Hello friend's;

Im looking for some feedback on my Merkava. It's the Academy kit straight from the box and I guess you could say this is my first "serious" build. She's clearly not finished yet but I will update this post with her progress.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts

Cheers

The build looks fine to me but the color is bit odd. It is way too sandy.
I suggest you have a look at the other modern IDF subjects here at Armorama to have an idea of what the color should be.

Olivier

Thanks Olivier

Regarding the color i did research it in forums as well as picture reference and what a lot of people where saying and (it's often evident in photos) is that the color can often look totally different from photo to photo and vehicle to vehicle. I have observed photos of this vehicle looking quite sandy. I did ad a green dot filter to the top of the hull and turret but not yet to the hull sides and at the moment it is quite subtle.

Howzit Johnathan
Great build like youre lens on the comanders view port.But just to point out to you,the colour you used is much to sandy it should be more to the green,Humbrol 84 for a new tank and Humbrol 72 for a tank that has been exposed to the harsh desert sun.

cheers

Thanks for the input guys, Do you recommend filters to get the color darker? So far the model has had its base coat done as well as oil washes and oil dot filters. And obviously pigments on the drive train.

Try this site.

http://idfmodelling.free.fr/article01.html

G

Cool thanks, Im not sure i want to re paint the vehicle at this late stage as i have already put a lot of hours into the vehicle.

I hear ya!

Good reference for the next one.

G

That's Foreshore Wayne I will no doubt be building more Merkava's in the future (I just love em to much) and im sure i will refer to your link for ref. In the meantime i think ill finish this girl up and work on other techniques.

Hi Jonathan,
if this is your first serious build, then congratulations, you've done a great job. I agree with you that in the field condition, tha actual look of the vehicle could be significantly different from its original base colour and could be akin to your sand tone. The difference might be that the finish would be less "uniform". Maybe add bit more filter to darken the look a bit a create more color variance.
Regardless of the color, I think your weathering is well done as far as can be judged from the images.

Vlad
miniarmour.net

Thank you so much Vlad. She's nearly finished so ill post some more photo's when she's done.

Let's disreguard the (nice looking, btw) colour and say that i like the weathering very much. How's that?

Merkva is a beautiful looking tank and you've done a good job on the finnish. Regarding the colour, I don't have a clue what is the right tone or shade or even base but I do know that the subtleties of colour vary enormously between what the eye perceives looking at the model and what a camera produces and then you have differing monitor settings, lighting etc etc. This is a science of it's own. I guess if your happy with the result then that's it!

Thank you for your input everyone.

When are we getting some more pics, Im building this kit at the moment and am following this build with interest. I like your weathering and the colour is fine to me. Ive gone with a darker base coat khaki drab with mine which will lighten up as filters etc are added. It is a great kit and I am enjoying the process

Hi jonathan
Nice looking Merkava. I have not seen a tank in flesh even once. Armor modeling is my hobby. As long as you enjoy the build and have fun with the hobby, that is what matters.
Nice weathering, As some of our friends suggested, try to add some variations to the over all look and make it subtle. For your first serious build, you have done a wonderful job. Keep at it....After all there are a lot more models out there to complete
Have fun and Have a Great Day
Mukund

Keep up the good work mate !,just got mine today so i`m looking to your work for inspiration and guidance.
Did you have any problems with anything or did she go together OK ?.

Hi guys; Sorry for keeping so quiet i have been a bit out of the loop lately. More pics on the way in the upcoming days.

For those of you buiding the Merkava i would like to share some of the refrence photography i used, Just follow the links.

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

http://www.waronline.org/en/IDF/arms/merkava.htm

http://www.armyrecognition.com/israeli_israel_main_batlle_tank_uk/merkava_4_iv_main_battle_tank_israeli_army_israel_pictures_technical_data_sheet_description_identifi.html

For your 1st serious build you did a terrific job, especially with the painting and weathering. While no expert on IDF armor colors, I did take a look at your posted references, specifically the last one listed. There is a big difference between the painting and the actual photos on the same page. You can clearly see that in the photographs the color is greenish.

Applying a dark green filter will tint everything which is what you don't want as sand, dust, etc. doesn't have a green tint. So I would agree with you to leave it as is, as the desert elements will have had a great effect on the paint color over a short period of time.

Joel

Hi Danny

My apologies for updating the post so late. I have only just started work on her again this week. She went together really well. The only exceptions being the hull, which on my kit was prone to pinch which made installation of the rear hatch tricky. And the main gun barrel needed some tweaking to fix allignment.