Okay folks, here's the scoop on the Custodian so we can lay this to rest once and for all. Forgeworld says its a battleship. GW says it officially is nothing but an Explorer in a different hull, thus a battleship. In the end, what makes all this work official is when GW goes over it, blesses it and posts it to their website.
Whatever improvements we are trying to make absolutely HAVE to fall inside the constraints we are given. If the HA's decide to go outside the constraints because we want to or even if EVERYONE wants to, GW will simply decide to stick all this work in the round file. Then not only is all this time and effort wasted, but in the end all we get is a really pretty Explorer along with an entire fleet which is little more than re-hulled versions of the Tau fleet we have now, along with a really pretty fleet list no more official than any other homebrew list out there.
This brings me back to the "90% right" outcome I spoke of earlier. The Custodian is not what everyone wants, but it is a WHOLE LOT BETTER than an Explorer. The Kor'or'vesh is not what everyone wants, but it is a fine addition to the current Tau fleet. Now you have to ask yourself what is more important: having an official Kor'or'vesh Fleet List where the Custodian is a battleship, or having a Custodian Grand Cruiser on a fleet list that is just one more fan product? Many people have stated, "I'm going to ignore it and make it a homebrew GC anyway." That's fine! In fact, that's gaming! I have plenty of homebrew ships that will never be official, ships that will make EXCELLENT Warp Rift articles when our rule projects are complete. That doesn't mean they should or even can be made official.
Remember folks, we're fans just like you. We're not just sitting up here making arbitrary decisions to hurt the fans' feelig just because we can. Heck- we're not even getting paid! In the end, these projects are probably the most fan-involved of any set of rules in the history of Games Workshop. I said from the outset that we weren't going to make everyone happy, but at least recognize that 90% success is a lot better than 100% failure.