1/72 Last Exile Vanship

[zenrat]

The fighters have machine guns (reloaded by the navi in the back seat) and all types of vanship get to carry arial torpedoes at one point of the series.
VV is right.  It's a thing.  It never gets explained or used in an obvious way.

[kerick]

Rather large and prominent as greeblies go. If one was coming in for a landing and didn't see a lower, slower craft in front and below it could make for a serious headache for someone!

[CANSO]

I have some variations of Tatiana's vanship (the military version), but I don't remember where are they from. The bottom one is a sea-version with a central float instead of the "thing". I like the "gliders" under the wings and the oversized canons too. It has always inspired me to do a conversion of the Hasegawa model, but I never started any (so far ).
 

[Old Wombat]

Rather large and prominent as greeblies go. If one was coming in for a landing and didn't see a lower, slower craft in front and below it could make for a serious headache for someone!

I would suggest it is, in fact, designed to do exactly that. It looks like some sort of "last ditch" aerial battering ram.

[kerick]

From the above illustration it may be part of the "engine" assembly. But the "skid" that looks more like an axe blade is still puzzling.

[Dizzyfugu]

This might help a bit:

A vanship is a type of flying machine from the animated series Last Exile. It is often referred to as a "flying boat" in that it does not fly by means of aerodynamics like planes do, but rather by floating on the air and propelling itself through the use of a substance known as Claudia (which works much like a steam engine - just that the effect is levitation and propulsion rather than simple pressure expansion).

Vanships in general were couriers prior to the events of Last Exile, traveling long distances to deliver cargoes (usually messages). Some Vanships thus include tools for towing solid objects. Any Vanship intended to dock with a capital ship has a set of cables to act as anchors.

All couriers receive their jobs from their local Vanship Union, which assigns each a difficulty rating: one or two stars for most jobs, three for transport into a battle zone, etc. The transport of Alvis Hamilton to the Silvana was set at seven stars due to the inevitable interference of the Guild, and the peace message intended for Disith had an unprecedented ten star rating, because it was considered impossible—it required a courier to cross the Grand Stream for the first time in Anatoray's history.

All vanships in the series were rendered as 3D images, a hallmark of Japanese animation studio Gonzo, makers of such series as Vandread and Blue Submarine No. 6.

The design of the Vanship is very similar to that of Hayao Miyazaki's gunship from Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. The matches are really focused on the two seated open cockpit, and the navigator section which has matching interface panels of small glass cylinders.

The design of several vanships throughout the series, however, bear far greater resemblance to various famed 1930s racecars than any aircraft, most notably the Anatoray millitary vanships which bear great resemblance to the 1933 Napier Railton. The resemblance is found in the grill shape of the cowl vents and the shape of the tail cone, as well as the aerodynamic bulges on the car which cover the valve covers and exaust on the car, which are also found on the Anatoray vanships.
Another good example is Dio's Vanship in the sequel, which bears a resemblance to the Stutz Blackhawk land speed record car, with the exception of the lack of the car's rear wheel covers and some small additions.

Types of Vanships:
    Cargo Vanship
    Courier Vanship (also known as Racing Vanship)
    High-speed Vanship
    Military Vanship
    Old Federal Vanship
    Rocket Fighter
    Shaharz
    Sky Pirate Vanship
    Vespa

Over the course of Last Exile, Vanships were adapted for combat. The process resembles the evolving roles that aircraft held during WW1; originally developed for scouting and surveillance, but eventually equipped with bombs and machine guns to become potent fighter craft.



Claudia
Claudia is a fluorescent blue ore mined on the floating world of Prester. It is the foundation of Prester's technology, fueling steam engines and is a key element of the claudia units that allow vanships to fly.

Claudia is the primary currency of Prester. It is well suited for the purpose, as it is constantly generated by Prester and is not possible to counterfeit. A frugal person will spend less than 80 Claudia on room and board in a week. It is also potent—in its refined state, several billion Claudia is only a fist-sized stone.

Primary uses for Claudia are that of fuel and the operating fluid in a claudia unit.

Claudia Fuel (Claudia-Alcohol solution)
Dissolving Claudia in alcohol dramatically increases the energy density of the fuel. This is why steam engines are the predominant technology of Last Exile, instead of the internal combustion engine. Technology design documents from the production of the show indicate that the steam engines of Last Exile have a power to weight ratio exceeding that of a modern gasoline fueled internal combustion engine.

Guild ships are shown to use a higher grade of Claudia fuel, utilising unknown methods of processing in its production. Non-guild steam engines are seen to experience a much higher performance when using this fuel.

Claudia Fluid (Claudia-Water solution)
Claudia, when dissolved in water, serves as the primary drive fluid in a claudia unit. When Claudia fluid is heated and compressed, it generates lift. A vanship engine has a distinctive claudia circulation pipe loop, where the supercritical fluid generates both lift and thrust.

Inspired?

From: http://lastexile.wikia.com/wiki/Vanship

[zenrat]

Inspired?

Yes.  Thanks Dizz.

[Dizzyfugu]

 

[zenrat]

More pics.
both from Fam  - The Silver Wing.
Sky Pirate Vanship


Galcies Rocket Fighter - these launch up what appears to be a long rail propelled by 4 jettisoned boosters.

[Dizzyfugu]

I see a run for the Junkers G.38 kit from Revell... 

[NARSES2]

Why do these things remind me of kitchen electrical gadgets ? have to admit that 99.9% of this is way over my head but interesting none the less

[VickersVandal]

Because they all look like egg whisks 

Great info gents. Thanks!

[NARSES2]

Because they all look like egg whisks 

Great info gents. Thanks!

Exactly

[Rhodri]

To me, they're just begging for a pair of Spandau or Vickers machine guns in front of the pilot, with ring-and-bead sights ... 

[VickersVandal]

You're giving me ideas 

They do have MG in the front, but they poke out through the radiator in the style of 1930s fighters (e.g. Boeing Peashooter)