At least that's what I think...
We've all seen the jip that the StormRaven gets on the internets, along with most of GWs new marine kits and for a lot of them I'd probably have to agree. Most of what I've seen recently has the potential to be really great, but somehow GW has managed to mess things up (that chin gun on the StormTalon for instance). Well despite all this, I've loved the StormRaven for a while and this Christmas found one brand new for £41 in HobbyCraft so just couldn't pass it by (I justify it as a Christmas Present to myself). Once I had it in my clutches, I sat down with the sprues and spent a while trying to figure out how I would alter it to make it look at least like it might be able to fly.
It's these bits that don't really do it for me, the thrusters at the front just make the whole body seem far too wide for a flying vehicle, and the turret on top and the air-intake just stick up far too high, these are the bits to me that make it just look far too boxy and front heavy to ever have a chance to fly (yes I know I'm discussing the aerodynamic merits of what is essentially a shoebox with wings, but bear with me). There's also another issue with the thrusters at the side which is neatly illustrated by this image:
Yep, even if they didn't look stupid, the lower pair of Hurricane Bolters can't even fire past them - great design!
So, based on that, I attacked the parts with my clippers and scalpel knife, and bust out the magnets so that I could chop and change parts at will, you can see the gaping hole left in the side of the body below, it'll be covered with some plasticard once I've managed to buy some. Also in the image is the side door and a piece of sprue that I glued to the inside, which lets me change the doors.
Below is an example of the door and the bolter sponson which needed a bit of sprue to ensure the magnets met. I magnetised them at the bottom as it makes getting them out of the body that little bit easier than if they are magnetised at the centre, you can apply a bit more leverage this way around. The 3mm x 1.5mm magnets are more than strong enough to hold them in place without issue.
It also turns out that if you put the base-plate of the top turret in backwards, then you can mount the weapons flat to it for a much lower profile top, and that a cheeky magnet in the side of the front slots will allow the interchange of the front mounted guns.
All of this together, along with a little snip of plastic to allow me to install the wings facing the other way results in what I think is a much better looking StormRaven as you can see in the images below.
So that's it, I'll be ordering some plasticard soon (as I can't find any anywhere in Oxford), and get those gaps patched before starting the painting. Very much looking forward to seeing this guy ready for games and very curious to see what it's like using a flier.
Cheers - Andy
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| I don't like these bits (image from GW, used without permission) |
It's these bits that don't really do it for me, the thrusters at the front just make the whole body seem far too wide for a flying vehicle, and the turret on top and the air-intake just stick up far too high, these are the bits to me that make it just look far too boxy and front heavy to ever have a chance to fly (yes I know I'm discussing the aerodynamic merits of what is essentially a shoebox with wings, but bear with me). There's also another issue with the thrusters at the side which is neatly illustrated by this image:
 |
| kindly borrowed from Graven Games |
So, based on that, I attacked the parts with my clippers and scalpel knife, and bust out the magnets so that I could chop and change parts at will, you can see the gaping hole left in the side of the body below, it'll be covered with some plasticard once I've managed to buy some. Also in the image is the side door and a piece of sprue that I glued to the inside, which lets me change the doors.
Below is an example of the door and the bolter sponson which needed a bit of sprue to ensure the magnets met. I magnetised them at the bottom as it makes getting them out of the body that little bit easier than if they are magnetised at the centre, you can apply a bit more leverage this way around. The 3mm x 1.5mm magnets are more than strong enough to hold them in place without issue.
It also turns out that if you put the base-plate of the top turret in backwards, then you can mount the weapons flat to it for a much lower profile top, and that a cheeky magnet in the side of the front slots will allow the interchange of the front mounted guns.
All of this together, along with a little snip of plastic to allow me to install the wings facing the other way results in what I think is a much better looking StormRaven as you can see in the images below.
 |
| You can see with and without Hurricane Bolters on the right and left respectively |
So that's it, I'll be ordering some plasticard soon (as I can't find any anywhere in Oxford), and get those gaps patched before starting the painting. Very much looking forward to seeing this guy ready for games and very curious to see what it's like using a flier.
Cheers - Andy