hi everyone, hope the new year is off to a great start for one and all.

as some may have noticed i usually don't post build blogs as my ability to setup photos during builds aren't that good and the builds go fairly fast. most of the time i just post the finished build prior to painting.

to help keep me on track and motivated, i thought i'd post a few steps along the way of my current build... a M1128 Stryker Mobile Gun System with Full Slat Armour.

i hadn't seen any of the AFV Club's nice little kit finished off with slat armour, though i'm sure someone out there has. i thought i'd give a go at some kitbashing and scratchbuilding to put one together.







so far just some preliminary components built. scratch made a Driver's Enhancement Kit, pioneer tool rack, various kit items thinned down and i took Griffon Models stock Stryker Stowage kit and kitbashed it into a MGS version which is smaller than the norm. lots of little clean ups to do still ahead.

i plan to finish the basic model's build with all the extra details add on and then start the slat armour. i have lots of the turret built and the barrel finished. i'd like to build the full vehicle and then paint it but as i have never painted a slat armour model i am not sure how easy it will be to weather with everything on...

... the unknown waits patiently as i stumble forward. cheers, bd.

Wow... I too am trying to make a M1128 w/ slat armor.

I've found only a few pictures showing the curved slats.
I'm also wanting to find some of the square head lights to add into the front armor. (Maybe pieces from a race car model?)
What are you going to do for the rear doors?
I havent figured what to do with the slat there...

BTW what is the add on you have on the front armor pannel on picture #1?


I've been lurking this site for a while and just now signed up.

I haven't built a model since 1973...but the slat stuff looked Real challenging...
(read: mid-life crisis - reclaiming one's childhood... ) So I've decided to do a M1128 w slat and mine plow from M1132...

I figure that if this frankenstien was ever attempted the weight would blow out all the tires...ahahahaha

hi C Johnson,
i too have been back in the saddle of modeling for the last couple of years after a long hiatus.

the white styrene on the lower front hull and left side lower hull is all part of an upgrade that it seems all MGS in the field had applied. it is called a Driver's Enhancement Kit also known as DEK. it adds more protection to the driver from mines/IEDs.

there's an aftermarket product from Real Models for this but it's pretty simple to just scratchbuild one from white styrene plasticard.

the headlights on the front slat armour add better visibility at night for the driver. the 2 lights are pretty much a rectangle, another simple item to whip together. the front headlight protection bars are not installed and L-angle brackets are added as a conduit instead for the headlight wiring as seen in my pics.

as for the rear doors (and pretty much all the slat armour) it's going to be an adventure. i got a standard Eduard Stryker Slat Armour set on clearance and i'm going to just kitbash it into an MGS version.

BTW, kitbash means taking a stock kit and "bashing" it into something new to simplify a conversion that would otherwise need to built all from scratch.

i'll try to post some clear pics as i go along to help out as much as possible for those who may want to give up their sanity... i mean try this as well.

cheers, bd.

some more progress on the MGS...



note the corrected antenna bases for the rear mounts as the model kit has an error in the part number and the parts i found on the sprue were only marginally right.



you may also want to bore out small holes on the sides of the top piece on the wind sensor rod (the vertical "stick" at the rear of the turret) to make them more accurate.



also note that operational MGS's did not have the fourth rear smoke launcher on the gunner side as it was found to get in the way. though i have seen a few pics of field vehicles with the fourth one on i found more pics with it missing.



laid down some squadron putty and sanded the barrel halves then added a fine layer of primer and sanded that as well to get a smooth finish on the plastic parts of the barrel.

next are the turret hatches, the wiring, the strapping and more kit parts then i can start the slat armour. thanks for dropping by. cheers, bd.

It looks great so far Bruce, can't wait to see how you do the slat!

Is this going to be a solo model, or with figures in a dio?

Anirudh

thanks for the kind words of encouragement. i hope all goes well enough on the slat when i get to it.

the MGS will be in a diorama that i'm still in the planning process with. i have already completed a secondary vehicle for this dio:



i think i may have four or five figures in the scene. for now, i'm just chugging along on the MGS. cheers, bd.

I was looking at some pics the other of the MGS system w/slat armor in Afghanistan and thought about doing it sometime in the future. I'll be watching this build with interest.

Nice little truck! I guess that's the Miniman Factory resin kit? Your paint job is superb! But the price of this thing...ouch!

yes, it is the Miniman Factory kit which i was lucky to buy on sale right after christmas of last year. otherwise i would likely pass on spending full retail on a little model like this van.

i did a mini-blog for the van if you're interested in seeing how it goes together and there was a post in the blog from someone who had a less expensive option for this model if you are interested.

i hope to keep this project rolling, been working on it the last few nights as i would like to start the slat on the weekend. stay tuned. cheers, bd.

UPDATE

finished the base model minus the 50cal machine gun. i would like to scratchbuild the mg shield as most of my reference pics show that the mgs had this added in the iraq theatre.











all the wiring is done so after i build the 50cal i will start figuring out the slat armour. got to keep this project rolling as i have a few new kits i want to build next.

cheers for now, bd.

That's looking really awesome. The MGS really adds some 'umph' to the Stryker!

