AFV Modeller - Issue 06 - 2 - Snow Leopard (Strv 122)

Snow Leopard S w e d e n ’ s

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S t r v

1 2 2

By Anders Isaksson

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Strv 122 To replace its ageing Strv 104 (based on the British Centurion Mk V) The Swedish Army performed trials with the French Leclerc, American M1A2, and the German Leopard KWS. The trials ended in favour of the Leopard and a contract was signed in 1994 for the delivery of 120 Leopard 2-S (Stridsvagn 122) MBTs, with an option for a further 90 along with leasing 160 Leopard 2A4s. The Stridsvagn 122s are partially assembled in Sweden, with the first one delivered in 1996, and the last one reaching it’s unit in the spring of 2002.

Modelling the Strv 122 I build mostly WW2 and Vietnam era armour but when Tamiya released their Leopard 2A5 I was a bit interested, the kit seemed like a quick build and in pictures the finished model looked very impressive. As rumours of an upcoming conversion kit for the Strv 122 began circulating I really became interested. So when the

In addition to the upgrades made to the basic Leopard 2A5 compared to the 2A4 the Swedish version has received additional armour on the hull front and glacis, a spall liner in the driver’s compartment and a cooled engine compartment (to minimize the IR signature). The turret features an uparmoured turret roof with sliding hatches, a protective flap over the commander’s periscope/thermal imager along with an improved fire control system as well as a tank command and control system. Also new is a GIAT Galix vehicle protection system that can fire smoke, decoy, flare or fragmentation mortar rounds. All these modifications make the Strv 122 one of the most potent armoured fighting vehicles in the world today.

conversion finally was released by the Hong Kong Creations Workshop I could not resist clearing my workbench of other projects and get started.

The Tamiya kit Tamiya released the Leopard 2A5 in 2000 and the overall level of detail and ease of assembly makes the kit a real winner. As with any kit there are few minor errors and omissions but straight from the box, Tamiya’s kit builds into an excellent model. Among the many fine details that can be found in this kit the most impressive items

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must be the two circular air intakes on the engine deck. The detail

evenings work I had the basic running gear, lower and upper hull

of the screens is remarkable and they really do not need replacing

assembled and ready for accepting the HKCW components.

with photoetched parts, as would normally be the case. Still, modellers who wish to add extra detail have a number of aftermarket accessories to choose from.

With good planning and dry fitting, the majority of the resin parts fit without problems, and the required cutting of the Tamiya kit parts went like a breeze. The only problem I encountered was the

The HKCW conversion kit

assembly of the components for the frontal armour. If assembled prior to attaching to the kit nose, there will be a slight gap to

Moulded in a cream-coloured resin, the HKCW conversion kit provides the components you need to make the Swedish version of the Leopard 2A5. Also included is a piece of metal wire, although I found it a bit too thick. The most notable parts in the kit are the new hollow-moulded turret, the added armour for the front and the new lower rear plate. Most of the smaller parts are provided twice in case they should break or be lost during assembly, which is a nice touch. The instructions are overall very clear and a complete diagram of the camouflage is provided. The only major items sorely missing in the kit are a set of proper antenna bases and a set of markings so these will have to be found elsewhere.

armour plate sitting on top of the front. I found the easiest way of assembling the front would be to attach lower front (part HK26) to the kit front, followed by the upper front (part HK25). The most difficult task was fabricating the protective cages for the headlights. HKCW provides metal wire but I decided to use 0.5 mm styrene rod instead. This was probably a bad choice since the cages are a bit complex, but in the end everything worked out ok. Note that there is a slight simplification in the HKCW instructions regarding the shape of the protective cages. They tell you to make the cages running at a right angle from the frontal armour when they are a little more complex as they should be at a right angle from the ground. Check your reference pictures to

Construction

get this detail correct.

