Global Scale Modeller

Inspired by DC87 and his Merkava III build I dug this out and made a start this afternoon.


There is an awfull lot of plastic in this kit as these sprue shot,s will show.The anti-slip coating on the hull and turret is really well depicted but all the grab handle,s and shackle,s are seperately moulded.


these are all the other remaining sprue,s.




Early shot,s of the build, hull and suspension all done, no problem,s with the fit it all goe,s together beautifully.



Dry run of the main component,s, this is a very futuristic looking beast Dave.

Very nice so far, glad I inspired you to bring it forth from the stash.

Is that turret all one piece?

Sorry to double post - I assume by 1V you mean 4?

If so here is an interesting vid about it's new capabilities - ignore the strange sketch being played out:
[youtube]AplaSGHn0vM[/youtube]

Oh just realised your sprue pics answered my question about the turret .

Also could you do me a big favour by taking a picture top down of the drivers hatch to see how the Academy hull lines up - .

love this tank built one not long ago think i might have another go at one soon look forward to seeing you put your spin on this great tank

More progress made last night, not been able to do anything all last week. As usual on my armour build,s I am assembling this in sub assemblies,ie; lower hull, upper hull, turret and running gear. The engineering and fit on this kit is some of the best I have seen, no filler needed and some assemblies even snapped together The photo etch is challenging to say the least, I glued the headlight guards in the wrong place but have since moved these to their correct position. The ball and chain part,s around the turret are photo etch and plastic, and these will be tackled tonight[when the kids are in bed asleep] as the language may be a bit blue. Then all the wheel,s and track,s will be built, so more pic,s when these are done Dave.

Such a fantastic looking tank and yours is shaping up wonderfully

Spectacular build so far man!!!

If it's convenient for you, could you take a detailed close up picture of the anti-slip surface?

Great work, that PE cage around the thermal sight/ ventilation thingy looks exceptional

Merkava FTW

Gotta love the Merks!!!!
I know squat about modern armour and even I love the Merkava.
Looks like she's almost finished too.
Paint time!

Here are the result,s of last night,s work on the photo etch RPG screen,s. For anyone thinking of building this kit here is a quick: show me: of this process.
Firstly the ball has to be shaved of the side of a sprue

This leave,s you with a semi- circular disc

Remove the appropriate section of photo etch

Apply the cyano to the photo etch, and using a sharp No 11 blade ,sharp pointy thing the plastic ball and place on the disc of the photo etch

The PE is then fixed to the turret with some tiny tabs bent at ninety degrees and ' eh voilla '

This process is then repeated all around the turret basket and further disc,s are placed to complete the ball effect

Wow alot of work but looks really good.

WOW!! That's a ton of work and a great result dude!!!

I don't think I could do all that, I'd drive myself insane then need to go and lay down for awhile.

Holy moly!
What an effect!
Hell of a lot of work but wow really worth it.
That's exceptional.

I've been following both yours and DC's build and both of them are exceptional, but man, the detail on this has my eyes spinning!

You have the patience of a saint and the skill of a craftsman!

That PE RPG screen looks the dogs! I don't really like the split balls, as its quite obvious, but that isn't your fault, that's a kit design thing.

Once painted though it should look better.

I wonder if those tiny fishing weights are small enough to replace the split ones.
You could pin vise a tiny hole in each one and a wee bit of CA.
I don't think that it would be any more fiddly.
Question is... are those little lead weights small enough. They come in different sizes.
Any anglers out there?

Indeed they do coen as a fisherman myself I'd say you've hit the nail on the head, the split shot we use comes in a multitude of sizes and you could just pinch them on to the pe with a little ca for belt and braces, Job done

Interesting, the Hobby Boss version of the Merkava use,s a technique like that, Lee,s excellent review show,s this to good effect. I have that in my stash to build as well As for the technique used in this build, I agree with Gav, it ,s not to good to look at the moment but I am hoping it will after some paint and weathering. Anyway thank,s for the kind word,s and encouragement, hopefully have some more build shot,s soon Dave.

Just a few more shot,s of the build.In reply to a request from NovYank here is a close up of the anti-slip rendition

All the component,s for the 50 cal, plastic overkill

All made up

Today everything was primed/pre-shaded so photo,s will follow when everything is dry Dave.

real nice detail,

the ball and chain curtains look top notch they add a lot to the character of the tank


great work,

keep it up !


Shane.

Nice work so far dude

Finally managed to get some more done on the build.So, firstly a coat of Vallejo black polyurethane primer was airbrushed on to all part,s.




Next everything was given a coat of Tamiya XF 73 dark green[JGSDF] Then a coat of Tamiya XF 83[ 60% and XF59[40% was built up in a series of layered coat,s to add depth to the panel,s.








Next I will deal with the track,s, put everything together and then do all the detail stuff Dave.

