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Armor/AFV: IDF [Israeli Defense Forces]
Armor and AFVs of the IDF army from 1947-today.
Hosted by Darren Baker
Did the Merkava 1 have no-skid paint?
Kalmar
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Michigan, United States
Joined: January 16, 2006
KitMaker: 17 posts
Armorama: 17 posts
Posted: Tuesday, February 17, 2009 - 08:50 AM UTC
The Merkava 1, at least the ones in Beruit, do not appear to have much of a anti-skid coating. The Tamiya boxtop shows a smooth surface. Does anyone know if the anti-skid started with the Merkava 2?
18Bravo
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Colorado, United States
Joined: January 20, 2005
KitMaker: 7,219 posts
Armorama: 6,097 posts
Posted: Tuesday, February 17, 2009 - 08:53 AM UTC
Yes, I have old Tank Magazine photos of them with it.
eddiev
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Louisiana, United States
Joined: October 02, 2008
KitMaker: 3 posts
Armorama: 2 posts
Posted: Wednesday, February 18, 2009 - 02:59 PM UTC
yes they did. I have a photo of a merkava 2 with it and i saw it was next to a merkava 1 with it . these are photos from an israeli museum.
eddiev
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Louisiana, United States
Joined: October 02, 2008
KitMaker: 3 posts
Armorama: 2 posts
Posted: Friday, February 20, 2009 - 04:00 PM UTC
THIS MAY HELP. IT SHOWS NON SKID PAINT ON MERKAVA 1 AND 2.

http://xbradtc.wordpress.com/2009/01/08/merkava/

junglejim
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Alberta, Canada
Joined: February 18, 2003
KitMaker: 1,728 posts
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Posted: Saturday, February 21, 2009 - 03:39 PM UTC
Well, being museum tanks, I would think the anti-skid is there more to protect the visitors from slipping off and injuring themselves. Just because it's on a museum vehicle isn't a good indicator of real life.

Jim
andymacrae
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Scotland, United Kingdom
Joined: September 01, 2005
KitMaker: 409 posts
Armorama: 402 posts
Posted: Monday, February 23, 2009 - 04:06 AM UTC
Gary is correct. At the time of Operation Peace For Galilee there was no anti-skid paint on Merkava 1's. It may have been added later but I don't know exactly when.

Beware of using vehicles at Latrun as refs as they are often protoypes, hybrids and "museum" vehicles which aren't always representative of in-service AFVs.

HTH
Andy
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