That part didn't sound like much fun. Don't torture yourself over it. You know as well as we do that it's going to be a spectacular looking build when YOU are done with it. lol

That's an understatement, Mike. I came pretty close to shelving the thing. But, I moved on, and attached the whole hippy curtain mess last night:

I've got an idea on painting the chain, may help give it some hint of being 3D, but I'm over it.

More as it happens........

Looks awesome, Russ.  The only thing worse than ball and chain armor is the slat armor on all those Stryker and Buffalo kits I'm seeing out there.  I cringe at the thought of it.

True dat, and thanks.

I'm going to be doing some re-thinking on the Merkava 2B I had plans for doing. There has to be a better way......

In the meantime, I'm sure glad Meng has some really nicely done injection b&c in their Merk3 kits, one of which is in the stash. I got into a discussion a while back about "generic" b&c pieces in DS-type material, but I suppose the tooling would make it cost-prohibitive. Then the discussion died, but I keep thinking Shapeways.....  I know I'd buy a 1/35 scale truck-load.

So, after a short break to finish up the "Almost Super" I'm doing on the GB board, I manned-up and went back to this thing. Ugh, tracks. These are not the most finely molded tracks I've ever done, but not the worst either. I thing the worst were some Friuls for an M18 Hellcat, so bad I've probably permanently shelved that kit. Anyway, every other link or so has to have some flash removed, then I build sections of five links and go from there. Spade Ace wire actually works great, stiff enough to insert w/o bending, and soft enough to easily sand the clipped-off ends smooth. It's just Tee-Dee-Us.

This is almost enough to do one side, and about three-hours worth.

RBaer - looking good, nice progress here! Are you going to blacken the tracks after they're done? Good luck with your build and have a nice day!

Paweł

Thanks, Pawel.

I just paint them now, I used to use muriatic acid in solution, but it's just too easy to paint them.

Tool bags on the turret, and I started the spent-casing bag for the mantlet MG.

Paint soon. This weekend's weather is supposed to be great, so if it's not too windy, it will be a "colorful" weekend.

I can't wait to see how this turns out.  :)

Me too.

Oh, wait a  minute......   :)

Thanks, Mike. I'm seriously anxious to get paint on, two reasons:

1) Assembly has been a bit troublesome, and I've been tempted several times to shelve this thing and do something easy, and....

2) I've got a new-to-me color that I think is going to nail the illusive IDF modern sand gray.

A lot of work but she's shaping up nicely!

Thanks, Gamera.

I'll freely admit that a lot of my tribulation is due to my own ineptitude. The kit is better than I am, but I will finish it. Let's just say it won't be making any contest appearances.

Primer!

The "primer" is actually Krylon camo paint, "khaki" this time. My final color is also a Krylon color, should go on soon.

Great work, Russ!

Geez, Russ, that primer could be the base coat, it looks so good!

Richard, doog: Thanks!

Karl, this color is so close to another period's sand gray, you'll see it again..   :)

Finally:

Krylon gloss khaki, from the can.

Good job on the hippie curtains. Ah, base coat finally on

Thanks, and yep, base coat. Decals soon.

This is cool, nice work.

Thanks, Lee. The paint ought to be dry enough by tonight for decals, and I can finish and paint the tracks, time permitting.

I may put this one back up for a couple of weeks, there's a show coming up and I would really like to finish and bring my IDF M26....

I hate painting tires......

I started on the decals, but may hold off on doing more since the kit decals are unaffected by both MicroSol and SolvaSet.  Hmmm.....    I've used other Academy decals before, no problems, but I did the Yanush stripe on the gun tube and almost gave up.

Have you thought about a circle template for the wheels. I tried one for the first time last month and loved it.

I am starting to question my sanity. I just picked this up on eBay AND picked up the Legends AM kit too. Looking forward to that chain screen........NOT!

Looking good, RUss. You're killing it...!

Bish, I have thought of it, and I believe it's in my future.

Karl, I most eagerly look forward to your write-up on the Legends b &c assembly. Really.

A word: count the "balls" before you begin, I don't think they give you enough. I'm not sure because I always lose a few, and I've never finished a set.  And if you're not on some kind of anti-depressant now, you may need it. I would rather pull my own fingernails out, one by one. I'm so put off by this stuff I'm postponing a Merk2 hybrid build, and will most likely pass on Academy's Merk2D, something I would dearly love to build otherwise.

Hmmm..... maybe I'm the one that needs a "happy pill".

When I did my Panzer, I used a Sharpie. I will do the same on my Sherman.

Russ, I scoured eBay for some simple resin set of those balls and was honestly surprised that no one had made a piece yet. I looked up how to do those balls--they don't look too hard, but just a major PITA. I won't get to it for a while, but I hope you're still around here when I do. :)

That color is excellent. Krylon has been making some really good colors lately.

This is going to be another one of your epic builds I see. :)

I must see more Karl.  :)

Lee, I've used a Sharpie before, but the color is so "black", it took a lot of weathering to tone the color down.

Karl, AEF Designs did a set years ago that were for the Merk2, and they were absolute trash. I've been mouthing off on other boards about the need for some generic B&C sets in DS-type soft styrene. Meng, and now Academy, are doing the pieces in regular styrene, easier to use for sure, but still not as authentic-looking as the actual metal chains and balls offered by several AM companies. Hmmm.......

Mike, thank you, and I like Krylon a lot. For the same amount of money, or even less than a can of Testors or Tamiya, you get two or three times the amount of paint, and I'm finding it goes on really well.

Krylon and Rustoleum are my friends as well. The "Bonds with Plastic" paints make for excellent cheap primers.  :)