UPDATE

here is the last stage before the slat armour... the skate mount. early MGS deployment had the pivot arm mount that is provided in the AFV Club kit but these were quickly replaced with the skate mount with gun shield (which i would prefer if i was sitting out of the hatch myself).











though it was a complicated piece to create from scratch i had great reference pics and i want to depict the MGS as it would be seen in the theatre of Iraq.

next step is figuring out the slat armour mounting brackets.

cheers, bd.

i'm back from a lovely vacation in the sun and returning to my MGS project.

i got the standard Eduard Stryker Slat Armour PE kit which is of course completely wrong but i can use various parts to expedite some of the steps and attempt to use some sections as a reference for scale.



above i've used some mounting brackets which needed to be tweaked to start the project off.



above is what i've spent the last few modeling sessions on... the front slat piece. this one is pretty complicated so it took awhile, but it's done.



i also got around to scratchbuilding the horn system. made the shape from stretching heated sprue until i got one that was the right shape and then cored the centers and built the harnesses and wiring.

i was looking for project that would take awhile to build and this one sure fits the bill. onwards fellow modelers, ever forward.

cheers for now, bd.

You are making very accuate details.

Are you going to rebuild all the slat armor in styrene plate ?

mais oui, pourquoi pas mon ami? yes, why not my friend? LOL

i cannot use much of the PE Eduard set and it won't mix and match with the styrene strips so i am left with making the whole thing from scratch.

i am developing a system (or at least a method) that will allow me to crank out the sections accurately. time and patience are the main ingredients.

the BIG problem is i would like to keep the slat armour off the model to paint it seperately but since i am making all the pieces custom i am not 100% sure it will all fit well unless i build it onto the model and then i am stuck with it on for painting...

... any suggestions from those who have done slat armour projects would be very much appreciated. cheers, bd.

I have built slat armor panels in styrene for my british FV510 Warrior.

I built at first and glue on the model, the parts of tie of each panel.
It allows to have the good width of panels.

Then, I built all the slat armor panels separately and I have painted them before glue them on the model.

I don't know if this method is good for a stryker. Good luck !

I have built two full slat M1127 Strykers. I fully installed the slat befor painting and had no problems with them. In my oipnion, it made it easier to install them before painting. I didn't have to worry about scraping paint to get a good glue joint nor fit after a layer of paint.

Well i build a M1126 with PAM slat and it was glue in place before painting with spray can.
No issue even the resin wheels were on.

Good Luck with the build
Cheers
Seb

Are you going to put an "Anti-Skid" coating on before you fix the Slat ?

Cheers
Christopher

thanks for the input, it is very helpful in figuring out the way i should address the painting. Gino has an excellent point about getting a better adhesion if i build everything before paint goes on.

i plan on doing the anti-skid texturing a bit different then i have seen most people go about it for strykers. my research shows that the texture is very subtle and is not really as "bumpy" as you might see in 1/35th scale.

the plan is to create a different surface texture in the paint process rather than actually go into adding textured paint or pouring on baking soda.

the one method that i tested that worked really well was to soften the model's plastic surface with Testors liquid cement and then take a toothbrush or brass wired brush and lightly texture the surface. this worked really well for the scale.

but in the end i think i may try a faux paint technique to see how this pans out. thanks for all the help. cheers, bd.

Good plan, I find most model Stryker anti-slip treatments overdone. If you look at a real photo you can barely make out the grit - it's very fine, like playground sand. In 1:35 it would be barely visible. A spray texture paint like Rustoleum is close, but a rough 'orange-peel' finish would work too. I like how you did the horn; too bad no one makes a turned metal one yet!

Jim

thanks Jim, the horn was on my list of to-do's but i just kept putting it off until i posted a pic on another website and a fellow there kindly pointed out that all in service MGS have horns.

here is a pic that Hans-Hermann Bühling has kindly shared with everyone at Primeportal's website and i link here for discussion purposes only:


this is of the NBCRV variant but it shows the anti-skid very well from point blank. i noticed that though you can see the texture at the lower (closer) portion of the photo the anti-skid appears more of a "modeled" pattern mid-way in the photo. i was looking at another reference pic similar to this when i pondered whether a faux painting effect would be better than actually adding roughness.

another point i had read was that people who textured their models (whether subtle or overdone) they all encountered the same problem... when adding a wash the anti-skid area was noticeably dark than the rest of the model which they struggled to correct.

this is all new territory to me but i am excited to try to solve this riddle for my model.

i also got some great pics of palm trees on my vacation and can't wait to try to create these for my diorama.

cheers, bd.

Heh Bruce !

If you have got the regular "grey" Tamiya putty just delute it with some turpentine so you kann spray it like paint under high pressure.
Go close with the first layer to build up some "strength" then delute it some more and spray it vericaly at a distance of around 20cm for the final finish.
It's quick and very realistic.





Cheers
Christopher

Christopher, that is absolutely the best anti-skid texture i have ever seen !!! what a great technique.

you really nailed the scale down perfectly. i will try this tip out on some spare parts and weigh the pros and cons of whether i will try just using paint.

took a look at your photos and was hoping to see more of this particular model. you have some other projects that are really cool but there isn't more of the one you posted here.



cheers, bd

Bruce,

Really nice work on your MGS. Whatever technique you use for the anti-slip make sure you practice on a scrap model or plastic sheet.

I really like the technique and results that Christopher used...top notch look!

If you are considering a textured spray look for a "fine" or "extra fine" texture. There are lots of options at Rona or Home Depot.

There are different grit levels of textured sprays and I think some guys pick ones that look a bit out of scale for the LAV/Strykers....but those heavier sprays are great for other AFVs...such as a Leclerc.

I guess the real solution would be for model producers simply to include the surface texture on the kit in the first place....I'd pay extra to have that on the kit parts!