Assembling the Tamiya kit presented no problems. In just two

With the conversion complete I substituted a few details like

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Strv 122 handles for the various hatches and tow cable brackets using copper wire and styrene strip and rod. I decided to improve the details around the different gadgets and tools on the engine deck using odd pieces of styrene, scrap photoetched brass and ABER photoetched chain. The fume extractor on the gun barrel was textured using Tamiya putty thinned with liquid glue. The Strv 122 does not carry the same set of tools as the Leopard 2A5. HKCW provides two new spades, which look good straight from the box. The saw should not be used and was removed from the Tamiya kit part. Unfortunately I did not realise that the pick should be omitted as well. Oh well, the pick is mostly hidden beneath the turret rear overhang anyway. All pictures I have of the Strv 122 (and Leopard 2A5 for that matter) show the mudflaps in the folded up position below the rear lights and I decided to incorporate this detail in my model. Since the kit mudflaps are a bit thick they were cut away and replaced with new ones made from thin plastic sheet and detailed with small hooks made from metal wire. Tamiya provides a section of thread for the tow cables but I scrapped these in favour of the excellent tow cables made by Karaya of Poland. The crossed tow cables are prominent features on the Leopard and the Karaya items really are a big improvement in this area. The one-piece rubber tracks that come with Tamiya’s kit are very good, if a bit too long. When used on the model the tracks should be shortened by one link. I choose to use the individual link tracks produced by HKCW, mainly because I wanted my model to have the ice cleats installed. The tracks look really good, but with three connectors per link the assembly was a bit tedious. As the side skirts will hide most of the upper track runs I saved time by only assembling as many links as can actually be seen when the tracks are in place on the model. The Strv 122 enjoys a good level of maintenance between manoeuvres and, apart from scuffed paint and a few scratches, does not feature much in the way of wear and general abuse. However, I noticed from photos of tanks in the field that the side skirts often get scratched or even whole sections are lost, probably due to collisions with trees and other objects. I decided to grab this chance to personalise my model and subsequently cut away the rearmost two sections on the right hand side. Using my reference pictures I scratchbuilt the exposed bracket details along the lower edge of the hull side.

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At the last minute I decided to improve two more areas of the model. A support for the spare track (built from sections of HKCW track) on the side of the left turret stowage bin was scratchbuilt from styrene. I also rebuilt the mount for the machine gun. I did not aim at making a totally true replica of this item but rather tried to improve its overall appearance.

Painting Finishing my Strv 122 in a winter scheme meant that I had to mix up four different shades of paint and apply them in the required splinter pattern. Definitely not my everyday painting exercise! I started out by applying an overall primer of Humbrol 64 Light Grey. Next I applied a thin coat of Tamiya matt black along all panel lines and in all nooks and crevices to form the base for the camouflage colours. Painting the splinter camouflage presented me with two challenges. First I had to mix appropriate shades of the camouflage colours to make them complement each other and still provide enough contrast without looking out of scale. The second challenge was to achieve the splinter pattern by careful masking. Using the Tamiya colours stated in the HKCW instructions seemed like a good start but when testing these colours I soon realized that there was not enough contrast between the two greens. Furthermore the light green was too green and was missing a slightly yellow tinge. By numerous tests on scrap pieces of styrene I found these mixes to work well for me: Medium Green: 67% XF-26 and 33% XF-69 NATO Black. Light Green: 85% XF-5 Green, 10% XF-55 Deck Tan and 5% XF-4 Yellow Green Black: XF-69 NATO Black The light green has now an almost yellow hue but more tests showed that a clear gloss coat would bring back the green tone. To mask the splinter pattern I used a combination of paper cut to shape and Tamiya masking tape. I scaled up copies of the HKCW painting instructions to roughly 1/35 and used them to establish the

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correct position of each colour. Holding the mask in place with my

a set of decals for his upcoming Strv 121 and 122 projects he was

fingers I carefully sprayed along the line. I then removed the mask

kind enough to provide me with the markings I needed. The set

and filled in the center of each area. Where the shapes were too

also included the small warning labels but the limitations of the

complicated and there was a chance of overspray I opted for

printer made them difficult to make out in this scale. The other

Tamiya tape instead. To avoid lifting the paint underneath I made

downside to using the ALPS printer is that the decals are water

sure to leave the tape in place for no longer than a few minutes.

slides.

All in all painting the base coat and camouflage took about 10

The decals were applied and another coat of Vallejo gloss was

hours but it was great fun to see it evolve and make the model

airbrushed on each marking to help them blend in. I decided to

come to life. For the gloss coat needed for the decals I used

keep the model in its gloss coat during the rest of the painting and

Vallejo Model Air Gloss thinned with water and airbrushed using

weathering process.

low pressure. I was pleased to see that the clear coat as expected made the light green slightly darker and a bit more ‘greenish’.

Markings

Filter To first add a little life to the surface of the model I decided to try Mig’s method of applying filters. I opted for an overall filter of Humbrol 72 Khaki Drill and mixed up a heavily diluted solution of

I played around with the idea of using numbers from leftover decal

turpentine mixed with a little Khaki Drill. I suspect that the solution

sheets for the registration numbers but could not find any usable

still had too much opacity since the effect did become a bit

numbers. A fellow modeller soon came to the rescue with his

stronger than I had expected. However, the filter was translucent

ALPS printer (thank you Björn Bäcklund!). As Björn was designing

enough to not have the look of an overall wash so I was still

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satisfied with how it turned out.

