At the height of the Empire Palpatine allowed himself to believe that the people of the galaxy adored him and were grateful for the peace and order he had brought to them with his empire.
But a leader, no matter how beloved must be careful, so he always travelled with a fighter escort. The Emperor took great pride in looking out the viewports of his personal shuttle to see his “Redbird” squadron escorting him. Officially known as the 66th Royal Escort Squadron, Redbird pilots were hand selected by the Palpatine and trained personally by Darth Vader.
The “Redbird” nickname came from the Royal Scarlet color of the squadron’s TIE Interceptors. The TIEs used by the 66th Sqn were heavily upgraded compared to normal fleet fighters. These upgrades included advanced sensors and targeting systems, activation of the two hull-mounted cannon, for a total of six, a hyperdrive unit, and advanced shield generators.
Needless to say, the cockpit of a Redbird TIE was the ultimate goal of virtually every fighter pilot in the Imperial Navy.
As the Rebellion grew in strength and reach Palpatine reluctantly, and unusually, yielded to advisors who, concerned about signaling the Emperors location, asked that he sacrifice the distinctive Royal Guard red for normal fleet markings for his escorts. Even so a small number were retained for ceremonial duties in the tightly controlled and protected space close to the Coruscant system.
It's hard to describe how much I enjoyed this kit. 27 hours start to finish. Engineering is really top notch. The only glue on it is for on one of the solar 'wings' that didn't want to stay together quite tight enough. I'll definitely be getting some more of these BanDai Star Wars kits!!
Better pics tomorrow. I preshaded with Gunship Gray and I'm really happy with the effect, but it isn't showing up in these two pics.
