Hobby boss STRV-122

[HWR MKII]

Picked up this kit tonight. I had read some reviews online about it and some bash it for hinges being off center or missing. Well if i were doing a straight up Leo 2A6 this would be a problem. However those pars arent used in this version of the tank. Ill be starting on it soon. Looks like it will be fun and well detailed. Definitely a better alterative than the tamiya kit and a resin set. Its the only 122 in plastic.

Here is a link to a quick review of the kit. Most of the flaws are easily dealt with.

http://www.scalemodelworld.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=126&Itemid=49

 

[HWR MKII]

Ok tonights progress was decent. got alot of the major hull sections assembled. the turret and hull upper and lower halves havent been glued yet as there is still some work left to do to them. Overall though this is a much different vehicle than your standard Leopard 2A5. It has additional applique armor added to the front of the hull. I like this. It adds a sleeker more menacing feel to the vehicle. The roof of the turret has also been raised. The loader and commander hatches are drastically different as well. They are no longer the round spaced armor hatches like the original vehicle. They look like thicker sliding armored blocks now. Looks like the Swedes wanted some added armor protection on the top. Another addition is a raised section on the right rear of the hull to house an enhanced APU system for the vehicle. Basically this tank is a modified Leopard 2EX.

Quality wise the kit is not bad. Its no tamiya to be sure but its much better than the revell/italeri offerings. With a little work it can be made to look really nice. there are some minor fit issues that some careful test fitting and a few seconds with an exacto knife will remedy. In all i feel the kit is definitely worh the 30 dollars i got it for. It has the added benefit of being the ONLY STRV-122 in 1/35 scale and in plastic. There are conversions out there for the already expensive tamiya kit. This in my book is overall a better deal. Straight out of the box it looks great. There were some issues with some of the parts in a review stating how hinges were missing or lined up wrong. Fortunately those parts arent applicable to this version of the tank. So no troubles there. The kit comes with a nice fret of photoetch parts for the engine radiator grills, reflectors, headlight guards and the convoy light mount.

http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn268/HWRMKII/STRV-122/100_5418.jpg
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn268/HWRMKII/STRV-122/100_5419.jpg
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn268/HWRMKII/STRV-122/100_5420.jpg
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn268/HWRMKII/STRV-122/100_5421.jpg
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn268/HWRMKII/STRV-122/100_5422.jpg

 

[Junkie]

Cool, that's coming along nicely.

 

[HWR MKII]

Thanks scott. Its not without its trouble spots though. This kit suffers from the bane of all armor modelers. The vision blocks on the turret have NO definition. Im going to have to make the frames for them. Simple to do with some thin strip styrene really. Another couple things i added were the latch handles to the turret roof equipment boxes. The kit had them represented as flat raised shapes. Turns out this was the blank spot in the anti skid texture on the real tank. They made the flat of the blank spot as a raised detail : So off those came and i made the latches and their bump stops from strip styrene. Another detail ommited was the grab handels you see on teh sides of the turret. Those were simply added on with some leftover wire bits from a Ma.K kit.

Enjoy.
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn268/HWRMKII/STRV-122/100_5423.jpg
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn268/HWRMKII/STRV-122/100_5424.jpg
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn268/HWRMKII/STRV-122/100_5425.jpg
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn268/HWRMKII/STRV-122/100_5426.jpg

 

[HWR MKII]

Made some good progress today. Got the suspension on and lower hull glued together. Front armor installed and started to frame out the vision ports on the commanders cupola. I did run into a snag with teh front armor and the side skirts though. The turn signal lights were molded on too far back or too thick BUT they interfered with the fit of the hinge straps that go over onto the side skirt armor. So off the lights came. The locator holes on the panels were filled then the straps were lined up with the area on the side skirts where they belong. I will be scratch building new mounts for the lights that are more in keeping with the scale of the vehicle. Other than that the kit has given me no real problems.

