IDF Group Build Mk. II 2010-2011

Thnk's for the tip on where to place the commander , the other figure has their arms extended , so I was thinking of trying to get him holding the machine gun in position .

yesterday i saw on ebay another 1/72 Merkava II kit

Starting bid was $10 and I put a bid in at that . I figured if anyone else bids higher they could have it but no one else bid so I won it ...

Another two Katyusha kits arrived yesterday as well , that's makes four in the stash now with the first one about 75% complete I'll continue on with those today as well .

John .

John -- your miniature battlgroup continues to grow!

Well, I have just decided not to build the Tamiya Merk I at this time. I had a look to see if there were any decals that would transplant to the Merk II and the answer is not really, but I noticed the tracks are undetailed on their inner sides. This is a big no-no so until I can source replacements (would Merk II tracks be appropriate? I'm checking my Osprey volume and am not spotting much in the way of difference between the tracks of the Merks I, II and III... Do Academy sell replacement parts? Does anybody make vinyls or would it have to be L&L?) I shall be leaving that one in the stash. That means I'll take the PE set out of my shopping cart at Lucky Model, unless anybody has any ideas re the tracks.

I'll take another look at Isradecal and check around for special offers... GRR, grumble..

M/TB379

John, Mike, you guys are really moving along!  I should drop in more often. It's a veritable plethora of Merkavas!

I'm still stuck into my Magach, but painting is moving along nicely.

Mike, re: Merk tracks: the I, II and early IIIs used the same tracks. I have at least one set of Academy tracks in the stash, and can look tonight.  You're welcome to them.

RBaer -- Oh, man, thankyou! I'm indebted! In that case the Tamiya Merk 1 goes back on the build list!

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Shoot me an e-mail at  offroadwine@yahoo.com   with your addy and I'll get them on the way.

RBaer -- replied direct earlier.

I pulled the Tamiya Merk 1 from the stash and examined it in detail earlier, and I found myself shaking my head with a wry smile. Academy's Merk II is an almost exact copy other than for the details peculiar to the II. They make some great models, but I wish they'd be a bit more original, thieving from Tamiya may be a great complment to the originators but it's hardly professional...

Well, this should be straightforward!

Cheers, Mike/TB379

I love all this crazy Israeli armour. Man, if they decided the tank needed, well, anything else, they just stuck it to the side & kept on going didn't they!? Those add-ons really make the things look meaner, to me anyway. (They treated that helo of mine the same way)

Thunderbolt379

RBaer -- replied direct earlier.

I pulled the Tamiya Merk 1 from the stash and examined it in detail earlier, and I found myself shaking my head with a wry smile. Academy's Merk II is an almost exact copy other than for the details peculiar to the II. They make some great models, but I wish they'd be a bit more original, thieving from Tamiya may be a great complment to the originators but it's hardly professional...

Well, this should be straightforward!

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Parts actually interchange........

Got the e-mail, I'll get them packaged ASAP.  Never mailed anything across the planet before....

Really?! Well, this'll be an easy build! Many thanks, I'll be on the lookout for them -- the Academy tracks are much better, possibly the only substantial contribution or change they made was to provide tracks with proper pad detail.

I've been checking out the Eduard set (35574) and I'm not sure it's warranted, too much fiddly replacement stuff, only the grills are an actual addition by the looks of it. I'm searching to see if anybody does a grills-only set but everything seems to be for the Merk IV these days. Does anybody know if there is a grills-only Merk 1 set? Also -- my referenes are not complete by any means, but the grills look pretty similar on Marks 1 to 3 -- anybody know if a set for a later mark would fit the earlier???

Cheers, Mike/TB379

VanceCrozier

I love all this crazy Israeli armour. Man, if they decided the tank needed, well, anything else, they just stuck it to the side & kept on going didn't they!? Those add-ons really make the things look meaner, to me anyway. (They treated that helo of mine the same way)

I've been looking at that IDF MD-500 awesome build of yours Vance quite often of late and I decided to have a go at the Tamiya MD-500 kit as well . Naturally , I couldn't just build one IDF Helicopter , I decided to work on 5 builds at the one time

The Mach 2 Alouette II looks to be the most difficult build of all 5 , hopfully it will look something like the reference pic I have ;

The other four builds should be fairly straight forward and should closely match these other reference pic's

Aerospatiale SA-365N

Bell Jet Ranger

Bell 47G

MD-500

I'm only to post a few WIP pic's of each , one with the cockpit pieces in place , before and after painting pic's

John .

BTW , A big Kudos to RBaer with his assistance on Mike's Merkava 1 ; A lot of FSM members have helped me a lot over these past 3 years with replacement parts for kits I was working on as well as some great kit trades . This is a really great community of modellers ...

