Academy Merkava IV Low-Intensity Conflict (LIC) WIP

Post by **garywintin** » Tue Dec 24, 2013 4:38 pm

and Merry Christmas

Post by **Coen** » Tue Dec 24, 2013 5:02 pm

Nice!!

Post by **Andyman23** » Fri Dec 27, 2013 6:52 pm

Started to work on the Merk's remote weapons system (Rafael's "Overhead Weapons Station") - the big ol' Amurican .50 cal - and the commander's weapon, both mounted on the turret (in case you need a visual it's pretty much like this: ...or

You wouldn't believe the flash on this thing - for how nice this kit is and how detailed, I just couldn't believe the flash on some of the parts. It wasn't that bad, just kind of a nuisance - although somewhat hard to remove due to the small parts.

Anyway, I think the .50 cal just looks badass.

Hope all yinz guys had a wonderful Christmas!

Lol'd at the Mr. T pic hahaha

Post by **Andyman23** » Mon Jan 06, 2014 2:31 am

Hey guys,

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas season! I've been pretty busy, so work on the Merkava has really been slow.

Built the running gear on the hull and the suspension. A lot of mold lines and injector pin marks, but they'll be covered up once the wheels and side skirts are on.

The turret is 99% complete and primed.

My "inspiration tanks" from reference pictures all had tarps over the .50 cal remote weapon system - so I tried to duplicate that. I also accidentally glued two of the pieces on the .50 cal upside-down (in my apparent drunken stupor from too many Christmas cookies

) and had to do some major surgery on it to fix it...I didn't like the look of the .50 much anyway, I didn't want to buy a resin replacement, and my inspiration tanks in the Golan Heights had tarps - so I said screw it and tried to make a realistic tarp based on my reference pictures. I think it turned out well and will look good with some dusty washes.

This build has been pretty challenging and draining at times, but I think it is making me a much better modeller. No pain, no gain. Some of the fit is funky and you have to clean up many, if not a majority, of the parts. It really doesn't fall together like a Dragon kit (i.e. things like the fiddly ball-n-chain straight from the depths of hell)....and the Merkava is far more complex than it seems on the surface.

Thanks for looking and take care everyone

http://www.youtube.com/user/longlance67 · Post by **longlance67** » Mon Jan 06, 2014 3:49 am

Hiya Andy, Hope the Christmas break was a good one mate

good to see this build back up again, and man what a treat it is, your work is great, all the details you've put into Merk has really brought it life, the trap on the .5 looks spot on ! Well done mate

was talking to my Dad during the Christmas and I mentioned that one of the lads was building a Merk on the forum his reply was this with a chuckle "They have a distinct sound when they fire at you" my Dad served in Lebanon in 2000 with Irish Defense Forces and ironically the Merk is his favorite tank lol

just thought of that story there and thought I would share it yee

keep up the great work mate

stay safe

Shane.

Post by **Coen** » Mon Jan 06, 2014 10:04 am

Holy cow Andy I saw the lower hull shot and though. Hmm it's a lower hull... then I scrolled down and saw that turret and ...

Buddy... that looks wonderful!
That MG tarp is a great idea. This is going to be a sharp looking piece on the shelf when she's done.
Great stuff so far!!!

http://m.youtube.com/user/MrBobsBuilds · Post by **Rob** » Mon Jan 06, 2014 10:23 am

I've just read this through from the start - wonderful work, balls n'all. A wicked looking vehicle too

Post by **Andyman23** » Mon Jan 06, 2014 6:49 pm

Shane - thank you for the kind words my Irish brother from another mother. I'm loving your Stryker build man. And that is an awesome (and scary) story from your Dad haha - he had a Merk firing at him??? I think I would soil myself and get in the fetal position and cry if that happened to me haha

Coen - I'm honored that a modeller as experienced and skilled as you would compliment me as you have. Thank you - your words are incredibly encouraging.