Enjoy

http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn268/HWRMKII/STRV-122/100_5506.jpg
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn268/HWRMKII/STRV-122/100_5507.jpg
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn268/HWRMKII/STRV-122/100_5508.jpg
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn268/HWRMKII/STRV-122/100_5509.jpg
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn268/HWRMKII/STRV-122/100_5510.jpg
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn268/HWRMKII/STRV-122/100_5511.jpg
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn268/HWRMKII/STRV-122/100_5512.jpg

 

[elend]

Great progress. Looks very great so far. I really like that tank's design. It looks almost... futuristic?!

 

[HWR MKII]

Thanks man. Another area i thought i could "live with" but decided to change my mind on was the 2 air inlet domes under the turret on the hull. On the real thing this is a very fine mesh screen. The kit it is represented by a raised ribbed texture around the dome. SO Off the domes came. THe offending scar will be repaired and the domes given a more fitting height and look. The mesh is so fine that its difficult to recreate in this scale. So im just going to use strip styrene and hope for the best. Even on the reference photos it looks almost solid. So i think ill be forgiven this as long as i can get it looking more better

The armor add on package for the lower hull really streamlines the front end and does give it a more futuristic look doesnt it.

http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn268/HWRMKII/STRV-122/100_5513.jpg
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn268/HWRMKII/STRV-122/100_5514.jpg

 

[Junkie]

Coming along great. Such a brute of a machine.

 

[HWR MKII]

Ok BIG update this time. Got the rest of the subassemblies and detail parts attached. Anti slip coating has been applied to the front of the upper hull and the turret roof. Wire grab handles added, wire brush guards around the turn signals added. The rest of the Photoetch parts have been added as well. The convoy marker on the rear was fun (sarcasm) However even after all this there is more i have to add still. I have to finish the trim around the vision ports. once that is done i should be able to paint this sucker.

http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn268/HWRMKII/STRV-122/100_5515.jpg
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn268/HWRMKII/STRV-122/100_5516.jpg
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn268/HWRMKII/STRV-122/100_5517.jpg
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn268/HWRMKII/STRV-122/100_5518.jpg
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn268/HWRMKII/STRV-122/100_5519.jpg
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn268/HWRMKII/STRV-122/100_5520.jpg
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn268/HWRMKII/STRV-122/100_5521.jpg
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn268/HWRMKII/STRV-122/100_5522.jpg

 

[Junkie]

Wow. That's anti-slipper-ific. Once this thing gets paint, it's gonna pop. Really great - and speedy - work.

 

[HWR MKII]

Since its so close to paint time i figured id temp assemble the whole thing to give everyone a look at the entire vehicle.

http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn268/HWRMKII/STRV-122/100_5524.jpg
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn268/HWRMKII/STRV-122/100_5525.jpg
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn268/HWRMKII/STRV-122/100_5526.jpg
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn268/HWRMKII/STRV-122/100_5527.jpg
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn268/HWRMKII/STRV-122/100_5528.jpg
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn268/HWRMKII/STRV-122/100_5529.jpg
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn268/HWRMKII/STRV-122/100_5530.jpg
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn268/HWRMKII/STRV-122/100_5531.jpg

 

[Junkie]

Ahhh, yeah. That's what I'm talking about!

 

[Backbreaker]

Superb detailing, perfecto.

Joolz.

 

[elend]

That looks like awesomeness.

 

[Ialarmu]

That build is TIGHT!! I can't wait to see paint on it.

 

[Blitzspear]

So that's what one of those greebly kits looks like if you don't nick all the cool bits for
kit bashes ;D. That's looking great and I'm very impressed with the tiny photo etch your putting on it. That's uncharted territory for my.


blitz

 

[elend]

Well... now that you mention it. Are there photo etched parts for space ships available? I mean... like... detailing sets for a Falcon Cockpit or similiar. ???

 

[HWR MKII]

Thanks guys. Its allllllmost ready for paint. Just a few more tiny details to take care of. Most likely have a base coat on it tomorrow night. The PE parts that came with it are from the kit. Thats about all that gets added really. I have added alot of other things myself using thin metal and wire.

 

[HWR MKII]

Got the base coat of nato green on. This will cure while im at work then ill start masking off the areas that need black and light green. Im still trying to decide if i should do a winter scheme over it or not. We will see. The anti slip coating really pops now though. Looks good to me.

 

[Junkie]

Great job. Nice smooth paint. Love the anti-slipness