I alwaya wanted to make the Merkava and I was waiting for the exact time.
When I saw the Legend conversion for the Academy Kit I had to have it.
It's going very very fast.
But beware... Making the turret hollow (it's a solid block of resin) is something that need a lot of work, dust mask and resistance to fatigue )
But I love the result...






Hope you like it. The looks of the tank is out of this world. I guess the designer is a fan of Star Wars. That turret looks like a ship from outer space...
Cheers

Baz, looks like a nice kit, but why did you have to hollow out the turret?

The hatch holes were almost non existant and it was incredibly heavy .
I believe they make it solid because of the mold but a Dremel can solve that. Anyway I can put figures on the hatches without cutting their legs :-) :-)

The thats one sweet looking M3D, I want to have a go at one of these myself. Ive got a 2D model ready to get started, although the fit looks a bit bad-how did you find the fit of the hull and academy lower hull with this kit? Have fun with the ball and chains aswell ive mamanged to get 10 out a total of 60 of em built for the 2D and it takes ages.
A nice built so far-be sure to keep us posted.

Well,
I was ready for the worst, being my first resin kit, but I found it quite easy to fit.
the underside of the deck is a bit rough and I had to use a small chisel and files to remove material from the channels where the academy hull goes.
Some trimming had to be done in order to install it leveled and a litle warping of the deck was solved with a strong ciano glue.
Quite frankly it was better than I expected.
The wheels are very nice but some of them have flash on the holes and I cut the holes under a magnifying glass with a very sharp xacto.
The only thing that is less bearable is the resine dust and the smell (oooh the smell... ). I cut the excess on parts with a dremel disc and even at low revs I get covered in dust...
But as I go along I can see that this is going to be a sweeet Merkava...
I have to find a way to install those balls and chains without getting mad :-) :-)

Nice work so far Antonio. This is one of, if not my favorite modern MBT's and I have one waiting in que to get back to work on. I had started on it in the Fall but unfortunately was short some parts that were not in the box when purchased. After many e-mails to Legend and finally help from fellow modelers I have everything I need and plan to get back to work on it soon. The balls & chains can be a nightmare, I know from experience, but here is the link to a nice SBS by Marcel Jussen over on the IDF Armour Group that may hopefully help.

http://idf-armour-group.org/groupforum/index.php?showtopic=642

Keep us posted on your progress!

Cheers,
Mike

Thx Mike.
That link is precious!! I see that a few already suffered with that ball and chain armor :-) :-)
I'm trying to leave that for last, just before painting coz it seems to be a daunting task..
I'll be posting pictures of the construction phases.
Cheers

Thanks for the link on assembling the turrent chains - that's going to come in handy later.

No one can say that has suffered because of models (no, not the other kind) before trying this




Legend kit - 80€
Ciano glue - 3€
Visit to the optometrist - 75€
Laser surgery - 2000€

Knowing how difficult it was to achieve - Priceless

Antonio, I feel your pain, but you're right, the end result is well worth it! Work on 10 or 15 at a time, then take a break, that way you won't go totally bonkers trying to do too many at once!

Cheers,
Mike

A small update. After a brief period of rest (due to the stress of building models :-) :-) ) the turret ball and chain armor is done.

Antonio
Really great model
the chains and balls amazing.
Good luck with the painting
cheers
seb

Antonio and Mike, Great job with the balls & chains. This maiy be a dumb queation but how exactly does that stuff work on the real thing? I not too familiar with the Merkava IIID though it is a cool tank.

From what I've read, on the Merk I the biggest vulnerability was the base of the turret.
Sagger missiles or RPG could cause destruction of the tank when they hit the turret ring.
On the Merk 2 they thought of some sort of barrier to cause the detonation of these rounds before reaching the turret base.
Then this curtain was created.
It consists of a heavy set of chains and steel balls that provide a curtain hard enough to cause detonation before the round hits the turret base.
It's the trade mark of Merkavas and they sway as the tank moves.

I'm letting them that way on the kit although it's a wise move to put a drop of thin ciano on the chains before painting with airbrush. The air flow makes them move like crazy
When i saw the firsk Merk kit I sweared I would never do this, but here I am, almost blind and with the kit almost ready to paint LOL

Wow, that looks sharp!

Well done! A really good job on those nasty little balls and chains. They look very clean and superbly done, its always a danger with something like this to get them covered in glue.

Ive found the bast way of doing them is to do 10 every week-its a long process but its stopped me going insane.

Build Update

The turret is done. I painted it with Tamiya Neutral Gray to highlight some incorrections and to blend everything (resin PE etc)

Looks very good with some paint down, this brings everything together and makes the detail stand out more. Its coming along nicely now, and I must say you have done a great job on the turret basket. Check out the latest AFV modeller mag, theres a really good MK3D by Adam O'Brian.

UPDATE

The turret is painted. Almost in the phase of detail painting and weathering.
In the pics the color seems to be a lot more brownish than under natural light (this IDF color is really difficult to reproduce. I spayed the base coat, gloss varnish then applied a wash (raw umber and black oil).
And another fine mist of the base colour a ligthened just a bit.
Not bad for my fisrt try I guess.
Anyway here goes...

Not bad he says. Antonio, you are definitely doing justice for this very cool looking tank. The color looks good from where I sit. For future reference, I believe that Model Master makes a match for IDF armor (I believe it is called Israeli Armor Sand, but don't quote me on that). Will you be putting this in a dio or adding any figures? Regardless, I can't wait to see this one finished.
Kyle

Thanks for your words

It's my first try at oil washes but I'm kind of a veteran in armor... it's the second tank I do :-) :-)
You can see the first one in my gallery (M2A2)
However a long time ago I did a lot of 1/72 planes and I was sort of mad about detail. Although I always thought that armor was another ball game.
Before I tried, I just came here and stared in amazement at the work you guys do.

The color I got has the same name and it's from Xtracrylics. But it seemed a bit too brown.
So I made my own mix with Olive green, but the flash light seems to enhance the brown in it...

I'm planning a dio and I already have some figures to go with it.

Update

I'm detailing the turret and some weathering (if not all) has been apllied. The color is more brown or more green depending on the light (geez, this a realy elusive color)
Tell me what you think. It's too much, too little etc
I'm still in a phase where I can correct it
Your input is much appreciated




I've never seen a Merkava with heavy paint chips, they just seem dirty. Dust and dirt everywhere...

Awsome! This looks very cool, and you ahve done a superb job on the painting. One thing I would say is id tone it down a little with some grey just so it isnt as brown, perhaps a light mist of tan or desert yellow just to tone the brown down a little. Other than that it looks great. keep us posted

I knew I could count on you Rob
Thanks!!
Will do that. I'm so afraid of messing it that I'm taking aal precautions before I try anything

Have a mess about with your mixture on a piece of card first, spray the colours on card just to make sure the mix is fine enough or isnt too wet then move onto the model, like you im always afraid of messing things up but if you try it our first it should be ok-you could even test on an old model.