Vindicatus Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 So, after the huge disappointment that my entire state's shipment of new release items is currently held up elsewhere due to Snowmaggedon in the eastern part of the US, I had a bright glimmer of hope strike me like a frypan from a malcontented housewife. The store nearby allowed me to purchase the store's display box of the Stormraven without the usual Games Workshop in store discount. Completely fine with this, I packed it off greedily and hurried home. Opening it up, I realize that there are more interchangable parts to this thing than most Legos sets. Undaunted by this, I dug in and started to read over the instructions. I was actually rather pleased by the fact that GW had learned something over the years and printed actual WORDS on the instructions instead of vague and slightly ambiguous pictures to 'aide' you in putting together your model. With something close to 130 separate pieces to sort through, that was a welcome change. All in all, after a little trimming and sanding, it fit together rather nicely, and came with a flying base (which I was happy for). I managed to even drop in a heavy ND-magnet behind the nose sensor array and magnetized each individual weapon grouping so I can swap them out as needed. After a little ingenuity, I did the same with the doors on the side so I could choose to use the hurricane bolters or not. tl;dr The Awesome : 1. Side doors and front ramp are interchangable with the Forge World Inquisition Rhino doors/ramp. (Mine's currently rocking an =][= ramp and interchangable doors.) 2. Easily magnetizable in order to give you the maximum array of weapon options. 3. Comes standard with flying base that actually fits in the slot designed for it. The Not-So-Awesome : 1. The back door ramp (just ahead of the tail/magna-grapple assembly) doesn't snap in and just sort of hangs there even though it says not to glue it. 2. Instructions on putting together the wing/engine assembly and then fitting it to the main body involves a little guess-work. 3. Nose sensor/weapon array doesn't fit as tightly as I'd like, making it jostle inside the caddy and look a little ramshackle. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/221807-stormraven-the-skinny/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seahawk Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 I wonder how people will start using it when the new codex arrives. For me, they'll be packaged up with various infantry units and dreadnoughts. CC squads and heavy armor will keep the passengers alive and its special rules will keep it moving, all while being so much cooler than the BA version . I think I'll plan for two...airborne Grey Knights army would be sweet... Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/221807-stormraven-the-skinny/#findComment-2650437 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inquisitor Fox Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 I'll definately be having one in my list, at least initially. Now that I know the nifty Forgeworld Rhino rear hatch works in the front I'll be getting one of those too! Side hatches not as big a deal with the hurricane bolters, but all in all it'll make for a really nice model to go with the Forgeworld decorated Inquisitorial Land Raider I have. Mmmm.... new Codex.... now to just save pennies Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/221807-stormraven-the-skinny/#findComment-2650456 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vindicatus Posted February 7, 2011 Author Share Posted February 7, 2011 I had to do some measuring to make sure I didn't try to glue together something around the FW rhino doors without it actually working, but knowing that, I blew full steam ahead. Being able to affix some magnets to it in order to swap out the weapons was a bit plus. A side note on the nose sensor/weapons : the weapons themselves have small outcroppings from the back of the bit that plugs into the sides of the sensor, allowing them to be pushed into place and stick by themselves. I shaved mine off and added magnets and didn't mention it before because I'm not sure if every SR's sprue will come with those little nubs fully formed and thus, leaving people with weapon bits falling out of the front. Combined with the fact that it has enough firepower to take over Panama by itself on a half tank of gas...I think I can stay my feelings about how silly it looks. Oh! Almost forgot this one previously : 4. Design aspects - The tail is forward sweeping with back tail stabilators. Essentially, the back portion the wing stabilator assembly should point forward ( like this < ) versus how it is ( >) because it looks damned silly, and two the way drag and airflow work make the stream profile different. But, considering it has two ramjet engines and four sets of turbines to jink it left, right and sideways, I'm assuming that it's meant that way to do some sort of crazy manuvering of a fashion. I'll just think of it as a fat Harrier. