Thanks G.

Not much, just the gun travel locks and the two tank/infantry phones, lucky me the AFVC kit had both types of phones (I guess more properly "intercoms") so since I needed one of each, bingo.

IMG_4875 by Russel Baer, on Flickr

I just realized something: I'm building Aleph (technically) out of the box, something I can't remember doing since I was a kid, and that's been a LONG time ago.

So, a tale of two turrets: Aleph's is started, first step after assembling the pretty nice breech is to insert it and close the turret halves. I figured out the turret halves can be closed withouth the mantlet , which I think prevents some juggling, so that's what I did. Then it's MrSurfacer to the rescue, more of that hugely overdone texture.

I also started the gun tube for Gimel, an all-palstic multi-part affair but with very good detail. Hulls are as far as they will go in the same direction, Gimel to get ERA, Aleph pretty much done.

IMG_4876 by Russel Baer, on Flickr

RBaer

More stupid but fun details on Gimel, copied from Aleph where applicable. The AFVC kit is really detailed. I can see the two in-hex adjuster bolts on the driver's hatch rest, crazy.

IMG_4663 by Russel Baer, on Flickr

FYI, those curved pieces of metal, called sand shields, that run from the fender to the taillights were often missing. I didn't even know they existed when we had to turn in our A3s and had to add 14 sets of them to the "Report of Item Decrepancy", basically the what's missing from out tanks list, when I got to Pirmasens, Germany where the POMCUS site was.

Cool, maybe that's why Tamiya left them out of all their kits! I always kind of wondered how well they'd hold up....

Lookin' fine! Really like the look of the cast surface on the turret. 

Thanks G. It's funny, I'm actually reducing the texture, down to what Tamiya and ESCI did in their kits. AFVC's texture has been the topic of discussion on several forums, mostly why they overdid it so badly, with the rest of the kit being insanely accurate. Hmmm......

So, the other turret (Gimel) caught up with Aleph, so far the only differrence being the gun tube, and the coax MG, but not visible after the gun is in the turret. I almost used the uncovered mantlet on Gimel, since the ERA installation involved a different, partial dust cover which I would have had to scratch, but I have enough pics of Magachs, usually "early" 6B's but probably a Gimel also, with the original dust cover in place, both with and without the mantlet ERA mounted, so here it is:

IMG_5105 by Russel Baer, on Flickr

A beef: the bellows part of the dust cover has a mold seam that's a real pain to remove. I've still got to do the one on Gimel, and it makes me scratch my head at AFVC, at the "recoil" feature of the gun tube. It's toy-like, seems out of place on this kit.

Well, if I'm building an olive drab US tank I normally add so much paint pre-shading I'm not sure the texture is overdone or not. For a camoed tank like MERDC it might be too much... 

Again looks good! Most of the AFV Club kits I've built with the recoil feature I get too much cement in there which pretty much gums up the recoil option permently. Personally I haven't been too upset over it... 

That's why I used a different mantlet cover on my build. That seam was a PITA to remove.

The recoil feature is a neat gimmick, but othwise useless for such a detailed model. 

Your next complaint will be the spindly, fragile bustle rack. It's not hard to assemble, it's just fagile as all get out. 

Hmmm, bustle racks are probably going to be the last things that go on these turrets, and you're right Mike, they look pretty flimsy, but I squeaked through a Dragon rack for the M60 slick I did a while ago, so I'm feeling brave...   almost.

G, these are both going to be in IDF sand, two different "vintages", but still sand, so I need them pretty close to smooth.

Speaking of, here they both are after a couple hours of adding detail parts, only one part shot into Neverneverland today. Notice the Tamiya lower searchlight mounts on Gimel's mantlet.

IMG_5106 by Russel Baer, on Flickr

I can't prove it, but I don't think the Israelis received any M60A3 TTS tanks. Most of the tanks were early model ( side loading air filters) or M60A1 AOS tanks. That's why you see alot of the side filters. Three things can out of the 73 war, one the M73 coax was crap. There was a simple fix, but it was doomed. Two, don't run the stab system 24 hours a day. It raises the temp of the hydrolic fluid pass the flash point. Why the tank got the monicor of " tommy cooker". Three, the orginal top loading air filter boxes were made of aluminum and were easly punctured by air bursts, causing the engine to choke out on the dust. On the bright side, you could mark it a as Egyptian.

