Dark Eldar Voidraven Unboxing and Review

The Dark Eldar Voidraven is the big-bad when it comes to the Dark Eldar armoury, which might explain the price tag!
When it comes to armour, the Dark Eldar don't do tanks - everything is airborne - so the Voidraven is it in terms of killing power.
The model itself is very similar to the Razorwing, except bigger, badder and really a centrepiece for your army.
There are a lot of flat surfaces on the model, so if you painted it with the tail sections off you could get some really nice patterns.
This also includes two large clear sections for the bombardier section in the nose which are unusually large for a GW kit!
Now if you're a fan of pop culture, the Voidraven might look kind of familiar. Yes? Read on...!
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~ WARNING - 
I am not a photographer, so expect dodgy pictures below.

The first thing you notice about the box art is the dynamic look of the aircraft. This thing looks deadly!
Both of those colour schemes are also very very impressive.

Initially I was concerned about how clear these sections of the plane were because the first shots we saw they seemed a bit blurry. But on unboxing the kit, they are very clear! The plastic seems thick and the runes engraved for the targetting computer are quite fine but deep enough for paint/ ink.
Masking shouldn't be a problem for painting - just put some water soluble glue on the bits you want to be clear and after you paint it up - peel them off.

There are basically two sprues in the kit - which is why I think the $95 price tag is fairer - and in all there aren't tonnes of bits. Most of the kit is engines and weapons. The wings themselves are separate as are most of the parts for the bomb.

If you have made Dark Eldar before this will look a tad familiar - this is the position for the bombardier which is basically the same as the Reaver seated position. In fact the bombardier himself is basically a Reaver pilot. 

Big zappy guns. You're toast if these come your way!
These can be easily swapped with the other option.

This is the "spine" they spoke about in the Designer's Notes. Not sure about it.

Here it is - a big mutha of a plane! Can't wait to see what others come up with in terms of schemes!

The housing for the engines is not dissimilar to the other Dark Eldar vehicles, just bigger.

The cockpit is pretty tidy and leaves room for some super-detailing if that floats your boat.

And look what we have here,  ever Dark Eldar hobbyists fave piece - the Reaver head x 2!

The kit does come with a stand and also a plug (!!) in case you don't want it flying. That's all fine and good - but the Voidraven kit doesn't have any landing gear to sit on! Awkward...

There is also a decal sheet with all of the kabals from the Codex. Having seen the use of decals I wonder if they'll be sold separately?!

Verdict

The Dark Eldar Voidraven is a great army centrepicee kit!
There's lots of room to really go to town on the paint job and it's sizeable enough to attract attention.
I think the real challenge will be not keeping it a big black blob - customized paint schemes and the like have to be explored or it's really a bit of a waste!
I do still think this could have been $95 instead of $115, but maybe the clear parts took it over the edge.
A real shame there wasn't a purely fighter variant in the kit (love a second option) where the nose was solid and had extra armament in it or maybe the two pilots in the front and the rear canopy covered over with a hatch. Just an idea! 

... Oh - And Voidraven - you DO Look Familiar!!

In 1986, Hasbro released the Cobra Night Raven (above left) as part of it's GIJoe line, it bears a striking if less spikey similarity to the Voidraven. The Night Raven was itself influenced by the MIG-31 Firefox, the fictional Soviet plane from the 1982 movie Firefox (above right)

Speaking of the Cobra Night Raven... I'm a sucker for an 80's toy ad!!