Shadows and highlights

amount of scuffmarks and scratches while not always completely chipping away. Trying to follow the same chronological order that the weathering

To enhance details I used washes of heavily thinned Humbrol 33 Matt Black. This was not a single overall wash but rather small local washes around specific details to help adding shadow. I stay away from using an overall drybrush and rather try to define certain details using a very restrained drybrush. For this task I used Humbrol 117 mixed with a little white oil colour.

Weathering

effects occur on the real thing I started out with applying the scratches and scuffmarks. For this task I used a selection of Derwent artist pencils purchased at the local art store. At first I tried a few Derwent watercolour pencils but I found that these tend to behave like pastels with too little opacity and a way of simply disappearing into the base colour when a clear coat is applied. The artist pencils act more like ordinary crayons, meaning that they have greater opacity but also have slightly shine to them.

My main objective of the weathering process was to try and

However, the shine will disappear with the final flat coat.

achieve the impression of an overall clean looking vehicle during

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winter, yet with a scuffed and used appearance. When looking at

Scratches and scuffmarks were simply drawn on the model,

pictures I noticed that no matter if the vehicle had just been

concentrating on the sides of the hull and undersides, making

cleaned there was always a film of dust clinging to the vehicle and

sure to vary the direction of the scratches and not just going in the

showing up as soon as the surface is dry. Also there were a great

direction of travel. To smooth out any lines that looked too harsh I

number of scuffmarks on the sides but also going in other

used a pair of so called colour shapers I picked up at the same art

directions along the entire sides. I suppose this is because the

store. This tool looks like an ordinary paintbrush but has a tip

generally matt paint is a bit sensitive to abuse and receives a fair

made from rubber.

Feeling satisfied with the scuff and scratch process I continued

The final phase of the weathering was to apply a very thin layer of

with simulating areas of deep rust where the scratches has gone

dust to the entire tank. Recent discussions on the Missing Links

deep enough to expose the bare metal. I mixed up a suitable mix

web site made me curious about the use of pigment powders and

from Vallejo Air 039 Hull Red with a touch of 056 Black Grey and

I wanted give this medium a try on my model. Three different

applied the paint chips. Once again I worked from pictures and

shades of powder were purchased at the art store and I set about

placed the chips mostly on and around the bolts holding the side

mixing a suitable dust colour. I choose a shade as light as

skirts, the footsteps underneath the skirts, the front and rear tow

possible to try and make the dust act as a “bridge” between the

hooks and the tow cable eyes as well as the area around the

dark camouflage colours and the white coat. Using Humbrol

missing sections of side skirts. A few paint chips were also

thinner as the medium I carefully transferred a heavily thinned

applied to the spades and other tools.

powder mix to the model with a fine pointed brush. Mind you, the

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pigment powder is very strong and a tiny amount goes a long

tip to produce a splatter effect. This was applied liberally on the

way. Just make sure to wait a few minutes until the thinner has

front underside of the model as well as in both rear lower corners

evaporated to evaluate if the effect was achieved or if you need to

in order to simulate old mud still clinging to the hull. The forward

apply another round of powder to the area.

underside of the gun barrel also received splattering as pictures showed this area often being dirty, probably as a result of the

A great thing about the powders is that they stick better to the

turret being traversed to either side while the tank is travelling.

model than ordinary pastels but still remains somewhat workable once the thinner has evaporated. By using the colour shapers to

The wheels should also be fairly clean but still with prominent

rub and smear the dried powder any hard edges can be

traces of old mud and dust. Particular care was taken to try and

smoothened out or almost completely removed. Also, if I was

treat each wheel individually instead of just applying a heavy coat

unhappy with how an area turned out I could remove most of the

of powder to all wheels. A new method I tried this time was to

powder by moistening the surface with some pure Humbrol

mount each wheel in a mini-drill. By applying a small amount of

Thinner and using a clean brush to soak it up.

the thinner and powder mixture at the center of the wheel and then immediately spinning the wheel I could get some interesting

The most difficult thing was to keep in mind that the tank actually should be in a relatively clean state and that the powder should only be enough to portray the thin film of dust. I concentrated the effect to natural hard to reach areas like around the tools and

effects, simulating wet mud that had not come off during cleaning and travelled outwards once the tank began to travel. To add further variation a few wheels also got the splatter treatment while spun in the motor tool.

