Corvus Blackstar Raptor Wing Formation

[IVIilitarus]

I recently completed my Raptor Wing formation for my homebrew chapter. The Corvus Blackstars are stand-ins for the usual two Stormtalons taken as part of the formation.

I absolutely hate the flying toaster look of the Stormtalon and Stormraven, and when I saw the Blackstar, I promptly fell in love. The Blackstar represents what I actually *want* in a Space Marine attack craft: something that looks like it might fly, but is still as aerodynamic as a cinderblock. The Blackstar's front sensor clusters, retractable metal canopy cover and large size also give it an incredibly menacing, bird-of-prey aesthetic. It looks more like a bird of prey than a tubby rocket toaster, which I appreciate.

Unfortunately, it's covered in Deathwatch iconography, most notably on the top and doors. I did a simple conversion by carving off the inquisition insignia and cutting off the teeth, then doing a bunch of sanding on the doors. Then I just glued a set of Forgeworld Raven Guard Rhino doors right onto it. It's not very noticeable unless you've built a Blackstar yourself.

Basically, the Corvus Blackstar's doors are EXACTLY the same size as Rhino doors. But the Blackstar doors are built into a frame and cannot be removed, and the frame also has lighting attachments and another hinge. So if you want to mount Rhino doors onto a Blackstar, your only options are to scratchbuild a frame for it, carve off the existing insignia and glue a new door on, or just sticking doors directly onto the surface (which might be a little unsightly, but will also work with some extra effort). If you don't want to spring for Forgeworld doors, then if you've ever built a Vindicator or a not-magnetised Predator, you probably have a set of rhino doors lying around. They should also be fairly easy to source on EBay as separate bits. The Blackstar itself is about 10 USD more expensive direct from GW than a Stormtalon, so it's a more expensive craft, but frankly, I thought it was worth it.

I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the Blackstar is also a WYSIWYG match for my usual Stormtalon loadout. My sdtandard Stormtalon loadout is the twin-linked assault cannon + skyhammer missile launcher. The Corvus Blackstar can mount a nose-mounted twin-linked autocannon like the Stormtalon and it has missile launchers built into its wings. If you want a WYSIWYG match for other loadouts of the Stormtalon, you'll have to figure out a way to get lascannons into the missile launchers, or something.

As a bit of a military scale modeller theme, I purposefully avoided the every-detail-painted look that is common in miniatures. The colour scheme was my chapter's default Kantor Blue and bright white. The Deathwatch insignia on the tail and top was left in place. The roof insignia is basically impossible to remove without a huge amount of effort and it is actually part of the fuselage framework. I just painted it as boringly as possible to hide the fact that there's a giant inquisitorial seal on my Astartes plane. The tail insignia was left to keep some interest in the rear of the craft and to appease the machine spirits of the plane. After all, space marines inducted into the deathwatch retain their chapter heraldry on one shoulder to appease the machine spirits of their armour and I have no doubt the Blackstar's machine spirits would be extremely upset if I too stripped it of its holy identifiers.

Agrax Earthshade was airbrushed over the blue to darken it. The goal for this project was to execute a simple, dark colour scheme. Decals were used from a variety of sources to represent squadron markings, company markings and personal heraldry. Decals included those from the Space Marine, Space Wolves and Imperial Knight transfer sheets, as well as a couple leftover chevrons from a scale tank destroyer kit. A 'metalica m.39' marking was placed on the tails. I have no idea of Metalica actually builds Blackstars, so it could just as well be a stamp for the last time and location the aircraft was serviced. 2000 years between routine inspection and service seems to be about the standard for the Imperium.

The white on the doors were hell to paint because I couldn't use airbrush and they look awful and I hate myself for them. I hate hand painting white.

These are probably the best aircraft I've ever painted and I'm finally comfortable with the tabletop standard I've set for myself.

 

http://i.imgur.com/7Pg1jx3.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/1umFZL7.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/ShhI8MG.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/7qvS0z7.jpg

 

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

 

http://i.imgur.com/7lFTbuo.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/o1RKZCe.jpg

 

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

 

http://i.imgur.com/mefo9Gt.jpg

[deathspectersgt7]

​NICE

[Knight of the Raven]

I still like the dark angels flyer for count-as stormtalons but this is the next best thing.

[millest]

i know its a bit of thread-omancy but looking at those doors did you mount the standard doors and frame on the ship then sand down the icons and then finally just glued the new doors over top or was there something more?

cheers

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Impressive.

[Noctem Cultor]

Well that solves the question I had of if they could be re-purposed for Chapters/Legions. They look great nice tidy job well done.

-Noctem

[Triszin]

those corvus are great. flying landraiders!

[Rift Blade]

Thanks for the tips & the pics. You did a really great job IMO. I just picked one up myself 'cause as you said, the damn thing just has that look in a flyer that I want for my army. Hoping I don't have to much trouble with the Frost Cannon turret going in where the Sensor Array is on top.