

    knight_3dprint1t.jpg

    I did a rough rip and transfer to stl off of his old model release and printed it on my old printer along with several other models. The scales might be slightly off in some cases. All should be 1:72.
  • 30

    Nov

  • 30

    Nov

    Today we've got a really beautiful little Tarsus by Cpt. Streets. What really stands out here is the intricate and highly detailed paint scheme. It's got lots of very fine accents that are very pleasing on the eyes. The engine nozzles are painted with a blend of yellow and orange fluorescent acrylic paint that even seems to glow under a black light. We're looking forward to seeing how his Hornet turns out next!

    cptstreets_3dprint1t.jpgcptstreets_3dprint2t.jpgcptstreets_3dprint3t.jpgcptstreets_3dprint4t.jpgcptstreets_3dprint5t.jpgcptstreets_3dprint6t.jpgcptstreets_3dprint7t.jpgcptstreets_3dprint8t.jpg

    These are some pictures of my 3D-printed Tarsus Freighter from Privateer. It is my first ship model from the Wing Commander universe so far.

    I did not made the 3D mesh itself. I only painted it and modified it a bit as well. It is about ~16cm (6,3") long.

    Currently I´m working on a Hornet Fighter in approximately the same scale as the Tarsus. I will do ships from WC1, WC2 and WC Privateer. But more about this at another time...

  • 30

    Nov

    Here are storyboards for an establishing shot in Wing Commander IV that would've had Colonel Blair arrive at the Nephele bar on a speeder bike.

    wc4_original_intro1t.jpg"I bet they didn't want it to look TOO much like Star Wars!"... the final version of the bar exterior would beg to differ.

    wc4_original_intro2t.jpgThe establishing shot ended up not being necessary because they dropped a previous scene where we see Blair as a sad drunk haunted by the war. So instead they match cut from the Senate scene to a news broadcast in the bar and pan over to Hamill entering, which is a neat trick! (I'm VERY curious what the backlit poster to the right is; sadly, not much set photography has survived!)

    wc4_original_intro3t.jpgHere are boards for the dropped scene. You would've gotten a brief 'dear John' video from the lady you chose in Wing Commander III. This was on the schedule up through when the shoot started, so it must've been dropped very late!

    wc4_original_intro4t.jpgwc4_original_intro5t.jpgwc4_original_intro6t.jpgwc4_original_intro7t.jpgI always wondered if they had