Rob - thank you my friend. Yeah, the Merk is a mean looking beast. IDF armor looks like it's straight of the Old Testament - I could see King David riding into battle against the Philistines on the top of a Merkava haha (the 120 mm main gun is one hell of a slingshot)

http://www.youtube.com/user/longlance67 · Post by **longlance67** » Mon Jan 06, 2014 7:05 pm

[quote="Andyman23"]Shane - thank you for the kind words my Irish brother from another mother. I'm loving your Stryker build man. And that is an awesome (and scary) story from your Dad haha - he had a Merk firing at him??? I think I would soil myself and get in the fetal position and cry if that happened to me haha

your doing a great job on this build mate and its a treat to watch

The Stryker just needs a few small details to go and then she is all ready for priming

Apparently it was how the Israelis liked send a warning shot for the hell of it by sending a 120mm round a few feet over your head or often getting caught in the cross fire when they would send rounds down range with the Irish peace keepers in the middle

pretty scary stuff lol

looking forward to your next update mate

Shane

Post by **Andyman23** » Fri Jan 10, 2014 5:45 pm

Starting to look like an actual tank:

Just a few heads up if you're looking to build this one -

a) On mine, the headlights at the front wouldn't fit correctly. Not sure if it was me, or the model, but I had to sand them down to get them to fit.
b) Don't put the polycaps in the road wheels when you build them. You'll have a hard time getting them on and off with the poly cap in, whereas it's a piece of cake without the polycap. It'll make your life easier when you build the tracks.
c) The instructions aren't the clearest in the world, just a heads up. Take your time and look at reference pictures quite a bit to make sure you're doing things right.

A pretty good model overall. But, if you really want to do a Merkava I would consider getting the Meng Merkava IIID. It's a different variant, but it looks like a smoother build. Plus, it's very accurate because former IDF officers consulted on the project. And plastic ball-n-chain!! On the other hand, if you are dead-set on building a Merkava IV, then definitely get this one.

Thanks for looking - and I hope all you guys are doing well

-Andy

Post by **JayCub** » Fri Jan 10, 2014 5:50 pm

looking really good Andy, there is some amount of work to get to this stage, that is one big turret.

Tom

http://www.youtube.com/user/longlance67 · Post by **longlance67** » Fri Jan 10, 2014 7:11 pm

great Andy,

you really did a fine job mate

keep it up

Shane

Post by **Paul** » Fri Jan 10, 2014 7:14 pm

Looking good andy

Post by **Coen** » Sat Jan 11, 2014 1:52 am

Dude.... I want one!!!!
What an excellent job you're doing.
Inspiring.

Post by **Andyman23** » Fri Jan 24, 2014 5:17 pm

Hey guys - sorry for the long delay. Life has gotten pretty busy lately. My sister had twins on Sunday so I've been helping her out quite a bit, along with everything else going on - so very little time for modelling.

I did get the base coat down and did some subtle color modulation to add visual interest. It doesn't show up very well in the pictures though....however, I didn't want to do it over the top because it would just look unrealistic.

I hope you guys can see the subtle differences in the greens, grey-greens, and greyish-brownish-greens

I also hand-painted the tactical markings based on various reference pics I have seen. In the pictures I have seen, many of the markings look like they are just applied in the field and look like they are hand painted on - so I wanted to replicate that somewhat crude hand-painted appearance to give it the look of a tank in action. I used a stencil for the letters and hand-painted the star of David.

I also started to dust up the wheels:

Hope you guys like it so far. Thanks for looking.

-Andy

Post by **RobertA** » Fri Jan 24, 2014 6:24 pm

Coming along nicely now..

Post by **Coen** » Fri Jan 24, 2014 6:35 pm

Jeez Louise!!! That worked!
Andy that looks fantastic buddy.
Those colours look wicked. Well done.

Post by **Schoof** » Fri Jan 24, 2014 6:50 pm

ok.......I WANT THIS KIT !!!!

Post by **AchtungPanzer** » Fri Jan 24, 2014 7:09 pm

Very good work ! Model look interesting - nice insignia . Well done

Post by **Andyman23** » Sat Jan 25, 2014 2:44 pm

RobertA wrote:Coming along nicely now..

Thanks Robert!

Post by **Andyman23** » Sat Jan 25, 2014 2:45 pm

Coen wrote:Jeez Louise!!! That worked!
Andy that looks fantastic buddy.
Those colours look wicked. Well done.

Thank you Coen, you have been a real encouragement on this project so far! I saw your Leo the other day man - that thing is one mean looking kitty and you did an unreal job on it.

Post by **Andyman23** » Sat Jan 25, 2014 2:46 pm

Schoof wrote:ok.......I WANT THIS KIT !!!!

Haha get it man - it's pretty cheap, just take your time on it and don't rush the ball and chain and make sure it's in the right position...the directions are a little vague at times.

