John 3:16 KJV

Nice! What paint brand did you use and was it enamel or acrylic?

 

Krylon "camo" tan, rattle can enamel. I like it, it's about $6 for a big can, goes on smooth, covers great and dries tight. The only drawback is the very limited selection of colors, but that's what washes and pastels are for, right?  I can paint a half-dozen or more tank models with one can, whereas a can of Tamiya spray is about $10, and I can paint maybe two tanks with one can. Win-win in my book.

Nice! What paint brand did you use and was it enamel or acrylic?

Thanks!

That searchlight looks fantastic! 

Searchlight with extra, IDF-specific braces added, and I yanked the two lifting eyes, dorky and un-needed. Plus, they're not in any pic I have. I added grates for cooling intake and exhaust too.

IMG_6290 by Russel Baer, on Flickr

And Aleph is in tan:

IMG_6289 by Russel Baer, on Flickr

I ginned up the armored box the IDF put the small searchlights in, mounted it up todayjust for something different....

IMG_6249 (1) by Russel Baer, on Flickr

I've got a couple of lousy pics of this setup, so there's a fair amount of "artistic license" going on.

Me too....

Looks good! Looking forward to seeing some paint slapped on. 

The right side, re-done with more of the larger blocks (modules?) replaced with Verlinden parts, and the top parts on too, more Verlinden.

IMG_6130 by Russel Baer, on Flickr

And just cuz I could, one Dragon part, in gray.

Thanks G. I decided to go ahead and use the remnants of plastic turret ERA I had in the stash, got mostly done, and realized I would be short a few pieces, so in a huff I pulled out the box of Verlinden stuff, took a look at it and realized it was good stuff, so off I went. Prepping it is not bad, just gotta watch the dust, and I'm happy enough with it I'm going to replace all the plastic blocks with Verlinedn resin, if I have enough... er, I'm glad I have two sets of the stuff, since a lot of the pieces are chipped and broken, probably from lots of handling. This stuff is old.

So, right side, the back three blocks are Verlinden, the rest plastic, both ESCI and Academy:

IMG_5946 by Russel Baer, on Flickr

And the left side, only the front three pieces being plastic, the rest Verlinden:

IMG_5945 by Russel Baer, on Flickr

Only problem: I have a burst blister on the end of my right index finger from holding those blocks as I sand a good millimeter of plug off the back of each one, kind of like the blisters my wife gets when she picks her guitar up after a few weeks and plays for an hour or so.

She's moving along nicely! 

Thanks, and don't sweat the Academy kit, you did a good job. I built the same kit a couple of years ago, had a blast, and now have the Meng kit in the stash, whick makes all of them look simplified. My effort with the Academy kit of the "Batash":

IMG_1275 by Russel Baer, on Flickr

It's close to out of the box, with the Friul "Batash" tracks. It was fun, but I will build the Meng kit.

Wow that is a very intensive detail build, look really good , I can see not how many in acuracies my Gimel kit has.

Theuns

Theat's modeling.

So, some other bits while I decide on the turret armor and wait to get paint for Aleph. I did the smoke launchers, and since no kit I have has good ones, I made covers from cheap masking tape and used Academy parts:

IMG_5849 by Russel Baer, on Flickr

Then I realized the air filter housings should have armored covers that bolted closed, I shaved the latch handles off and modded the cover and added the oil can storage box:

IMG_5851 by Russel Baer, on Flickr

And the other side, along with some little bracket that I have pics of but never with anything in it:

IMG_5850 by Russel Baer, on Flickr

I'm finding that after a couple of hours at this my eyes are crossing a little....

Again she looks good! Sorry to hear about dropping the turret- been there, done that, got the T-shirt... (sigh). 

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

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.

 

 

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.

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

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.

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.

She's coming along very nicely! 

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.