I've seen pictures of Stykers with slat armor and unpainted models of one with I guess it is the Eduard kit on it. I've looked at the online pictures of the sheets themselves. A lot of little pieces. HAs anyone done this yet? Is it a major pain with lots and lots of little pieces subassembly type. How well does this stuff line up on the kit? Are there guides that help you get things nice and level?

I do lots of small piece P E for my 350 scale stuff so I am quite experienced. but I really don't want to deal with a 100 or so piece PE set unless it is pretty simple to do. Is there perhaps a nice plastic or resin version with nice little slid in slots for the slats on the support pieces (same holds true for the brass)

I know I've asked a ton of questions here, someone who has actually done one should be able to answer

Main points ...do support pieces have slots or markings for the slats to get perfectly aligned on?

How well do sections line up when installing on kit?

Thanks Gary, that thread helped a bit. I got that there are lots of different am kits out there , some are multiple detail, some are directly to the point. They are fairly pricecy. SLat Armor is pretty much neccessary on an OIF Stryker. One guy mentioned he was having difficulty and Mother warned about brring on some of the pieces. So, what is left to find out is ease of assembly. It looks complicated, but good directions and engineering could easily solve that. How is fit. After spending a great deal of time building subsection of this stuff, it would be a tremendous shame if it didn't line up well.

Ease of build is all dependant on your skills. All the sets (ive got multiples of all of them) are basically the same layout. There's a buttload of etch in every one of them, and you'll be building multiple runs of the same thing. I'm soldering mine, which is a first for me, so its a little more time consuming. I could glue it for sanitys sake, but I wanted to try something different. after this its back to glue. And growing my hair back...

I've got a lot of experience doing PE. I generally build 350 scale ships which require lots of bending and shaping. What I am trying to get a picture of is 2 things basically. The slats seemingly are lined up perfectly parallel to eah other all arond the vehicle. Are there markings or slots to aid in this alignment or is it catch as catch can. The only pictures I have seem of this stuff is the manufactures releases and of course everything is absolutly flawlessly made. Take a look at some of the 350 scale stuff for the IJN Nagato or Kongo the same thing. It's the little guy I am interested in. Is it easy to do? Is it coming out like it should? Frustration level?

Just from looking at those pictures of the PE Slat Armor, it looks expensive. Very nice though.

The slats are notched. the challenge lies in the square tubing you gotta bend into shape. I was advised it is easiest to shape it around a square rod dependant again on which set you get. they are all slightly sized different.

GAry:

You are correct to some degree. I learned how to work PE on tanks and then progresssed to the intricate level of ships. Ship PE is tiny and very delicate. The railings on ships have to be gently curved and there is a lot of folding. So the abilities required to do the same on larger pieces should hold. But yes, the stuff is different. My concern for the slat armor set was that you would build the mounting brackets and then just try to line the slats into it by eye sight. As things go, this is a pretty expensive set. It looks great in the manufacturer photos, but are normal people achieving the same "perfect look" I have seen pictures of the Nagato battleship kit all decked out in the shiny PE sets they are advertising and everything is flawless. A normal guy tries it and gets maybe 50 % of it it because the pieces are tiny and don't bend right. I can promise you when the manufacturer shows you a picture they used more than one set to achieve it due to mishaps. Getting all the slats in at a perfect 90 degree angle from the mounting bracket and making sue that the ones next to it line up with it row after row after row. Doing it by guess and by golly was a concern. If the mounting brackets are notched to help you get perfect alignment is really what I am trying to find out. I haven't been able to actually pick up a set and visual it to determine what all is involved. If someone has done a set and can tell me or better still has a set of the instructions they can send me a copy of, it would be greatly appreciated.

Has anyone ever considered doing paper templates of it so people can make their own from styrene strips/rods etc? It does look really good in PE but I could never justify the price and my experience with PE is not the best....fingers too thick!

My friend Mother has done a FEW slat sets. They look great. I've completed a run. Slow going but straight as its gonna get. I don't know if your looking for perfection, but alot of slat units get bent and dinked from use and abuse. There is no such thing as a perfect etch set.
If that was the case, I wouldn't have bought so many brands, but I believe in trial and error.
I guess this is why they call it "modeling".
Whenever I see a new model, I get excited, buy it, and am always somewhat disappointed in one form or another. I would put that perception into the "by golly and guess"category.
All I can say is buy it, and try it. You will never know til you put your hands on it.
Reviews can give you an idea, but putting glue to plastic (or etch) will give you the answer you need. Again, skillset. What is easy for one isnt for another.
All the sets have their strengths and weaknesses.

On another note, the price of these sets are expensive, but what is expensive to one isnt to another.
Think of all the other things we use our money for that can be attributed to something else; video games, ipods, pron, takeout, blah,blah,blah.....my 1 cent.

Steve:

Eduard has instructions for their pe sets on their website. For the slat armor set for the Trumpeter Stryker check here:

http://www.eduard.cz/products/pdf/n35/35995.pdf



For the AFV kit, the catalog number is 36002.

Hope this works and gives you some of the information you are looking for.

Keith

Squadron has the stuff on sale this month (all 3 sets)for $40. I also got a look see at directions. A lot of assembly, but with gator glue and head magnifier and a lot of patience it will probably work. Assemblying it in sub sections sounds like the way to go. The hard part will probably be lining it up and connectig it to the vehicle. Sure glad I got a good quality hold and fold a few years back cause I think I'm really gonna need it on this one.