Part 2
Side Armor
My first task, according to the instuctions, was to remove any molded surface details from the plastic sides of the vehicle.
I accomplished this by putting my Dremel tool into its drill press mount and using it like a milling machine to grind off the
parts that had to go. This worked much better than trying to sand the parts flat, or carving them off with an Xacto.
The instructions show what parts had to be removed.
Nov 28F...The EtchMate 3C arrived today. Hooray! I was a bit disappointed in finding that the device is heavy plastic and not machined metal like I thought it was. We'll see how it holds up. It works pretty well, as I did a test-bend on a top deck part.
Much construction tonight. All 7 additional armor plates for the right side were built. This included the support brackets and several 2mm plastic dowels. The EtchMate is a wonderful device, and makes nice, sharp edges with no distortion over long pieces.
The EtchMate tool and a PE part that needs to get bent.
Line it up, tighten the thumbscrews and start folding. In this case, the part needed to be U-shaped.
Armor plate brackets in place on the right side.
Armor plates in place on the left and right sides.
Bolt heads and handles.
Next...Journey to the Surface of the Stryker
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