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/221807-stormraven-the-skinny/#findComment-2650470 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gentlemanloser Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 Just about finished putting mine together tonight. I tihnk i'm going to echo much of the sentiment above. Overall, after putting it together with the Landing Gear up, and leaving off the top turret and air intake, I really like the look of it. Some problems with assembly. 1: As mentioned above, the rear door sucks. It doesn't snap in,and if you don't glue it (like suggested) it just sort of hangs there, waiting for a breeze or nudge to loosed it. 2: The cockpit canopy top (I donno?) struts. I thought it would be a good idea to fix the glass window in place first, as it seems to be a solid enough fit. After, I can't for the life of me get the canopy struts to fit in any way. They seem to be far too short in lenght, don't fit the shape of the 'glass' window, and frustrated me no end! 3: There's no 'on mini' guidance for the placement of the Dreadnought Grapple. Mines just slightly off centre, and while nothing serious will bug me no end now. ;) Plus it was slightly angled, while the bottom of the tail was flat, making it a poor fit anyway. Apart form those three, there were no other issues. Some things might not have quite fit together exactly, but I remember having far more isues with my Valk and Drop Pod over my SR. I was debating getting one, but after seeing it put together as I have (I do not like the chicken leg landing gear!), I'm quite fond of it now! All I need is to cobble together a Razorback turret for the top, and make sure it fits! :huh: (why oh why didn't you make those the same size holes GW? ;) ) Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/221807-stormraven-the-skinny/#findComment-2650731 Share on other sites More sharing options...
old git Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 I'm thinking I'll probably replace the top turret with a FW version and leave off the air intake, might give the hull a better profile. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/221807-stormraven-the-skinny/#findComment-2650829 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inache Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 I'm planning on leaving off the top turret, and seeing if using mocked up or down as the case may be weapon systems so it look more like a THawk's thunder cannon. Thus giving the whole baby THawk look even more veracity. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/221807-stormraven-the-skinny/#findComment-2651060 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brovius Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 According to the latest batch of rumors, GKs are being nerfed into Ultramarines with Storm Bolters. Since GKs are dropping to WS4 and will only have 1A, i think the Storm Raven will not see much use in the GK codex. I'm not happy at all about these newest rumors, it reeks of Ward. If I do end up using the 2 Storm Ravens i've already ordered (and paid for), they will be wingmen for my THawk in apocalypse. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/221807-stormraven-the-skinny/#findComment-2651282 Share on other sites More sharing options...
boreas Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 According to the latest batch of rumors, GKs are being nerfed into Ultramarines with Storm Bolters. I'll point you to this thread for my answer to that: http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.p...p;#entry2651431 The SR has quite it's place in GKs list. Of course, people who expected movie-marines at 17pts a models are not happy :) I quite eager to get my two birds! Phil Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/221807-stormraven-the-skinny/#findComment-2651454 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gentlemanloser Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Stormraven full of Paladins? Yes Please! :D Now if only it could transport a Dreadknight instead of a Dreadnought. :P Edit: With a GKGM giving it Scout. First turn Charge by 2W, FNP, NFW, Psychic Termies! Ouchtime! Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/221807-stormraven-the-skinny/#findComment-2651580 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Tezdal Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Ugh, I wouldn't buy a stormraven ever...ugliest vehicle ever Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/221807-stormraven-the-skinny/#findComment-2651887 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vindicatus Posted February 8, 2011 Author Share Posted February 8, 2011 Ugly as it may be, the thing packs enough punch and viability in an army to make it worth the God-awful looks, in my opinion. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/221807-stormraven-the-skinny/#findComment-2651915 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grand Master Caloth Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Trust me, leave the intake from behind the turret off. REALLY slims the profile and makes the vehicle look way better Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/221807-stormraven-the-skinny/#findComment-2653585 Share on other sites More sharing options...
