Plasticard Stormraven WIP now a 3in1 Storm Eagle+Fire Raptor

[The_Chaplain]

Awesome scratchbuild brother!  I can only admire your meticulousness and dedication with this project: im using plasticard for the first time on a project, and it's really hard! You make it look so simple!

[thamier]

yup great job, keep it up, scratchbuilding is fun but takes loooong time, cant wait to see it done and painted up

[pedrogzc]

AWESOME!!!!

[Brother Christopher]

Everyone, thank you for your kind words and your encouragement! That means a lot to me :)

 

@The_Chaplain - Working with plasticard is quite simple, in my opinion, in some ways even simpler than working with paper. It just is extremely time consuming. You just have to bear in mind three basic things. First, you should have a metal ruler and a relatively sharp knife. Second, remember that plasticard breaks easily, so if you want an element you basically just need to make one cut along an edge, then bend bend the plastic and it should come off where you made the cut. Third, remember to subtract the thickness of the material from certain walls of 3D objects. Otherwise, you'll end up with a bigger object than intended. This is particularly troublesome and visible with 1mm plasticard.

 

@Aquilanus - Sure, that's exactly what I'm planning in my head. After I finish the model, I'm going to post some fluff explaining its uniqueness. The general idea is that it had to have more armour and more transport capacity for the purposes of a battle taking place on a forge-world and the techpriests in association with the Crusade's techmarines developed a new pattern of a Storm Raven. OBVIOUSLY, as it seems to often be the case in 40K, all other flyers of the kind were destroyed (so was the manufactorum), but this one, although it was severely damaged, survived the battle. Maybe it's tacky, but I sort of like such an explanation (and it fits the fluff for my Crusade) and things like this often happen in 40K :D

[Brother Christopher]

I has been a while since my last update here. I lost all incentives to progress with the project as the model would turn out too big and my financial situation has changed and since then I could afford the original kit. But actually that's good. Since then, I learned about the Fire Raptor which is a cool kit and has AMAZING rules. Before I discovered the Raptor, I was thinking about finishing my Raven as an Eagle. A nice upgrade, I guess.

 

This brings me to today. After some thinking and a couple of posts on this forum, I decided to finish this project as a 2 in 1 kit. A Storm Eagle and Fire Raptor.

 

These are the basic premises of the project:

 

- make a 2in1 kit

- build the hull/fuselage alike to the Storm Eagle; this allows me to retain some part of my work done on the Raven

- make magnetized sides attachable to the Eagle's core

- ignore the fact that the Raptor has a lower hull/fuselage and a different front/nose compartnent

- magnetize the front of the flyer: make an exchangeable ramp and gun (in the original model, the cannons stick out in the bottom and back of the lower, front part; in my version, the gun will be housed in the transport area of the Storm Eagle)

- magnetize wings for easier transport

- magnetize weapons: nose-mounted guns on the Eagle and the optics/sensors on the Raptor; wing mounted lascannons/rockets; rocket pods on the Eagle

- retain a more 'bricky' appearance of the Raven (not to discard all my previous work) and some other features (like the air vents on top of the model)

 

From the stage of the last update, I returned to this:

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1080410_zpsd7511474.jpg

 

It was painful, to strip the model apart. But it had to be done.

 

Cutting out the circular holes for the Raptor's ball-turrets in a 3D model was very tricky. However, with the use of small metal-saw and a model knife, I coped with the task.

 

I'm planning to use ping-pong balls as bases for the side turrets.

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1080411_zps4da16d28.jpg

 

Next, I had to extend the hull/fuselage of the flyer.

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1080412_zps915fa6ac.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1080472_zps37fb27b9.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1080473_zps994213b4.jpg

 

I must admit, that the way I assemble the model now is messy. I want to progress quickly and get to the tough parts (the exchangeable sides) so many gaps are here and there, but I plan to fill them with putty at a certain stage of the project.

 

I adjusted the front side panels, I scavenged from the Raven. I made the top and bottom panels sloping in an attempt to reproduce the parts on FS's flyers.

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1080663_zps54551d4a.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1080664_zpsc255ce42.jpg

 

Due to lighting which didn't comply with my vision of the image, it doesn't show well. But here's how the panels look on the model.

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1080665_zps8e4ade16.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1080666_zps97860e61.jpg

 

The next step was to prepare the rest of the front and central part of the flyer's hull for the exchangeable panels. To this purpose, I covered the old door slots with plating. There's also a socket for the magnet which will (hopefully) hold the panels.

