IDF Group Build Mk. II 2010-2011

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 ...

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

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....

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)

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

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

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

Cheers, Mike/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.

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

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 brigade is looking great! My impression is the binocs should be in the commander's hand, and the commander's hatch is the right hand one on the Merk.

Yep, not sure what to do about the markings. I could have a custom set made by an outfit with an Alps printer, but that would cost as much or more than the Isradecal set. I have no idea why they are so expensive! I'll fish out the Tamiya Merk I, there may be some items I could draft over...

Today I was working all day, so tomorrow I'll loook at the radio masts and fitting the Eureka XXL AM tow cables. I already painted the ends in hull colour, the woven copper cable will go into metallic and be shaped to the guide hooks...

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Mike , that's a real bummer regarding the Merk 2 decals

I saw a set of 1/35 Isradecal  Merkava II markings on ebay and they were going for $30 ...Quite expensive

My only thoughts so far are , if another modeller somewhere has the same Academy sheet and they scan it and send it to you . You could reprint it on some inkjet white decal paper and spray some decal bonder over the sheet and go from there . You probably already thought of this anyway .

I certainly hate it when we get to the 11th hour and the decals dont work out !

As for me , steady progress on the three 1/72 Merkava's ;

Still no decals applied to the first or now second Merk , I'm concentrating on getting all three built and then I'll do the markings but everything is going along nicely .

I'll start glueing the tracks in place on the Merk 3 first thing tomorrow and then I'll work on the upper hull and add the bits and pieces . One of my tank crew figures is holding some binoculars in their hand but I'm not sure which hatch opening to place him , left or right side ?

Sorry I couldn't be much help with the decals Mike , I do hope you can sort something out .

John 

Hi guys,

WIP update on the Merk II, I got some good progress done today. The mantlet canvas was repainted in olive drab and drybrushed, as was that surrounding the mortar. The sighting optics were painted into dark blue and Futured. The three MGs were completed last night and mounted today. Hand latches were added to the rear hatches, and the folded canvas thingy mounted on the rear hull. The whole tank received its bare metal drybrushing on edges, then I set off to do the decals.

Well... Academy decals, what can I say that hasn't already been said? The ones in the Isherman kit were a lump better than these. The first thing I noticed was that the sheet, while well-printed, had no carrier film -- de nada. I brushed on Microscale Liquid Decal Film, which I expected to solve the problem, but only one decal, the left rear serial, worked as intended. The next two I attempted disintegrated despite Microscale's best efforts, so I am officially looking for markings. The Verlinden rubdown sheet does not include chevrons, and while I could paint those with stencils, there are no other markings on the sheet that look much like the tactical stuff on this beast.

Here she is so far:

She's close -- radio masts, dust, that's about it. But the question of markings remains. Isradecal have Merk II sets but it'll be a cold day in hell I pay that kind of price. Bison have several sheets for Merks III and IV which are a great price from Lucky Model, but nothing for Merk IIs. Anybody got any ideas?

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Looks darn close to me, John, certainly darn close to what's in the photos in that fantastic book! I must make a note of those ratios as I have no doubt I'll press on to a Merk III as well!

Speaking of things Merkava, I'm working on the fittings for the Merk II, and just mixed and sprayed some more hull colour (a bit dark by comparison as of course the rest of the tank has a fade coat from ages ago. But it should be okay -- gun mount parts and shovel retainer, tow cable ends, things like that, and I zapped the area in the base of the turret traverse that I missed last time. as a shaded area that may well appear darker anyway.

Progress pics when I have something to show, which should hopefully be MGs on and decals getting underway.

Am weakening re the Tamiya Merk I, I almost clicked to buy the PE set earlier...