templargdt Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Thanks for the model review and the tip on the Forge World pieces, I'll have to invest some money in that when I buy a storm raven. I'm not happy at all about these newest rumors, it reeks of Ward. I laughed out loud at that, thanks. Have hope man. I really don't want silver Ultramarines. I really do want a competitive codex. Two months to go! Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/221807-stormraven-the-skinny/#findComment-2653675 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loyalist Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 The Not-So-Awesome :1. The back door ramp (just ahead of the tail/magna-grapple assembly) doesn't snap in and just sort of hangs there even though it says not to glue it. 2. Instructions on putting together the wing/engine assembly and then fitting it to the main body involves a little guess-work. 3. Nose sensor/weapon array doesn't fit as tightly as I'd like, making it jostle inside the caddy and look a little ramshackle. The pivot bar/hinge on the bottom edge of the ramp doesn't fully fit into the 2 right side brackets, which aren't deep enough. After some very careful trimming with a hobby knife the fit will be better, but not perfect. Once primed and painted the rear ramp will fit tighter and should stay in place when closed (mine does). The Typhoon missile launcher on my Stormraven was a loose fit, falling out when jostled. The other weapon options were a tighter fit but not fully secure. A solution is to glue small strips of 0.25 mm styrene on the upper side of the lugs that go into the weapon mount slots. This will be too tight a fit initially but careful scraping of the styrene strips with a fresh hobby knife blade and test fitting willl give a secure fit. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/221807-stormraven-the-skinny/#findComment-2675092 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vindicatus Posted March 1, 2011 Author Share Posted March 1, 2011 I actually hollowed out the inside of the nose sensor and placed a slightly-smaller-than-a-quarter sized rare earth magnet in there, and then attached some 1/8" x 1/32" to the end of each weapon array. That crap ain't goin' no-where! Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/221807-stormraven-the-skinny/#findComment-2675103 Share on other sites More sharing options...
DinoDoc Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 The Awesome :1. Side doors and front ramp are interchangeable with the Forge World Inquisition Rhino doors/ramp. (Mine's currently rocking an =][= ramp and interchangeable doors.) That is indeed awesome. Though I was hoping for GK LR doors. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/221807-stormraven-the-skinny/#findComment-2675175 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justcar Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 Ugly as it may be, the thing packs enough punch and viability in an army to make it worth the God-awful looks, in my opinion. I took off the vent, and replaced the turret with a razorback-esque design. I also added frontal stabilizers from the valkery kit. While the side view looks a little off, it looks so good! My SR looks a lot like ambaby T-hawk!! Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/221807-stormraven-the-skinny/#findComment-2675777 Share on other sites More sharing options...
grimz Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 By Throne.... I just ordered FW Landraider Doors and the top part of the assault ramp for my SR... Does this mean I can't use any of it?? Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/221807-stormraven-the-skinny/#findComment-2675798 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sothalor Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 I picked up a Stormraven in anticipation of the upcoming GK release, and I have to say I'm pretty happy with it. When I first saw the pics on the net, I thought it looked hideous. Seeing it in person at a store really helped it grow on me. It really reminds me of a Hind chopper - ugly and brutal. To add to comments about assembling the model, I'd say that the little dinky axle for mounting the weapons on the top turret didn't work well for me. First, the bar is essentially free floating. While I like this idea in theory, in practice it makes the weapons hang limply on the turret and it just doesn't look right to me. I also didn't like how the protruding nubs don't fit snugly in the weapon slots, which means you have to glue them to get them to stay on and that precludes swapping out for different options. I ended up replacing that axle with rare earth magnets so I can swap out weapons as desired. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/221807-stormraven-the-skinny/#findComment-2675961 Share on other sites More sharing options...
