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My 40k Space Marine chapter is heavily themed around aircraft. The first model that I properly painted was a Stormraven and it is still one of my favourites. However, I have always been tempted by the even larger aircraft available on the Forge World store.

To me the Thunderhawk is the go-to Space Marine mega ship. It gets mentioned in the video games and other fluff since they are pretty common in universe. How could I not want such an iconic aircraft in my army?

However, Forge World also sells an even larger, more magnificent vessel - the Sokar pattern Stormbird. These are super rare by the 41st millennium, although given my chapter's love for air combat I think that I could justify them having one hidden away. It isn't as cool as a Thunderhawk but it is bigger and better. How could I not want the ultimate aircraft in my army?

My dilemma is, if I were ever in a position to buy one of these amazing flyers, which one should I pick? If I got a Thunderhawk then I would always feel like there was a superior option out there, but if I got a Stormbird then I would worry that I had picked the dim-witted older brother to a cooler, trendier sibling.

I don't really care about which model is better from a competitive point of view. The Stormbird also costs significantly more, so I have to factor that in. What do you guys think? Which of these would be the best buy?

Also, is all Forge World stuff made out of that spongy resin stuff? I find it much harder to work with than bog-standard plastic

Are you after something as a gaming model or a display piece? Have you looked at the 'smaller' FW flyers like the Fire Raptor or Storm Eagle?

 Bilge Rat wrote:
Also, is all Forge World stuff made out of that spongy resin stuff? I find it much harder to work with than bog-standard plastic

All FW kits are resin (or hybrid plastic & resin) but they shouldn't be spongy.

1. Yes they will be made out of resin.
2. If you dont care about competitiveness, get the TH. Its absolutely iconic compared to the SB.
3. Start saving.

I guess it would mostly be as a display piece. It would be nice to have the option to use it in games but let's face it - these things cost to many points to really be of any practical use in a normal game.

Maybe I am getting confused between Forge World resin and the Finecast stuff they use for certain characters. I find it has a bouncy, rubbery texture that is hard to cut. I did buy a FW Keeper of Secrets before since the old GW model was garbage. Maybe it wasn't so soft but I did have problems fitting it together.

Either model would indeed involve a lot of saving :(

I remember seeing the Thunderhawk as a kid and thinking, "Someday, I shall have this, and it shall be the culmination of everything I have ever done in this hobby." 20 years later, Forge World is now chock full of stuff that easily compares or even dwarfs the scale of the Thunderhawk. But there's one thing that the Thunderhawk still has that nothing else on Forge World can compete with: the nostalgic memory of a boy who gasped audibly at the spectacle of the Legendary Thunderhawk in the pages of White Dwarf 20 odd years ago...

Thunderhawk. It’s iconic, has a depth of history, and looks cool. Sure, there might be bigger and better things out there, but nothing that screams “Space Marine Flyer” more than the thunderhawk.

If they do ever come out with one in plastic, I’ll pick it up, even knowing it will almost never hit the table. It’s the centerpiece and capstone a marine collection deserves. But I can’t justify FW prices for a display piece that big.

I think the new Thunderhawk is much, much nicer than the Stormbird.

The Stormbird is a nicer looking craft, IMO. It's bigger, and it's absolutely ubiquitous in the Horus Heresy.

Still, I'd get the Thunderhawk.

Ignoring the practicalities of the Thunderhawkl (it's cheaper in points and £$€, smaller and easier to store), I can't get past just how much of a go-to the Thunderhawk is when I think about Space Marines in Warhammer 40,000. The kit is also newer, which is a plus, but if I had to have one massive drop ship for my army, 100% I'd want the one I've been looking at in art and video games for decades over the bigger, badder alternative - because it just doesn't have that emotional, nostalgic history.

 Ginjitzu wrote:
I remember seeing the Thunderhawk as a kid and thinking, "Someday, I shall have this, and it shall be the culmination of everything I have ever done in this hobby." 20 years later, Forge World is now chock full of stuff that easily compares or even dwarfs the scale of the Thunderhawk. But there's one thing that the Thunderhawk still has that nothing else on Forge World can compete with: the nostalgic memory of a boy who gasped audibly at the spectacle of the Legendary Thunderhawk in the pages of White Dwarf 20 odd years ago...

The metal one? I've got one of those and it's taunting me from its box. I've gone from "one day it shall be mine" to "one day it shall be built". I prefer the shape of that model to Forge World ones, although the recent redesign of the resin model is an improvement.

 AndrewGPaul wrote:

 Ginjitzu wrote:
I remember seeing the Thunderhawk as a kid and thinking, "Someday, I shall have this, and it shall be the culmination of everything I have ever done in this hobby." 20 years later, Forge World is now chock full of stuff that easily compares or even dwarfs the scale of the Thunderhawk. But there's one thing that the Thunderhawk still has that nothing else on Forge World can compete with: the nostalgic memory of a boy who gasped audibly at the spectacle of the Legendary Thunderhawk in the pages of White Dwarf 20 odd years ago...

The metal one? I've got one of those and it's taunting me from its box. I've gone from "one day it shall be mine" to "one day it shall be built". I prefer the shape of that model to Forge World ones, although the recent redesign of the resin model is an improvement.