Dang, John, you really believe in your production lines! I might have to do a crossover IDF Phantom with Rhinos III...

I couldn't resist temptation, and started subassemblies for the Merk I today. Another tank on its way along the production line...

Cheers, M/TB379

Okay, guys -- first WIP on the Tamiya Merk 1.

First, the obligatory boxtop shot:

And the present state of play:

48 parts used so far, I'll probably start the turret today.

After several web searches I've come up blank on any grill set for the Merk 1 with the exception of the Eduard set which is very good but way too fiddly, especially if you need to grind off detail to use the etch. If I was going to use that set Ishould have been cutting already.

The upshot is that nobody seems to make a turret basket insert for this anaimal, so I'll probably have to use the supplied vinyl mesh. I did an Abrams rack with vinyl once and it looked okay under paint, so it's not too much of a drawback.

I've been thinking about leaving the skirts off to show the running gear detail. One example I saw in a diorama had the entire running gear rebuilt with separately wound springs around new pistons, but I have no intention of hand-winding twelve shock absorbers. Does anybody know how common it was for the early Merks to go skirtless? I have some photos, but very few.

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Great start on the Merkava 1 Mike

Last year a fellow FSM member saw this book at his LHS and was extremely generous in buying and sending it on to me ;

There are only a few photo's of the Merkava 1 in action and they seem to be wearing the side skirts ;

These are the only in-action pic's I have in my reference library , so I'm not 100% sure wether the side skirts were optional .

HTH ,

John

Hi Jim, thanks for those reference shots -- yes indeed, it seems skirts were certainly used, though I remember a criticism against the Tamiya Merk 1 that it featured skirts that were quickly discontinued -- perhaps that refered to the exact design rather than to stand-off armour per se.

I assembled the turret and installed about half the dressing parts today, and rubbed down the filler on the underside slots. Assembly is a fair way along and I've been comparing the model to photos looking for missing detail. There are some hinges that were moulded incompletely due to the limitations of the parts breakdown (Academy corrected this in their copy), but have found little else to add.

The Merk 1 has a large port on the port side abaft the driver's position, I can't find a reference as yet to this, my cutaways are Merk IIs, but it looks like carbon smear builds up aft of the port, so it could be a secondary exhaust. Tamiya moulded it as simply a hole in the hull, and the main exhaust is not backed with anything either, so at the right angle you'd be able to see right through the hull. I'm thinking some plasticard to back the main exhaust is a must, but this other apperture is a mystery. Any thoughts on what it's supposed to be?

Cheers, Mike/TB379

PS: This GB seems to be much more active since it went into overtime!

Helo H-34

 

 

 

I've been looking at that IDF MD-500 awesome build of yours Vance quite often of late and I decided to have a go at the Tamiya MD-500 kit as well . Naturally , I couldn't just build one IDF Helicopter , I decided to work on 5 builds at the one time

5 at the same time? Helo, you're officially obsessed!!! Are those the Tamiya sprues you have laid out in the lower left? I think there was some mould-sharing going on! Very nice detail, but little in the way of locating pins, right! Fun little kit. There were a couple of really detailed walkarounds on PrimePortal (I think!), I can pass the links along to you if you don't spot them right away.

WIP on the Tamiya Merk 1:

As you can see, it builds pretty easily. The gun is friction-fit and I may paint it separately for a clean edge on the canvas shroud. I may get the wheels done soon, the only subassembly left is the turret basket, then I need to decide about the skirts. A few extra dressing parts and she'll be about ready for paint...

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Dressing parts going on today, nine so far, more to come...

Hit paydirt on Merk photos and info with this site:

http://www.supervideo.com/MXCD-ROMOS.htm

It looks like Merks with their skirts off are very rare, so if one gets done that way it's for the express purpose of showing off the suspension and return gear...

Cheers, M/TB379

Here's the turret basket assembly -- I used the vinyl mesh provided, although the guage seems a bit wide to me. If I had been able to find an etched alternative I would have used it in a flash, but the only set for this kit seems to be the Eduard general set and that was too ambitious and costly for my blood right now.

And assembled:

11 dressing parts went on today, and I have the tow cable guide hooks to add to the basket, but she's getting very clos to paint time. I might be spraying the running gear tomorrow.

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Has anybody previously built a Merk 1? The open engine exhausts are a worry! If I back them simply with plasticard it'll be pretty obvious that they are, well, blank... Logic suggests there will be some kind of anti-grenade/fragment screen, but no photo I have is close enough to show such a detail, it's usually all lost in shadow. I have some photoetched grill material that I could adapt to the purpose so that on close inspection it's blanked but not blank, if that makes sense. Something similar for that vent on the other side too, maybe...

