How to Draw a Republic Gunship

The Star Wars saga continued with the prequels series of films, the second of which, 2002’s “Attack of the Clones”, gave viewers a glimpse of the stormtroopers-to-be, The Republic’s Clone Army. The Clones certainly had some firepower backing them up in their galactic battles, one such example being the Republic’s gunship, responsible for troop insertion behind enemy lines. Drawing the gunship means paying attention to some simple geometric shapes that are responsible for nearly everything in our world; or in this case, a planet far, far away.

Things You'll Need

• Paper
• Pencil
• Eraser
• Ruler
• Black ink (optional)

Instructions

1. Draw a horizontally lying rectangle in center of your paper, sized according to how large or small you want your final gunship to be (just keep in mind to leave enough room on the paper for adding other elements like wings).

2. Turn the ruler to a 45 degree angle and use the edge to draw a 45 degree line that runs from the top right of the rectangle to a point on the bottom line of the rectangle, effectively making a triangle inside the larger shape. Eraser the corner of the rectangle created by drawing the angled line.

3. Lay your ruler on the top line of the rectangle, then slide the ruler downward, holding the right side flush to the right corner. Stop at a point on the left vertical side that’s about a quarter length down from the top left corner. Draw a straight line, effectively creating a very thin triangle. Erase the thin triangle.

4. Erase any sharp points at the corners of the shape and redraw smoother contoured lines to make the rectangle, now serving as the body of the gunship, more aerodynamic. Draw the exact same shape as the body inside the “rectangle”, only smaller, thus creating the open troop bay of the gunship.

5. Turn your ruler vertically and draw a vertical line on the right side of the body; slide the ruler to the left about an inch or so and draw another vertical line, thus creating the wing. Add a connecting line between the two lines to finish the wing.

6. Draw a cylindrical shape to the top of the body, above the wing, to make one of the ship’s top mounted guns. Add a small, pencil like shape to the front nose of the ship, creating the nose gun. Add two small domes to the front top to make the pilot’s cockpits.

Tips & Warnings

• Trace your drawing in black ink to make your gunship stand out on the page.

References

• “You Can Draw: Star Wars”; Bonnie Burton; 2007

Resources

• Gunship toy model picture