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Well this was a nice suprise , a parcel arrived sometime yesterday and I forgot to check the front porch untill this morning and this book had arrived ;

I went straight to the Merkava chapter and there are tons of glossy colour photo's of the Merk 3 and the colour scheme is quite interesting ;

I then went and checked the IDF Modelling web site at the Vehicle Models and saw a finished Merk 3 by Yoav Efraiti ...

http://idfmodelling.free.fr/kit_merkava3_13.html

This amazing modeller even list what he describes as the accurate paint colours for the Merk 3 ;

Testors / Model Master                      

6 X FS. 30277

3 X FS. 30118

1 X FS. 36118

I matched these to Tamiya acrylics 6x XF-49 Khaki , 3x XF-52 Flat Earth , 1x XF-24 Dark Grey ; Then I gave a few of the Revell Merk 3 sub-assemblies a few coats .

The camera flash tends to lighten everything ,

When I compare the upper hull to pic's of the Merkava 3 in the IDF Armoured vehicles book it is quite close .

A very earthy / dark olive / greyish colour ;

What do you guy's think !

John .

You're very welcome, John, and that shade looks excellent on the Merk II! I look forward to seeing it completed. For paint on the Merk III my gut would be to go with a straight post-Lebanon buff/grey mix, but further research may show up variations once again...

Building small scale does have its advantages -- storage space and build time are both brought right down!

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Thank you kindly Mike , for posting those paint colours and ratios .

I didn't have the Tamiya XF-63 or XF-26 in my stock ; I have just about every other colour expect those two and the LHS was out of stock on them as well . So I went to the paint reference charts and found what was similar in the Gunze range and came up with 80% Sand/Yellow H-313  + 10% Gunship Gray H- 305 + 10% Green H-303 with another 25% H-1 White . I kept the same paint mix ratio and gave the Merk 2 a few coats

It's not too bad and even closely matches Esci's box art . I could lightly overspray a couple of coats without the green added but I think it looks okay . It has a nice comparison sitting next to Merk 1

No decals on Merk 1 as yet hopfully tomorrow and I decided to put together Revells Merkava 3 as well .

Revells Merk 3 is a lot more detailed than the first two builds and Revell include those little balls and chain hanging from the rear turret and the turret hatches can be posed open as well . I have some white metal tank figures I'm thinking of using too . Much nicer tracks as well .

I have no idea what paint mix to do for the Merkava 3 ? ; Do you guy's have any suggestions !

It's all been good fun so far with the builds . Perhaps by early next week I'll have three IDF tanks to add to the display cabinet .

John .

John -- no probs, I managed to find the original post way back in the first thread, and it's a good job I did because it turns out I modified the recommended mix from the Academy plans. I used:

80% Buff (XF-57) 10% Dark Grey (XF-63) and 10% Green (not sure which one... Probably XF-26). But this was way too dark against photos so I experimented with lightening it, ending up with a 25% addition of White (XF-2) to the above mix.

Looking forward to seeing how that formula repeats!

Cheers, Mike/TB379

The tracks did fit together quite well , without any issue's .

Unfortunatly their smooth on the inside face , no detail . Which makes them look a little  toy like .

I was looking at the Esci Merkava II kit and it's identical to italeri's merkava I kit , except for different side skirts and some extra added on armour pieces .

So while I'm at it I may as well do the Merk-2 as well .

Mike if I could ask a small favour of you and list those Tamiya colours you used on your Merkava II build .

I like that slight greenish tint to the finish , which is what I would like to do as well .

TIA

John

Looking great! The tracks built up fine -- I guess I need a good L&L experience to get me into that kind, but it has yet to happen...

I checked my stash fpr which case the Tam Merk 1 is in, and located the Eduard PE set for it at Lucky Model, postage free... I'm weakening, guys, I'm weakening...

M/TB379

I got the tracks fitted to the Merkava I

Added some wash to the upper hull and turret and first thing tomorrow I'll give everything a light dusting of the Sand Grey paint mix , then add the machine guns , a couple of decals and finish with a few light coats of clear flat .

BTW , A couple more nice Katyusha kits arrived today . I'll make them as abandoned Egyptian vehicles , perhaps even one under tow from a IDF Halftrack .

John .

You're a buildin' machine, John! Darn, now you have me thinking about a quickie build as well... Tamiya's Merk 1 has been in my stash for many years, it would look great in Lebanon-era camo... I wonder if anyone makes any detail-up sets for it, like grills...

