Standard Template Construction

Standard Template Construction (STC), was something developed by GW in first edition 40k to explain why a galactic empire had a very limited range of combat vehicles that appeared uniformly across its territory. It meant that, rather than having to design and tool a huge range of vehicles, they could have all Imperial forces equipped with Rhino transports, Predator battle tanks and Land Raider heavy tanks. It meant that they could make a standard bike for marines and Guard, and a single Land Speeder, with different crew and weapons, for both. Basically, it was a way of saving time and money, and the technology = magic setting suited that.

Beyond the Predator being a single upgrade sprue for the Rhino, there wasn't that much cross compatibility, because there wasn't enough range to justify it. Over time, new vehicles were added, like the Whirlwind and Vindicator, originally as conversion articles for the Rhino, with some extra pieces like bases and shields, pen barrels and plasticard, then as metal conversion packs. Once these started to appear, cross compatibility between kits wasn't a consideration, as getting a diverse range was the focus.

About 15 years into 40k's run, now approaching 32 years, a new Rhino came out, and in its wake, new plastic Predators, Razorbacks, Whirlwinds, Vindicators, etc. With the comparative expense of plastic tooling, cross compatibility of components made financial sense: having the same turret ring for all turrets meant that that could be on the sprues with the hull. It also meant that it was easy to swap pieces across, allowing a Razorback turret to fit a Land Raider and vice versa, suddenly opened up a lot of options for alternate armaments and variants that could be easily made and playtested.

Of course, while the marines got to benefit from this embrasure of the STC concept, the Guard weren't so lucky. A Leman Russ turret won't fit a Chimera, and vice versa, for example. That being said, with the range of vehicles available to the Guard based off those 2 hulls, it's debatable that that compatibility is needed.

That being said, the mountings for the turret weapons of the Leman Russ, Predator and Chimera are all fairly close. It takes a little bit of work, but you can fit a Predator Destructor's autocannon to a Chimera turret, if you want that option from Imperial Armour, now that the official Forgeworld kit is gone. Similarly, with the demise of the Forgeworld Mars Alpha pattern Leman Russ Annihilator, the Annihilator's twin lascannon will fit, relatively comfortably, in the mounting on the Leman Russ. Fitting a battle tank's gun to the Chimera turret requires carving back the mounting bars or removing the pivot and replacing it with a smaller diameter of plastic rod; fitting a Chimera's gun to a battle tank, for whatever reason, is basically the reverse.

Ah, styrene, between handling and design, you make converting custom vehicles so much easier...

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