Yet another AFV Club Stryker...Slat's All, Folks!!

...and now, without further skiddoo, its Part Deux of the ongoing saga of Slat "O".

When we last left Slat "O", things were about to come together.  The two top rails were just built, and the three vertical members are in their approximate locations.

I put the left vertical support against the inside of the T-angle and glued the edges of the tubes to the top and bottom of the support (obviously with the grooves facing inward...the same goes for the tubes, as they each have a slot for the serrated center support).

I glue the other vertical support to the other end of the tubes, bring in the L-angle against the other side to apply some tension. Note the lone slot in the top rail.

Drop in the center support through its corresponding slots top and bottom, then apply a little dab of superglue to the seams.

You will invariably manage to glue the frame to the T-angle. I used an xacto to gently separate the two. 

Slats come next. Yes, they are very fragile and tend to want to bend right in the center where the notch is.

A pile o' slats.

I rounded up all the slats, put them into a nice little stack and gently, gently sanded the edges. This takes off any little burrs on the ends, which will affect how the slat fits into its little groove. Also, the direction you sand is important,because if you do it wrong you'll end up with a dozen identically bent slats. A file would probably be a better tool for this, but it was easier to hold the emery board in my mouth as I took the picture.

Smooth and shiny.

Then you start dropping them into place. If all goes well, the notchs will line up and so will the edges. If the slats arent straight, they won't line up with the notches on the edges.

 Apply glue to the center joints first, then do the edges. 

Once the glue sets up, the slat frame is pretty rigid, but its still really really fragile. Remember that this thing is smaller than the Compact Flash card that my camera used to take these pictures.

 Thats it for now. I'll be slaving away on slats probably through Christmas, so you all may not hear from me for a while.

Ranger Joe, Defender of Bunnies

 WoW!!! You are awesome!!

 Now I AM REALLY thinking about taking my new pics down and fading back into the oblivion of one of the "never posted pics" crowd!!

                              Sweet!!

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Everyone else who's building a Stryker has posted updates lately, so I didn't want to be left behind.

I've managed to build about half of the slats needed for the Stryker. Each compartment holds one lettered assembly. Yes, I know they aren't in alphabetical order.

 The slats for the left side of the vehicle, laid out on my construction rig. They aren't glued together yet.

 Construction of the left rear corner piece was complicated by its more complex shape.

 A finished corner. Each slat is L-shaped, and each is slightly smaller than the one below it.

 This is the completed front slat assembly. I was less than thrilled with the finished product. The vertical sides are slightly angled and were difficult to keep straight. All in all, its kinda warped, but I saw photos in my reference books of slats damaged in the field, so thats my story and I'm sticking to it.

The front slat assembly is the first set of slats that I've attached to the vehicle.

I got myself a Christmas present...Legend's Stryker Stowage Gear set. The detail is pretty amazing for resin casting. I'd like to know what kind of mold material they're using. The set consists of all you see here, plus a sheet of printed MRE boxes. The numerous parts include packs, bedrolls, water cans, duffle bags, helmets, ammo cans, MREs, barbed wire and a spare tire, plus a piece of lead foil to use for tiedowns.

The packs arre far more detailed than any resin castings that I've made. 

These are the MREs, two packed boxes, five individual packets and a printed sheet.

 More to come. I've still got the whole right side to do yet, plus the back and all of the various attachment struts that hold the slats in place. 

Ranger Joe, Defender of Bunnies

WOW those are some serious etch working skills, congrats on great work.

Terry.

Wow! Im loving it. Big fan of Strykers, but affraid to build them because of all of that etchwork. keep it up, GREAT work! Can't wait to see the finnished product.

-Will

...and the bending of IBTT metal parts continues.

First off, the good news. All of the slats are finished! (...and there was much rejoicing.) Yep, every single slat frame is done. What a pain in the tucchus. The easy ones were the square ones that went together pretty quickly. The difficult ones were those with angles, since they didn't square up on my construction rig as well as the rectangular ones did.

Here's a look at the Stryker's rear door under construction:

Ta daaaa. A finished door assembly.

