Oh yea, it was Blast Model not Verlinden.....maybe....

Jeff

I just wanted to be clear on the uniform thing - the question revolved around non-slat armor Strykers and where they could be depicted such as home station or at the NTC, so my response is based on that, not in-country uniforms. I wanted to point out that one could make things interesting by depicting soldiers and crew in combinations of BDUs and ACUs/DCUs. Thanks.

Bob

OK, I can accept that MNC-I policy became that no unarmored vehicles were allowed outside the wire. 1st ID had put a similar policy in place about mid-year 2004, as we got applique armor kits installed on a larger portion of our HMMWV fleet. It took a while longer to get the larger trucks armored, but by late summer they were covered under that policy too. It didn't require a huge intuitive leap, 18th ABN just recognized that there was enough up-armored assets in country to make such a policy workable theater-wide.

That said, you can't state that all vehicles in Iraq were always armored, as you appeared to be saying before. There was a significant period from 2003 to about April-May 2004 when most wheeled vehicles were either unarmored or fitted with 'hadji' armor, no matter where they were.

C

That would actually work. Some of the recently deployed folks I've spoken to said that they only got two sets of ACUs, with DCUs to fill in. I don't know if this was an exception or a long-term situation, but it is certain that there was a mix of uniforms on the ground in the recent past.

Apparently they are talking about changing our camouflage pattern again, so they aren't spending a lot on new ACUs. Don't worry, though. The new 'multi-cam' pattern looks just as hard to paint as the DCU and ACU pattern is!

C

Well, it depends.

BDUs (Woodland pattern) are still authorized for wear, but most guys have put them away. So BDUs are definitely possible.

ACUs are the recent default, as long as the weather doesn't require jackets or other overgarments. Virtually the only folks with ACU cold/wet weather/Goretex gear are in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is issued when they deploy and taken back when the come home. The rest of us have to get by with the old woodland stuff, or a smattering of DCU stuff. So, as in Burik's picture below, you get tough/cold guys in ACUs, and you get dry/warm guys in BDU-patterned Gortex jackets and pants.

A lot of Reserve units and non-combat-type units don't have the new helmets, so they still wear woodland helmet covers...unless they buy them themselves. Also, the flame-retardant crew uniforms haven't been available in ACU pattern until very recently, so any armor crew wearing their Nomex suits would either be in solid green or solid tan overalls. Of course, any jackets, etc. that they would be wearing would probably be woodland.

Hard to explain, but hopefully I've made it somewhat understandable.

C

Hi

Thanks to all of you for the info.


Ryally

Does anyone know if a "slat armor" set is in the works? Maybe by a company like Accurate Armour? Maybe....

Thanks,

Kurt

Sorry Kurt, nothing has been announced. But believe me that once something is announced, reports of it will be pretty easy to find.

Jeff

I asked Accurate Armour and they said probably not, firstly because they couldn't get access to the vehicle and secondly when fully released there would be numerous companies releasing aftermarket. I know Blast Models are doing stuff for the stryker at the moment. But the chap at AA said 'never say never', so you never know.

AFV Club Strykers are in at Great Models

The AFV kit is now at Mission Models as well. Any word on when Eduard or Aber will release any PE sets? I'm looking forward to a Ft Lewis vehicle that will not require the slat bar armor (I can only handle so much PE!!)

missing lynx