I’m always searching for big ships that I can add to my Micro Galaxy fleet, like my custom Imperial Corvette. The Hawkeye cruiser from Black Adam was on sale for 13 bucks, so I quickly snatched one up to make a starship for one of Star War’s biggest villains.
I threw away the ridiculous wings, replaced them with an extra set from my Bandai TIE Striker, and customized the roomy cockpit and interior.
Excuse the terrible paint job, I took this pic before I cleaned it up.
The result is the Carrion Spike, the personal starship of Grand Moff Tarkin.
The ship was extensively featured in the Tarkin novel as a highly modified corvette gifted by the Emperor. According to Wookieepedia, it has a typical crew complement of eighteen, but six people were enough to crew the ship if needed.
One of its standout features was a cloaking device, the same stealth technology used by Darth Maul’s Sith Infiltrator. The cloaking systems made it essentially invisible to ordinary scanners, and could contain its reflection and heat signatures.
As Moff Tarkin’s personal ship, the Carrion Spike was one of the most sophisticated starships in the Imperial Navy. It boasted state of the art systems for the period, including a heavily armored hull, advanced countermeasures suite, jamming equipment, blast-tinted windows, reverse triggering acceleration compensators, a hypercomm unit, and Imperial HoloNet and encrypter.
The bridge, before and after customizing
In-universe, the bridge holds a crew of three. I replicated it by outfitting the bridge with 3D printed consoles and stickers. I also turned the giant seat into stairs leading to a rear hatch.
The back of the ship opens up to reveal a Space Shuttle style cargo bay. It was completely bare, so there’s plenty of room to customize the space. It could even hold speeders and AT-STs in the stowed position.
The rear cargo area
Outfitted as Tarkin’s command center. The lights are the micro battery-powered LEDs from last week’s post.
On cargo duty ferrying the Moff’s personal items to the Death Star
After Tarkin assumed command of the completed Death Star, the Carrion Spike accompanied him to his new posting.
The ship was the envy of Director Krennic, who saw it as “a beautiful technological masterpiece that deserves a better master.” While Krennic was proud of his own Delta T-3 shuttle, he regarded it as inferior to Tarkin’s stealth corvette.
The Carrion Spike was still onboard the Death Star when the Rebellion launched their desperate attack on the battlestation. As the Imperials realized what the Rebels were doing and they discovered the flaw in the station’s design, Tarkin’s staff ordered his ship to prepare for emergency departure.
However, Tarkin’s overconfidence overrode their decision. The ship was still waiting in the hangar bay with the engines primed and ready when the Death Star exploded over Yavin.
“Evacuate, in our moment of triumph? I think you over estimate their chances. Stand down and have my Twilek harem ready for the victory celebration.”
VIP transports of the Empire: MGS Scythe, customized Hawkeye Cruiser, Revell Imperial Shuttle
The inspiration: Moff Tarkin’s Carrion Spike
Where to Buy
The Hawkeye Cruiser is from the Black Adam movie and is designed for 3.75″ figures. It’s on sale on Amazon for less than $13. It’s a huge craft, measuring 16.5 inches (42cm) from nose to tail. The stock wings are also huge and practically as wide as the ships’ length, with the wingspan coming in at 40cm. It’s longer than any Micro Galaxy ship to date.
It comes with 2 figures (Black Adam himself and Hawkman, as well weapons and accessories for each). Not only do you get a Micro Galaxy starship for cheap, you can give the figures to your kids!
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