RAVEN GUARD CHAPTER

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I converted a toy from Starship Troopers by adding engines, missile boxes, and a twin heavy bolter under the chin, then painted it up.
 
For our campaign, we agreed to give the Raven Guard easy access to Jump Packs (every chapter needs a gimmick, right?).   I used a triangle pattern decal for the jump pack (from Gorka Morka), and wing decals on the shoulders  (Brettonian).  You can also cut up Blood Angel or Dark angel decals.
Even though I wasn't planning on doing any Dark Angels Ravenwing models, I still wanted the Raven Guard to have a distinct color scheme (not just black).  I opted for a blue trim color, seen on this scout's bolter, head band, sleeves, and knee pads.  The scout, by the way, is one of the old plastics, with an Orlock head in place of the mohawk.
The other modification I made for the Raven Guard scouts is their sleeves, taken from plastic Bretonnian Knights.  The "winglike" look works quite well and is a nice substitute for the old plastic scout's "puff-n-slash" sleeves. 
I prefer the the old plastic scouts in some ways- they look younger, like fresh recruits, and it's a lot easier tell them apart from the sergeant.  But the new sniper models were so nice, I had to use them in place of the plastic scouts.  A black cloak and pants, and blue shoulder pad complete this model.
This converted plastic scout takes advantage of the slim metal plasma gun that comes in the Blood Angels veteran assault squad.  By placing the arms and head back a bit on the model, it gives him a nice "leaning" pose.
Jump packs are a natural for the Raven Guard.  Also, the "beaky" heads of Mk. 6 armor seem appropriate (it ain't called "corvus" armor for nothing!), and with the new plastics, you can mix head and body types easily (like this Mk. 5 body, whose power cables look good with jump packs).  I angled the head and weapons down on this guy for the "attacking from above" look.
For the Sergeant,  I started with the bike riding chaplain model, since his legs and feet have a nice pose.  I added a chainsword arm from the assault plastics, and a bird figure cut from the top of a fantasy model's staff behind his head.  You can't really see it here, but the left shoulder pad is actually an "Emperor's Children" metal pad that I mail ordered, since it has a nice "winged claw" motif .
Another "beaky" head, this time on the standard Mk. 7 Jump Pack body.  I used a "grenade clutching" right arm, and added a chaos bolt pistol to the left arm.  When painting, I primarily use black (with tan drybrushing),  dark blue (with light blue drybrushing) for the knee and shoulder pads, then white and  silver for details.  The shoulder bears a modified Ravenwing decal.
This plasma gunner was made by adding a jump pack to a marine plasma gun biker upper torso.  I  used plastic Khorne Berzerker legs since they had a dynamic pose, and added a bolt pistol left arm to complete the model.  The grenades, pouches, wood grips, etc. give  a rugged look, especially with the Mk. 7 head.
The new plastic Assault marine arms are really nice, and since they have weapons available in both hands, it makes it easy to do 2 handed models like this guy.  The body on this model is actually an old metal Space Wolf Blood Claw, since the Mk. 6 head and claw icons (like the one on the knife hilt) are appropriate for the Raven Guard- plus they come loaded with grenades!  The shoulder clearly shows the modified Ravenwing decals I use.
I like to give my standard bearers power gloves (helps 'em keep a grip on that banner), so this standard bearer started out as the old helmeted metal jump pack sergeant.   I spliced on a plastic right arm and matched up the metal banner that comes in the Blood Angels Assault Command box set.  The bird icon  is a Bretonnian decal.  The Mk. 7 head looks fine even when mixed with other Mk. 6 models, and takes  my "golden eye" color well (yellow washed with brown).
Here's a back view of one of the assault models.  I used decals on all the jump packs for more character.  One advantage to the new plastic jump packs (like the one seen here) is that they won't unbalance your model like the metal ones do- especially if the model is plastic!  I tend to weight my plastic assault marines anyway, with pennies glued under their base...
Aah, my Raven Guard Captain is finished at last!  I started with the new Command Squad Captain, replaced his head with Azrael's helmet (carving it out of the hands of the Watcher in the Dark was not easy!), and replaced his right arm with a claw from a pit slave, now known as the "Raven's Claw"  (I figure statting it as a bionic arm + power claw should do nicely).  Oh yeah, the jump pack is from Dante, minus the blood drops in the wing icons.
Just a bolter equipped Jump Pack guy, but I really like the way his pose came out.  The head is turned just slightly to the right and down, and the standard bolter marine arms fit well with the plastic assault body and legs.  I like to add extra gear to the legs (like these frags) to help balance out the massive bulk of the jump packs.   Also you can see the modified Raven Wing decal pretty clearly here.  Death from above, Aieeeeeeeee!
And of course, what Raven Guard chapter would be without a landspeeder to support those assault troops?   This was originally the (2nd edition) Ravenwing landspeeder.  I replaced the angel "hood ornament" with a bird from a wizards' staff, and added a back banner from one of the new Ravenwing bikes (though you could use a Kislev Archer banner too).  The shoulder pad on the pilot is from the Emperor's Children, but works equally well for Ravenguard.
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