IDF GB 4/20/08 - 4/20/09

OK guys I'm still here and I'm back to work on my Mk. 3. I have good new for those of you that may want the new Merkava Mk.IV (4) well there at SQ right now and I ordered on for my self and got it to day. "YES SIR" I'm really happy, but I do remember that I wased to build the new IDf Heavy AP so I will need to get just one more to build not only the APC but on of the tanks for the photos I had posted.

Ok the thing that held me up on this build was the hach cover well I scratch built on and i think it looks good I'll be back soon to post new work. Here'a some link of the new IDF tank and resin items for it.

http://www.squadron.com/ItemDetails.asp?item=MH13213

http://www.squadron.com/NoStock.asp?item=LF1178

http://www.squadron.com/NoStock.asp?item=LF1180

http://www.squadron.com/ItemDetails.asp?item=LF1179

http://www.squadron.com/ItemDetails.asp?item=LF1167

http://www.squadron.com/ItemDetails.asp?item=LF1124

Girl & guys I'm orry some of the resin items are not there but If I know any thing SQ alwas get's back in stock. Oh and to Cosmic I didn't buy any thing off Ebay. I'm sorry man I made it sound as if I got one of Evil bay and I'm sorry for that mix up, I ment that at that time if any one wanted the kit and didn't have a way to order it from over seaes. Than they could get one of Ebay. Well not that the kit in in the US there's realy not need to get one of ebay., but if some of you feel that you cah get a in a low bid on one by al means go for one on evilBay.

Thanks much White! I've been looking forward to that kit for awhile now.

 I got some work on mine done too.

I know it's been awhile, but I kinda got stuck for a bit. I got really indecisive about some minor details; piddling stuff really. So I just decided to finish the build, and fix any details I don't like later.

I blocked off the seams on the ramp w/ a thin sheet of styrene. It's not fancy but it works.

Next, I began painting. I started w/ the turbine fans. I painted them MM Steel on the outer parts, and MM Jet Exhaust on the inner parts. I thought this might look like oil or grease stained metal. They were very flat looking, so I post shaded the fan blades w/ MM Gunmetal.

I'll apply washes and drybrush them later.

Because metallics are hard to clean out of the airbrush, I sprayed some other stuff that needed to be painted at the same time.

Then I airbrushed a basecoat of MM Israeli Armor Sand over all the major assemblies. Because this is a big kit, and I tend to shoot at low pressure, it took several hours to get complete coverage. The model has some wicked undercuts on it, especially on the bottom and in the cargo bed.

I'm happy w/ this color. In these images, or under very bright light, it looks very green, but in shadow it looks almost grey. It's a green w/out a lot of yellow in it.

The hoverfans appear to have protective "bumpers" on the bottom of them, so I painted them w/ a mixture of Black and Aggressor Grey, to look the like the rubber used on tires. If I were going to weather this vehicle more, I'd carve some nicks and gouges in them.

I painted the engine housings MM Olive Drab to break up the color monotony a bit. Maybe they were manufactured in the US and shipped over? Who knows?

Then, I post shaded the "bumpers" and engine housings. A little sloppy, but I'll clean that up in the next painting stage. Adds some nice depth to the details.

The next step is the long process of post shading the vehicle hull itself. That's what I'm doing tonight.

Man that a lot of work in just your paint stage "MAN" I'm drooling at all the detail on the body and all the stunning looking parts. I just love it when modelers are willing to point out all the juicy detail and just what there doing, an show there work.

Just "WOW"!!!! All your photos show grate detail and there verey clear "WOW" I have just got to get a lot done to day and try to post some thing to night. "WOW" To much

Thank you White. I just want to say that your help has been invaluable to me on this build. All you guys really, especially fantacmet and RBaer. I really appreciate it.

More soon, I promise.

Not sure what I did to help but thanks.

Well one of my kids decided to play with my TOW jeep.  I caught him before too much damage was done.  Pretty much just the spare tire dissappeared.  So I've been looking for that.  Once I recover that and put ont he shovel and gas can it'll be done.

Just in case though, I've got my Merkava almost done.  Just a few bits like small arms.  Then weathering, and painting the fig and adding it, and the Merkava will be done.

