The Stormtalon

[WarriorFish]

I say stealth because I've been away from the B&C for a few days but I was slightly surprised to find there being no talk of our latest addition. Post release anti-climax or is nobody getting any? Since I've assembled mine I thought I'd like to discuss the kit.

I found the kit to be very well done and easy to put together which is always a pleasure. I did notice that a reasonable amount required to be unassembled for painting though, at least to my abilities, there was obviously the cockpit as the kit mentioned but I also discovered that the thrusters had details on that could be seen through ventilation slits on the engines so I thought it better to paint them prior to gluing.

As I thought it does look much better in front of you (terrible angles just like the Stormraven pictures) and the assault cannon isn't massive either. I also noticed that the engine fins can be left off without any detriment to the appearance of the engines giving it a much sleeker appearance. Reminded me of something from G-Police or maybe Command and Conquer so I'm still deciding if I'm going to stick them on or not.

I decided to put my poor photography and camera phone to use with my mediocre Blu-Tack skills to bring you what I hope is an informative poke at the kit for anyone who might be interested in the model. My local GW didn't even have one built when I popped in which I thought unusual.

The ventilation and thruster details.

The fin just has a tab to glue on to so looks fine if you don't bother. Or you can remove the tab if you're brave/good at chopping.

The kit makes no mention of this but it seems clear to me you can leave this open a bit as it has some detail on the inside.

The assault cannons have a "floor" bit that stops them dropping too low which is nice.

No fin version.

No fin top.

Fin version.

Fin top.

Bonus shot of how it goes together. This is still tacked together but you can see how it simply slides up into the main body once you've painted the cockpit sections.

The thrusters are glued to a pole that goes through the body and I found it to work well, the body is made so the thrusters can go from pointing forward to up only. I think magnetising the sponson weaponry is possible albeit fiddly as both weapon sets (Typhoon/Skyhammer and Heavy Bolter/Lascannon) share the same bit that connects to the hull.

Since I've never magnetised anything I figured it was jumping in the deep end too much, especially trying to figure out how to magnetise the front weapon bit (which is similar to the Dreadnought missile launcher arm) without buggering it all up. I'll have to find more tutorials on magnetising to read.

[Aegnor]

Nice, thanks for the pics. I agree those pics look better - no fins also looks better.

[Olis]

Although you have done more justice to the kit than WD has, brother, I still think it needs converting to make it look good. Not just okay, but good. Properly good.

 

There's a couple of wip threads which have converted the Storm Talon, making it ten times better than the stock model, in their own ways. If I ever get one, it's going under the knife. :)

[Naminé]

I totally want one of these... in fact I want 2! The only problem being I bought two landraiders very recently and cannot justify the extra cost! :D

 

I agree with the conversion idea though, as it is the ship looks a little too front heavy, so I would tinker with the model to make it look more like a RL Apache helicopter.

 

They are next on my shopping list!

[Eberious]

Tis a sweet little kit and was really easy to put together and convert(although I do enjoy a challange). Just had to do something about the oversized assualt cannons and the stumpy tail. Everything else on the model is awesome, its the only kit I've bought direct from GW in the last 5 years without a second and third thought.

 

Check it out in my army wip thread.

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.p...4218&st=125

 

Plan on getting another one, but only if I can get my hands on another rear tail fin and the tail sections from the IG Valk.

[WarriorFish]

Since the topic was moved to the WIP section even though it was never intended to be such I thought I may as well report back with the "finished" model! The base still needs doing but it has reached what I call my "standard" table top minimum level. Once I've done more experimentation and have come up with something I'm happy with I'll go back to my models and give them things like weathering etc.

The shots aren't brilliant (at least they're from a better phone than mine!) but should give you a good idea of what it looks like.

Pre-canopy shots:

Canopy shots:

I'm pleased with the way the lenses turned out. I spent a fair amount of time on the Techmarine and cockpit but not all of it is easily visible unfortunately but there's no way around that. As you can see I decided on leaving the fins off as the sleek appearance just seems to work so much better in my eyes.

Maybe one day I'll get a proper camera and set up for pictures but I'd rather spend my time (and money) on models on the table top rather than pictures of them :)

Since we're here can anyone recommend colours for chipping/weathering detail? The primary colour is Catachan/Castellan Green and I've tried black as the "undercoat" colour between the metal and green but the colour difference feels too stark.

[PaganLinuxGeek]

Nice work! It really does look cool without "wings/fins". I assembled mine with only a couple subtle changes. Thanks for the post.

[Disruptor_fe404]

Nice to see that others dig the no-fin look. Looks like a GDI Orca, which is a very good thing!