Am not new to modelling or armor. Am new to 'modern' armor though.

Picked up Academy's Merkava Mark II with KMT 4 Mine Roller kit. Was wondering if the 'mine roller' was and/or is used commonly in the IDF? Or is this a kit of some proto-type or little used variant? Just trying to figure out in my own mind if I want to build the kit with or without the mine roller attached. Looking for some experienced advice!


Glenn

It is used quite often by the IDF on MBT's and engineer vehicles. It is absolutely correct to see it on the Merk II. The roller itself will require some tweaking however.

Thanks for your reply! Can you explain 'tweaking'?

Glenn

Glenn,

If you decide to not use the mine roller drop me a PM. I would be interested in purchasing it from you with all the associated mounting parts.

Haven't decided yet.

Glenn

Have another question!

Have read on some other forums that Academy's Merkava Mk II turret is considered 'in-accurate'. The Legend resin turret 'corrects' some of the problems. I can find the Legend turret for $34, which is more than I paid for the kit. Are the 'in-accuracies' on the Academy turret that bad that spending another $34 is worth it? Has anyone gone that route? Were you satisfied? Or no?

Am not trying to get a fight going at all. Am trying to reconcile in my own mind whether or not to spend the extra money or not....that's all!


Glenn

Aside from the unfortunate placement of a lot of the knockout pins, there were some pretty large sinkholes on the outboard portion of the "arms." That's just usual modeling stuff, though.
There were also several missing lift rings, but the worst part was the rollers themselves - the shape of the teeth was totally off, they appeared more like nubs in the kit. I gave up on them and used them as is.
I have a Maquette/RPM? mine roller somewhere. If memory serves me, those rollers had a more correct pattern, but as I can't access it at the moment I don't know. If so, a combination of the two kits might be the way to go....

If you get stumped for answers here....you should register on this site and post your question.....

http://idf-in-scale.com/forum/phpBB3/index.php