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As per Vrack's request, the following post is the step by step process of how I turned one of my old Raiders into a Venom. For everyone, I didn't know if this would be a good idea or not, so I didn't take pictures. If alot of people end up liking it and want pictures, I will sacrifice a second old Raider and take pics as I make it into a Venom.

1)take your old Raider and using a pair of tin snips or model cutter pliers, cut off the upper wing. Cut this in half as it will be used on the Venom for the front wings.

2) Cut the back stem that holds the upper wing off right behind the drivers seat and at the end of the engine. It should still leave a curved look from the engine to the bottom of the driver's seat.

3) Cut the sidesteps off flush with the inside part of the step, so you have no hang off on the step itself (don't worry about the extra still attached to the Raider, it will be going away soon!!)

4) using a pen (or your Xacto knife) mark a straight line down from the front of the curve at the bottom of the drivers seat all the way around the main engine area so that you have a guide when you start cutting. Do the same for the front of the engine right where the gunners platform spreads out from the main body(you want to keep this expansion for joining later).

5)Using your Xacto knife or a small hacksaw (I recommend the hacksaw for a straight and quick cut with less bleeding of the fingers!!!) cut directly down your guide lines, all the way through the Raider, So that you are left with three pieces, the Front platform with the gunner, the middle engine section, and the back Drivers area.

6) Set the middle engine area aside as you won't be needing it anymore. Take your tin snips or model cutters and cut away the front part of the driver's section, until there is a 1/2"(roughly) hangover . Basically, cut back at the top of the engine, where it starts to go back under the drivers feet, and then remove that part of the engine so the drivers feet have nothing beneath them.

7) Take your Xacto knife and Hollow out the inside of the engine area so that you can fit the back part of the gunners platform into the engine section. (it should end up being flush against the left and right sides of the curves on the back of the gunners platform).

8) Take some green stuff (or whatever you prefer in its place and mold over the bottom of the gunners platform into the engine compartment so it looks like one piece (I used Thumb Tack Putty, which is for holding pictures to the wall without nails, and then covered it in superglue to harden it. Its alot cheaper than green stuff (its about $1.50 at Walmart for a pack that will last a while and it also works great as a substitute for Blu-Tac.)

9) take the two pieces of upper wing you have left, smooth off any areas on the inside where you cut it in half, and then glue it together. Once its glued together, glue it to the front of the Raider, roughly even with the point of the front.

10)Take the two side steps and file off any uneven parts, so that you have a flush inside without any of the crossbars that held the two steps to the Raider body left. Then glue them in on the bottom of the Raider, right behind where the gunners platforms sides rise up about a quarter of an inch.

11) I used the U-shaped prow piece for the second Splinter Cannon, and then stuck a second Disintegrator Cannon in the center of it and glued it there then filed the top and bottom of the Cannon down until it was flush with the prow piece.

12) Lastly, I cut both the gunner mounted and the prow mounted Cannons down to the 4th triangle on them, so as to shorten them so they didn't look quite as much like Disintegrator Cannons anymore, and to give them a shotgunesque Splinter cannon look.

Look in this thread for the almost final modeling pics of my venom, as the only thing I hadn't done at this point was cut down the Cannons and paint it.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/349111.page#2491197


I hope this helps a few people to make some good use out of their old Raiders if they are still using them. Also, check this thread for the pics of my fold up step Raider. I will post a how to on that also if anyone is interested!!!

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/346341.page

Feel free to post in here if anyone needs any help with this, I am always willing to share my DE ideas, good or bad !!!