Modified Land Speeder Storm

[D-USA]

While I was working on my True-Scale Raven Guard Scout Force I decided to do some modifications to the Land Speeder Storm. I like the model, but I feel like it is pretty poorly executed. The thing is too dang crowded, with scouts hanging off the sides not because it is cool, but because they don't have any freaking room to sit anywhere. The heawy weapon is also pretty dumb being mounted on the passenger seat in my opinion. One of the 5 scouts that is riding on the Storm has to fire it if it is mounted, so when they dismount then the driver is the only scout left, and apperantly he is just reaching over to the passenger site to fire this thing. So after some thinking, cutting, and gluing I ended up with this:

 

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2012/4/17/354571_sm-Adepticon,%20Land%20Speeder%20Storm,%20Raven%20Guard,%20True%20Scale.jpg

 

I ended up cutting out the midsection and inserting some plasticard to make it longer and wider. Went through some bits-sites to get an extra set of benches and glued to the front and back wall, leaving the room in between for scouts to move around. I raised the top bar so that scouts could move around without hitting their heads everytime they turn around, made it longer to fit with the new design, and added an extra set of cables to lower themselves from the Storm.

 

I added a second grenade launcher and moved them further back to either side of the passenger compartment, and then I used the free space underneath the front to move the Storms weapon there. That way the pilot can fire it while flying and you don't have to wonder how the passenger side weapon gets fired after all the passengers hop off the Storm.

 

Thoughts, suggestions, feedback?

[Jaigo]

I love it.

 

Thats it. It's just what it should be. The room thing was bugging me but you solved it. Well painted. Nice base.

 

I love it

[dizzy-xc]

Its 110% awesome sauce. Can you show pics of where you cut and how you did it? More please.

[D-USA]

Thanks for the feedback. Got some good comments from people that saw it in person at Adepticon. It is different enough where it stands out, but it isn't super obvious. Took a couple folks a little while to figure out what was different, but they thought it looked right.

 

This was my first time converting any kind of vehicle, so a lot of my cuts are a bit crooked and places that I glued together are not very smooth. Would definetly do a better job next time I think.

 

Posting some WIP pictures, so it will get a bit picture heavy:

 

Started with cutting out the midsection of a regular Storm:

 

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2011/12/2/300805_sm-Raven%20Guard,%20Storm,%20True%20Scale.JPG

 

Used Plasticard to make the longer and wider passenger section, and used the posts to give it some stability.

 

Quick comparison shot showing the old passenger compartment compared to the bigger version:

 

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2011/12/2/300806_sm-Raven%20Guard,%20Storm,%20True%20Scale.JPG

 

 

Next step was to connect the posts, adding a plasticard bar at the bottom, and raising the bar at the top of the storm. Angles are a bit off, but keep in mind that I was learning how to do a conversion with this thing ;)

 

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2011/12/3/301098_sm-Raven%20Guard,%20Storm,%20True%20Scale.JPG

 

One problem I ran into while making the passenger section wider was that the rappelling mechanism was now to short. It would be pretty hard to lower yourself from the Storm when the ropes would drag along the edge of the Storm. So I cut the sections, extended them with a bar, and tried to use some thin plasticard wires to simulate the cables going from the middle to the edge.

 

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2011/12/3/301096_sm-Raven%20Guard,%20Storm,%20True%20Scale.JPG

 

Throw three of those together, cut and glued to cover the entire top bar, and you now have 6 places for 5 scouts to decent from. You can also see where I moved the steps further back and attached two sets of seats on the front and back.

 

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2011/12/5/301838_sm-Raven%20Guard,%20Storm,%20True%20Scale.JPG

 

For the bottom of the Storm I moved the cerberus launcher from the front to the passenger section. A large reason for attaching them to this specific spot were the steps on the edge of the Storm. I drilled holes for the metal bars, tried all kind of tricks, but I could not get the steps to be stable at all. They would constantly move if I even touched them slightly. So the bottom of the step actually is attached to the targeting mechanism on the side of the launchers. Once I did that it really made the steps rock solid. It also freed the spot on the front for attaching the heavy weapon. I also attached all the regular pieces that are normally on the underside of the storm, and used plasticard bars to give the extended section the same pattern as the front of the Storm.

 

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2011/12/6/302079_sm-Land%20Speeder%20Storm,%20Raven%20Guard,%20True%20Scale.JPG

 

Found some plasticard diamond thread pattern sheets and used that to put some texture on the large crew area.

 

The only other problem I did run into was that the modified Storm is just very long, and I had a horrible time finding a good point to balance it on the small base. I ended up going with a skimmer/flyer base sold by Dragonforge, it was big enough to allow me to move it to the back and still have the stability needed to keep it from falling over.

 

Took me a while to build this thing, trying things out and starting over. Once I figured it out it ended up being a fairly easy build. If I build another one the hardest part will be geting good cuts on the initial floor plate, and getting the cross bars to match up.

[Jaigo]

Practise makes perfect.

Still, for your first conversion of this kind, it is well done.

I admire the "easy" or rather sensible solotions you used to make the adjustments.

 

The result, as you said, is a very smooth and natural looking speeder storm.

 

 

Bit offtopic here.

I never worked with Plasticard myself. Is it easy to cut?

Time I look into where to get that stuff.

[D-USA]

It can be pretty easy to cut, depending on how thick it is.

 

I have heard a lot of people say that they use a paper-mat cutter to get straight lines and easy cuts. I ended up using a fairly thick piece of plastic to match the rest of the Storm and give it enough support, but that made cutting it a bit harder.

[Kierdale]

Very nice work. The absence of a gunner after everyone disembarks irritated me too so I magnetized the heavy bolter and put it under the pilot on mine too. I put the Cerberus launcher next to it but I really like yours with two of 'em!

Great work expanding the passenger bay too.

[Wolf Brother Spyrle]

Nicely done. Great tutorial also.

 

I just used a bunch of spare metal scouts I had and magnetized them. I hadn't even considered that the 5th scout was in the front seat.

 

My Land Speeder Storm