Hi,

Today the mail man dropped at my door step a sweet package from a very nice guy Mr Kitmaker Network Here in this post I'll try to build this great kit, give some comments about the fit quality and maybe I will even get to the paint job (just have to find some source on which colours the IDF tanks should be painted with). Today I post the contents of the box and the real build will start mid may as we are getting to a quite a long weekend in France and I'm will be going on a nice long 5 days trip.

Few words about Merkava Mk3 BAZ... I don't really know anything about (beside the fact it's an Israeli tank) so I'll just put the Wikipedia description:

The Merkava Mark III was introduced in December 1989, and had upgrades to the drivetrain, powertrain, armament, and electronic systems. The most prominent addition was the incorporation of the locally developed IMI 120 mm gun.[13] This gun and a larger 1,200 horsepower (890 kW) diesel engine increased the total weight of the tank to 65 tonnes (140,000 lb), but the larger engine increased the maximum cruising speed to 60 km/h (37 mph).

The turret was re-engineered for movement independent of the tank chassis, allowing it to track a target regardless of the tank's movement. Many other improvements were made, including:

External two-way telephone for secure communications between the tank crew and dismounted infantry,

Upgraded ammunition storage containers to minimize ammunition cook-off,

Addition of laser designators,

Incorporation of the Kasag modular armor system, designed for rapid replacement and repair in the battlefield and for quick upgrading as new designs and sophisticated materials become available,

Creation of the Mark IIIB, with unspecified armor upgrades.

BAZ System

The 1995 Mark III BAZ (Hebrew Acronym signifying Barak Zoher) had many improved and additional systems including:

Upgraded fire-control system components, from Electro Optics Industries (EL-OP) and Elbit Ltd, provides the tank with the ability to engage moving targets while on the move (an automatic target tracker),

NBC protection systems,

Locally developed central air-conditioning system,

Added improvements in ballistic protection,

The Mark IIID has removable modular composite armor on the chassis and turret.


Let's get to work now. The kit comes in a big and quite heavy box. All parts are moulded (very nicely) in a medium grey styrene (I will tell you more about it when the construction starts). I hope the styrene is not the same as the one from the Minenraumer kit which I found too soft.

Contents pictures:







































See you soon

Oh yeah. I've been more than a little bit curious on this one....

Hi Pawel,
Glad it got there okay! Have fun building it.

Cheers,
Jim

thanks Jim, yeah it came quite quickly and without any overcharge

Apparently the base kit (without mine device) had single links tracks instead of vinyl. Cost cutting ....

Any idea on how to imitate the anti slipping coat?

Hi,

So here we go. For now I skipped he wheels in step 1.


Step 2 beginning of the running gear



Step 3 is adding small pieces on the lower hull. No real problem the fit was tight sometimes but with very little sending all is ok. The Lower hull had some little flash at the back. Nothing really that can't be handled within 2 minutes



Iskipped the spare links at the back they will be glued at the very end of the project






That's it for now.

I was looking here and there how to add the anti slip coat. I found few solutions. Texturing paints (in a can) with a lot of masking and another (seen here on A by Heavy Arty) with the usage of white glue and some kind of powder. Would a fine send do the trick? Any input on this will be kindly welcomed.

thx

spit

Hi,

To get the anti slip on the kit I use ground cinnamon with water based white glue. First paint the area with acrylic paint and let dry. Then coat with white glue the sprinkle the ground cinnamon and shake off or use a blow dryer to get rid of the excess, let dry and then paint it with the camouflage colour of your choice. It looks good and not out of scale.