 Here's my Box o' Slats.

 My apologies for the crappy photo. This is the first of many brackets that hold the slats in place.

I attached the two end brackets, then placed a piece of square brass tubing between the IBTT strips at the end of the brackets, This keeps these two brackets aligned while I attach the other two brackets between them...

...like so.

Of course, I realized at this point that the small support pieces under the brackets belonged on the  outside of the armor plates, not in the channel between the vehicle hull and the armor plates. Yes, I had to rip all of what you see here out, clean up the parts and rebuild the whole shebang. Oh well, at least it lined up in this picture.

So thats where I'm at now with this beastie. Getting the brackets into their proper places to line up right with the slats should be a joyous pain to accomplish.

Ranger Joe, Defender of Bunnies

Greetings all. I finally figured out how to change the subject to give you some idea of where I'm at with this thing...at least, I think I figured it out. If I screwed up in some heinous way, let me know.

I also have a confession. In an earlier post I stated that I had finished constructing all of the slats. I was wrong...I missed a couple of small slats that hang below the big side slats. I'll catch up with those later, as they should only take a few minutes to slap together (yes, i'm getting good at this, and yes, I'm getting a little cocky.)

Anyhoo, the slats are coming together (literally) and now comes the fun part of trying to get them to fit properly on the side of the vehicle. First off, I put the slat assemblies on my magnetic workbench and glued them together, using the steel brackets and a couple of steel rulers to keep everything in place. I also used small alligator clips to keep the assemblies connected while the superglue set. (Please note, the PE parts are not magnetic, but the tools that I'm using to square them up and squeeze them together are, just in case I was confusing anybody.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Uh, Wow... You have earned the title "Hanger of Slats", no question.

Your 1/35 blow torch is moving now!!!! I know how heavy my MGS is without slats, Yours is going to weigh a ton when it is done!!

Looking great. I see someone else like the micro clips. They are great for holding little items just like these.

Rounds Complete!!

WOW!

This has got to be one of my favorite pictures I've seen in a while on here!

cameraflage wrote:

AND IT'S ONLY THE RIGHT SIDE!! This is amazing to scroll through, well done! 

I'll be interested to see how you manage to prime and paint all that metal! I guess leaving the slats unattached could help with that aspect. Your simle jigs to aligne the slats and hold the upper hull for you- all genious! I'm also a fan of the allegator clip early warning system. Keep up the good work!

psstoff995 wrote:

WOW! This has got to be one of my favorite pictures I've seen in a while on here!...AND IT'S ONLY THE RIGHT SIDE!! This is amazing to scroll through, well done!

 Thanks! Its been a fun build

psstoff995 wrote:

I'll be interested to see how you manage to prime and paint all that metal!

I'll be interested to see how I manage to prime and paint all that metal, too...I've never had this much PE on a model before. But if you liked my slat construction rig, you'll love my slat bracket aligner/paint mask. Film at 11.

Ranger Joe, Defender of Bunnies

 You have got to weigh that thing when it's done and tell us how much it weighs! Also the weight of a regular old plastic build for comparison! Your work is totally awesome!

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m60a3 wrote:

You have got to weigh that thing when it's done and tell us how much it weighs! Also the weight of a regular old plastic build for comparison! Your work is totally awesome!                                                                 60

Thanks for the compliment. Yeah, once its finished, I'll throw it on my wife's digital scale and see where it comes in. The slats really dont seem to weigh very much, but I dropped one section onto a concrete floor from about 36", and you'd be amazed at how much damage that can cause. F=ma.

Ranger Joe, Defender of Bunnies

 Greetings, and welcome to yet another episode of Yet Another Stryker. In tonight's action-packed episode, Johnny asks Emma to go to the barnraising, crazy Uncle Ed can't make bail, and we put full slats on the Stryker.

(its late...my mind is going...Dave...stop, Dave...)

 Where the heck was I...oh, yeah, I promised psstoff995 a "Slat bracket aligner/paint mask". And so he shall get his slat bracket aligner/paint mask...but first, a view of what is being masked, in this case, the brackets for the right side slat assembly. 

