Introduction

There was a time when if a model was not of a German subject it was thought it would not sell, but move forward to the present and that statement no longer holds water. There is now a following for a broad spectrum of armour from many countries and time periods, one of the genres that has garnered a huge following is anything covering the Israeli Defence Force. Legend Productions has been very busy adding Israeli Defence Force gems to their range of products, here I will take a look at their offering for an IDF rear towing pintle device for the Merkava tank.

Review

This offering from Legend Productions offers a nice addition for the Merkava Tank range, from the limited information I have been able to locate it would appear this device is best suited to the Merkava III and IV. Examinations of the components that go into making this offering give me a very good feeling about the product and quality of it. The resin castings are very well done being free of distortion and air bubbles, in addition I also like the effort put into the placement of the pour plug on the largest moulding.

Several searches of the internet resulted in me finding very little in the way of photographic evidence on this device, but through chats I have had I have been assured of it use. The device has been cast in four distinct resin parts, some of which are duplicated, there is also a length of brass wire that is supplied for replicating the hand holds on it.

Removal of the casting block on the towing structure will require care during removal, but I do not believe it could have been better placed while keeping clean up easy. The hitch itself is very nicely detailed and will fit easily; however I do wish that the attachment point was the same size as the hole provided for it. The brass wire is very nice for the task it is to perform due to it being very malleable and so easy to form. The points of connection are well defined and so should not present any issues, but I would have liked to see the dimensions provided for the bends.

The bolt heads and threads for this model are small but none the less real gems of this offering having an exceptional level of detail in my opinion. The mounting brackets that are attached to the model are fairly plain and I do not know how easy it will be to place them on your chosen base model. The rods that secure the towing structure to the brackets are the weak feature of this offering due to there being no detail present on them, this results in a huge structure being held in place with two bars that are not secured in place.

Conclusion

All told another nice addition for the modeller who wants to add something different to their Merkava build. Construction is easy and so a realistic option for those who are not familiar with using resin parts. I am disappointed in the lack of detail on the bars that secure the towing bracket to the brackets on the vehicle.