Good start Pawel,

good luck with your build.
I´l follow with interest.

cheers
Walter

Hi,

steps 4&5 are about attaching more parts to the lower hull

I would advise to add first parts B35 and only than part M34 or M35 it's just easier to see when it could go (beside the picture in the manual there's nothing to show you the very right position of the plate with numbers)







step 6 road wheels: Finally I added them now, I've chosen the option of all steel wheels

Hi,

It's not going as quickly as I would like to but... here we have some progress:

I put the tracks on to see ho it looks (they are glued with a CA glue)



the very nice rear baskets:



the rear door (should be workable but I had some troubles as it didn't want to fit were well so... it's not workable)



and the first problem

the upper hull is a bit warped at the front and the grille which should make the connections has very small gluing surface. I've tried few times even with the CA glue but it doesn't hold. Another session this evening.



cheers

spit

I am just finishing this kit and had the same front hull warpage. Fair warning, you are gonna have to kill yourself to get the engine cover in. I had to do a side a day, letting my cement fully cure. Be ready with some clamps to make it work. Good luck to ya!

Julian you should never use food products when modelling as it will get attacked by insects sooner or later.

Pawel I would try the terracotta textured paint supplied in a spray can. While I have not used the product myself I have seen some great applications by others. I use chinchilla dust with PVA glue, but I have had occasions when it comes away.

I like the Terracotta spraypaint myself. Definitely stay away from the food products though.

Hi,

sorry for the long break. I will be back this evening with some new photos. I still haven't decided the way to create the anti slipping surface. I bought a texture paint in a can but still find the other way (with white glue) simpler to do. A lot of masking with the paint in a can.

spit

I have used ground cinnamon many times and has been painted over with acrylic paint and has NEVER been attacked by insects. It looks very true to scale and the grains are not all the same size as on the real vehicle.

Ok here we go.

steps 12, 13 (minus mud guards), (minus bolts) and 16 minus pioneer tools. What can I say about this part of the build.... The engine deck is .. horrible to build. Frankly speaking I'm not used to such flaws... It's done but I'm not proud od the outcome. Mr Mend could have engineer this part much better (or just design the upper hull one part).







more quite soon.

spit

I use embossing powder along with future floor wax for my anti slip material and it works just great.

Mike

Hi,

The upper hull is finished. After the engine deck problems it all went well. Just be careful when cutting off the sprue parts C6 and C7. One of them broke while taking them off the sprue.









see you soon

spit

I tend to believe that. One painted, it should be safe. The one thing I would caution against used to be used quite a bit back in the day: baking soda. Even painted, over time, it begins to grow crystals which can get fairly large. I saw a Shep Paine Merkava diorama in Japan, among others, that had this occur, and it looked horrible.

Hi,

Some progress:

step 20 , the barrel. It's made of around 17 parts. The fit is not bad but some sanding after putting all parts together is necessary.






steps 21-26, basic turret. Once again no big, big problems however the fit is not so perfect as in Tamiya or DML kits. Especially the part L9 presented some fit difficulties.











step 27 (choice 1) the rear basket. All parts fit very well. special care should be taken while cutting off the sprue parts with the chain balls which may brake quite easily.





nice addition from Meng, moulded tarps (very nicely done!)



see you soon for more

spit

Hi,

vacation are finished and so I can get back to modelling.

here's is the finished turret





Let's be frank some adjustments could be better, the manual seems very clear but when it come to the machine guns (quite difficult to put together) you must guess where some parts should exactly go as even if very clear the instructions are not very precise in some points. A bit of deception...

The mine roller assembly (also a bit tricky)

the arms



the connector




the wheels



and the whole thing together



when putting together the roller (step 52) it's important to glue ASAP the part P14 which will hold the whole thing. Put together first parts 4xP23/P2/P4/V/T/P21T/V/P4/P17 and than P14 and leave parts P22 and P13/P12 for the very end.

Tomorrow I'll try to post pics of the finished build.

spit

Ok here's the finished model











I must say Meng have chosen a quite interesting subject but still there is some room for improvement of quality of the kit especially adjustments (in this case some turret parts and the upper hull).

Hope you liked it.

bye

Spit

Nice build, bring on the paint!!

Pawel,

Excellent build! I just (finally) got this kit and will be printing out your posts as build tips (if that's ok with you). Did you ever get paint on it?

Michael