How much does that thing weigh? I'd be worried about the table breaking.
Also I guess that every single piece will need to be pinned by several steel rod?

To the OP, look at the storm eagle, it's really a scaled down thunder hawk, and quite usable in game.

Buy the model you will use.

 Ginjitzu wrote:
I remember seeing the Thunderhawk as a kid and thinking, "Someday, I shall have this, and it shall be the culmination of everything I have ever done in this hobby." 20 years later, Forge World is now chock full of stuff that easily compares or even dwarfs the scale of the Thunderhawk. But there's one thing that the Thunderhawk still has that nothing else on Forge World can compete with: the nostalgic memory of a boy who gasped audibly at the spectacle of the Legendary Thunderhawk in the pages of White Dwarf 20 odd years ago...

This. Sooo much this. I'd probably build my own to make it look more like that classic.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 AndrewGPaul wrote:

 Ginjitzu wrote:
I remember seeing the Thunderhawk as a kid and thinking, "Someday, I shall have this, and it shall be the culmination of everything I have ever done in this hobby." 20 years later, Forge World is now chock full of stuff that easily compares or even dwarfs the scale of the Thunderhawk. But there's one thing that the Thunderhawk still has that nothing else on Forge World can compete with: the nostalgic memory of a boy who gasped audibly at the spectacle of the Legendary Thunderhawk in the pages of White Dwarf 20 odd years ago...

The metal one? I've got one of those and it's taunting me from its box. I've gone from "one day it shall be mine" to "one day it shall be built". I prefer the shape of that model to Forge World ones, although the recent redesign of the resin model is an improvement.

You bastard! So jealous!

Your choice is easy. Get both.

That extreme cost? That's just one more reason to go to work every morning.

 Bilge Rat wrote:
My 40k Space Marine chapter is heavily themed around aircraft. The first model that I properly painted was a Stormraven and it is still one of my favourites. However, I have always been tempted by the even larger aircraft available on the Forge World store.

To me the Thunderhawk is the go-to Space Marine mega ship. It gets mentioned in the video games and other fluff since they are pretty common in universe. How could I not want such an iconic aircraft in my army?

However, Forge World also sells an even larger, more magnificent vessel - the Sokar pattern Stormbird. These are super rare by the 41st millennium, although given my chapter's love for air combat I think that I could justify them having one hidden away. It isn't as cool as a Thunderhawk but it is bigger and better. How could I not want the ultimate aircraft in my army?

My dilemma is, if I were ever in a position to buy one of these amazing flyers, which one should I pick? If I got a Thunderhawk then I would always feel like there was a superior option out there, but if I got a Stormbird then I would worry that I had picked the dim-witted older brother to a cooler, trendier sibling.

I don't really care about which model is better from a competitive point of view. The Stormbird also costs significantly more, so I have to factor that in. What do you guys think? Which of these would be the best buy?

Also, is all Forge World stuff made out of that spongy resin stuff? I find it much harder to work with than bog-standard plastic

If you want a Thunderhawk, there are free designs for them for a 3d printer, and it'll cost quite a bit less. You'll have to do a little more modeling work, but the price differential is tremendous. There's also been plenty of folks who have custom made them completely out of plasticard to surprisingly impressive effect.

Doctor-boom wrote:

 AndrewGPaul wrote:

 Ginjitzu wrote:
I remember seeing the Thunderhawk as a kid and thinking, "Someday, I shall have this, and it shall be the culmination of everything I have ever done in this hobby." 20 years later, Forge World is now chock full of stuff that easily compares or even dwarfs the scale of the Thunderhawk. But there's one thing that the Thunderhawk still has that nothing else on Forge World can compete with: the nostalgic memory of a boy who gasped audibly at the spectacle of the Legendary Thunderhawk in the pages of White Dwarf 20 odd years ago...

The metal one? I've got one of those and it's taunting me from its box. I've gone from "one day it shall be mine" to "one day it shall be built". I prefer the shape of that model to Forge World ones, although the recent redesign of the resin model is an improvement.

How much does that thing weigh? I'd be worried about the table breaking.
Also I guess that every single piece will need to be pinned by several steel rod?

10.something pounds assembled, but my bathroom scale isn't that exact. So let's just round it up & say 11lb.
No, you don't have to pin every piece. Just a majority.

storm eagle. Looks better and it looks remotely flyable compared to the thunderhawk and doesn't have a stupid cannon on the top. Also the storm eagle isn't dim witted, it just isn't used as much because of the change from legions with hundreds of thousands to chapters with 1000, and so such big craft weren't needed any more.

 Elbows wrote:
Buy the model you will use.

What do you mean by "use"? I've got a Warhound titan that hasn't seen a game table since I painted it 16 months ago. It's been used every day, though, since it's on display and I can look at it. I'd choose the model you'd best like on display, because most of these big models aren't going to get used in a game very often.

@OP

I have seen the Stormbird first hand at Warhammer world and it looks excellent.

Cautionary note: It is a beast in size and resin. Ensure you are sufficiently proficient and confident in your modelling assembly skills otherwise you may end up with an expensive mess on your hands.

Other than that, hope you enjoy whichever you choose.