Rick Saucier's (sauceman) build of a 1/35 Merkava 2, winner of the Popular Vote Beginner/Intermediate Award for the September Dragon Model of the Month contest, has been added to the On Display gallery.

Merkava 2 On Display




If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

Tremendous job on this baby, Rick! This could easily have competed as a "Master" entry! I like the weathering, and the work on the mine thing is fabulous! Congrats on your win! KARL, "the doog"

very nice..i like the whole emsemble...did you used to kit's ball/chains? they're hard to clean and paint. nice build and weathering. thanks for sharing.c

Thanks for the kind words! This build was pretty much OOB. The only addition, or should i say substitution was for the kit ball and chain armour. The kit ones are cast white metal and they want you to drill out the chain links and file the balls round, they are really egg-shaped. I used push pin heads (the kind for garment alteration, with different coloured heads) cut off the pins and filled the stub off. Then i used Wal-MArt cheap jewelry for the chains. They are fragile and when painting you have to dial down the air pressure so not to blow them off!
Some did fall off during the build and I left them off to give it the "used" look.

cheers

yo rick, first off well done on your win, love the paint job and the light weathering very effective indeed ! what were the colours you used on your merk , i,m doing an IDF m60 soon and would love to do it in that colour ! this was one for the master class, great job mate great job, CHEERS,

Thanks Tony, I'm on ex in Wainwright right now and can't remember the exact colours.

I know it was a mix 50-50 of Tamiya Buff and another colour for the base coat. I think it was Medium Grey, but i'm not 100% sure. I then lightened the next two mixes by using less grey each time. I then misted a thinned coat of buff all over concentrating on the lower sections.

Oh I also primed the entire kit with red oxide primer (automotive rattle can).

cheers

Really nice work, great weathering, especially on the rollers. The ball and chain has always scared me off a bit., nice tip on the remedy.
Cheers
Pete

not bad for an old soldier who just got back from one ex and off to another

There's a big difference between Honduras and Wainwright let me tell ya!

cheers

Very nice job. I really like the weathering.