Pushing your skills is what makes it fun. I'm starting my first Dragon premium kit, not only that, I'm taking a late Panther A and making it an early Panther A, The parts are on the sprues for it just no directions. If you don't have a photo etch tool grab your self some old fashioned razor blades [the kind you scrape windows with]

Keep us posted, Doug

Take a deep breath and say.....I can do this.  I'm working on the M1128 MGS Stryker so I know what you are looking at. Take it on step at a time.....one spru at a time

But most of all have fun

Rounds Complete!!

I had a very productive day today. The under carriage is just about done:

I am very happy with the quality of this kit.  The pieces are well formed and with very little flash.  So far everything is fitting together great.

Very nice, see as bothe Doog and I said....deep breath, take your time and all will be well.

I'll keep my eye on you. Check in on my M1128, I'll be posting later with anti slip coating. I'm about 8 steps ahead of you.

Your doing fine

Rounds Complete!!

redleg12 wrote:

Very nice, see as bothe Doog and I said....deep breath, take your time and all will be well. I'll keep my eye on you. Check in on my M1128, I'll be posting later with anti slip coating. I'm about 8 steps ahead of you. Your doing fine Rounds Complete!!

Thanks Redleg.  I'll take a look at your build.

Moon Puppy wrote:

That's your first PE fold! Looks great. I hope that every kit I get I have that "oh S$#@" feeling, that's what makes it a challenge.

The jury is still out for me and PE.  I can see how it can add detail not possible for plastic, but if becomes too much of a headache to work with... Anyway, so far so good, but those were big pieces.  There are some awfuly tiny pieces I still have to deal with.

Redleg12 posted some more pics of his MGS Stryker, so I knew I was falling behind.

I'm wrapping up the top (through step 18 of 34):

I am not following my usual SOP of jumping around in the instructions, but going step by step.  (Heck, I'm used to a model that has fewer parts than this one does on one step.)  I am going to leave off the winch cable until after painting, and then try to get it snugged up tight.

I am very impressed with the quality of this kit.  Everything is fitting together very well.

Looking good, padakr!

My recommendation to you about building this kit...take a pencil and cross off the part numbers in the instructions as you attach them. It makes it a lot easier to figure out where you're at. Circle part numbers that you may have intentionally left off and get back to them later...just remember to cross them off as you go. 

Yeah, there's a lot of parts. Hang in there.

Ranger Joe, Defender of Bunnies

It has a bazillion parts. some PE (which I have never worked with before) and now I am thinking what the " border="0" /> have I got myself into.

The only thing a high part number means is that there is more part.  Doesn't say anything to whether you can do it or not.  And from the looks of it apparently you can.  So now oyu know for the next 1,000 part kit that you will buy.  Oh yes, you will buy one

A bit of progress. 

The top hull is buttened up:

And the remote gun platform (is that the right term?) is complete.  I went with the .50 cal instead of the greande launcher:

And now I am starting on the rear door:

I really don't like the IBTT pieces, especially the PE bolts.

cameraflage wrote:

Looking good, padakr! My recommendation to you about building this kit...take a pencil and cross off the part numbers in the instructions as you attach them. It makes it a lot easier to figure out where you're at. Circle part numbers that you may have intentionally left off and get back to them later...just remember to cross them off as you go.  Yeah, there's a lot of parts. Hang in there. Ranger Joe, Defender of Bunnies

OK....here is my directions method. I have two highlighters, one yellow and one blue. If I complete an entire step, I put a line through the step number. If I complete a step but leave a part out for painting purposes, I highlight the part in yellow but still cross the step number in blue. Later when I put the part on the model, I cross the yellow mark now with a blue mark. When I'm all blue....I'm all done. It's the anal engineer in me.

Your work is coming along nicely. Take your time. With all the parts...it's that much more enjoyment in one kit.

Rounds Complete!!

Major assembly is complete.  Next step is go over it very carefully looking for things to clean up and then on to painting.  This will be my second airbrush paint job, so I hope to do a better job than last time. 

I have the top and bottom together but not glued.  I will paint them separately.

The rear panel is glued to the bottom.  The lower right PE bolt head is not part of the standard build.  I got a little carried away removing the molded bolt heads as directed and took off one too many.  Fortunately, the PE sheet had plenty of extras.

Okay, time for a little rant.  Here we have the base of the HF antenna with a little part to glue on.  It looks like a turn knob of some kind.  The way it was attached to the sprue, I practically had to carve half of it out of the plastic.  Why couldn't it just have been molded in place?

Glued...

And attached.

Looking good so far. As I said in the beginning, don't panic. So it is only your second airbrush paint job. Enjoy....I"m sure it will be fine.

Rounds Complete!!

It's been four months since my last update, and no I haven't been dilligently modeling the whole time.

Big jump:  I completed the airbrushing (two coats) and I am okay with the result.  The flat paint is very forgiving of my ham-handedness.  I assembled the hull and and started the detailing.  So here is what it looks like now:

I still have to:  Attach the driver's hatch cover; apply the decals; re-attach the HF antenna; stretch, paint, and attach the whip antennae; and perhaps some weathering (something basic as I have never done it before and don't want to screw up a build that has turned out fairly good for me).

Thanks for looking.

Well, it's finally done.  My very first try at weathering, and I do like the result.  I made the mud by mixing brown, black, and red enamel paint with some thinner.  The paint clumped and I was very pleased with the chunks in the tires.  The dust over the rest was from powder sticks I got at AC Moore, again a mix of brown, red, and black.  I had never used them before and I like the way it turned out.

I'm not happy with the antennae.  I heated and streched some sprue, but I haven't done that in a while and I think they are a little too thin.  Overall, I don't think it detracts too much, but I'm going to have to work at it for the next time.

Here are the pictures:

What do you think?

2nd try at airbrushing and 1st try at weathering? Looks Great!

Makes me want to build some modern armor.

ygmodeler4, LeopardMan, and Citadelgrad87: Thanks for the comments.  About half way through every build I think to myself that it's going to end up looking like junk, but more often than not the end result is pretty good.  I guess I surprise myself that it doesn't look like what I would have done when I was 12.

If you like my Stryker, you should check out cameraflage's (/forums/1046119/ShowPost.aspx) and redleg12's (/forums/1038334/ShowPost.aspx).  Those are some cool looking machines.

Resurrecting an old thread for a quick update... Went to PennCon 2010 this past fall.  Entered three models (first time ever) and came away with a bronze medal for this model.

I was pretty pumped.

Paul

We all were that day Paul, WTG and Congratzzzz again.

Bud

Nice one, congrats on the award, the Stryker is beautiful and well deserving of an award.

Terry.

I don't have much interest in modern armour but I have to say you have done a fine job...cheers....Kenny 

And a very well deserved award it is!

Since this thread ended before I joined the forum this is my first time seeing her. Thanks for bumping it back to the top.

And again congrads- beautiful model!