various items on the engine deck, between the crew hatches on

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the turret and along a few panel joints. I also applied a heavier

When satisfied with the overall look I applied an overall coat of

layer of powder to the horizontal areas of the strengthening ribs

Testor acrylic clear flat. Another great thing about the pigment

on the rear plate and the top of the mounting strips for each side

powders is that they stand up to the clear coat much better than

skirt. Finally I loaded a short no 2 flat brush with the mixture,

pastels - just be sure to apply multiple thin layers instead of one

pointed the brush against the model and ran my finger across the

heavy application. Still a few areas lost their dusty look after the

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flat coat and I had to apply some more powder before continuing.

Winter camouflage

of the turret front armor, while some vehicles carried white paint only on the upper or lower front panels. Also, in some cases the light green section of the gun barrel was left unpainted. The hull rear appeared to

The few pictures I had of the Strv 122 in winter camouflage showed

be left in original colours with no camouflage. I choose to mix and

that the white coat was applied only to the light green areas and

match the camouflage pattern for my model from different pictures to

seemed to be restricted to the vertical surfaces of the tank. There

achieve an effect I thought was logical and gave the model a good

seemed to be slight variations as to exactly which vertical sections

balance between green, black and white.

were painted white. For example, some units painted all vertical panels

The single close-up picture I had of the white coat showed a fairly solid

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coat of paint but still with a fair amount of scuffmarks and scratches. Also, the white coat seemed to be a good quality paintjob with no apparent brush marks or irregularities, which just

heavily diluted wash of olive green oil colour.

Final painting

made my camouflage job so much easier! To simulate the white

The HKCW tracks received a base coat of Tamiya X-32 Flat

wash I wanted to use a water-soluble paint that would be easy to

Titanium mixed with a tiny amount of X-23 Clear Blue. That is

scratch and scuff. I opted for Windsor & Newton gouache colours

right, no overall application of rust on the tracks. The tank is

since they have a very fine pigment and get along well with my

supposed to be travelling in fresh snow and the pictures showed

airbrush. I considered using Vallejo Liquid Mask to mask areas of

that the typical light rust is completely worn away. However, the

the light green where the white coat would be completely chipped

inside of the track received a thin coat of a rust colour mixed from

away but tests did not give me the effect I was after.

Tamiya paints to simulate a light oxidation. Before airbrushing the

I mixed up a colour consisting of Titanium White with a tiny amount of Olive Green to tone it down a bit. The mix was thinned with ordinary window cleaner and airbrushed on the light green surfaces, which had completely been masked off using Tamiya tape. The colour looked a bit too green while still in the airbrush but once applied to the model it took on a suitable solid white. So far so good!

rust areas all surfaces that comes in direct contact with the wheels were masked off and left with the polished metal look. A wash of thin black oil colour was applied to bring out detail and the rusty areas were treated with s few rust coloured pastels to give some variation. I must say that I was amazed at the metallike quality of the Tamiya Titanium colour. It worked very well in simulating polished steel, giving theses areas a deep metallic shine.

Chips and scratches were added with various tools, such as an XActo knife blade and the tip of a toothpick. Natural locations for those chips and scratches were of course along the sides of both hull and turret as well as the underside of the front armour. Once happy with the overall appearance I sealed everything with Testors acrylic flat clear. To bring out detail of the white areas I applied a

The various rear lights and reflectors were picked out using suitable Humbrol and Tamiya colours. The front headlights posed a bit of a problem as they were moulded solid in the HKCW kit. I tried the largest set of MV lenses available but they still were to small in diameter to be used. In the end I painted the lights with a base coat of Vallejo matt white and used various washes of blue

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and black oil paints to add some shadows. Not my ultimate choice of finish but the best I could do. The side reflectors were made from sections of thin styrene strip, painted orange and attached to the sides with tiny drops of superglue. I left off the forward left hand side reflector and instead attached a piece of masking tape cut to the same shape. I lightly drybrushed around the tape to simulate traces of old mud. I then removed the tape and the result was the traces of a reflector that had been torn away. To further enhance the effect I drilled two small holes where the rivets holding the reflector should have been. A mix of Humbrol 33 Black and 61 Flesh was used to paint the mud flaps in a suitable rubber colour. The tow cables were airbrushed in a dark brown shade mixed from Tamiya paints and when dry they were rubbed with graphite and finally toned down with a thin airbrushed coat of Testor acrylic clear flat. All these details received a second coat of pigment powder to catch up with the rest of the model.

