For a number of reasons, some goofy, I pulled this one out of the stash, thinking I’m a big boy now, I WILL do some IDF ball and chaing RPG armor the correct way. I would have grabbed one of my Meng Merk 3’s in the stash, much better kits, but the HB kit has a fair approximation of anti slip texturing molded on, which should look okay after weathering. Three things I’ve found so far: 1) The HB drive sprockets are a poor fit for the kit indie link tracks, and don’t fit the Friuls I’m using at all, so I used some Tamiya/Academy parts. 2) The rear hull halves at the rear fuel tanks are a very poor fit, lots of sanding and putty needed, and 3) A relatively minor thing, but the instructions would have you build up the exhaust louvers on the lower hull, then fit the upper hull over them. I inserted the louvers after the hull pieces were joined, much easier.
Suspension is not as well done as the Meng kits, but mostly hidden after the skirts are fitted, so no biggie.
On the plus side, molding is mostly very good, and the kit’s idlers are a work of slide-molded art. And I know I’ve said it before, but Merkavas are BIG.
Dark areas are brush painted with Humbrol enamel, all places I can’t ger to with a rattle can, and all either mostly hidden later.
Thanks, G. And yes, that’s a Tamiya T-72 hull with the glacis removed and replaced with flat plastic card, ready to have the details added back on. I’m lookiing for an AM turret, want to do a T-72 Ural, or other early T-72. Until I feel like popping for one of the expensive AM turrets, I’m piddling around with the hull. I tried re-shaping the kit turret on a build years ago and never was happy with it, so I scrapped it, saving the Friuls.
It’s one of those “when I have time” things now, along with another side project, an “untimate” non-AFV Club M60. I’ve been collection AM stuff for M60’s for a while, and have quite a few Tamiya and Esci/Italeri kits as well, and thought building one with an absolute boat-load of AM would be fun, maybe right before I get into the one AFV Club M60A1 in the stash. All I need is time…
Eek, Holy balls on chains Bat Man! After I got a system down, it still took about 6 hours to do these things. Yuck. I also messed up the HobbyBoss gun tube, and had to take part of one out of my Meng 3D kit, so now that the cherry is popped, I’ll be pulling more bits from it, as it’s better quality than the HB kit in general.
I also have the smaller ball and chain segments for the turret proper ready, but will wait a bit to install them as their mounting points are tiny.
More stuff: I started adding detail parts, and figured that since I already robbed parts from the Meng 3D, I may as well continue the trend, reason being the HobbyBoss kit’s details are a bit soft in places, and the Meng’s are probably more accurate as well as better looking. Fit is not an issue. In the pics, gray parts are Meng.
That’s looking really nice! I love the look of the Merkavas! BTW, I know almost nothing about IDF tanks…is that Krylon color a good match for the Merkavas? If so, I may have to get me a can or two!
I think it’s a close match for modern IDF armor, but there’s some debate about it. And then there’s the earlier stuff, which is more like a tan color. I probably won’t use it for anything painted before the early '80s.
I managed to get the washes on, then some dry brushing with Humbrol #72. Detail painting is coming along, and decals are on. Still lots of small bits, then the final dusting, which will be light.
IMG_0501 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_0500 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_0491 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_0490 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
