Deception or Diversity?

As the project of the Scratch built Vampire Raider progresses, I should point out I did not do a Complete job researching the project before jumping in with both feet.  I only recently got to view the 40K scale version of the Vampire hunter in person and was struck with a few marginal and a few rather noticeable differences.

In my possession at the start of the project was a copy of Aeronautica Imperalis (AI) and one each of the ForgeWorld Vampire Raider and Vampire Hunter Kits.  The AI book does not provide drawings of the underside of the craft.  Referring to the AI models, which are roughly 1/285th scale I assumed the model was a direct downsized copy of the 40K scale kit.  I was wrong.

As it turns out there are a few significant differences. 

One can be attributed to scale.  The thin width of the "vent" structures under the front and outer edges of the wings cannot be accurately sculpted and cast in the smaller scale, so on the AI version there are fewer of them and they are, to scale, thicker.  I constructed a direct upscale from the AI version to my 40K scale scratch build.  As compared to the 40K scale model they look big. 

The second is wing thickness.  I was surprised that the thickness of the wing of the AI version scaled up to be roughly twice the thickness of the 40K scale model.  I doubt I would have been comfortable trying to construct the wings as thin as they are cast and am glad I used modelling plywood for an inner structure.

The third is the Engine and forward Engine housing.  The Vampire has a trapezoidal shaped housing under the wing representing the front of the engines. There is a distinctly longer edge to the housing which, on the AI version is closer to the center line axis.  This is the exact opposite of the 40K model which has the longer side toward the outer portion of the wing.  This is visually different, but structurally, it leads to some major differences in relationship to the attachment of other structures.  The tri-engine cluster which forms the exhaust(s) of the main powerplant(s) is one nozzle atop two others on each side in the AI version.  In the 40K version it is two nozzles over one.  This is another large visual change.  I am hard pressed to find a logical explanation for the change in the two versions exhaust configurations.  The AI version lends a more "bulky" look to the vehicle.

The Fourth is the weapons mounts beneath the wings.  In the AI Version there is a bubble shaped housing with the weapons choices molded into it and are designed to attach to the Wing proper below the center knuckle of the wing leading edge.  The leading edge is shaped like a lazy rounded "W" with the weapons located below the center point of the "W".  On the 40K version the weapons mount for the Hunter is attached to the front of the trapezoidal shaped engine housing.  The 40K raider has its weapons in both versions in this center wing position.  The weapons location in both the AI versions being at the center of the "W" makes sense in that more commonality and stability for mounting the raider's two twin linked pulse lasers into a one piece mounting would be structurally stronger once assembled.  

I have built the trapezoidal engine "boxes" and am about to build the tri-engine nozzle assemblies which are Falcon exhausts, with turbine exhausts fron Space marine Land Speeders that are reduced to the inner detail and placed inside the falcon nozzles. 

Will try and get pics taken by the weekend to show some of the ares I have discussed here.

Tomorrow is Veterans Day, If you see one thank them for their service!