Building and Painting a StormRaven

[Halollet]

I just got a stormraven! Yay!

However, when I look at all the details and bits I'm excited but concerned.

Most of the time, when I put together models, I assemble them first and then paint. However, that doesn't look like a good idea with a stormraven.

For those of you who have them, which is the best way to paint/assemble this?

Paint on the spure?

Assemble some, paint and then complete?

or assemble minus the glass, paint, and then add the finishing touches?

I'm nervous, so please help!

[DWest]

I've done 2 Stormravens so far, and what I would suggest is the following:
=Part 1: The Prep=
-Get an airbrush, or at the very least some good-quality spray paint that matches the color of your army as closely as possible. Seriously, the surface area on this beast is immense (larger than a Baneblade, at least judging by the amount of paint I used in my airbrush), if you try doing it with a brush you'll be at it for years.
-Read through the instructions thoroughly to get a feel of where all the pieces go; you're going to be putting it together in a very different order from listed, so you'll want a good idea of how everything goes.

=Part 2: The Engines=
-Take the thruster jets and paint them to completion.
-Spray the wells for the thruster jets your chosen color. There will be two of these on the main hull and one on each wing; you might need to hunt down a couple of adjacent parts to get it all done.
-Assemble the main engines and paint them to completion. You'll want to use a brush to paint the little structural tabs in your main color.

=Part 3: The Inside= (skip this step if you're not going to show any of the interior)
-Assemble the front, back, and sides of the hull including the doors; the servitor; the cockpit detailing; the pilot; and the canopy frames for the cockpit and turret (but don't put in the glass). The front thrusters should go in at this stage and be covered by the forward set of seats.
-Paint the interior of the hull (let the front and back door hang open to get their sides, the inside surface of the top plate and canopies, and the cockpit and turret seat. Attach the pilot and servitor to a pin of some sort (toothpick with blu-tack on the end works great) and paint them.
-Once the paint is good and dry, tape shut the turret hole from the inside and close the front and back hatch. If there looks to be a gap on either hatch, seal it with a bit of masking tape; you can easily pry the doors open later with a hobby knife blade, which will pull the tape out with it.

=Part 4: The Main Body=
-Assemble and paint the guns for the front and the top and paint them to completion.
-Attach the top plate to the hull. Install the pilot in the cockpit, cockpit glass to the canopy, and the canopy to the hull. Tape off the forward guns and the glass.
-Assemble the tail and attach to the hull. Tape off the forward thruster assemblies.
-Assemble the wings, including the underwing missiles, but do not attach the main engines. Tape off the wingtip thruster assemblies.
-Paint the hull and the wings.
-Assemble and paint the gear (if down) or the footplates (if you're going for gear-up)
-Paint the turret top and armor plates for the guns. IIRC, there's a bit of the seat/lower turret assembly that sticks out below the turret top in the finished assembly, probably best to paint it to suit by hand.
-Assemble and paint the air scoop (if you're using the ugly thing).

=Part 5: The Final Assembly=
-Insert the servitor into his seat and the glass into the turret canopy, then assemble the turret.
-Attach engines to wings, wings to body.
-Attach landing gear in desired orientation.
-Pull tape, and voila!

=Optional: the Hurricane Bolters=
I've never used the hurricane bolters with either of mine, but I think the best way to do them would go approximately like this:
-Assemble the bolter sets and paint.
-Assemble the Hurricane sponsons and then tape off the bolters.
-Paint the inner panel of the Hurricane to match the interior of your Stormraven (if you're going to show the interior).
-Attach the sponsons at the beginning of Step 4 when you assemble the rest of the hull.
-Continue as normal from there on, being sure to tip the bolters to about 45 degrees so that you can hit all the surrounding surfaces with paint.

[Halollet]

Awesome! Thank you so much!

I've been looking at airbrush for a while. Can you recommend one?

[DWest]

As long as you get a Dual-Action type brush from a reputable brand (i.e. not some no-name place in China), all the lower-end brushes are pretty equal. I use an Iwata Revolution CR, which is pretty solid, but a bit pricy for a starter (between $90-$120 depending on accessories and sales) Being able to thoroughly clean the brush will do more for your painting technique when starting out than spending an extra $100 on a fancy brush. The most important things for an airbrush are: a Compressor, a Regulator, and the right kind of paint.

-The Compressor is a must; canned air is nasty and will screw you over on a regular basis. There are desktop pump-as-you-go models or you can get a big tank-type compressor at a hardware store; either one will work fine, if in different ways (the tank is extremely noisy when filling, but once it's full you can turn it off and paint for a long time; the desktop one is less noisy, but it runs constantly).

-I'd say the Regulator is a must as well, although I believe the desktop sets might come with one built in. Either way, this is a little device that sits between you and your air supply and lets you fine-tune the amount of pressure going to the brush. Generally speaking, for a big job (like basecoating your 'Raven), you'll spray between 20-25 psi; fine detail work is usually in the 10-15 range.

-Paint is the other big trick; getting the right consistency is extremely important. I would highly recommend buying a bottle of Badger Minitaire brand paint- this stuff is the best I've found so far, and even if you can't get the color you intend to use, get a bottle anyway, it will show you what you want your paint to feel like. After you've given the bottle a good shake, put some on a palette, swirl it around with a brush, get used to the consistency. You always want your paint to be about that thin when going into the airbrush. Too thick, and it will clog. Too thin, and it will run all over your model, or dry on the tip (which turns your neat circular spot of spray into an oblong monstrosity) and then clog.

[URL="http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/showthread.php?36597-Deadlifts-Airbrush-experiences"]This[/URL] thread has a lot of good information on how to make your airbrush work.

[Halollet]

Thanks,

one more thing, I want to be able to swap out the hurricane bolters. Any suggestions on this? I found ways to magnetise the rest, its just the side hatches.

[DWest]

Try a thin line of rubber cement around the rim of the doorway, after you've sealed the paint. That should give enough grip to push-fit the hatch or the bolters, as needed.

[Halollet]

Oh, very cool, thanks again!