1:35 Modern British Challenger 2 MBT slat amour (For TRUMPETER 001522)

Slat add-on armor Challenger 2, 1:35 (Voyager Model)

An extensive photo-etched add-on set from Voyager Model for a model of the British Challenger 2 main battle tank in 1:35 scale. It is not a kit of the vehicle but a brass structure of slat, or cage, add-on armor, which on the vehicle is mounted around the hull and the turret. Slat armor is a textbook case where plastic loses out: the individual slats are tenths of a millimeter in scale and can be faithfully made only by photo-etching. The frames and brackets of the slat armor are shaped to the hull and turret of the Trumpeter 001522 kit.

The real subject

The Challenger 2 is a British main battle tank introduced in the 1990s, armed with a 120 mm gun and protected by composite armor. On overseas operations, additional protection kits were fitted to the vehicles, among them slat armor. The principle is simple: a row of thin slats at a distance from the hull meets an incoming shaped-charge projectile before it strikes the armor proper and disrupts or defeats its function. On a model it is a prominent structural feature that fundamentally changes the silhouette of the vehicle.

Building and painting tips

Slat armor is work on geometry, not on speed. Put the assembly together dry first and photograph it, so that you know how the parts follow one another. Glue the frames on a flat surface and watch the right angles with a square, because on a grid every deviation is multiplied optically. The panels are best built as separate groups away from the model, left to cure completely and only then fitted to the brackets. Deal with the painting before fitting to the vehicle: spray the slat armor with a base and the paint from all sides separately, because once it is fitted you will not reach behind it with an airbrush. Keep the coat thin, so that the gaps between the slats do not fill in. Choose the weathering sparingly: dust and a light hint of corrosion at the welds are enough.

Who the set is for

• Experienced modelers of modern armor in 1:35 scale.
• Builders who want the vehicle in the fit of an overseas operation.
• Anyone equipped with a photo-etch bender, a square and a flat surface.
• Those with the patience for long and accurate work with brass.

The set is unassembled and unpainted. The model of the vehicle, the glue and the paints are not included in the package, unless stated otherwise.