COBI Stryker M1126 ICV Set 2635

COBI's Stryker M1126 ICV is a 1:35 model of the US Army's eight-wheeled infantry carrier, built from 661 blocks. The set can be finished with either US Army or Ukrainian markings, and everything is printed directly onto the blocks rather than applied as stickers. The wheels turn, the hatches open, and a printed plaque with the vehicle name and scale is included.

Named twice over

American armored vehicles are usually named after a general — Sherman, Patton, Bradley, Abrams. The Stryker is not. It is named after two private soldiers, and they were not related to each other.

Private First Class Stuart S. Stryker was killed in March 1945 near Wesel, during the airborne crossing of the Rhine. His company was pinned down by fire from a fortified house; he stood up in front of them, waved them forward and was shot dead leading the charge. The position fell and more than two hundred prisoners were taken.

Specialist Four Robert F. Stryker was killed in November 1967 near Loc Ninh in Vietnam, throwing himself onto a command-detonated mine to shield the men around him.

Both received the Medal of Honor. When the Army came to name its new wheeled carrier in 2002, it took the surname the two men happened to share — the only US combat vehicle named for two people at once.

In the COBI range

Set 2629 is the Polish KTO Rosomak, the same class of eight-wheeled carrier at the same scale. Set 2625 is the T-72 and 2626 the M142 HIMARS from the same modern Armed Forces series.

Specifications

Pieces: 661 · Scale: 1:35 · Two marking options: US Army or Ukraine · No stickers