Post by **Andyman23** » Sat Jan 25, 2014 2:47 pm

AchtungPanzer wrote:Very good work ! Model look interesting - nice insignia . Well done

Thank you my Polish brother from another mother

Post by **Andyman23** » Sat Jan 25, 2014 2:55 pm

I did some oil fading/streaking/shading last evening on the side skirts. A lot of different tones added with 502 Abteilung oils and some subtle rainmarks/streaking...I think it's a good base for further weathering. I want to add some more grimy streaks/effects before I start chipping.

Those 502 Abteilung oil paints are pretty awesome. I bought two sets - the German Colors Set (Faded greys, yellow, ochre/orange, pink, olive green) and the Vehicle Weathering Set (Mud/dirt colors, a wash brown color, engine grease, and a snow white fading color). I highly recommend the sets - I got them on sale and it's significantly cheaper buying a set rather than buying individual tubes.

Hope you guys like it so far. It's snowing like crazy here in Pennsylvania and it's colder than a witch's tit... so there's really nothing to do but work out, sit around and watch the Penguins dominate the NHL, and model haha - so hopefully I can knock out this bad boy soon.

-Andy

Post by **Coen** » Sat Jan 25, 2014 3:43 pm

That's beautifully done Andy... really subtle work... just as it should be.
This is going to look really slick once it's installed. The varying tones are perfectly done.

Post by **Andyman23** » Mon Apr 14, 2014 8:03 pm

Hey guys - I hope everyone is doing well!

The past two or so months have been crazy, so I haven't been able to model or stay up to date on the site/community. For that I am sorry. Hopefully things in my life will slow down a little bit so I have more time to sit down and model.

Anyway, I had some time to do some weathering on my Merkava...not done yet, but getting there. All weathering is based on reference pictures. Those tanks get dirty/dusty. Hope yinz guys like it.

-Andy

Post by **Schoof** » Mon Apr 14, 2014 8:17 pm

Post by **Lego** » Mon Apr 14, 2014 8:21 pm

I love your work. I am also really happy that the kit has such great potential as I have it in my stash. Fantastic work

Post by **rodrant** » Mon Apr 14, 2014 11:32 pm

Fantastic Build ! Great details ! What else to say on such a great work...the weathering it is so real !

http://www.youtube.com/user/longlance67 · Post by **longlance67** » Mon Apr 14, 2014 11:48 pm

Hiya Andy !

long time mate

great to see this build again mate

Shane

Post by **Coen** » Tue Apr 15, 2014 3:55 am

Brilliant work Andy!!
Brilliant!!

Post by **Schoof** » Tue Apr 15, 2014 9:30 am

Andyman23 wrote:
Schoof wrote:ok.......I WANT THIS KIT !!!!
Haha get it man - it's pretty cheap, just take your time on it and don't rush the ball and chain and make sure it's in the right position...the directions are a little vague at times.

I got myself a Merkava IV ..

Not this one but the one from HobbyBoss

Post by **ConnorM** » Wed Apr 16, 2014 5:10 am

Very nice.

Post by **Mike00** » Thu Apr 17, 2014 12:15 am

WOW!

Great work

Post by **kiwiinaus5604** » Thu Apr 17, 2014 6:07 am

Hi Andy, The kit is looking very nice and will turn into a great kit. I have a soft spot for all Israeli armour, the thing I can not understand is why can't all the major manufacturers add the anti slip to their kits, Tamiya should be one of the TOP leaders in this field, especially the price we have to pay for kits. I look forward to the rest of the build.
Les

Post by **AchtungPanzer** » Mon Apr 21, 2014 8:48 am

Very good execution my "half polish"- friend .

Post by **Willem** » Mon Apr 21, 2014 2:21 pm

Just awesome! Amazingly realistic paint work.

Post by **gustavlekstal** » Mon Apr 21, 2014 4:37 pm

Diorama?

Post by **Andyman23** » Wed Apr 23, 2014 1:48 am

Thank you for all the kind words guys! I really appreciate it

Post by **Andyman23** » Wed Apr 23, 2014 1:49 am

gustavlekstal wrote: Diorama?

LOL!! Maybe if I do another Merkava hahaha - I'll entitle it "Whoops..."

Post by **Luke72cz** » Sat Apr 22, 2017 10:42 am

Great work Andy, I have mine in progress atm just primed now. It's exactly the same kit I have done also the ball chain and it was somehow fun for me

and yes the front lights on the hull don't fit I have to sand them a lot too.

Now I'm thinking about aerials and blankets for basket. How did u created yours and what happened to your aerials they were awesome. Otherwise I really like your weathering and chipping. It's a great model