The “B” in “B-wing stands for “brilliant”

For a starfighter that appears for about 0.3 seconds in the background of Return of the Jedi, the B-wing gets a surprising amount of love (especially from our Managing Editor, Kyle). Maybe it’s the way it swivels, keeping the cockpit upright. Or maybe it’s just the enduring mystery of how exactly this thing is supposed to look like a “B” (what, was “T-wing” somehow taken?). Regardless, this LEGO version by Simulterious looks great. The model captures the asymmetrical coolness of the storied starfighter, along with a level of detail worthy of a film prop (look at the greebling along the cockpit!).

B-wing Starfighter 1.0

Here’s a view from the back, to give you a better view of the Quadrex Kyromaster ion engines and the hull plating along the ventral wing. Take special note of the sloping where the wing meets the fuselage, which gets just at the right angle. It’s been a while since LEGO has released an official B-wing model, but I’d love to see them try to match this level of detail.

B-wing Starfighter 1.0

8 comments on “The “B” in “B-wing stands for “brilliant”

  1. Fenghuang0296

    If anyone’s actually wondering, it’s called a B-Wing for its function, not its form. The B stands for ‘blockade runner’, it’s a ship built to smash through entire fleets blockading a planet.

  2. Tung Vu

    I come here for the builds, but stay and love the wit, humor and poetry in your titles and descriptions. Love the quote “what, was “T-wing” somehow taken?” So true.

  3. Andrew Becraft (TBB Editor-in-Chief)

    @Fenghuang0296: That’s a very late addition to the canon via Rebels, and very much a retcon (even if it’s “official”). The origin of the names of the starfighters is never addressed in any of the films, and it’s been generally understood that they do reflect the shape of the vehicles — X-wing from front/back view, A-wing from above, etc. That shape-based naming convention was certainly carried through into the original Expanded Universe (now Legends) and beyond, with the K-wing, E-wing, and so on. All based on shape. I’ve always personally thought the B-wing looked a bit like a lower-case b with the “tail” and cockpit, but that’s just headcanon.

    @Tung: This is why we love our writers! Thanks for the comment!

  4. Christopher Pearce

    @Andrew Becraft – It was originally named the B-wing because the A-wing and B-wing were listed as ‘A Fighter’ and ‘B Fighter’ during production of Return of the Jedi. Also, I believe the Blade Wing retcon was first used in Legends, some years before Rebels canonised the name, but it was very much a retcon, as you said.

  5. Whynotv2

    Did the author forget about the now retired 10227 set in regard to detail? That UCS was, and is, fantastic.

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