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Wolverine Space Fighter (Original Version)


 About the Wolverine
The Wolverine is the mainstay space superiority fighter of the C Quadrant Defenders. While the original version was considered unremarkable, the variations and improvements made to the spaceframe would result in the fighter serving in a variety of roles with distinction. And if you knew how to fly the base model, you could be easily trained on any of the variants that followed.

The first version seen here is somewhat of an oddball, due to its mixed propulsion design and lack of wings. Two flat-eight internal combustion engines with three-blade propellers are mounted in a pair of nacelles on either side of the fuselage. These engines were intended for atmospheric flight, allowing for low-accelleration, high efficiency takeoffs and landings. They also could be fed oxidizider to operate in a vacuum in order to serve as an auxiliary power unit. The main engine is a centrally mounted atomic rocket engine, which provides thrust in space flight and during atmospheric combat.

Wolverines were expected to be launched from the ground, space-based carriers, and space stations. There was also a fixed set of tricycle landing gear intended to make bush landings easier. Each fighter is armed with a bank of four machine guns in the nose, plenty of firepower for dogfighting with other fighters in the air or space. Behind the cockpit is a small compartment where a passenger may sit or equipment can be stowed for transport, along with the pilot's personal effects.


   The Wolverine and pilot.


   The Wolverine's four machine guns on the nose are its only armament. The internal combustion engines assist in atmospheric flight.


   Wings aren't needed on a space fighter.


   The cockpit is small, as is the the passenger compartment behind it. Behind that is a storage compartment.


   The rear landing gear deployed, providing us a better view of the primary source of propulsion: the rocket engine.


   Underside view.



 Meta Description
This might be the single oldest creation I've posted here, originally being made some time around 2002. I posted it to MOCpages in February 2006, but it didn't really get high praise, and I can see why.

So, let's discuss the elephants in the room: the wings and the landing gear. There are no wings. Never were, atleast not on this first version with red trim. It looked better without them when I built it way back then, and I'm not going to argue with an aesthetic choice superseding logic (AKA Rule of Cool). The sensibilities of my pre-teen self were at play, and I have to be forgiving for that, what else can I do? The landing gear are in some of the shots, but not others -- where do they go? I don't know, or care, and ultimately I got rid of them entirely as there simply wasn't anywhere for them to be hidden away. I figured it was just overcomplicating what should be a simple deisgn, aerodynamics be damned.

The inspiration for the base fighter comes directly from 6544, one of my favorite childhood sets. Later on, I would draw parallels to fighters like the F-104 (particularly the NF-104A with the rocket engine for training pilots for X-15 flights), and the SR.177. However, when I built it, I wasn't really aware of either yet.

I liked this fighter enough to keep it around, still assembled for 20 years. It's been modified more than a few times to improve angles, color matching, structure, details, etc, but it's still using many of the same original pieces. First, the Wolverine CR and later a revised version using most of the same parts. Ultimately, I've learned to stand by my less realistic design choices if they're fun.
 
General Characteristics
NameWolverine
TypeSpace Fighter
AffliationC Quadrant Defenders, Earth
Armament4 x Machine guns
Propulsion1 x Atomic rocket
2 x Propeller engines
Crew Compliment1




Gallery was generated using igal2 2.2
This page was last updated on 3/20/2023
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