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1080699_zps99160d72.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1080700_zpse3acaa51.jpg

 

And an image of the bottom part, showing the slanting edges of the side armour.

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1080701_zps730ab030.jpg

 

This is a part I'm not proud of. But I changed my mind after my first idea was already in place, so I just added a number of layers of plastic strips to make the top edges even and perpendicular to the sides. I figured that, ultimately, it will hold the exchangeable panels better than a small sloping "roof" that I initially made.

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1080709_zps1a1eae52.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1080702_zpsfc4eac96.jpg

 

And the doors are now covered with armour. I was weirdly satisfied after attaching those panels.

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1080710_zps9a0264c9.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1080711_zpsfd591b9f.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1080712_zps02e1d16b.jpg

 

And some more armour! Firstly, there's never enough armour. And secondly, that's how FW models are made, I suppose.

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1080713_zps36636e1d.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1080714_zps93350d77.jpg

 

Since I took those photos, I noticed that I forgot to cut out the square bits in front of the topmost armour panels. I stripped these panels, cut my fingers doing so, and got the :cuss parts right.

 

I'm pretty excited about the progress. "Designing" or ""reproducing" the original kit on the base of the papercraft Raven is a lot of fun!

[Grimm Blade]

Amazing! You are very skilled.

[Brother Christopher]

There's progress on the Raptor/Eagle project. Not much of it, though.

 

I started doing the side turrets. Initially, I wanted to use ping pong balls. But then (and after meditating a bit over images of Raptors) I came to a realisation that isn't the way to go. But, there's some ping pong left in the model :)

 

I cut the balls to get the spherical sides of the turrets. Then, I made a ring of plasticard. Ruined the whole thing with my dreadful skills with miliput. And after the putty dried, I added an additional stripe of plasticard.

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1080827_zps0da287cd.jpg

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1080828_zps0cfa66e9.jpg

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1080829_zps248cb5c9.jpg

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1080830_zpsf50223ef.jpg

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1080835_zpsff97f00f.jpg

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1080838_zpsf2e127b1.jpg

 

I also changed the plan for the moment of the turrets. I wanted to cut the ball into 3 parts, join the two "ends" fr the side movement and run an axis through the middle section. Now I want to do something similar to what the original Raptor has (at least I think the turrets are done that way). Well, we'll see how that'll turn out.

 

Now, a quick question for you (the answer will be in the next line). What are those? :)

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1080831_zps6933f4f9.jpg

 

These are the front parts of heavy bolters for the turrets. I couldn't find 8 bolters in a bits shop anywhere in Poland, so I decided to make my own. How hard can it be, right?

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1080832_zps3bf56109.jpg

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1080833_zps2bd84714.jpg

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1080834_zps0a472eba.jpg

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1080836_zpsdbe2345b.jpg

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1080837_zpsd03e8212.jpg

 

I hope these things will work fine as bolters. There's some green stuffing and filing to do, but I'll wait with that until the rest of the guns is assembled.

[Brother Christopher]

A year has passed, so it's about time for another update. With the tropical weather (to which I'm not accustomed to) here in Poland and a constant 30 degrees Celsius in my flat, there is no room for creativity nor productivity. Because my mental capacity is impeded, I decided to give model assembling a try, as it is a less demanding activity, or so it seemed.

 

Before moving on to my day's progress, I feel I have to mention two things. First, the idea has changed once again. Now this is going to be a three-in-one (Eagle, Raven, Raptor). Second, I finally can live with 'conversions'.

 

What I mean is that initially I wanted this build to be as close to the original designs as possible. However, as the Eagle/Raptor idea came relatively late and I had a large chunk of a Raven built already, I've felt that it would be a waste to discard my progress (especially the top part of the flyer, with all the vents). So I've decided to adjust the front, leave the vents, and do the back as close to the Eagle/Raptor design as possible. I have still wanted to redo the engine covers (which differ significantly between FW's crafts and a Storm Raven) and discard the already build Raven-styled tail of the plane.

 

And this is the big change: I have finally embraced modifications as something possibly cool. Here are the two big changes in my concept:

1) the top-rear part of the flyer will no longer aim at being a faithful representation of a Storm Eagle's/Fire Raptor's rear, but instead will be a hybrid inspired by a Thunderhawk (transport) and the said vehicles;

2) leave the engine covers as they are, or introduce small changes (clipping the sides to make them narrower and, consequently, place the wings higher).