I've got a coupe of references (Desert Eagle books on  the Magach 6's) that specify how many -A3TTS tanks the IDF received, and how and when they saw action. According to Michael Mass, they got 205, in the late 70's, as part of the "Brown deals". They got the full Blazer outfit, Urdan cupola and side loading air filters, but retained the original turret bustle racks, making them easy to spot. They also kept the T-142 tracks. I'm referencing Desert Eagle book #25, pages 70 and 71,  They're referred to in one of the other books as well, not in front of me at the moment. I may be incorrect in using the fully covered mantlet, but other than that, I feel pretty good about the accuracy of what I'm building.

Interesting point: I've also got pics of -A1's having a 30 cal and mount added to the side of the commander's cupola, during the YKW. Apparently the Israelis weren't fond of the 50 in the cupola either. I'll be doing that on the Aleph. There's a few pics of that setup in the same book referenced above.

I'd read about the turret hydraulic fluid having a very low flash point, something the IDF "fixed" after the YKW by using a different fluid, something not so prone to ignition after a penetration.

Thanks for the input, always good!

Basket hell:

IMG_5161 by Russel Baer, on Flickr

The tan parts: robbed from a Tamiya kit, trimmed to fit. Those AFVC parts are flimsy, but I guess that's fair, sonsidering they're pretty close to scale size. Mike, you're right, these things are delicate.

Looks good! I hate bustle racks, I've ended up cheating by throwing tarps over some that didn't come out right.

Yes. But they look good though!

There was a good reason I warned you, Russ. Those bits can break if you look at them funny. Lol

They do look amazing though.

Thanks y'all.

I've also added tarps to cover my clumsy work on bustle racks, and I expect both of these will have enough stowage, mabye tarps too, but I'm really trying to copy a couple of pics, especially with Aleph, and my goal is minimal stowage, unusual for both me and the IDF, lol.

That's probably the plan for when I repair the bustle on my copy as well. Toss some stowage in it and partially cover it up to hide the mistakes.

Those baskets are almost too fine.

Aleph is ready for primer, turret and commander's cupola are done.

IMG_5558 by Russel Baer, on Flickr

A better pic of the cupola:

IMG_5559 by Russel Baer, on Flickr

Pictured are the ony "modifications" I've made to this kit, the added 30 cal and the searchlight mount on the turret rear. Differently for me, I'll add stowage after primer, maybe even after the base coat.

If you have the searchlight mount on there then you'll need to remove a portion of the basket. 

Sorry to be the informer of that news. 

Mike- I looked and looked at all the reference pics I have and couildn't find any that showed that, even though I know it's logical.....  I do have pics of the mount on there with a full basket, even though the searchlight won't go on the storage mount with the full basket. I admit to being vexed.

She's coming along very nicely! 

P

RBaer

Mike- I looked and looked at all the reference pics I have and couildn't find any that showed that, even though I know it's logical.....  I do have pics of the mount on there with a full basket, even though the searchlight won't go on the storage mount with the full basket. I admit to being vexed.

 

Perhaps M-60Tanker can dig that up for you. He has access to references we dont.

I've seen a few pictures and I know that a section of the basket is modified to allow the seachlight to be stowed in that location.

Logic does dictate that a section has to be removed for that Searchlight to fit. I'm confused to why pictures are not easily found.

Me too. Oh well, it's in dark green now, I'll probably leave it alone. All my pics of IDF M60A1's show the mount with a full basket. Very interesting.

That just means they never carried them back there. It would've been impossible lol.

M. Brindos

If you have the searchlight mount on there then you'll need to remove a portion of the basket. 

Sorry to be the informer of that news. 

 

Rob Gronovius

 

 

 

That portion of the bustle rack is removable to allow the storage of the searchlight. So if there is a mount, and the searchlight is on the mantlet, that portion of the bustle rack would be in place.

Rob Gronovius

 

 

M. Brindos

If you have the searchlight mount on there then you'll need to remove a portion of the basket. 

Sorry to be the informer of that news. 

 

 

 

 

That portion of the bustle rack is removable to allow the storage of the searchlight. So if there is a mount, and the searchlight is on the mantlet, that portion of the bustle rack would be in place.

 

 

Even better.

So, here's a pic of the Gimel, hull ERA on. I used mostly Academy bits (puke green), with some old Verlinden parts (baby poo orange) up top. I think I'm down to ESCI pieces for the turret, not my favorits so unless I can scare up another Academy kit, that's the plan.

IMG_5565 by Russel Baer, on Flickr