DinoDoc Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 Any chance the pilot can be replaced with the GK tank commander or would that not look right? Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/221807-stormraven-the-skinny/#findComment-2676069 Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedemptionNL Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 By Throne.... I just ordered FW Landraider Doors and the top part of the assault ramp for my SR... Does this mean I can't use any of it?? Seems like the side doors are the smaller Rhino sized ones, so the larger Landraider sized ones won't fit without modifications. Unsure about the assault ramp door. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/221807-stormraven-the-skinny/#findComment-2676071 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loyalist Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 One of the reasons I turfed the stock turret was the loose pivot for the weapons and their very loose fit to it. If you keep it magnets are the way to go if you want to switch weapons. My approach was to combine a spare Razorback turret with the Stormraven's turret weapons. First I made the Razorback turret ring fit the narrower Stormraven turret ring's hole by carefully filing and scraping around it with a hobby blade until it was a push fit into the hole and could be rotated with little effort. If you do this the bottom of the Razorback turret ring will be the same depth as the ring on the kit's turret. Glue a styrene locking bar across the ring in the same position as the tabs that hold the stock turret in place. Next, I omitted the central pivot mount for the Razorback weapons so the turret could be made much lower. I trimmed off the rear part of each Stormraven weapon at the end of the blocky section behind the barrels. This made all of them the same length from the end of their barrels back. I cut 3 styrene plates (1mm thick) of the same height and contour as the rear of the weapons, drilled a central hole in each plate and CA glued a 0.75 x 5.0 mm rare earth magnet in each hole. The styrene plates were glued on the back of each weapon mount, making sure the polarity of each exposed magnet face was the same. Next I cut a strip of 1mm styrene of the same height as the magnet plates glued to the back of the weapons. From it I cut 6 x 1mm thick styrene plates and trimmed each to be an exact fit under the shield over the Razorback weapons. The shape is a trapezoid because the sides slope slightly outward. The forward plate had a magnet installed in it of opposite polarity to those on the back of the weapons. The styrene plates were glued under the shield and to each other, forming a block of styrene that was glued to the razorback turret ring. The space under the shield and ahead of the styrene block was the same length as the block behind the weapon's barrels so only the barrels protrude from under the Razorback turret shield. Because the plates under the shield were the same height as those on the back of the weapons they are a snug push fit but are also held securely by the magnets. The result was a Razorback style turret but considerably lower in height, and lower than the Stormraven's turret. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/221807-stormraven-the-skinny/#findComment-2676128 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Psycho Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 Over on the Blood Angels forum there was a post last week by the user mercury with pics of his sweet SR conversion (I'd post the link but not sure how to do so on my crackberry, a search of his user name should bring it up). In short what he did was lose the ridiculous intake assembly, switch the manned turret with the FW Razorback turret (which has a low/wide profile) and then move the turret hole back closer to the wings. The difference is amazing, completely changes the profile to a mini Thawk. TBH I'm not sure about SRs for GKs - makes total sense for BAs, best way to get DC + DC Dread into combat, the risk of it being shot down is outweighed by the advantage of getting the DC and DC Dread into assault without standing around for a turn and potentially having them kited. Alternatively a SR is a great Termie Assault Squad + Furioso delivery system, nasty. For GKs you don't have the close combat dread, so I'd rather transport GKTs in a Land Raider for AV13. The best use I could see for GKs is as a gunship/transport for GKSSs camping objectives. But a TLLC razorback with a 6 man GKSS with a Psycannon could probably fill the same role for much cheaper. Guess we'll have to see how it goes once the batreps start coming in. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/221807-stormraven-the-skinny/#findComment-2676220 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vindicatus Posted March 2, 2011 Author Share Posted March 2, 2011 I'm pretty sure I saw that conversion, and while I loved the body-work on it, I'm not sure I like the placement of, nor the use of the low-profile razorback turret. By far, it's too close to the engine cowlings, and realistically you'd have to bank a lot harder to shoot over them at targets on the ground. Granted, if the engines weren't in the way, you'd either be doing strafing runs or jinking turns to fire off a quick burst before changing trajectory to avoid manual tracking. As far as use, I can actually see it's use by the GK fairly easily. GK's are typically inserted in the critical place, at the critical time, usually by teleportation. When working on concert with the Inquisition, the SR serves a purpose to manually insert forces not readily able to be teleported (al'a an Inquisitorial strike team, an assassin, and heavy support) whilst the jumped-in GK's keep the locals busy. Tactically speaking on the tabletop, it offers the mobility and maintains a wonderful threat profile. Someone who now has a squad of GKSS sitting off behind and to the flank of their army, now with a Stormraven and a dread meandering about as well is going to have some serious choices to make as to what firepower or units to allocate to try to deal with it, before the GK's shunt themselves onto an objective or some such. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/221807-stormraven-the-skinny/#findComment-2676243 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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