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You know, I accept and (when I'm in the right mood) completely dig the 'feel' of 40k in my opinion... The Imperial stuff is all extremely harsh angles and shapes. That's fine... it's a good reflection of their uncompromising attitude and shows a bit of their ritualized methods of construction. I think the Rhino is pretty cool, as is the Leman Russ and the Chimera.

The Thunderhawk, on the other hand, really looks like something I drew when I was 8. It strains the setting, which takes a lot when you accept Titans that could use skyscrapers as foot stools.

The bits I don't like:
* The slab sides. Again, this makes me think of some of the lego spaceships I built when I was little.
* The total flagrant disregard for streamlining and aerodynamics. Not needed in space, sure, but this is a landing craft.
* The monstrous top-mounted gun. What is this thing even expected to shoot? (Again, maybe useful in space)
* The side-mounted weapon mounts would look OK on a more traditional gunship, but they look a bit odd on an orbital craft.

And, to be fair, the bits I like:
* The engines are kind of cool.
* The front hatch is kind of neat in that it helps unify it with the Land Raider, another iconic GW Design.
* The wing support thingies are a neat concession to the idea that these would need to be stowed in a hanger bay.
* There's some neat little details (on the Forgeworld model) like the rear vent hatches.

This is kind of a rant, but somehow this model seems very jarring in design compared to the better looking stuff like the Imperial bombers and fighters, the lander, the BfM crashed shuttle, etc. This thing almost needs a redesign the same way the Land Raider was redesigned.

I kind of like the flying brick look.

I agree on the battlecannon though. It's placed kind of weirdly.

Well you can't put the huge gun on the bottom, because it is a landing craft. When the thunderhawk goes into land it can fire the main gun at any big targets. Anything that is flying at, it can shoot.

If I was redesigning it I think I'd have to go for the BC in either the nose or slung in the belly... Sure, it'd look phallic, but I don't think GW's ever been bothered by that before.

I'd probably keep it as a pretty chunky design. This is the Imperium, and this thing is supposed to be pretty sturdy. Maybe add a little bit of angled stuff tot he side, and reduce it to a maximum of one 'hump' on the back... Just a blister for the cockpit, ideally.

The angularity would benefit the tank-carrier variant as well, as it'd actually be die enough to 'hide' the tanks a bit better. At least give it the illusion that the lower hull is blocking the slipstream and heat of reentry.

Move the side weapons around to be less like stuck-on tank sponsons and more like the side guns on the big WWII bombers.

Maybe move to 4 wing-mounted engine modules simialr to the existing two... The exposed mechanics somehow looks 'right' for the Imperium.

You have to understand the idea that you can even make a brick fly if it has a big enough engine. So my brain tells me that the Thunderhawk has some big engines to make it fly. But it handles horribly.

The Thawk is proof that a large enough engine can make a barn door fly.

Imperial pilots are the most skilled in the galaxy. It makes up for the fact that they must pilot with their feet while they prey to the machine god. Not to mention that the ships themselves control like a brick.

I never understood the drop-front on them, myself. On the one hand, it's so that you can get under-slung vehicles, but on the other hand was a friggin rhino really designed for re-entry??

Land Raider is AV14 all-round - they could just drop it from low orbit.

I guess they could modify the same cannon that fires the drop pods...

Might need a suspension upgrade though.