Inquisitorial Storm Raven, Part 1

Being a huge fan of flyers in 40k, it was only a matter of time before I was seduced by the call of the Storm Raven. While I have no intent of doing a Blood Angel or Grey Knight army, I do plan on picking up the new GK codex to see how the Inquisition is handled. In larger games, I tend to take an Inquisitor and retinue, carried into battle aboard an Aquila Lander. Well, the requisition request for a better landing vessel has been approved!

Like many, I felt that the pictures of the Storm Raven provided by GW didn't really show it in the best possible light, and the top turret assembly, while neat, just seemed a bit unwieldy. After taking a look over the bits on the sprue, I decided that I'd be repurposing the Techmarine pilot and Servitor-crewed turret for some Ad-Mech project, and as such went with a cut-down version of the turret using a Razorback mounting ring as well as just painting over the main cockpit glass.

The intent is to keep it predominantly black with red panels here and there to give it a little splash of color. For all I know the Inquisitor won't be allowed to take a Storm Raven as a transport vessel, but the rules have never stopped me before! If I was to take another crack at building the Storm Raven, I'd leave off the top turret and air scoop entirely, opting instead to go with Predator side sponsons over the side doors, and going with a smooth top. Even with the cut down turret as I've done, it still seems to look a bit top heavy to me. Still, it's an interesting new model, and I'm always glad to see GW stretch the boundaries of what their kits are capable of.