Stalwart - Taking one for the team

[Buzzbomb]

Diligently purchased a "grail" kit of the Accurate Armour Stalwart upon hearing of their forthcoming closure.

yay, arrived in late October.

So, of course, 4 months later.. Airfix announce an injection mould Stalwart. Of course they did

Best then get onto the AA version so you can compare the pair when the Airfix offering is at last offered.
To give Accurate Armour their well deserved plaudits, this kit is brim full of parts and detail. Pretty sure nothing is missed in the cab, more supplied than you will ever really see.


Of course these kits are well engineered for a resin kit. Some parts were not super good, but being a modeller and not an assembler... not a real lot of issues to get a reasonable start, fairly quickly


Just started on the cab zillion parts, so it is just plonked on and the wheels are blu tack on, hence the wonkiness there.

[Old Wombat]

Wow! She looks good, BT!

[Mig Eater]

With Accurate Armour closing down I very nearly bought a Stalwart too, fearing that it would be my last and only chance to build one. Kinda glad that I hesitated now tho Looking forward to seeing how your build goes and how it will compare to the future Airfix release.

[Buzzbomb]

This build has got me in, I am loving it. Ok, it is a bit more work than normal, the details are really well done




Going back to sort out the steering linkages next, the kit is designed for the wheels to be fixed on as part of the process. About to see if I am smart enough to do it an get the wheels off for paint

[Mig Eater]

Wow there is a lot going on in that cabin, does it come with clear parts for the glass?

[Old Wombat]

Crikey! The details in the cab are fantastic!

[Frank3k]

Wow, that looks nice! You can use the model and the instructions on the Airfix kit to add details to areas where it lacks.

[Claymore]

Very impressive! 

[Buzzbomb]

And that, is an Accurate Armour Stalwart. More or less.






A few more fiddly parts best fitted post final construction after joining the cab, post painting, couple of bits of etch, that are best left to after painting, some clear bits that need to be fabricated and coloured light lenses that were supplied.
That is using all the kit parts, I plan to replace the tilt cover frame with rod, rather than the kit part which is just fitted at the moment to show use of all the kit parts where possible.

Wow there is a lot going on in that cabin, does it come with clear parts for the glass?

Accurate Armour provide a clear sheet to fabricate your own windows. They are mounted internal, so not 100% correct, but the only practical way for this type of kit

Next, to the paint shop
Airfix have some pretty big boots to fill, but still very thankful we have an injection Stalwart coming soon.

[Old Wombat]

Airfix have some pretty big boots to fill, but still very thankful we have an injection Stalwart coming soon.

I have two.


 




Nice work, BT!

[Frank3k]

Is that the radiator housing behind the driver, a fuel cell or something else?

[apophenia]

Is that the radiator housing behind the driver, a fuel cell or something else?

Not sure Frank but the Stalwart's actual radiator was mounted to the rear - aft of the B.81 engine. Apparently, an exception was the Swedish Amfibiebil 101 - a Stalwart Mark 1 for the Kustartilleri - which had 3 x radiators in the cab (doubling as cabin heaters).

[Buzzbomb]

 I am waiting for the weather down here to stop being 36-40 degrees so I can paint the Stalwart 

Bit of a diversion while I wait and on the Accurate Armour topic, also working slowly on the AFV Club Centurion AVRE, found the Accurate Armour AVRE trailer at a swap and sell and said, why not 



Annoyingly the metal parts were missing from the kit, but mostly straight square section for sway bars or tube for stands and supports, so nothing that cannot be fabricated quite easily.

[Buzzbomb]

Is that the radiator housing behind the driver, a fuel cell or something else?

As discussed on WIM probably better than my guess. The top part clearly has some tanks in it as there are fillers on the top of it. Not fuel though, that goes in from the side.
Given the lack of stowage space, the remainder will be electrical and maybe general stowage. However there are rifle racks on the front so getting into it would not be trivial due to that and the seat location.
Lets just call it...  Box, General Stuff, CES Item.........

Finally got to a half decent temperature to paint.
Cab work. Added in an SLR in a rack. Went wood stock model to make it stand out. That is the only addition, the rest is kit supplied.


General Paint with gloss coat. Fitting the clear parts will be last step, with a bit of touch up after fixing the cab. The supplied clear is very thin and you could bank it in, that if you masked it, glued the cab on, one or probably more would immediately fall off inside.

[Kerick]

I love the look of the Stalwart. So many whiff possibilities.
That ARVE trailer looks like it could be a natural towed behind the Stalwart.
This is great work. All that resin is turning out very nice.

[Old Wombat]

I love the look of the Stalwart. So many whiff possibilities.
That ARVE trailer looks like it could be a natural towed behind the Stalwart.
This is great work. All that resin is turning out very nice.

Same!

[Buzzbomb]

Back from a short bit of away time and hit the bench today on the Stolly, almost finished, just doing some last bit of gap wrangling.
Wheels fitted and transparencies in


Possible cargo, the Gecko 105mm  Ammo set, all nicely stacked on pallets, with a gazillion decals


Some respraying after the filling, some detail painting, final bit attaching and a touch of weathering and to the cabinet it goes

[Mig Eater]

Looking good

That's a lot of ammo, I dont think I'd have the patience for all those decals!

[Ramba]

Cool looking truck. Always wanted one and thank goodness Airfix is finally bringing one out in plastic. So many what if possibilities. Terrific build as always.

[Kerick]

So cool!

[Frank3k]

Looks great! Did the forward four wheels turn, or all six? Did AA make them movable?

[finsrin]

Looks super good/right.    Wish I could build that well.

[Old Wombat]

 

[Claymore]

Wow! Great resin and EB work and outstanding finish. You patience and eye for detail is truly impressive and inspiring. 

[Buzzbomb]

Pretty much it..a bit of dust and wash top ups of some last minute assemblies maybe, the camera is a full on nag for bits that are not done, which you thought were done on the bench
Plus I forgot to fit the winch, so back to do that too.

Looks great! Did the forward four wheels turn, or all six? Did AA make them movable?

Only the front 4 wheels steer. Turning the wheels is a bit of engineering as the kit parts are designed for in line fitting. I did not totally get it right, but close enough for me these days.

As a kit, I liked it as these do challenge a bit. Still if Airfix can replicate this, they will have nailed it.
So the AVRE Trailer and the 3.7Inch AA gun still to go in my AA kit stash.