Summer fun outside

Go me a couple new toys!

Swapped the Santa Cruz chameleon for this:

A Stanton Switchback.  I've been riding alloy hardtails for years, but its just not the same as steel.  This is an awesome bike to ride, and to use bike jargon, really gets the 'Stoke' going

Build is XT like the Chameleon (as it was a donor), went for 1x (still not convinced though) and a Kashima Fox 34 rather then the Pike up front, the Fox just seems smoother on a hardtail.

On a full-sus, that's another story.  I'm off on another bike trip later this summer, last summer in France I rode a Santa Cruz Bronson that I never really gelled with, so this year I bought my own big-hill bike, this:

A Kona Process 153DL, and what a sweet ride it is.  Uphill its nothing special but point it down and its a ripper, even for a slow-poke like me!  Build is a mix of SRAM 1x and XT brakes (going Saint later this year), suspension is all Rockshox with a Lyric up front.  Still getting used to that, but so far it takes big hits in its stride and even for a heavier rider like me has travel to spare.

If only it would stop raining every weekend here in the NE...

Summer of Slammers Got Painted

Work in progress on Slammers units

 Echo company command blower "Mother"

 Echo company blower troop: "Madman", "Moxi", "Mangler" and ""Monster"

 Close up of "Madman"

 Golf company support assets, a command car and transporter

 Close up of Command Car

 Alpha (Reserve) company older-pattern combat cars

 Close up of A55, or as its known by its crew "Kickass"

 3rd Platoon, Bravo company (Infantry) jeeps and skimmers

 Bravo gun jeep, this is a first pattern Ainsty jeep.  The crew they supplies were the same standing crew found in the combat cars, so I bodged together a gun ring and subbed in a GZG driver

 Same 1st pattern jeep, this time it a GZG mortar and driver/crewman

Infantry skimmers from GZG

And more WiP

 Combat cars (with test fitting of splinter shield) and Hog unit all inked up ready for the next phase

Still to go, Old Crow jeeps (with two second pattern Ainsty jeeps), cargo blocks and dismounted infantry

So, why not shiny silver tanks?  Simple, I'm not such a fan, I prefer the 'bare metal' look of dull silver and I never really thought the jeeps should be silver as they are described as being plastic/composites.  Plus in their role supporting infantry, to me, it would be hard to 'go to ground' with shiny silver jeeps

Anyway, that's my 2c and I'm sticking to it =8-)