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:
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| 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.
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| 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
Much improved. Nice work.
ReplyDeleteThanks Zab, I feel a lot better about the way its looking now, and wasn't too much effort either.
DeleteLooks great. I will definitely be stealing the idea for the top turret.
ReplyDeleteHowever I'm wondering why people get so worked up over the hurricane bolters. Are they really that great an upgrade at 30 points?
Cheers Tristan, feel free to steal away (although a credit is always nice :D ).
DeleteYou're probably right about the cost of the bolters, although I do love hurricane bolters, I think they are way more effective than people give them credit for. Its a bit more of an aesthetic thing than anything else to remove them, but either way, I feel the silhouette of the thing is a lot better without those protrusions at the front either way.
I am liking the roof mounted turret better, looks way better. I am not sure about the side pieces, looks missing or hashed if I dare say it. Personally I would have mounted the hurricane bolters at the front on the part you removed so it is like a mini Thunderhawk.
ReplyDeleteAs I said, I plan to cover the regions left open after my ministrations, I'm just waiting on some plasticard to arrive so I can complete it. Glad you like it otherwise, its pretty difficult to mount the bolters forward as they need a recess in the bodywork which would mean even more cutting, not something I'd feel confident enough to try at this stage.
DeleteReally hoping that vanilla marines get to field this from the new supplement, will be a lot of fun!
Andy, what about putting just the thruster part of the chopped off piece back on the plasticard plugs? Only one step rather than the original two and it will be lower than the HBs and save you from having to detail the blank plasticard plugs too?
ReplyDeleteGreat top turret, is there room to cut and rotate just the barrel parts of the assault cannons back to upright?
I've a Chapterhouse extension kit for mine (awaiting rumoured Codex:SM clearance first for my Relictors!)
Hey Siph
DeleteI did look at that, but it would take quite a bit to re-construct the cowling around the thrusters, and I'd need to be working with plasticard anyway, after trialling things a bit I decided I like it without them at all, plus you have to cut out a space for it to fit into, and at the start I was foolishly intending to display and paint the interior.
I haven't looked at rotating the barrels on the top, I may see what the feasibility of that might be, and I'm also thinking of magnetising the cover plates for it too to add just a little more bulk to it.
Really hoping they make that change so that it can be used with other forces (would be even nicer if they allowed Wolves to use it as if not we'll be the only marine force without access to any fliers/anti-air).
Any chance of better explaining the snip to switch the wings?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteSure it was pretty simple actually. The wings only attach by a small tab which is square at one end and sloped at the other. All I had to do was to cut the square end to be sloped like the other and then they can be reversed. The only other thing to remember is to make sure you stick the relevant parts for the missiles in backwards too while you're building the wings otherwise they'll end up facing backwards.
DeleteHope that helps.
Are you from AK? The only HobbyCraft I've seen was in Anchorage.
ReplyDeleteHi Duncan
DeleteAfraid I'm not in AK, I'm quite possibly on the opposite side of the world literally from there. I live and work in Oxford, UK. There's a chain of craft and hobby shops here called HobbyCraft, which tend to turn up on our equivalent of strip-malls, might be the same company though.
How's the hobby/gaming scene in AK, must get a little challenging if you don't live in a large town/city as I imagine the distances you'd have to travel would be immense. Also, I imagine the cold might cause problems.
Looks much better than the original. My buddy did a conversion as well and wrote up an article on it.
ReplyDeleteThanks very much. Do you have a link to your buddies article, I'd be very interested to see his take on it.
DeleteHis article isn't as eloquent as yours. It's on my gaming group's blog: http://anythingbutones.blogspot.sg/2012/07/deathwing-storm-eagle-kit.html.
DeleteHopefully the link will show. Otherwise just Google anythingbutones.blogspot
He added LED to some of his Stormravens as well.
I don't know about that, its a pretty great post and such a cool idea for the conversion. I've started following your blog, loads of great content on there.
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