Mirror, mirror on the wall...so who makes them and which is the best/better of the pick? I've seen Academy and Tamiya, who else?

Tamiya makes the original Merkava I. Academy does the more modern Merkava II and III. Answer depends on which variant you want.

Hi Mike,
Basicly, what Rob said. To go just a little more in depth the Tamiya Mk 1 is a nice kit of one of the original tanks. The Academy Mk II is also a very nice kit, both of these are pretty accurate OOTB. The Academy Mk III has some glaring accuracy issues as it was based on the proto-type tank and many things were changed for the actual production version. That being said, would it "look" like a Mk III when built? Yes. These are the only kits in styrene that are any good on the market (in 1/35). Now if you want to talk resin and PE AM stuff, that's a whole different conversation. If you have any more questions let me know, the Merk is one of my favorite AFV's and though I'm not the most informed person on the subject I have done a good bit of reading, and web searching on it.

Cheers,
Mike

What are the primary differences between the different Mks?

I was thinking about a IDF dio myself; but like the Bosina conflict I couldn't really find any info or pictures. I found just alot of newspaper stories.

Happy Modeling
(++) 1:35

Between the initial Mk I and Mk II visually there is not a lot of difference. Probably one of the most noticable things is the ball and chain armor on the rear of the turret. The side skirts and their brackets were different, a larger bustle rack on the turret, and add-on armor on the turret are a few of the differences. It was when the IDF started updating the Mk II that other things began to show up, stowage bins added to the rear of the tank, more add-on armor on the hull and turret. Even with all this they still looked very similar until the Mk 2D came along. It had the modular armor package added to the turret and it took on the "flying saucer" look. The Mk III still has the Merk look, front engine, turret on the rear of the hull, but the turret looks different. It also was up-gunned from the 105 to a 120 main gun. The road wheels and treads were of different design also. These are just some of the main differences that come to mind while I'm sitting here in front of the computer. There are others and of course many internal changes that wouldn't be seen.

Mike

Tom, you want photos check out the link below, there are plenty.

Mike, there are many pics of the different Merks on this site, even grouped into different galleries.

http://www.waronline.org/en/IDF/index.htm

Cheers guys,
Mike

Mike,

if you want a Peace for Galilee tank get the Tamiya Mk.1 and you can finish it OOTB.

from 85' till the early ninties Academy's Mk.II would be cool (I built the version with the minerollers and its a very good kit and includes white metal ball and chain and PE bustle floor).

to make anything newer than that you need to go aftermarket which means you need a deep wallet.
btw, without aftermarket resin Academy's Mk.III can only resemble the prototype at the museum in Latrun.