But there was no such thing, right? Well, there surely could have been. I got one of “those ideas” the other day, staring at the stack if kits I came out of a raffle with. I was staring at the Trumpeter Type 87 SPAAG, even peeked in the box and thought “nice kit, no interest”, this one:IMG_2503 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
until I glanced at a pic of the Marksman turret on something, and realized whoever makes that thing (Vickers) pimped it to everybody and their uncle, and of course I thought, why not on a Merkava hull? Well, I just happen to have a couple of the old Tamiya Merk 1 kits and pieces of the Academy Merk 2 kit, so after a couple of hours I had a lower hull together. I also have a set of Friuls from a really old build that looked good on it. The solution for the “problem” of mounting the Type 87 turret on the Merk hull was actually easy: I took a spare Merk 1 turret lower half and after tracing the smaller hole for the Type 87 turret, cut it out. Two grooves filed into it for the locking tabs and I had that part done. I then trimmed the turret base to just outboard of the turret ring, flipped it over and inserted into the Merk upper hull and glued it in. That gave the the slight rise I needed and with some weld beads and bolt heads will actually look “real”.
I know what-ifs are not everyones cup of tea, but I get a real kick out of doing something that would have actually worked and makes people scratch their heads too.
I’m not a big fan of what-ifs myself - life has so many interesting things to model when you look into it - but this one looks pretty interesting and got me wondering what you are going to do with it - plus I just like to see you at work If I had a wish here, I’d like it to have some bar armor Good luck with your build and have a nice day
Paweł
PS. We need some cool sounding Hebrew name for it - anybody speak Hebrew here on the forums?
Today was just doing detail stuff to the hull, bringing the old Tamiya kit closer to modern standards, nothing exciting. I’m up in KC for a while, should have some more bench time late this month. In the meantime, Merry Christmas y’all.
So I’m back in town and work is slow again, lucky me. Hull detailing is nearly done, I think anti-slip is next, and I’ve started building the turret: lots of tiny parts and a fair amount of flash but good detail. Should bulk up nicely with the guns and radar.
I added some imagined detail to what would have to be a large turret ring adaptor, given the dimensional difference between the two turrets and hulls for that matter.
Looks pretty good, but one point of order. The turret is a German Flakpanzer Gepard turret, not British Marksman. They are similar, but not the same.
That is because the SPAAG was proven ineffective and most were retired by the early '90s. They couldn’t keep up with and engage fast moving jets and the latest generation of faster helicopters. Most army’s ADA moved to missiles over guns in the mid-'90s
Gino: I only mentioned the Marksman turret in the buildup to my reasoning. I’m using the Japanese Type 87 turret, but I did snag a Takom Chieftain Marksman, more on that later.
Given the fact that the IDF used the M163 in a variety of roles, I figured I had some “justification” for this, if that’s the right word. Anyway, it’s fun to build, and a welcome relief after literally counting rivets (or bolt heads) on my last build. I keep telling myself I could build one of the car kits in the stash for the same reason, but gloss paint gives me the creeps.
I did a Merkava 2 turret on an M60 hull a while ago, kind of fun, still have stuff to do a Merk 3 turret on one, in the pipeline now. And then there’s the Takom Marksman turret I have…
I almost had an aw, slip moment… I was just starting to spray the hull when it hit me: No anti-slip! So an hour or so with some Mig anti slip paste and voila!
Tow cables are a must, just haven’t figured out where to stow them, but that’s about it. I would have loved to have a bunch of stowage on it but there’s just no place to hang anything, so it’s nekkid.
IMG_2503 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_2502 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
If I had a wish here, I’d like it to have some bar armor 
