hello all, thanks for reading! I have the AFV kit #35159, IDF Sho't Centurion Mk.5, Mk.5/1, 1967 early type, and am curious to know what changes were made to the Yom Kippur war/1973 version? Anyone know?

I have also noticed the Accurate Armour Israeli SHO’T 1967-73, P/N C078, but besides the addition of the seach light, there appears to be no real difference between that conversion and the kit.

Can I just get the Accurate Armour IDF 1960’s Standard AFV Searchlight, can I just get this and call it a day?

Thanks!

Below are reviews of each kit at PMMS. You should be able to tell the differences from reading them.

Sho't '67

Sho't Kal '73

The AFV kit #35159, IDF Sho't Centurion Mk.5, bills itself as an 1967 early type, but when I researched these way back in the day, by the six day war most had significant changes to what you get in the kit. For one thing, they were up-gunned with the British L7 105 mm gun. Those that were went through other upgrades at the same time. The rear hull was extended downward with steel plate to incorporate more fuel capacity. The grill at the upper rear was plated over and a fuel filler cap was added. Because of that, louvers had to be added to the radiator doors to facilitate better cooling. The hooded lights centered on the glacis were also replaced with round headlights. Sho'ts that underwent these changes also received a searchlight stowage bin on the rear of the turret. I've been told it was also a visual aid so that tanks could quickly be distinguished from the rear between the up-gunned ones and those that still retained the 20 pdr. Who knows if it's true, but photos bear out that it does indeed only show up on the up-gunned version.
The 1973 kit has a whole new engine deck to facilitate the new engine pack, and still retains the rear fuel cell. The fender stowage arrangement was also rearranged, and also had the air filter boxes added. It also seems that the smoke dischargers were largely removed during this time frame. These version also received US style light clusters just inboard of the front fenders.
You can make a more "accurate" '67 version by taking the rear hull from the '73 kit, or just scratchbuild it.
The Accurate Armour '67 Sho't incorporates many of the changes I outlined earlier, but failed to include the fuel cell cover plate. It's a fine kit, and is a better starting point for what I guess you would call a "late '67" version.

Old Tamiya kit, started in '84, finished in '96, before any other kits came out.













I've sold the '73 conversions I've done over the years and never botherd to take pics , but this later version shows the rear deck. Biggest difference is the barrel shroud and ERA.

Thanks guys, y'all are the BEST!

Looks like I need to go with Accurate Armour's conversion as mentioned above, That is fine, even though I live here in the US, the guy that runs it over in Scotland is a fine bloke and easy to work with!

I believe two sets of these filters from Canon and Company are what you'll need for the doors.

Kit #35159 can be used to represent a vehicle of the Six Days War. You can either use the 20 pdr or the L7. (First 1000 kits had both barrels, after that you only get the 20 pdr.) If you want an L7 that can fit the AFV CLub kit try getting the ABER barrel.

For a Yom Kippur War Shot you need either the Accurate Armour Conversion set and kit #35159 or only AFV Club kit #35124 which contains all the neccessary parts to do an upgraded Shot, as used in the YKW. Kit #35124 is pretty rare to find in Europe but people in the US have had better luck.

What the Accurate Armour set provides is the extended rear hull that the upgraded Shot tanks during the YKW.

This is not exactly true. The IDF used 20 pdr armed vehicles during the Six Day War. They even captured Jordanian Centurions with the early 20 pdr barrel, without the bore evacuator.





The IDF started upgrading the Shot after the Six Day War. By the time the Yom Kippur War started the IDF had both upgraded Shot tanks and converted Shot Cals. Both types were used in the war.



Nope, one does not need the longer rear hull to make a Six Day War Shot.

You may be right, however I think you missed this part:

"but when I researched these way back in the day, by the six day war most had significant changes to what you get in the kit. For one thing, they were up-gunned with the British L7 105 mm gun. Those that were went through other upgrades at the same time."

I italicized the word MOST for a reason: According to the VERY few references available at the time (1984) indeed most of the photos showed the extended rear hull. The term "those that were" also signifies NOT ALL were. Remember, even up through the early 90's when the build was finally on its last legs, the internet was a novelty reserved mainly for the government and science geeks.

I based my build mainly on these photos (and text) available to me at the time. Even now the preponderance of photos seem to bear out what I said. Photos 301 through 340 show a majority to be 105 gunned, extended hull version. Yes, photos 319 and 323 are clearly from 1973. 319 is simply a close up version of photo 340.

https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/260992&ord=&page=3

These don't include others I used not found in that thread.





And this one that IS in the above thread I attribute to '67 because of the caption and the headgear.



So, yes, you CAN built the AFV Club '67 kit and have fun with it. I have done so myself for others and will continue to do so if the price is right.



I even still do the occasional Tamiya or Academy kit just for fun.



Meanwhile I will stick by the fact that 105's were VERY common in '67.

Ironically when I went looking for AFV Club 35124 I couldn't find a U.S. dealer who had it, but a non-hobby retailer in Ireland had one listed on Amazon so that's where I got it. I wonder sometimes why certain kits don't show up in some markets if there is a demand for them. Is it low production rates, poor distribution, or companies won't sell certain items in certain areas (like maybe a Japan-only version of a kit which isn't exported to the U.S., or company A sells company B's kit under company A's label but can't sell it in Europe, whatever)? In some cases it's probably just a poor distributor, in others I think there are region-specific kits for whatever reason.

I did not say that the 105mm was not the commonest gun, I just noted that there were 20 pdr Centurions used in the Six Day War.

The photos you posted are vehicles in the Negev Desert during the Six Day War. An easy way to tell if an upgraded Shot is Six Day War or later is by the antenna mounts. By the term upgraded Shot I mean a vehicle with the longer hull, L7 gun, front headlights on the middle of the glacis etc.



P.S. So you are the reason why AFV Club Centurion kits are sparse...

EDIT: And to prove that anything is possible with the IDF:

I've been asked if I had any clarification. Might as well post these photos here. here.