 

It's late and the lighting is pretty bad, so the photo's aren't great either. But I wanted to post something before resting, so here it goes.

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130654_zpsgegzu39w.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130656_zpse4yxk8a9.jpg

 

Some details of the top part:

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130657_zpshx3wz8os.jpg

 

The holes are messy on purpose. I don't have a drill large enough to make a hole to house a magnet that I want to use, so the idea was to simply tear a hole that'll be large enough, place a magnet in the middle and fill the remaining gap with green stuff. Missile launchers for the Eagle variant will be placed there)

 

And here's a close-up on a vent that's... there. I've thought it to be a good idea to add some detail but this one's just too tiny. Maybe after I'll paint it it will be more visible. The vent (1mm thick) is suppose to be an air intake in a step to level the engine cover's armour and the fuselage of the plane (the vent is at the front of the part with the part with the places for the magnets I've mentioned before). Now I see that I could've made it 2mm thick, that way it'd stand out more.

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130649_zpsnce1boqw.jpg

 

The inspiration to make a Raven/Thunderhawk tail came relatively late, so I had to adjust what I've already made. I've cut a slot roughly the width of the tail at the rear of the central outstanding part of the top fuselage...

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130651_zps7wle7wgr.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130652_zpsk3zuljb9.jpg

 

And I blue-tacked the tail. The pictures below should give you an idea of what I mean.

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130658_zpskckprqah.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130659_zps1k9x2daw.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130660_zpsof1vqovg.jpg

 

Now I'm wondering what to do with the tail. Leave it as it is (that is, the wings are "V-shaped") or make it more like that of a Thunderhawk ("T-shaped" tail, with the 'wings' of the tail being aligned horizontally). Any opinions?

 

So, there is considerable progress that has been made today. I hoped for more, but the temperature in the room was killing me. It also didn't help with modelling, as super glue cured quickly and repeatedly clotted the tip. And I needed super glue badly to place the magnets for the wings. This reminds me that I haven't taken any photos with the wings attached. Well, that'll be something for the next update. And I promise - it won't take another year!

Edited August 8, 2015 by Brother Cristopher

[Andvarr A]

Bloody hell.... Thats sheer awesomeness. Brave attempt. And one that's come on leaps and bounds because of the detail

[Brother Christopher]

I'm working on the rear/tail part. I added a vent (it needs some post processing) and a piece which is an extension of the tail.

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130662_zpsuy6ofnwp.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130661_zpsom5i02mj.jpg

 

The tail itself will be fixed in place by two side plates, which are an extension of the elevated top segment. For now, everything is blue-tacked in place. I don't want to glue the tail in place just now, because I fell it will be a problem later, if any adjustments would have to be introduced.

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130663_zps5bxi0zge.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130666_zpshkgtrgt9.jpg

 

And here's a couple of shots of the entire flyer so far.

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130669_zpsjveu8fgv.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130670_zpswaqm9c8f.jpg

 

Looking at this, I'm leaning toward readjusting the tail's wings so that it is T-shaped. But nothing's for certain now. If time permits, I should have the top of the flyer and the engine mountings done soon.

[Brother Christopher]

Ladies and gentlemen, there's progress. I've done four things, I've: added some detail-plating to cover up some gaps; added tiny slanted bits to make the engine covers integrate with the hull more neatly; added a piece at the rear which will help me start working on the final version of the top-rear part of the 3-in-1 flyer; added side plates. The last part was the most tricky one, as I figured there's no room for green-stuff cheating. I've cut the side panels, inlcuidng the round slots into which the Raptor's side turrets are supposed to fit. Cutting something curving in 1mm plasticard is quite tricky, but I figure I've pulled that one quite nicely.

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130680_zpsevv9utqi.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130678_zpsnsftmebk.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130679_zpsdj90dzrr.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130674_zpsapakxddg.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130671_zpsp9fm3op5.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130672_zpsmztddnl6.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130673_zps5cc8fz3r.jpg

 

Unfortunately, by the time I write this post I've made further progress, I've attached the side panels to the ship.... and discovered a flaw. Apparently, this is the consequence of living a dream and adjusting the model on the spot, without due consideration. The problem is with the Raptor's side turrets, which with the newly added plates stand out too much, and obscure the air-flow into the engines (not that it really matters, as this is 40K and SM flyers have the aerodynamic properties of a brick). I don't want to rip the panes off, as they fit quite nicely. So... I have some thinking to do. Either, I'll ruin the sides and retain the old design for the turrets, or I'll try to redo the turrets one way or the other.

