285 Scale Gorn G-12 "Chimera" Fast Fighter MGL

The Gorns are six-to-seven-foot-tall, 350-pound, cold-blooded, egg-laying, reptilian humanoids bearing a superficial resemblance to a T-Rex or Raptor. Despite the fearsome visage, they are actually quite civilized people who run one of the few democracies in the galaxy. The Federation and Gorns met in a border incident in which two hot-headed captains shot first and faced embarrassing questions later. (A Federation corporation built an unauthorized colony outside of Federation territory. The Gorns saw a few Vulcans and thought the colonists were Romulans (with which they had fought wars for over a century). Diplomats smoothed everything over and the Gorns became the most stable ally of the Federation. (The Gorn legislature’s reluctance to spend money or join the Federation's war limited this alliance during some periods.)

The Gorns needed fighters and quickly, when these small attrition craft came to dominate galactic warfare. They bought various types from the Federation, although they were unhappy with the available designs (which were older models the Federation had discarded). The biggest problem the Gorns faced was themselves. The average Gorn was simply too big to fit inside a fighter designed for the average humanoids of the Federation. The handful of genetic dwarves among the Gorn population could not provide anything like the number of pilots needed, and the percentage of dwarfs who could do the job was no higher than for any other population. The simple solution was for the Gorns to hire Skoleans (a reptilian species that was a member of the Federation and admired the Gorns) as “contract pilots” (i.e., mercenaries). 

The Federation originally designed the F-12 in competition with the F-14 and F-15, but ultimately decided not to produce it because it did not carry as many drones as the others. The Gorns repeatedly asked the Federation to sell them faster fighters, but the Federation was unwilling to part with its own limited production of F-14s and F-15s and would not agree to provide F-18Bs until all Federation forces had them.

The contractor that originally designed the F-12 offered their design to the Gorns as an alternative. The small drone load that made it undesirable for the Federation was irrelevant to the Gorns, who modified those rails to carry plasma-D and plasma-K torpedo tubes.

The Gorns purchased the entire assembly line in Y179 and began producing their G-12 design the next year. While they never had as many as they wanted, there were adequate stocks for all Gorn carriers and it was the standard naval fighter. Bases continued using license built G-18s (copies of Federation F-18s) until after the General War.

The ship is available in a variety of materials. Ships are unpainted, use standard flight stands available from many sources, and, while designed for gaming, make fine display pieces.