Sweden has never been afraid to follow its own path on defence matters, and nowhere is this more apparent than with the radical S-Tank, more officially known as the Strv 103. In essence a super self-propelled gun, the S-Tank was armed with a 105 mm gun mounted rigidly in an extraordinarily low, heavily sloped hull; in order to train the gun, the entire vehicle has to be moved both in traverse and elevation. Due to the extreme importance of mobility, the S-Tank was fitted with two engines, one an auxiliary gas turbine to provide emergency power.
I have fond memories of the S-Tank, having built the ancient Aurora 1/48 scale kit (pivoting suspension and all) when it first came out. That model is long gone, but that unique armoured vehicle's distinctive lines stayed with me long afterwards. It is a sign of just how good things are for 21st century armour modelers that I can now build a state of the art injection-moulded kit of this relatively obscure vehicle, thanks to Trumpeter of China.
This company has come a long way since their first releases, extraordinarily poor knock-offs of Tamiya kits and motorized monstrosities. Their recent IS-3M and now the S-Tank set new standards of quality for Trumpeter, and all at approximately half the cost of a typical Tamiya armour kit. Trumpeter has released both the initial Strv 103B version and the later Strv 103C, with different tracks and supplemental armour (including skirts made of fuel tanks!).
I have fond memories of the S-Tank, having built the ancient Aurora 1/48 scale kit (pivoting suspension and all) when it first came out. That model is long gone, but that unique armoured vehicle's distinctive lines stayed with me long afterwards. It is a sign of just how good things are for 21st century armour modelers that I can now build a state of the art injection-moulded kit of this relatively obscure vehicle, thanks to Trumpeter of China.
This company has come a long way since their first releases, extraordinarily poor knock-offs of Tamiya kits and motorized monstrosities. Their recent IS-3M and now the S-Tank set new standards of quality for Trumpeter, and all at approximately half the cost of a typical Tamiya armour kit. Trumpeter has released both the initial Strv 103B version and the later Strv 103C, with different tracks and supplemental armour (including skirts made of fuel tanks!).
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