 

The newly emerged problem kind of ruined my day, as I was beginning to be really, really excited about the overall shape of the project. Nonetheless, I have a final vision which I want to realise. It's a pity I can't draw to share that vision with you, but I kind of feel that my project will make SM flyers the way they were supposed to look (sorry for the smugness in this statement, but I'm really excited and able to recognize the woth of my work with this one, something I usually am not able to do)

[Brother Christopher]

For starters, an overview of the progress and the newly discovered design flaw.

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130698_zpsqsqzcglt.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130699_zpsezimzahy.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130700_zpswypoevuo.jpg

 

The sponson mounted "normally" (as in the first picture) look kind of good, but is just a bit too outstanding. Well, I don't know. The re-attached sponson (picture no 2) which is fitted deeper into the fuselage is positioned better, but I don't like the fact that the spherical part is the front of the sponson. I still haven't made my mind up what to do. I know that stripping the sides is out of the question. Probably I'll leave the original idea be, despite the fact that the sponsons will obscure 1/4 of the engines' air intakes - this variant looks better and makes some more sense dakka-wise, as the sponsons will have more mobility and will be able to cover a broader angle with fire.

 

I've also started manufacturing "conveniences", small parts like lights, vents and other annying, time consuming details. I've finally got some Instant Mould for a reasonable price and put it to use. First, obviously, I made some moulds. Here's how they looked like.

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130685_zpsv9e6i6gm.jpg

 

Later, I pressed some GS into the moulds. Mind that Instant Mould is really, really great - you don't need any releasing agent (like oil when it comes to GS moulds). It seems that nothing sticks to it, which is very nice.

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130695_zpsnggiibep.jpg

 

And the final products. I'm rather pleased with how they worked out. There's room for future improvement, but as this was my first ever try with Instant Mould, I must say - it works fine. Not perfect, but the saved time makes up for all the nuisances which can be found here and there.

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130697_zpse0nymq4t.jpg

[Brother Christopher]

Another instalment of the never-ending progress. What is up is

 

1) another portion of masochism:

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130705_zpstg5tghjb.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130704_zpsrodlh6bn.jpg

 

2) and a basic mass of the rear landing gear.

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130706_zpswz3l1qdx.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130707_zpsxr7nildg.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130708_zpsby9dpwv2.jpg

[Brother Christopher]

A quick update: rear landing gear mostly finished:

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130714_zpslkupdl50.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130715_zpsbzb58lqi.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130716_zpsgqribuqp.jpg

 

I'm not fully satisfied with the angle of the retracted "feet", but I were too 'lazy' to redo the design, so it stays as it is. I'm getting less and less assertive/demanding, it seems.

[Brother Christopher]

Progress report:

 

1) I've started working on the exchangeable side panesl. Due to my laziness, I can't do anything useful in Photoshop or any other graphics processing programme, so I make my templates using paper, pencils, rulers and scissors. Here's the "matrix" for the bases of the sides:

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130717_zpsvc3ggujs.jpg

 

And the first layer for Storm Egale/Raven sides:

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130719_zpszx7elso9.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130720_zpsnecctkr6.jpg

 

Obviously, as it too often is the case, I haven't thought this through well enough and had to introduce makeshift adjustments. The original idea was to make the first layer for the sides solid (like the one in the template) and place the layer with doors on top of it. However, that way the sides are too bulky, so I made the doors on the base layer. I'll put a thin rectangular of plasticard (0,25mm thin) under the side hatches to have the nice, discernible 'cracks' along the edges of the hatches which add a 3D feel. The small cut out square in the back of the panels is a slot for a magnet, which'll hopefully keep the panel in place.

 

2) I've recycled the rear panel/ramp, I've already made for the initial Raven and glued it in place. 

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130722_zpsobgcavtb.jpg

 

As you can see, the ramp is somewhat retracted. I made it this way to make room for a dreadnought grapple for the Raven variant. It turns out, that there's just enough place to hang a dreadnought. I also considered making an exchangeable back, but I think that the slightly retracted ramp that I went for isn't an issue for the Eagle/Raptor variant.

