At about $160 plus shipping, the Forge World Storm Eagle Gunship is the most expensive model I own, which is offset by also being the most kick ass model I own. A centerpiece of any Marine army, it is both larger and heavily armed than the Stormraven Gunship, a billion times better looking than the flying brick, and it also has nice weight to it being mostly resin.
The contents of the box are a mixture of resin pieces, which as you guessed correctly are warped, and the Stormraven sprue from which it uses the wings and part of the hull.
As with all resin, after cutting and cleaning all the mould lines, washing with soapy water is needed to remove the left over lubricants used to separate the pieces. In addition, many of the parts, specially the large hull bits, were warped and out of alignment with each other. This can be a major pain in the ass, but there are a couple of ways to deal with it. The first method a quick hot water bath, applied force to bring the part into shape, and a cold water bath to resolidify it. This method can be messy and difficult, but it is safer than method two. Method two uses a hair dryer to warm up the resin, it is quicker and less messy, but be advised, too much heat will rapidly melt the part all together.
An interesting aspect of sharing a sprue with the Stormraven is that you can exchange the hatches for the turret and sponsons to use-as a Stormraven. Many tournaments ban FW models, so this is a way to still get use out of your very pricey model.
As with other models with translucent canopies, priming and painting of the cockpit needs to happen before assembly is completed. Because I distrust resin, I did a second soap water wash the day before priming, and took the time to prime in many steps with lots of drying time in between.
P3 Exile Blue base coat, P3 Cygnar Base drybrush and Citadel Nuln Oil wash. The key with painting flyers is to always brush forward to back, to simulate wind marks.
P3 Cygnar Highlight and details are the same treatment as my basic marines. Finally the base is from Dragon Forge, complete with a thick acrylic rod, far more stable than the flimsy GW flight stand.
Final assessment: This model is a joy to assemble and paint. At any step you can't help but to imagine how awesome it will look complete. It definitely turns heads towards your army, and makes the perfect centerpiece. In addition, the rules for it makes it worth playing every game, particularly if fielded as the ROC pattern variant, a dedicated anti-tank flyer that uses the exact same model.
