Thanks. The issue I was noticing turned out to be a conflict of some sort with https://github.com/apache/cordova-plugin-splashscreen when using Crosswalk and Make-9Patched.
The solution was to remove the plugin, remove Android platform, remove Crosswalk, then add Android + Crosswalk again, remake icon resources, redo splash with Make-9Patched, and then rebuild (without including the Cordova Splashscreen plugin).
Works beautifully with Crosswalk now! Cheers