1:35 Modern USMC Stryker M1134 w/Slat Armor (For AFV CLUB 35134)

Voyager Model 1:35 photo-etched set — Stryker M1134 with slat armor

This photo-etched set in 1:35 scale is meant for completing a plastic kit of the modern American Stryker wheeled armored vehicle in its M1134 version, armed with anti-tank guided missiles. It is not a model of the vehicle but a metal accessory for the modeler. The scope of the set matches the fact that its main theme is the complete cage of the slat armor, a feature that in plastic never looks right to scale.

The real subject

The Stryker is a modern eight-wheeled armored personnel carrier derived from a Canadian design family, built in many specialized versions. The M1134 carries a launcher for anti-tank guided missiles and serves to destroy armored targets at longer range. On deployed vehicles the slat armor is fitted to an external frame around the whole hull and is meant to break up or prematurely initiate shaped charge warheads.

Working with the cage and small parts

Slat armor is an ideal task for photo-etched parts and at the same time the most demanding part of the build. Work from the supporting frame toward the covering panels and keep checking that the whole cage holds its right angles; that is best watched on a flat sheet of glass. The long parts must not be rippled, so before gluing press them flat between two flat surfaces. Glue in small stretches and dispense the cyanoacrylate from a drop on a scrap of plastic with a needle, never straight from the bottle. Put a light-colored surface with no gaps on the workbench, because small brass parts are easier to see on it and will not vanish into a crack.

Who the set is for

• Builders of present-day wheeled vehicles who want an accurate slat armor cage.
• Experienced modelers with experience of larger photo-etched structures.
• Those building the vehicle into a diorama with a present-day theme.
• Modelers bothered by the oversized plastic mesh from the basic kit.

A photo-etched set is an accessory for modelers; it is supplied unassembled and unpainted. The kit, glue and paints are not included in the package, unless stated otherwise.