Hey everyone. I am planning on trying to build a Stryker (the one's in Iraq) and wanted to add the RPG armor on the sides. I am hoping to build these out of brass sheet but I needed to know if I need to put the armor together any special way, eq should I use super glue or do I need to solder it together? Thanks.
Kyle
[edit] Almost forgot, can brass sheet be cut with a standard hobby knife or does it need to be cut with something else?

Most brass will be too hard to cut with a knife. You'll want some heavy duty scissors. Brass can be attached to plastic or itself with epoxy or super glue.
:-? Why not use plasticsheet stock? Easier to cut, cheaper and you can use your favorite plastic cement.

Greeting Kyle,
For cutting brass sheet, depending on the thickness, I use sissors of varying sizes, from pinking to medical use kind for cutting away bandages. Don't limit yourself to sheet brass for the bars of the RPG cage. I've found that brass rod can be hammered to a thin consistant thickness,or brass flatbar lightly hammered with the brass mallet to rough up the surface, this method more closely resembles the flatbar stock used on the real thing, for just this purpose. (I have been doing some test for a cage myself in anticipation of the Stryker kit comming out soon from Tiger Productions).
As for bonding, You can try CA (superglue) with an accelorant to spotweld the piece then two part epoxie to completly seal the joint.

What are you using for the Stryker itself? From what i've researched, there isn't any way to convert any exhisting wheeled LAV type vehicles to the Stryker.

Sounds like a challange. I'm sure you'll give it your best shot.

But don't limit yourself to brass. Aluminum, tin ( from cans) and other "found" metals are great to work with. Keep us posted as to your progress with lots o'pix...

Goodluck,

Kevin

Or you could use strip styrene which might already be extruded to the size of the bar stock. Check out plastruct and evergreen.

AJ-
I am still contemplating using thin styrene but was playing with the idea of brass because I thought it would create a little more strength.
Kevin-
I was planning on using the underbody of the Revell or Italeri LAV as a base and modifying it as necessary. I might end up waiting for a Stryker to show up in plastic (I'm assuming that the Tiger Productions kit will be resin). The idea is still only in the planning stages and will really rely on how quick I can get my other campaign projects done. Thanks for the words of encouragement though.
Rob-
I will do just that.
Thanks everyone for your replies.
Kyle

What exactly is PE?

PE is an acronym for Photo-Etch. Its a very thin metal, usually brass, that is used for detail work and gives a much better scale appearance than thicker plastic parts.

Regards
Matt