Making a crew With so many excellent tank crews and other figures around I have always managed to assemble a crew from commercial offerings. However, my Strv 122 presented a challenge – to my knowledge there are no Swedish crew figures out there. I feel that the human element is a fundamental part of an armour model, not only adding life to an otherwise dead piece of metal but also giving a sense of scale. So what to do? Having not yet ventured into the area of scratchbuiling figures I opted for the middle path by modifying a commercially available tank crew. As luck would have it I had an old US tank crew set made by Verlinden that I had planned to use on an M2 Bradley some day. Being one of the early releases consists of two half figures for the turret and third half figure for the driver’s position. I choose to use only the two figures for the turret since the drivers hatch is rarely is seen in the open position and it also saved me some work. To get an idea of how the figures would fit in each hatch they were assembled with

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Strv 122 small drops of superglue and then test-fitted – the fit was nearly perfect. There were a few modifications needed as the figures came with the sleeves rolled up and the forearms exposed. Also, various details on the chest area needed to be removed. The only other major change needed was the addition of the M/94 protective gear on top of the M/90 uniform. I made all these modifications using Duro two-part epoxy putty. To make the crew look natural in their hatches I cut away chunks of resin where the figures arms would be in contact with the surrounding hatch details. These areas were rebuilt using Duro putty and the figures were once more test-fitted while making sure that the surrounding hatch and turret details made impressions in the soft putty where needed. The Swedish tanker helmet (designated Telehjälm 9) looks very similar to the American modern tanker helmet. I choose the simplest possible route and used a pair of helmets from the US Modern Tank Crew set made by Dragon. A typical Swedish tank crews consists of conscript soldiers (mostly boys but also a few girls) in their early 20s. Consequently, to make the crew look as young as possible I used two heads with young looking faces from a Hornet set. The microphone for each helmet was fabricated from thin copper wire and pieces of plastic rod. Finally I used lengths of copper and lead wire to make the cords for the microphone and helmet. Each helmet was painted with Humbrol 161 U.S. Olive Drab and details like the microphone and the various cords were picked out using black and dark greys from appropriate Humbrol colours. Chinstraps were added from lead foil and painted Humbrol 86 Light Olive. To paint the faces I used oil colours on a base coat of Humbrol 63 Sand. To make them look as young as possible I did not add the otherwise customary 5 o’clock shadows. The pattern of the M/90 uniform was painted using a size 000 brush and Humbrol colours appropriately mixed to match pictures of the M/90. These are the Humbrol colours I used for the uniforms: Dark Green: 149 Dark Green and 117 U.S. Light Green Medium Green: 150 Forest Green and 74 Linen Light Green: Israeli Pale Stone and 78 Cockpit Green Black: 33 Black and 102 Army Green Although I took a few shortcuts when painting the splinter pattern I was really a bit surprised by how convincing the uniforms look when finished. Following a method described by Mark Bannerman on Missing Links I used multiple washes of Tamiya X-19 Smoke to add shadows to the clothing. Finally details like gloves, Velcro strips and the lifting straps on

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the back of the M/94 were picked out and the completed uniforms

after all folding was done and the tarps were test-fitted, but there

received an overall flat coat from my airbrush.

were still a few gaps between the turret sides and the tarps. To

Constructing camouflage tarps

make the tarps fit flush I made two thin rolls of Milliput and put these between each tarp and turret side. Finally I used the back

In all photos of the Strv 122 in winter camouflage I noticed that

end of the blade on my modelling knife I made depressions in the

the vehicle carries a folded white tarp strapped along the turret

tarps where mounting straps were supposed to go.

sides. The tarps run along nearly the entire length of the turret and they seem to be made of some kind of plastic material. To further complicate matters they feature small circular holes that seem to be present in randomly placed groups across the tarp. While I had no idea on how to recreate these tarps in scale I realised that their absence would certainly be noticed.