I just found photos today of the 1985 prototypes of the unbuilt Sholef/Slammer SP gun on the Merk chassis -- wo-hoooo! What a scratch/conversion that would be! Just a bit more research data and I can see me ordering up another Merk and going to town with the styrene sheet to build that beast!

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Hi everyone ;

I've been a little under the weather these past few day's , darn summer flu .

Anyway your making great progress on your Merk 1 , Mike and thank's for that awesome link you posted .

I'm not sure if these reference pic's are of any use but this book arrived a couple of day's ago ;

All the photo's are B&W and mostly of the Merk 3 with a few Merk 2 pic's here and there .

I'm not quite sure but see what you can make of these pic's and the captions

Center pic and caption above ...

Another view...

I'm not 100% sure but is that access hole something to do with an internal fire extinguishing system ?

some additional info on those three bottles on the left rear fender ;

I hoe to get back to the bench in the next couple of day's .

Your making great progress Mike

A few more pic's showing that small square opening on the left hull side ;

I couldn't find any close up pic's of the exhaust , only these three general photo's ;

Some Merkava 3's have screens fitted to the outside of the exhaust ;

It seems difficult to find really good reference pic's of the Merk 1 , lot's of stuff on the 2 and 3 version and the newly developed Merkava 4 ;

John .

John -- thanks for the fabulous pictures!  There's no such thing as enough research material!

The exhaust unit is so hard to see that I'm thinking a grill backing, once treated with black pigment, will be nigh-invisible, but avoid the see-through effect that would otherwise be a giveaway, so I'll go with the PE material. The angled louvres on the Mk II obviate the need, but the Tamiya Mk I has them square cut, which I'm guessing was an early production characteristic.

Today I'm aiming to get the loops added to the basket, paint the tires (I may not have time to do the hubs as well), and get the grill segments into place on those appertures. If I can do that I might be able to mount the running gear and skirt hangers too.

I was looking through my stash last night and I have the Academy Merk II w/ KMT-4 mine roller. There's a great shot in the Osprey New Vanguard Merk 1-3 book of an early Merk (probably a 1 by some turret details) fitted with the mine roller system, and with its skirts off... Now that's an invitation to dress up the suspension and copy that particular vehicle!

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Okay, guys, I took care of those appertures yesterday, I can't vouch for accuracy but they're not just holes in the hull any more. I cut the generac etched brass with a knife:

Then CA'd the piece in behind the louvres:

Then I did the same for the opening on the other side:

Maybe it's AMS, I mean I'm tolerating the open sponsons without having appoplexy, but at least what's out there on display is given the courtesy of a detail of sorts!

Today I sprayed the tire black and tomorrow should template the hubs...

Cheers, M/TB379

Hi guys,

I had a mini-migraine this morning so decided it was best to lay off spraying paint fumes, even with my new respirator to help out -- I'll get to painting probably Wednesday, and am confining myself to building until then!

Cheers, M/TB379

Zounds, you're a fast builder, Mike. I shot you an e-mail today, should get the tracks in the mail shortly, although as fast as you build, you'll be ready for them before they get there!

I have been working on the wash on the Magach, no pics till I get a camera (again).

Rbaer -- Many thanks, I look forward to those treads arriving!

Actually Tamiya just falls together without arguments...! I've not got back to it yet, I've had work most of this week and it turns out I'll be working this afternoon and all tomorrow as well, so it'll be the weekend for more bench time involving the AB.

I dug my Academy Merk II w/ KMT-4 Mineroller out of the stash for a look and was amazed on several counts. Academy updated it in other ways too, including an etched floor for the turret basket and whitemetal "Predator's dreadlocks" ball and chain screen right in the box. Even if building without the KMT-4, this would become the kit of choice. The only drawback is the vinyl tires, but you can't win 'em all.

I've been researching the Sholef SPG and reckon I could scratchbuild the turret, gun and chassis mods on a Merk 1 kit...

Cheers, M/TB379

Tracks on the way!

More work done on the Magach this morning, but it's slow. I applied a very heavy acrylic wash and am scrubbing it off with a solution of Mean Green and alcohol. Tedious, but the end effect is worth it, I think.

Wow ! Great research pics and great looking builds .

Looking good gang!

Pics! Same semi-broken camera, but pics nonetheless.......

Top view:

Front,

And back.

The trans brake covers are a different color, and still off so I can preserve that, wheels still being weathered/washed, and loader's MG as well. Coming along......

AFV Club T142 tracks next.