A couple of nice prototype machining china pictures I identified:
Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center: Northrop P-61C Black Widow
Image by Chris Devers
Compare & contrast:
Northrop P-61C Black widow:
* Front view
* Above view
Star Wars ARC-170 Fighter:
* Official web page
* Wikia
* Wikipedia
* Toy evaluation
I place it to you that they’re the Very same Thing.
* twin engines
* double-cockpit in front
* gunner’s cockpit in back
* broad wing coming out from the middle
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Quoting Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum | Northrop P-61C Black Widow:
The P-61 Black Widow was the first U.S. aircraft created to locate and destroy enemy aircraft at night and in poor weather, a feat made possible by the use of on-board radar. The prototype first flew in 1942. P-61 combat operations began just after D-Day, June 6, 1944, when Black Widows flew deep into German airspace, bombing and strafing trains and road traffic. Operations in the Pacific started at about the exact same time. By the finish of Planet War II, Black Widows had noticed combat in every single theater and had destroyed 127 enemy aircraft and 18 German V-1 buzz bombs.
The Museum’s Black Widow, a P-61C-1-NO, was delivered to the Army Air Forces in July 1945. It participated in cold-weather tests, high-altitude drop tests, and in the National Thunderstorm Project, for which the top turret was removed to make area for thunderstorm monitoring gear.
Transferred from the United States Air Force.
Manufacturer:
Northrop Aircraft Inc.
Date:
1943
Nation of Origin:
United States of America
Dimensions:
Overall: 450 x 1500cm, 10637kg, 2000cm (14ft 9 3/16in. x 49ft two 9/16in., 23450.3lb., 65ft 7 3/8in.)