 And without further ado, I give to you, the Slat bracket aligner/paint mask.

The faces of the brackets attach to various points along the slat assembly frame. In order to keep them aligned and somewhat shielded from damage, I bent a piece of hollow aluminum tubing into the general shape of the slats, or at least in such a way that all (or most, as I was short by about an inch) of the brackets made contact with the shape. I secured the shape using Micro Mask liquid frisket, as it hardens enough to hold things together, but peels off easier than white glue.

  Here's a view of the left side, before most of the brackets have been installed. Note the four brackets on the side hatch that hold its separate slat frame.

 Once I got all the left side brackets installed (they were pretty much identical to the right side, with a few differences), I was able to test-fit the left side slat assembly. It needs a little massaging, but I think I can coerce it to fit.

 I apologize for the poor quality of this next image. I'm using a handheld 2-megapixel Nikon Coolpix to shoot these, not my good 10-megapixel D200. The main purpose of this shot is to show the toothpick clamped to the bottom of the slat assembly. The gap is for the side hatch slat frame, which isnt in place yet, so the only thing holding the left side of the slat assembly to the right side is that thin folded square tube along the top, glued to the frame next to it (near the clip), and three barely-loadbearing slats. The clamped toothpick adds strength to the slat assembly while its being fitted in place. 

 (And yes, I discovered this inherent weakness of this particular assembly when it fell off the brackets and broke in half.)

 Here's a view underneath. The horizontal brackets along the bottom attach to the bottom tube of the slat frame.

 I couldnt contain myself. I had the left side gently clamped into place and really wanted to see what this thing looked like with the right side attached. The fit wasnt perfect (it fit over the alignment/mask, but not very well).

 And yes, I let loose with my best "mad scientist evil laugh" when I clamped the other side in place.

 One more image... mwa ha ha...MWAAA HAHAHAHA....

Ok, I'm better now. Yeah, right, and if you believe that, I have bridge in Cleveland for sale for you. I'm seeing slats in my sleep. I align my french fries to look like slats. I think I'm getting slat-happy.

Anyhoo, once I get a few more minor bits and pieces in place (another aligner/mask, the side door slat frame, the rear corner piece and the modified headlights), I can start worrying about painting this beastie. Oh, that should be a joy.

Ranger Joe, Defender of Bunnies and Deprived of Sleep

(Daisy, D a i s y , .  .  . )

OK.....It is looking great, but if you put it on the TV do you get better reception (I know giving away my age)

Very nice work and you are doing a great job presenting it.

Being the anal person that modelers are...if you are thinking ahead, do you see any problems painting with a the metal causing a barrier.

Rounds Complete!!

cameraflage wrote:

I'm seeing slats in my sleep. I align my french fries to look like slats. I think I'm getting slat-happy.

haha looks like this update was just in time then! Hope you weren't up too late for this Stryker TV episode. But... with the right AND LEFT sides all hung it looks GREAT!!

Nice job hope you can catch up on some sleep now

redleg12 wrote:

OK.....It is looking great, but if you put it on the TV do you get better reception (I know giving away my age)

Yes, but only until mid February.

redleg12 wrote:

Very nice work and you are doing a great job presenting it. Being the anal person that modelers are...if you are thinking ahead, do you see any problems painting with a the metal causing a barrier. Rounds Complete!!

Thanks! And yes, I figure I'll have problems painting places like the inside of the stowage racks and other deep, dark recesses. My biggest fear is glopping a big splort of paint onto the teeny tiny tiedowns and gumming them all up. But I also realize that I figure to give the whole shebang a good coat of dirt and dust, so whatever doesnt get covered in green will get covered in dirt anyway. Keeping the slat assemblies off for now allows me to add the Legend accessories (minus the ALICE packs, which didnt occur to me until I read your post about using the MOLLE gear) without mashing any slats. 