Looking forward to pics! I've made a little progress on the Merk2 I'm doing for the "No more excuses" GB, and started on those blasted balls on chains for the RPG screen. Yech!

That's three hours' worth.

CosmicJ, also not sure what I did, but you're welcome.

Well here is my progress on the Merkava.  I may not have been posting alot, but you didn't think I forgot about y'all did you?  I've been pressed for time, so again I read the comments from my e-mail but no chance to reply.  Can you believe it's been almost a year already?  WOW.  As stated if there are people who get done late, I'll add a "late bloomer" thing to the tag.  LOL.  We didn't get that many people for this GB, BUT the quality of the builds is far beyond anything I might have had expecttions for.  There are alot of builds in here that would easily qualify for best in show at any annual international contest.  I would feel extremely sorry for any judges who would have to try and choose a best build from these.  I sure wouldn't wnat the job, it would destroy what last bit of sanity I have left, and drop me straight to a padded room for sure. 

Take a look at these two pics, and any idea's for scratchbuilt storage types would be appreciated.  I've been able to deduce that most stowage on IDF vehicles is covered with a tarp, but you'll still be able to see something underneath the tarps.  I have the tissue the glue, etc.  I have a semi working printer to make little boxes if need be.  I just don't want to leave that turret basket empty, since the mesh isn't there(was too difficult to try and get it in there).

 http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd71/redneck_chevy_psychopath/merkava/merkava1.jpg

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd71/redneck_chevy_psychopath/merkava/merkava2.jpg

Looks great so far!

Looking good!

I really enjoyed that kit myself, looking at yours brings back memories of how fun it was.

I'm not sure about stowage, I'm in a bit of the same spot you are. I wanna stow stuff on my HT, but I'm not sure what would "look right".

Finished post shading the hull and assorted parts. I mixed 4 parts Israeli Armor Sand and 1 part Burnt Umber to make the shadow tone. Notice how it seems to darken the overall color. I'm really grooving on this color, don't know if it's accurate or not, but I'm definitely gonna use it again for other projects.

One note for other builders of this kit: The turret is completely open on the inside, giving a view of the inside of the hull. For some reason, I thought there was a "basket" that the turret gunner sat in. Had I paid attention, I would have known to paint the interior of the hull before assembly, and maybe added some detail to the sidewall. Oh well. I painted everything I could reach the shadow color and just got on w/ it.

Some more notes on the turret: The interior has some details that need to be painted before you assemble it. Otherwise, it would be difficult or impossible to paint all the little parts and instrument faces.

And... the turret parts don't line up perfectly. I had hoped to just snap the parts together after finishing the interior, but the seam will need gluing and putty for a flush join. I'll do that after I paint all the details inside.

More soon...

Well Cosmic, as far as accuracy goes, look at it this way, you can theoretically have the most accurate paint job here, because you say it is.  As a futuristic what if vehicle, who is to say what the tides of war have done to the battlefield to change the basic color of the earth in such a region where it may operate?  As the colors change naturally so would the colors of the paint.  GRIN.

It's looking REALLY great man.  Can't wait to see the final project, I'm itching here to see this.  I need to find which figure I have around here that belongs in that tank so I can get it painted up and in there, get some stowage going on, and finish the weathering.  I want a finished tank and I want it now.  LOL.  Ok so I want it done by Tuesday for the monthly club meeting/contest.  Not to mention it'd be a pity for the host of the GB not to finish in time.

fantacmet wrote:

Well Cosmic, as far as accuracy goes, look at it this way, you can theoretically have the most accurate paint job here, because you say it is.  As a futuristic what if vehicle, who is to say what the tides of war have done to the battlefield to change the basic color of the earth in such a region where it may operate?  As the colors change naturally so would the colors of the paint.  GRIN.

Heh! Yeah, that's why I like sci-fi, you get a lot of freedom to do whatever you want w/ the paint (usually). If I could come up w/ a rationale, I could probably get away w/ painting it purple.

Ok, maybe not purple. Desert Pink, maybe...  

It's looking REALLY great man.  Can't wait to see the final project, I'm itching here to see this.  I need to find which figure I have around here that belongs in that tank so I can get it painted up and in there, get some stowage going on, and finish the weathering.  I want a finished tank and I want it now.  LOL.  Ok so I want it done by Tuesday for the monthly club meeting/contest.  Not to mention it'd be a pity for the host of the GB not to finish in time.