M/TB379

I probably shouldn't start another build while there are so many incomplete ones on and under the bench but with the amazing work you guy's have been doing on those 1/35 Merkava's and after looking at a few pic's on the net , I decided what the heck , if I stay away from ebay long enough I should be able to put one of my 1/72 Merkava's together in no time flat ....Not that there is any hurry ;

Italeri's Merkava I looks straight forward enough and I may as well start with the first version and aim for something like the front cover of Steven J. Zaloga "Israeli Tanks and Combat vehicles" 1983 .

I thought I would try a mix of Tamiya Acrylic 50% XF-20 Medium Grey + 50% XF-57 Buff for a 1982 Israeli Sand Grey colour scheme

As usual the flash from the camera tends to make the colour look lighter than it really is .

I started with glueing the hull sides to the bottom piece and then airbrushed the wheels and bogies with my sand grey mix .

Next I glued the turret halves together and puttied the join underneath trim a few more parts from the sprue and airbrushed those , I then masked the wheel hubs with blu-tac and gave the wheels a few coats of flat black along with the tracks and once dry I added a little black enamel wash to the wheels , bogies and lower hull section

Next I'll fit the bogies and wheels in place on the lower hull and then start fitting the tracks , so hopfully this time tomorrow I'll have her standing up .

A fun quick build so far and there is lots of nice molded on detail to the hull and turret top pieces , so it should look good with some wash and weathering powders .

John .

WOW , really nice WIP on your Merkava II RBaer

John .

That looks great! I love the "Predator's deadlocks!"

M/TB379

IDF colors........there's a subject for debate. Like the man said, it's hard to be wrong.

My Merk II, soon to be "finished", I hope. The color definitely looks greenish, but I'm trying to get that. It still lacks the final dusting.

Most of my IDF kit stash is 1/72 scale , although I do have a small number of 1/35 IDF Armour kits including the Italeri 1/35 M32 Recovery Tank .

Italeri's kit has the large front hatches which from what I've lernt so far is incorrect for an early IDF M32 ;

Last night I found this on ebay and bought it ...

It was a little expensive $40 including shipping but I'm happy I can build the Italeri M32 as an IDF machine now .

John .

Thanks, John -- in that case I'll press on and get her done. I need to remask and spray some more hull colour on a few bits of the MG ammo trays/boxes, add the MGs, decals and radio masts, give her the dust treatment and she's done. Better late than never!

M/TB379

The colour on your Merk II looks spot on to me Mike and the wash and weathering is great also

As for the canvas weather shields , Italeri's Merk I and Esci's Merk II instructions list Olive Drab as the colour ; Revell suggest Khaki for the Merk III ?

I'm going to have a look around the net for some reference books on the Merkava Tank , I'm alway's looking to add to my book collection library

John .

John -- many thanks for doing that test shot! If I remember correctly, the Academy instructions suggested a mix of three shades, XF-49 was one of them, another was either buff or dark yellow, and there was a small percentage of one of the Tamiya greens. I can't find the kit plans at the moment but the exact mix would be somewhere in the IDF 1 thread... It looks good but strikes me as too green and too dark, especially for so small a scale where the effect of 'scale colour' comes in.

Here's the Academy Merk II as she stands:

And a closeup:

She looks lighter and sandier in the closeup, but that's just a trick of the angular square law of the propagation of light (!) The shade as recommended was an almost exact match for the plastic the kit was blown in -- note I missed the bottom of the turret traverse area, and it's pretty close.

The more research we do on this topic the more I'm thinking this shade is probably pretty close to actual paints worn by actual IDF vehicles. Whether Merk IIs really wore this shade in the 1980s may be a moot point, but it's at least in the ballpark and Revell, Esci and Academy must be getting their research data from somewehere. I have a profile painting of a Merk in this shade in an old volume, circa 1984, so it was certainly a shade that stuck in the literature.

Cheers,

Mike/TB379

PS: I have no clue what shade of green the canvas weather shields should be on the main gun and mortar mount... Any ideas?