Each tarp was base painted using my airbrush. I started with a coat of Tamiya XF-14 J.A. Grey with some XF-25 Light Sea Grey, which produce a greenish white. A darkened shade of the same colour was applied in all recesses to form shadows and a few gradually whiter shades were applied on the outer areas to make highlights. I first thought this would be enough to achieve an

To replicate the folded tarps I tried a variety of materials like

acceptable finish but the tarps still looked too grey overall without

paper, aluminium foil and metal tin foil - without much success. I

the needed depth to the folds and creases. Applying highlights

finally purchased two large sheets of the thinnest available lead

with pure white oil colour did little to improve things and I was still

foil made by Techstar. Trying to fold a small piece of the foil turned

stuck with a greyish colour. To avoid making a total mess of things

out ok and I decided to continue by trying replicating those tiny

I opted for a fairly simple solution of airbrushing pure Tamiya XF-2

holes. For this operation I used the smallest size punch of my

White on most highlight surfaces followed by restrained coats of

punch-and-die set. To save time (and minimise wear on the

heavily diluted Tamiya X-19 Smoke for the shadows. The tarps

punch) I decided to only make holes in the areas that were to be

received a final flat coat to kill the shine and I felt they were done,

exposed once it was folded. I made four groups of random looking

if still not to my total satisfaction. Well, by now you might know to

hole patterns in each piece of foil, I believe it came out to about

turn elsewhere for tips on painting white fabric...

200 holes in total.

Straps were cut from lead foil and a few of them were detailed

I carefully folded each piece of foil and made sure that it

with photoetched buckles from a Royal Model generic set. The

conformed to the side of the turret and lay naturally on top of the

completed straps were painted green and left separate until final

side rails and the GALIX grenade units. Everything looked fine

assembly.

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Strv 122 Final assembly

In the right element

Finally it was time to make all subassemblies come together. The

This kind of model just cries out for a scenic setting to place it in

wheels and tracks were carefully mated to the hull and care was

the right context. Having started a base with some wintery

taken to ensure that no ugly curls or twists of the individual track

groundwork earlier in the project I eventually found I had no

links occurred. When satisfied with the look of each track I

energy left to finish it, at least for now. As an interim solution I

carefully secured each link with small drops of super glue. The

decided to apply some snow to the tracks and leave it at that.

tarps and their straps were mounted to the turret and the crew figures were made to feel at home in their hatches. The tow cables were carefully bent to their final shape and secured in position. A pair of photoetched padlocks from Aber were used for the storage boxes at the rear of the turret.

For the snow I used a method I picked up from Lynn Kessler in a discussion on winter dioramas on Missing Links. Lynn explained how he use Micro Balloons mixed with Acrylic Matt Medium and apply it the models and groundwork using a paintbrush. I used the same ingredients to make a snow mix and applied it to the

At the last minute I decided to fabricate my own antenna bases

the tracks. Bearing in mind that the Micro Balloons are harmful if

instead of ignoring their absence in the HKCW set. I used lengths

inhaled I used a simple respiratory filter during the process of

of styrene rod mounted in my motor tool which was made to work

making the snow mix. After putting on a thick layer of the snow I

as a lathe. Out of six or seven bases turned on my make-shift

used a wet finger to remove any excess of the mix, exposing the

lathe I finally had four with the correct shape. Thin lead wire was

track pads and leaving what looked like fresh snow in the

carefully twisted around the rods to simulate the coil spring and

recesses between the pads and on each connector.

secured with superglue. The base’s diameter may have turned out a bit too large for the scale but I was still satisfied. Antennas

Conclusion

were cut from 0.3 mm plastic rod, attached to their bases and

This was the first time I used an aftermarket conversion set on a

painted in a mix of Humbrol 33 black with some 112 Tarmac and

commercial kit, and because of the high quality and straight

finally glued in position. Done!

forward modifications I think it was an ideal first conversion project. Coupled with the opportunity to try a few new techniques

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for weathering I have to say this model was great fun from start to

(Strv 122 pictures)

finish. Full Metal Jacket I have just begun to look at the Italeri Leopard 2 to see what can

http://www.kithobbyist.com/AFVInteriors

(Leo 2A6 pictures)

be done to build it as a typical Strv 121. I have also heard rumours saying that a complete resin kit of the Swedish Strf 9040

TWENOT http://www.twenot.nl

(Leo 2A5 pictures)

(or CV90) soon may be produced by one of the cottage manufacturers. Time will tell if the rumour is true but it does sound exciting. Also, with two versions of the Strv 103 coming from

Acknowledgements

Trumpeter in the near future I would say that the future for fans of

Many fellow modellers has provided tips, constructive advice and

Swedish armour looks very bright!

encouragement during this project and for that I am very grateful,

Internet References

but I would like to extend a special thanks to the following people for their assistance:

The Swede’s Armour Page

http://www.go.to/the_swede

Erik Gustavsson, Thord Wedman, Björn Bäcklund,

(Strv 122 pictures) Jan-Willem De Boer, Lawrence Goh, Ralph Zwilling Plastic Warfare

http://www.plasticwarfare.com