I hear and sympathise. I'm painting my butt off here, but the weather is really wet, which is slowing down drying times. I'm really hoping to be done on time, but I might just miss it.

Well, back to the bench...

I have a little sample of the advance I achieved in the Tamiya Mark I Merkava. The first image is the turret with details protected by micro-mask, and the extensive parts wich do not have special paint were properly masked; I used a cheap low adhesion tape. By the way, maybe you'll have to click on the empty space to see the images, because I fear imageshack is failing again.


The second image si the same turret after paint with Rust-oleum American Accents Sand-stone light color paint. I think the finnish is almost perfect.

The third image is the hull after spraying the Sand-stone paint all suface details were masked with micro mask, and tape was applied ontly at the perimeter of the deck.

I hope this proposal will become handy to the group.
My Revell Merkava MkIII in 1/72 is almost done now.

Greetings from Mexico,

Polikarpov Mesteño

Just a favor,

Does anyone know how long are the Merkava III antennas?

Greetings from Mexico,

Polikaprov Mesteño

Hi all,

With two days to go, I'm taking a dive at the Academy Merkava II to try to finish it. I don't have a lot of air left in my cylinder and I'm not sure if I could replace it before the deadline, but we'll see what I can do. No PE -- it'll take better hands than mine to learn how to fold that stuff (I need to try annealing). So, OOB except for the PE basket floor and Eureka tow cables, plus scratched periscopes and antennae.

Here are some new WIP shots. This is how I keep track of separate wheels and rims:

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Here she is dismantled again and ready for the paintshop:

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Mudflaps and exhausts sprayed Tamiya flat black:

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And masked off:

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It's been quite impossible to get hold of Model Master Israeli Sand Gray, so I'm going to use Academy's mixing suggestion, 80% buff, 10% dark gray and 10% green. I'll use Tamiya acrylics so I can paint indoors, and follow up with oil wash weathering.

The topside guns I'll paint separately, and I'll experiment with Microscale clear flat on the vinyl tires to block the shine. MiG pigments should finish the job, hopefully on the due date.

The axles and turret rotation ring are now masked. My next job -- mix that color and see how it looks.

Cheers,

Mike/TB379

EDIT: The ratio was pretty good, but compared to pics on this thread it looked too dark, so I ligtened it with flat white. 10% first -- not enough, so I increased it to 25% white and it looks spot-on. Just as Academy tinted their plastic to a perfect German Dunkelgelb for their Tiger, they created a pretty good approximation of Israeli Sand Gray for their Merk, so that the paint was almost invisble as it went on. (Odd, to the naked eye the plastic looks green!) I have the turret, hull and skirts put into their base color at this time, and will need to mix more to do the wheels.

UPDATE: Wheels are done and there are three bars' pressure left in my cylinder, that should be plenty for the tracks plus a fade coat on the top. Okay, tracks -- they look pretty grubby in pics. They seem to be a cleated track, no pads at all? Metallic grays, or does the steel oxidize to a brown value? Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

polikarpov_mesteno wrote:

Just a favor,   Does anyone know how long are the Merkava III antennas?   Greetings from Mexico,   Polikaprov Mesteño

I'm not sure P M. I think that they are pretty long. I believe there are some pictures earlier in the thread that might help you, but as to exact lengths, I don't know.

Otherwise, you model is looking real nice. Could use bigger pictures.

Thunderbolt379 wrote:

Hi all, With two days to go, I'm taking a dive at the Academy Merkava II to try to finish it. I don't have a lot of air left in my cylinder and I'm not sure if I could replace it before the deadline, but we'll see what I can do. No PE -- it'll take better hands than mine to learn how to fold that stuff (I need to try annealing). So, OOB except for the PE basket floor and Eureka tow cables, plus scratched periscopes and antennae. Here are some new WIP shots. This is how I keep track of separate wheels and rims: ... It's been quite impossible to get hold of Model Master Israeli Sand Gray, so I'm going to use Academy's mixing suggestion, 80% buff, 10% dark gray and 10% green. I'll use Tamiya acrylics so I can paint indoors, and follow up with oil wash weathering. The topside guns I'll paint separately, and I'll experiment with Microscale clear flat on the vinyl tires to block the shine. MiG pigments should finish the job, hopefully on the due date. The axles and turret rotation ring are now masked. My next job -- mix that color and see how it looks. Cheers, Mike/TB379 EDIT: The ratio was pretty good, but compared to pics on this thread it looked too dark, so I ligtened it with flat white. 10% first -- not enough, so I increased it to 25% white and it looks spot-on. Just as Academy tinted their plastic to a perfect German Dunkelgelb for their Tiger, they created a pretty good approximation of Israeli Sand Gray for their Merk, so that the paint was almost invisble as it went on. (Odd, to the naked eye the plastic looks green!) I have the turret, hull and skirts put into their base color at this time, and will need to mix more to do the wheels. UPDATE: Wheels are done and there are three bars' pressure left in my cylinder, that should be plenty for the tracks plus a fade coat on the top. Okay, tracks -- they look pretty grubby in pics. They seem to be a cleated track, no pads at all? Metallic grays, or does the steel oxidize to a brown value? Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

That's a good looking model for right out of the box. For the tracks, are the link and length or rubberband style? When I painted my Merk, the tracks had no pads on them. I kept it simple and painted the tracks a mix of Raw Umber and Rust, washed them w/ Burnt Umber and Black, then drybrushed w/ Steel.

I've come to the conclusion that I can't finish my build on time. Spot washes and drybrushing are taking forever, and the more I look at it, the more tiny detail painting the kit needs. For example, each engine has a pair of shock absorbers on the mounting struts; I could leave them as is, but that just wouldn't look right. The gatling gun needs lots more detail too.

Looks like a modified badge for me.

Due to time constraints, because of the economy and other BS which is far beyond the scope of this entire forum so I won't get into, I haven't had the time to work on mine in like 2 weeks.  I know current situations have given most if not all of you problems with being able to get the time to work on your kits.  There are things that take priority to building.  I just enrolled back in school so I can finally finish my degree, so that's going to cut even more into my time.  As a result of all this, I'm going to extend the deadline.  The new deadline is more or less open.  I will trust you all to make your judgement calls.  I just want you guy sto finish, and you can make the judgement on "in reasonable time" based upon your own situation.

I have a bottle of MM Israeli Sand, but due to the weather up here(always being wet and windy) I was unable to use it, and instead though inaccurate I painted mine with British Sand(since the Israeli was enamel and the British was acrylic), and I hope to overcome that at least somewhat using the Israeli sand as a weathering agent.  If I could figure out a way I would repaint the whole thing with the Israeli sand since the weather has been good the past few days.

Cosmic J -- thanks for the tips. They're vinyls, and pretty well detailed both sides. Okay, going by your approach, it'll be the same technique as for my previous builds, spray the tracks an earth/rust base color, wash to darken recesses and drybrush to highlight ground contact points. Thanks!

Fantacmet -- thanks for the extension! Even working like crazy today I'd probably have done a below-par job, and I have a tightly-deadlined project in hand as well (for publication) which I really need to finish as well. This way I can come back to the Merk and do her proper justice in a few days.

I've been very impressed by the color mix, it looks different under different lighting conditions, just like the real thing. I used Academy's recommendation, then modified it. My ratio was as follows:

Tamiya XF-57 Buff -- 80%, XF-63 Panzer Gray 10%, FX-5 Green 10%.

That makes 100%. By itself this was too dark, I lightened it with XF-2 White, an addition of 25% of the previous total. I then thinned the whole batch by 50% with X-20A and it went on a dream. I needed to mix extra, one third as much again, to do the wheels, so for my next Israeli tank I'll mix a larger amount to begin with, probably 120 drops of Buff, 15 each of Grey and Green, and 38 White, plus 95 of thinner, that should be enough for the whole thing.

