Hi folks,

Am looking for any feedback from those who have either built or seen the I.D.F. MERKAVA MK III by Academy. Is it any good in terms of accuracy?

Heres a photo of it for those of you who dont yet know which kit im referring to.



Couldnt really find any reviews on this kit here on armorama or on Terry Ashley's site hence the motivation for this post.

If little is known about this kit, i might just take the blind plunge and write up a review on it after.

In the meantime, would love to hear back from anyone who knows more about this kit.

I'm building one, or to be more precise I'm using it as a base for the Legend IIID conversion
https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/75133&page=1
What can I say...
It seems to be quite accurate regarding the wheels and suspension. In fact the "rubber" part of the road wheels are separate black plastic rings that snap into the wheels (very convinient). I'm using the latest generation of all steel wheels from the Legend kit too.
The spacing of the wheels seems very correct and the top deck (when compared with the Legend kit) has very fine and crisp detail.
The same for the turret and side armor plates.
If you want to make a better kit , Legend sells several parts separately (side armor) turret (several versions) etc etc.
The ball and chain armor on the turret is nade of solid white metal parts on the original kit or, again, Legend sells a kit for doing them (60 in total I believe...)
Anyway I think that it is an excellent kit OOB.
If you want it a little better, Eduard makes a detail set for it.
If you want to go even further, Legend is the way to go.
All variants and options are available from them.

Jeremy, the kit is good for what it is, unfortunately that's not the production Merk Mk 3. The kit is based on the proto-type Mk 3 at Latrun in Israel and is not a very accurate model of the actual production Mk 3. There are numerous errors, most of which are high lighted in this review from Track-link:

http://www.track-link.net/reviews/k491

That said it still builds into a nice model, and as Antonio mentioned, if you want to go that extra mile Legend is the way to go.

Cheers,
Mike

I have just built this kit for the Modern Armor campaign. Pics in my gallery.
Nice kit to build. Did not come with chains for some reason.
No problems during build though and I am sure the 'extras' would make it even better.
Tony

I have built this Merkava, but only as a base for Legend Productions conversions. The academy kit has some errors such as the rubber rimmed wheels. The lightening holes on the drive sprokets are missing and are pretty crucial for lower hull accuracy. The turret basket is way off with the bars being round not flat like academy makes it. The hull baskets on the rear are nice but for better detail you can go with legends hull baskets and side skirt details which are much better and are more accurate. As for the wheels, most merk III's have steel wheels as the prototype which this model is based off of in Latrun museum in Israel are rubber. You could put a couple of the kit wheels along with the steel wheels as the IDF tends to mix and match things at times. The guns on the turret are much too big and the ball and chains are far from realistic. You don't have to buy a turret or conversion set from Legend to make this more accuarte. You could purchase the hull basket and side skirt set for around 20 USD, and the ball and chain set for the merks for about 15-20 USD. This would add more crisp details to your model. Good luck, and keep us updated. Just so you know I am in the process of building 4 Merkavas with the 5th in my display case. Hope that helps.

Ah yes i remember seeing that in the Gallery. Is there any chance you could show me more photos of the kit you build. Im not too worried about whether its the prototype version etc. I just like the look of the tank which is usually a good enough reason for me to buy it.

If possible, it would be appreciated if you could email it to me at [email protected] otherwise post in your gallery for all to see.

Hi there,

I just finished building that kit a little while ago. I'm just starting to play with armour and thought it was a good build. The only issue I had was with the tracks, they weren't long enough so I sewed them together with a gap under the skirts so it wouldnt be noticed.

Cheers

Ray

Is this a typical issue with this kit or was this an isolated incident where the tracks werent long enough?

Tony did you have that problem with the tracks?

The tracks are useless Jazza, I had the same problem where they were not long enough so I just glued them to the wheel under the side skirt so it cant be seen. Id have to say that whilst they are expensive, Fruils MK3 tracks are far superior and look simply awsome painted up.

Hey Rob, could you point me to potential good Fruil tracks that i could use for this kit?

I'm not Rob but here you go...


I have a set and they are nice and IMHO really improve the look of the model.

Cheers,
Mike

Mike beat me to it! Yer they are the ones, far less annoying than the rubber ones (and these are link by link so thats saying something) If you need some I might be able to get you some for a bit cheaper, I know a chap who gets them cheap.

Yup, they are awesome. I got my Friul set today and the detail is excellent.
The links are a bit wider than the original plastic tracks, but they must be correct since they are as wide as the separate links that come with the Legend conversions (it's 2 against one).
When you guys said that the originals were short you got me thinking... Why weren't they short in my kit.
I know the reason now... The all steel wheels from Legends are smaller in diameter than the original ones and that's enough for them to fit.
Anyway, enough writing and back to the bench to build the Friul set

Ive got the MK3 fruils coming in the post! Fruils are surprisingly easy to make and I find them actually easier than trying to melt rubber tracks together, ahve fun Antonio-they can be a bit fiddly!

Cheers for that Mike. Those cost about NZ$55 a pop....i see what you guys mean by expensive.




Does your friend have an online store? Im not sure how much cheaper its going to be for me when converting from pounds to kiwi dollars. Just multiply it by three.

Even though its expensive, im still kinda tempted. I might just end up placing an order for it. Thanks for all the info guys!

Hey Jazza,

just recieved the latest copy of AFV Modelling and there is a build article in there aboutteh Merk III. The guy does use the Legend conversion kit, but he also includes info abotu scratch building the details to turn the mid 90's Academy Merk into a LIC(low intensity Combat) Merk III. There is also a a photo article on the Merk III.....all of which maybe of help to you?

http://www.afvmodeller.com/home/

Regards from the Swamp

Hawkeye