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

[Brother Christopher]

Thank you! That is extremely kind of you to say this! I absolutely appreciate the compliment.

[Brother Christopher]

Ladies and gentlemen, the Storm Raven is 99% done. I'm just waiting for green stuff to set so that I can attach the final details. Apart from this, I need to do the rivets, but LUCKILY this won't take much time. I can't wait to take some pictures and share the final result with the world, haha. I should upload some images later today.

 

In the meanwhile, here are some thoughts after (almost) completing a project I started in February, 2013.

 

1. I am happy with how the final thing looks. I think I have managed to address a number of issues with GW's variant and improve on the design. Maybe it isn't more likely to fly, with the basic bricky bulk retained, but overall I think that it looks rather cool and fits the 40K Marine aesthetics. I feel that, over the years, I made good use of the various inspirations I found online. Generally, I think that the Storm Raven's fuselage should be longer, like those on a FW Storm Eagle or after applying the Chapterhouse upgrade.

 

2. What I am unhappy with is how much time sunk into this. Assembling a model from scratch is time-consuming in itself, but the number of adjustments, alterations and ideas I've introduced to my variant takes this to an entirely new level of insanity. Honestly speaking, I have a love-hate relationship with the scratch building aspect of the hobby. On the one hand, I love it: it may be an extremely satisfying activity, especially when I feel proud of the final product, like with the Land Raider and now the Storm Raven. This also allows me to get unique vehicles to support my Crusade for 'free', money-wise at least. On the other hand, the amount of time I waste on this nonsense is extremely frustrating. I found myself wasting three days on the final touches and adjustments, when I thought I can finish the project in one day.

 

3. With one exception I've already planned and made initial sketches of, I will probably never undertake to build a model from scratch, according to my own 'design', if I can even speak of such a thing. While building HIPS vehicles based on papercraft blueprints is passable as an activity due to its more 'reconstructive' nature, coming up with the looks of a vehicle with no skills in proper design (like making a 3D model or even printable parts) turned out to be something unbelievably frustrating. This became apparent during the final stages of assembly, when I had to (or wanted to) fit additional bits and pieces to almost inaccessible places. Never. More.

 

4. No new scratch build flyer projects. I will finish in the future my Caestus and the iconic, classic Thunderhawk and will not start a new one. Seriously, these things have so many little details to reproduce, that it's mind-boggling.

 

5. It is a pity I 'wasted' some of my own work by changing my mind a couple of times and rmeoving parts I already made. I might recycle them as material for a base for an Imperial Knight or my Thunderhawk, however.

 

6. I am quite crossed with GW. At some point, I wanted to name my vehicle differently and I thought a StormHawk is a great idea: the 'storm' part being used with lighter SM aircraft (Raven, Eagle), and the 'hawk' as a tribute to the Thunderhawk. But now GW decided to make an interceptor named like that. ThunderRaven (to indicate a link to the Thunderhawk) seems a bit silly; so I'll probably stick with either a Storm Raven or will claim that this vehicle is a "Stormhawk Gunship".

 

By the way, I have a linguistic enquiry. I also considered the name Storm Raven Dropship (to indicate the extended transport capacity of the craft); do you think that this would work for a vehicle used primarily for delivering troops and assisting them after the landing (thus, being armed with a nose-mouted heavy bolter; and having the rear-mounted lascannons and rockets to air-to-air capabilities). I left this idea aside because I feel that a dropship is more of a sci-fi orbit-to-ground transporter.

[Brother Christopher]

As an extension to what I typed above, below find the photos of the assembled model. I decided to leave it as it is - I do not want to spend any more time on adjusting any messy areas (and there's quite a lot of those left from the times I didn't have my current skills). I just want to start painting the thing and hope that paint will cover most of the problems.

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1060103_zpszsfpsv5q.jpg

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1060104_zps6lxuso9e.jpg

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1060105_zpsc8xukdnt.jpg

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1060106_zpso5rturij.jpg

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1060107_zpsfbvpm1uw.jpg

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1060108_zpso1moiqs8.jpg

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1060109_zpsg1ktkrsh.jpg

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1060110_zpsoenf3jrf.jpg

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1060112_zpszcuo6prl.jpg

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1060116%202_zpsp16euuxp.jpg

Despite of what you may think, yes - I have a job, I study and I have a 'life' besides assembling models from scratch (though, admittedly, finishing the Raven was a chore).

And here's a thing to remind me that the forges of Neurode never tire!

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1060117_zps9sjpwaex.jpg

 

EDIT: The vehicles are undercoated now.

Edited April 14, 2017 by Brother Cristopher

[Brother Christopher]

So, there's progress with my Stormraven. I collected the base and stem and made sure it is accommodated securely. I also started painting the model: the wings and fuselage are basecoated black and most metallic elements are painted. I think I'll go with a mostly black livery, with some colour additions: wing flaps will be grey and for 90% I'm going to add a stripe on the front fuselage (white + red, I suppose, though I haven't made up my mind yet). The stripe would allow me to both break the blackness and rest a bit from painting all the black of my Black Templars, but a whole-black paint scheme also has it's appeal.

 

If you're interested in more detail or would like to join in on the discussion, there's more in my crusade thread. I can't wait to get more done. I'll post large updates here as well, if you're interested in how the project comes along.

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1060148_zps88yq1j1j.jpg

[Bjorn Firewalker]

I like the chosen colors.

[Brother Christopher]

After some time, I managed to finish* the model.

 

http://i.imgur.com/xTTlGWF.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/nO77Tvx.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/gXBJMOp.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/scftx8F.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/cgNs9ZO.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/f8auYFX.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/i9OMpzA.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/zjqmIWN.jpg

 

* Finish is never a thing with me; I'll get back to the Raven to add the Fire Raptor and Storm Eagle options, as well as some hurricane bolters, plus tidy up the lines and some other minor detail. Also, the base is bare now, so that's an additional thing.