Cheers,

Mike/TB379

fantacmet wrote:

Due to time constraints, because of the economy and other BS which is far beyond the scope of this entire forum so I won't get into, I haven't had the time to work on mine in like 2 weeks.  I know current situations have given most if not all of you problems with being able to get the time to work on your kits.  There are things that take priority to building.  I just enrolled back in school so I can finally finish my degree, so that's going to cut even more into my time.  As a result of all this, I'm going to extend the deadline.  The new deadline is more or less open.  I will trust you all to make your judgement calls.  I just want you guy sto finish, and you can make the judgement on "in reasonable time" based upon your own situation.

Yay! Y'all can't see it, but I'm doin' my little happy dance...

Thank you fantacmet. Much appreciated!

Thunderbolt379: Your welcome. Glad to be of service.

This is my Revell Germany 1/72 Merkava MkIII. It has almost the same pieces a 1/35 has. Iit was begun in September 2008, and it is practically finished, Unfortunately the light sand dust (maybe in the Jerusalem area) is hard to notice. Israeli tanks have codes on maybe canvas pieces hanging from the sides of the turret "basket" (excuse my English I just forgot the word). Do you have any suggestions to make those pieces of cloth?

Thanks a lot.

Greetings from Mexico,

Polikarpov Mesteño

Sorry to have been away for a bit. I had a thing. Y'all know how it is...

I ain't giving up though.

Interior of the turret is done, and the seam has been filled and painted. Mr Surfacer 500 was very useful here. I don't know if anyone will be able to see these details once the completed gun and spotlight are in place, but there it is.

Applying washes to the pieces and hull now.

...

Ok, here she is w/ the washes applied to the panel lines. It took a long time to do because this sucker is way bigger than any model I've ever done this to before, and it's got a lot of panel lines. Whew!

This is most of the bits:

Closer on the little parts:

Hull:

Cargo bed:

You can see a glossiness on some of the pieces; this is because the washes aren't completely dry. Over the next couple of days (and a final layer of Dullcote) the surface will have a nice matte finish.

I assembled the engines and you can see the fans from both the top and bottom. I like it. I also painted lots of little details like the tail lights and the bare steel sections of the compression cylinders on the engines.

Next step is drybrushing, which will tone down some of the gaudiness and bring the edges of details into sharp relief.

CosmicJ, very nice work.

P_M, try either lead foil from the top of a wine bottle (what I prefer) or facial tissue stiffened with diluted white glue.

Nice to see you guys plugging away on these. I can definitely sympathize with the issue of not much time to model.

Thanks for the understanding. I got started on this thing about 3 months after the start of the build, so I figure if I get it done in about a month I'm still ahead, if that makes any sense.

P_M: I agree w/ RBaer. At that scale, tissue dampened w/ diluted white glue should do you right. and it can be shaped any way you like before it dries.

Finished drybrushing all the major and minor components, getting close to the end now. I still have some minor detail painting to get to, like power cables and such, and I'll be applying deacals and dry transfers before I Dullcote the whole thing.

Comparisons of the painting process. Base paint. Post shading. Drybrushing.

Thank you White, I appreciate the compliment about the paint.  It wasn't difficult, but it was really time consuming to do; I've spent about 16 hours in painting this guy so far. It's good to be almost done.

I showed my progress to my wife, and she said "All that painting, and it's still green." 

So like I said, thanks. It's nice when someone else "gets it".

Well, I'm calling it done, at least for now. It's not weathered yet, I'm waiting to figure out what kind of display I want to do first, so I can avoid handling it once the powders and such go on.

I finished painting the detail parts. The gun in particular has lots of little bits, including a camera/light fixture, a targeting screen and three ammunition feed belts.

I added some MV lenses for the headlights, and the top-mounted searchlight. I was afraid they might look like craft store rhinestones, but I think they came out ok.

I added Verlinden Dry transfers for markings. Not many, because most Israeli vehicles don't carry many markings.

I replaced the antenna w/ a length of .010 brass wire, painted black. I also didn't like the power cable on the seismic sensor, so I made a new one out of 1mm spring tube and wire. It hangs much better than the kit supplied cable.

After that, a final layer of Dullcote to seal it up and level out the color layers.

So, can I get a badge now? 

RBaer wrote:

Very, very nicely done!

Thank you.

Cosmic J "Magnificent" work M8, As you can see I'm back at my scratch building on my Mk. III turret. I hope to have the turret basket and othere small details added later to day.

Here you can see what I added and what I have fixed.