Ranger Joe, Defender of Bunnies

fantacmet wrote:

HOLY #$%@ you are a MUCH braver man than I.  I probably would hav cried as I threw 200+ dollars of kit and AM stuff against the wall.  I would have had to go for a LONG drive to keep from destroying everything else.  That's just some SWEET stuff there. I applaud your bravery, no doubt the results will be worth it as it's looking good.

There's a fine line between bravery and stupidity, and I'm not sure this qualifies as the former. Oh, trust me, a few tears have been shed and I've gone for more than one long walk in my Amish neighbor's woods to get this thing off my mind, not to mention all the new compound swear words I've come up with...but thanks for the compliments. I hope the final results are worth the effort I've put into it so far.

My biggest fear (well, other than dropping the whole thing on the concrete floor or screwing up the paint job) is the inevitable post-partum depression that will set in after I finish this thing. I've got a bunch of stuff in my stash to build, but nothing in there will come close to the amount of work that went into this Stryker...and no, as much as I'd like to build the 105mm MGS version, I don't think it will sport a set of slats (and to my knowledge, Eduard hasnt come out with a set for the MGS yet.)

Ranger Joe, Defender of Bunnies

cameraflage wrote:

I've got a bunch of stuff in my stash to build, but nothing in there will come close to the amount of work that went into this Stryker

I can see it now- scratch build slat armor on WWII AFVs! Airplanes! Helicopters! Figures!!

Holy Smokes! That is one awesome build!

I can't imagine tacking a project that complex! Well....maybe one day...

After it is all done, are you going to display it with a giant "Do Not Touch or Breathe On It" sign?  I would.

redleg12 wrote:

OK.....It is looking great, but if you put it on the TV do you get better reception

, too true.

But on a serious note, etch is one of my favourite mediums, I love working with the stuff, I kinda find it relaxing, I recently done a 148th gantry crane for a friend, sat here in the kitchen and the world disappeared from view, I had a ball. There is some serious work going on here with these strikers and its all beautiful.

Terry.

Some spectacular work you've got going here, the final shot with it all clamped into position would've made me go "mad scientist" too if I'd been the one working on it up to that point! It's ALLLIIIIIVE!

I do have a very important question for you...where did you get those nifty copper smooth-faced mini-clamps? I've been needing to pick some of those up for use in soldering and haven't found a good supplier for them yet to order from.

Cameraflage, this PE work is awesome- I've seen that slat armor offered online and often wondered who would to go for it.  Now I know.  Beaucoup kudos to you for trying it and making it work, it looks fantastic and I await the final result.  I like me some PE, but at this time, something like this is beyond me although I'd love to try it sometime down the road. 

On a much lighter note, a Stryker with slat armor looks like something made by Ronco- It Slices, It Dices, It Makes Julian Fries!  But wait!  Don't order now, there's more....

wbill76 wrote:

I do have a very important question for you...where did you get those nifty copper smooth-faced mini-clamps? I've been needing to pick some of those up for use in soldering and haven't found a good supplier for them yet to order from.

Radio Shack. http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062233

You can get a bag of ten for three bucks. They're about 1/8" wide, but for my purposes I ground them down narrower to use between the slats. You can also bend the tips outward to hold wider items. They are incredibly useful.

Ranger Joe,Defneder of Bunnies

Dre wrote:

Cameraflage, this PE work is awesome- I've seen that slat armor offered online and often wondered who would to go for it.  Now I know.  Beaucoup kudos to you for trying it and making it work, it looks fantastic and I await the final result.  I like me some PE, but at this time, something like this is beyond me although I'd love to try it sometime down the road.

Thanks! I'm really not sure what posessed me to take on this project...latent masochistic tendencies is my guess.

Dre wrote:

On a much lighter note, a Stryker with slat armor looks like something made by Ronco- It Slices, It Dices, It Makes Julian Fries!  But wait!  Don't order now, there's more....

"...and if you order now, we'll DOUBLE your order and send you TWO Slat-Wows for only $19.95!"

Actually, my mother already asked if it could be used to slice carrots.

Ranger Joe, Defender of Bunnies

Wow.  Reading this, suddenly I want to get rid of the slat PE set and just build the regular stryker