Looks nice buddy, those panel lines look great.
I like how that nonslip looks too.

That looks fantastic!!! Keep up the good work.

Did you do some kind of pre- or post-shading? Either way it looks terrific.

Looking spiffing buddy!!

Really like the panelling looks really well done.

Tamiyasnob

It would seem every body else knows what those 'dog's danglies' on the back of the tank are, I'm afraid I don't ... please tell me?



Enjoying your build

Jan

It's supposed to detonate incoming rounds and small antitank weapons that are fired at that area before it hits the underside of the turret.
That area of the Merkava is a huge shot trap (it catches and deflects incoming rounds downward into the upper hull... bad news for the dudes inside).

Coen wrote:It's supposed to detonate incoming rounds and small antitank weapons that are fired at that area before it hits the underside of the turret.
That area of the Merkava is a huge shot trap (it catches and deflects incoming rounds downward into the upper hull... bad news for the dudes inside).

Thank you much Coen...

Wow, never dawned on me the Israelis would tell the enemy where their Achilles Heel was I wonder, wouldn't the second antitank round have a good shot (pun lmao) of getting through...or not, because a new ball would just drop down

Jan

PS Video clip on 'Explosive Reactive Armour', but not a word about those balls

I'm pretty sure that they were a one shot deal.
I think that the hope was that after the first hit the tank would turn around and blow the crap out of what ever it was that just shot him.
If not... well Boom poofy poofy.
I'm also pretty sure that all tankers are well versed on the weak points on all the enemy vehicles in their theatre.
At least I hope so. Haha.

Thank you Coen, I bow to your superior knowledge Dave.

HAHA!
Funny... I'm a boob.
I just got's lots o'books.

Beserker wrote:Tamiyasnob

It would seem every body else knows what those 'dog's danglies' on the back of the tank are, I'm afraid I don't ... please tell me?



Enjoying your build

Jan

Yeah what Coen said, although I don't know if they would stop an incoming tank round, but they will detonate RPGs away from the tank's surface. Kinda like the slat armor on a Stryker. Also I don't think its "exposing" their weakness, more like adding additional protection to a high threat area.

I wonder why the designers of the Merk put such an obvious shot trap there though?
You'd think that they'd build the bustle up a bit so that it was more flush with the deck and shift the deck around to match it.
I don't know enough about the Merk to really say much, but that does strike as odd.

Maybe they wanted it to look like girl hair, blowing in the breeze as it rolls through downtown Gaza.

I mean, I'm sure tank designer isn't the career that gets all the girls in the bar. They gotta get a release somewhere.

Nice!!

OK then, after the in depth debate on the purpose of the RPG screen let,s get back to the modelling.
Tonight,s session concentrated on the tracks and some detail painting.
constuction of the track was easy owing to the fact that apart from some single link,s around the front sprocket,s and rear idler,s there werw two long section,s top and bottom.
Track,s were primed flat black and then a wash of Tamiya dark yellow and desert yellow was flowed in to provide a weathered look.


Upper hull fixed to lower ready for a dark wash to bring out all the detail.

Turret added ,also waiting for it,s wash.



That,s it for tonight. If I,m honest I don,t like the look of the plastic track,s but I can,t afford Friul one,s but at least the next Merkava I plan to build has it,s own link track,s. Anyway next I will lightly weather the model and fit all the stowage and secondary armament, cheer,s Dave.

lovely paint Job mate


really stands out !


great stuff


Shane

Holy Crap... that looks awesome!
And she's not even finished.
NICE!!!!

Looking awesome already, nice work

Great paintwork, love to see what you do next

OK so here are some photo,s of the nearly completed tank, I say nearly finished because I am still working on a diorama base so will put it in the gallery then.






The weathering was a combination off acrylic,s and weathering powder,s. Firstly a heavily thinned mix of Tamiya XF59 was misted over the entire model but heavier application,s were sprayed around the lower area,s, then a very thinned coat of XF52 was sprayed around the running gear to represent newer sand. Then a dustier effect on the upper hull and turret was done using Tamiya weathering set A ,sand, light sand and mud but using a brush and not the sponge. Any comment,s welcome, cheer,s Dave.

Great weathering, the amount of dust is perfect. Excellent build overall

Very nice model, I love the dust effects

Now why again couldn't Tamiya add the anti-slip coating to their M1A2 SEP offering again?

Great stuff dude very well done.

I want a Merkava now... Dude... I'm green.
I spent have the day talking to a family friend from Israel about the IDF and their Merkevas. We also talked a lot about politics, but that's another matter.
Between that discussion and the two Merk builds on the forums... Hopeless.

You did and annoyingly good job on this dude... it's disgusting.
You should feel shame for how envious you've made me.
Go and cut yourself a switch then whoop yourself silly.

Jealous now mate, always wanted to build the Merkava since the first time I came across it. @I think it is the most beautiful MBT ever