Netflix was pretty much kaput last night, so off the the laboratory I went.
It's time for some turret joy, lots of texturing, trying to show the different components that make up the basic structure, different materials and finishes. Tamiya skated on a few things here (like the co-ax) and some weld beads (not too many pics of the top of Merk1 turrets out there) so I'm off to the races with MrSurfacer 500, .020" rod stock and MEK.


Second of pics above has a horseshoe in orange, pretty sure that's the access for the right side gun trunnion. I have some fair pics, but they are all different, so I may go with something that gives me the impression this is a half-cylinder that bolts into the horizontal portion of the turret nose. All the other pics I have that are clear enough to see detail are of Mk2's, which have this area covered by the added turret armor.
Bits and pieces:

My bargain-basement kit was also missing the gun tube, so I may end up robbing the Academy Mk2 in the stash, not a major deal since I really didn't plan on actually building it anyway. In the pics are a barrel from an ESCI Magach, the Academy barrel, and the barrel from the Mk1 I took the upper hull chunk from, so I'm still going. The Esci barrel is a nice part and will work with some minor modification, but the Academy barrel is a plug-in.
I have to say, I'm not happy until the MrSurfacer comes out.....

I may have an extra barrel so you can save your Academy kit.

I surely appreciate the offer.
I can make the ESCI Magach barrel work by shortening the tube behind the bore evacuator, and it matches up to the Tamiya barrel dimensionally other than the length.

I'm going to clean up the ESCI and Acad barrels, get some primer on both and see what I think. If I'm not happy with the ESCI barrel, I'll take you up on that offer. I'm happy to offer you something in exchange for it as well.

ESCI barrel in, right side trunnion access plug done, basket on:



I sort-of guessed on the trunnion plug, as I only found one fair-to-middlin' pic of that part of a Merk1 turret, but I think I'm pretty close. I also cut a slot on the left side of the turret nose and added a co-ax using a hypodermic needle. That took some time....

Nice one you got going there Russ

Thanks, Anthony.
I like this kind of "old school" stuff, keeps me happy.

I did the driver's periscope covers a while ago, right after I got the upper hull fixed. And, yep, there were actually quite a few parts out, but I didn't ask at all, my fault.
More today on the turret, I cleaned up the inside of the basket and did the commander's sight, once again using some Academy parts cuz the Tamiya kit was missing some. Gee, what a surprise.
I did some work on the commander's and gunner's sights, just trying to make things look a little more like what's in the pics I have of in-service Merk1's.


And the inside of the basket, minus the giant tabs in the kit:

Onward!

Wife's still in KC, so bench time last night too.
Not a real productive night, spent most of my time searching for pics of an open loader's hatch, and starting that. I also mounted the lower side skirt stays, after LOTS of clean-up.
Hatch is drilled and pinned, hinge detail will cover up holes I drilled.

Above shows the pad I ginned up. I still have to cut a relief in it for the inside handle, still looking for a decent pic of that.
And a shot showing the co-ax MG:

I've started cleaning up the commander's mortar, still pondering exactly whether or not I'll actually use it, it's pretty rough. I also trimmed up the Academy stretcher enough to mount it, looks a lot better than Tamiya's part.
Thanks for peeking, as always!

Hatch detail, sight cover, clevis rings added:



Wife's still in KC, so I'm still plugging along.

Argh. Tow cables. Two abortive attempts with kit tow cables and I got to thinking about all those T-55s and T-62s in IDF inventory, and I grabbed some cable ends from a Trump KV which look a whole lot like the ends in Tammy's T-55 kit but are drilled and complete, and I have a Merk with former Soviet tow cables. A couple more clevis hooks, the cable joiner (?) from the Acad kit and a couple of bolt heads and I can move on.
I've also added some resin bits from a Legends Merk 3C conversion in place of some of the Tamiya turret pieces, when they were actually better. Rather than try and scratch up brackets, I went ahead and used the Tamiya commander's mortar also. It's a little crude, but with a lot of clean-up and some thinning of brackets, it's better than it was. A few bits more and it's time for primer.



I have have some Tamiya Tiran figs that should work nicely here, thanks, Erik!

Norpidt…I still ponder Sean's photo of such an off-set spindle line up against the rear hull***pondering...

I don't quite understand this at all, sorry.

Matt, slippery indeed. My justification is that, without getting too philosophical, I'm on a mission.

Its looking very nice! I don't know which references you're using, but in case you missed them, you can have more fun by adding cast numbers.

YES! Pics of casting numbers! I need those, they are on the list of good detail things that I want to add.
I've seen a couple of builds that had some on the turret sides, nothing on top yet. Pics and walk-arounds all seem to concentrate on side views, and oddly enough I can't pick out any good shots of casting numbers.

Hi Russel,
Greetings from Trinidad. I'm following your build. You motivated me to start my Merkava, which mutated into me building Tamiya Merkava I, Trumpeter incorrect copy Merkava II w/ roller and Academy Merkava II. I want to take off a fender, do you have a detailed pic of a tank with a missing fender.

Kurt, have fun! Glad to see someone's enjoying my ramblings. Merkavas are fun builds until you get into that ball and chain stuff.....
I found a couple of decent pics of the right-side fender raised for maintenance on idf-modelling.com, look for the pic links on the MBT reference board. Most of the links are broken, first posted several years ago, but a few remain. For the left side, I didn't have as much luck, but I'm going on the assumption (dangerous, I know) that the very left front corner of the hull, which holds the headlight assembly, is not as heavily armored as the actual hull sides, and the very front is closed. The right side looks like there is a bulkhead behind the headlight assembly.

They were supposed to work the same as slat/bar Armour and explode any incoming RPG rounds

That's it exactly.

Legends makes a ball and chain set for the Mk2/3. But I imagine it wouldnt take much modification to get it to fit the the Mk1. However depending on the time frame your modeling, they werent fitted until they started re-equipping the Mk1's with gear from the Mk'2s, (ie, the Mk2 side skirts, rear stowage baskets, and smoke dischargers )

....which absolves me (and I really mean that) from having to do it on this model, a Merk1 from Peace for Galilee, where the need for such a thing was first appreciated. As to if it works or not, it's still on Merk4's, so they must be happy with it.
Girls' night out at the local crawfish joint, more pics:


Last night I did some foundry numbers on the turret, keeping them subtle since that's what I found in pics, added spare tracks using plastic rod and flat stock for the holders, and put the two fire bottles and the third thingie on the left rear, by the infantry phone. Pics I have show no rear-mounted spare tracks, and only one link on each side of the turret, so that's what I went with. I sleeved the hole for the driver's hatch pivot (not a kit fault, that area is part of the old Merk1 kit I scavenged to get a complete upper hull) and added some PE detail, from an old Eduard fret, origin unknown. Also added were the upper mounts for the side skirts, using plastic angle and stiffeners cut from flat stock. To do: rear mud flaps and turret MG's that I know of, anyone see anything else please sing out, and thanks for looking, as always.