 

This is how a dreadnought "sits" in there. The hight of its HK missiles is a perfect substitute for the size of the grapple.

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130726_zpsduudrs1t.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130727_zpsuezawkgo.jpg

 

3) I've also had some problems with deciding where to place the landing gear, but that's already settled:

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130723_zpsbjtvx07k.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130724_zpscvhi2qzs.jpg

[Redrandy93]

Awesome scratch build!             I look forward to you completing it.      

[Brother Christopher]

Thanks for visiting and leaving a comment! Actually, this 3-year long project now has a fighting chance of being completed soon-ish. I managed to find and hour or two each day over the last week, which is a surprisingly good result. It seems that I'm for once quite excited about something I do and want to see it done too.

[Brother Christopher]

I'm back! It's been a while, but I'm back on track with this scratch build! I'm planning to get the model finished till February, 2017, which marks 3 years of the project's duration and uncountable changes and alterations. I'll just leave two pictures as teaser of what's to come: the attached tail stabiliser and rear VTOL engines (which I've decided to attach to the fuselage, in place of the landing gear from my previous post, instead of the wings):

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1040635_zpsfczuvinc.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1040634_zpstbuadtnm.jpg

 

I'm working on finishing the rear of the fuselage (the rear ramp and its surroundings). This section is tricky due to the fact that it's mostly assembled, but I'm not happy with how it turned out and am searching for ways of fixing it.

[Brother Christopher]

There's more! It took me too much time to figure all of this out, but I finally managed to come up with a satisfactory solution regarding the rear part of the fuselage. The main 'structure' is done, but boy, was it tough to add those additional side panels to what was already assembled. Now I only need to fill in any gaps and add some detail: a source of light above the rear hatch (to blind the enemies, before some angry templars charge at them), the thingy to transport a dreadnought, and the rear door.

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1040644_zps6xsi789r.jpg

[Brother Christopher]

To any member of this great community, I'm looking for some feedback on my plane.

 

For some time, the concept of the project is shifting from "an actual Stormraven" to a "little Thunderhawk". This is visiblein my decision to replace the slanting wings and fins with ones that are perpendicular to the fuselage, like in a Thunderhawk. The question that bothers me now is: do I need the VTOL thrusters (or engines? or how to call them?), like in the Stormraven/Storm Eagle or can I leave them out because a Thunderhawk doesn't have them.

 

I'm considering the following three options:

 

1) leave the original layout of a Stormraven: front thrusters on the sides of the 'nose,' rear thrusters on the ends of the wings (which doesn't make that much sense, as the range of movement of the wing thrusters will be limited due to the different angle of the wings, meaning that the thrusters will only go up to 90*),

 

2) leave the front thrusters like in the originals but place the rear thrusters in the rear part of the fuselage, effectively replacing the landing gear,

 

3) remove the thrusters altogether and make a 'mini-thunderhawk' (while retaining the Eagle/Raven's hatch layout and the Raven's capacity to carry a dreadnought),

 

4) remove the front thrusters and leave only the wing thrusters (like in the IG Valkyrie or DW Corvus); if this would be the case then, should I leave the wings slanted?

 

Any advice?

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Good job on the Stormraven. Your crafting skills are most impressive.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

As for VTOL capabilities, I think #2 will be most aesthetically pleasing, but feel free to rearrange the thrusters BEFORE GLUING- see for yourself what looks best, before you make the decision and use glue.

[Brother Christopher]

Thanks for the feedback! At the moment, I'm leaning more towards option 3), but I already spend about 30 minutes just staring at a set of dry-fitted thrusters at the back and figuring out where to place the landing gear if I were to go with option 2).

[Brother Christopher]

After years and years of working mixed with postponing, the Storm Raven is almost done. Almost because there stil lare a couple of things to build (front landing gear, missile launchers), couple to attach (front stabilisers, tail wings) and quite a lot to add (mostly details, such as ornaments, wires, rivets, hinges), but at least now one can see how the thing will look like, including me, as the concept changed countless times and up till now, I weren't sure about a number of design choices.

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1060086_zpsh93f8jjp.jpg

 

More images to come!

[Lexington]

Wow! Probably the best re-imagining of the StormRaven that I've ever seen (and I have seen a lot of them). Excellent work.