Technical-looking cover art is a representation of equipment, not a test of that equipment’s accuracy. Specific detail and correct detail are separate properties of an image.
Reference material and finished images
An artist’s reference supplies information for making an image. The finished painting selects and transforms that information through viewpoint, pose, composition and the requirements of the cover.
For Sold for Slaughter, Gil Cohen used a constructed weapon mock-up in a reference photograph when the real weapon was unavailable. That documented method establishes how a reference was obtained. It does not establish that every visible detail in the resulting image corresponds to a functioning example.
The distinction also prevents a reverse error: the use of a substitute does not by itself prove that the painting is inaccurate. Accuracy must be assessed against the depicted details and the particular real or fictional object they represent.
Cover and manuscript
A cover and a manuscript are separate production outputs. A story can maintain a fixed equipment description while its artwork presents a different view or configuration. Conversely, a convincing illustration cannot verify claims made inside the text.
Named gear in adventure fiction provides verbal specificity. A reference photograph supplies visual specificity. Their agreement has to be demonstrated; it cannot be assumed from the fact that both look technical.
Edition-specific accuracy
Cohen later repainted covers for early Executioner novels. A title therefore does not identify a single permanent image. Any comparison needs the edition or cover being examined.
What varies is the relationship among reference, artwork and story. The narrowest defensible conclusion states which detail matches or differs in a specified image. It does not convert one successful identification into a verdict on an artist’s entire output or a franchise’s technical reliability.