Armor/AFV: IDF [Israeli Defense Forces]
Armor and AFVs of the IDF army from 1947-today.
Hosted by Darren Baker
Up Detailing the Merkava II D from Academy
grunt136mike
Visit this Community
Florida, United States
Joined: November 24, 2012
KitMaker: 1,896 posts
Armorama: 1,858 posts
Posted: Friday, June 09, 2017 - 02:31 AM UTC
Hi Guys;

Really nice Job, I like what you have done so far,---keep up the Good Work !! I have been trying to build three merks, at the same time; A Mk-2,3,&4 ! And I used Chincella sand for the Anti-skid surface and to my surprise it turned out really nice, and I ordered the Chain/ball from Black/Dog which are suppose to be the best. Looking Forward to seeing you finish your Super work !!

CHEERS; MIKE.
Armorsmith
Visit this Community
Pennsylvania, United States
Joined: April 09, 2015
KitMaker: 1,063 posts
Armorama: 1,000 posts
Posted: Friday, June 09, 2017 - 03:47 AM UTC

Quoted Text

I ordered the Chain/ball from Black/Dog which are suppose to be the best. Looking Forward to seeing you finish your Super work !!

CHEERS; MIKE.



Let me know what you thing of the BD ball and chain and how it is to work with. I used what was with the Academy Merkava IV LIC and am not too happy with it. Tried to go old school via model RR chain and craft beads but just can't seem to get the sizes right. Thanks
grunt136mike
Visit this Community
Florida, United States
Joined: November 24, 2012
KitMaker: 1,896 posts
Armorama: 1,858 posts
Posted: Friday, June 09, 2017 - 10:11 AM UTC
Hi Dvsand;

"Yea"-- I went about the same road on my Tamiya Merkava, I used Costume jewelry chain and lead shot from A shotgun !
Now this was the first Merkava and the Tamiya kit lacked a lot of detail's and was the really first kit that I added A lot of scratch detail's ! And was the first modern Isralie vehicle in my collection.

CHEERS; MIKE.
bison126
Visit this Community
Correze, France
Joined: June 10, 2004
KitMaker: 5,329 posts
Armorama: 5,204 posts
Posted: Friday, June 09, 2017 - 12:54 PM UTC
Is the gap between the armor block and the resin basket supposed to be present on the actual vehicle?
Nice job so far.
Olivier
OldWarloke
Visit this Community
United States
Joined: October 14, 2012
KitMaker: 2,663 posts
Armorama: 2,649 posts
Posted: Saturday, June 10, 2017 - 01:34 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Is the gap between the armor block and the resin basket supposed to be present on the actual vehicle?
Nice job so far.
Olivier



I have no idea Olivier, this is how the Legend parts fit. Quite frankly I wasn't expecting anything to fit.
I've had a lot of bad experiences with the Legend sets, most notably with their M88A2 Hercules conversion . Every thing there was too small, like the resin shrunk after curing. They said that they would send a replacement but never did. It's all in the garbage now.
Regards
Donald
OldWarloke
Visit this Community
United States
Joined: October 14, 2012
KitMaker: 2,663 posts
Armorama: 2,649 posts
Posted: Saturday, June 10, 2017 - 01:37 AM UTC
You need to do a little trimming on some parts to get it to fit.




OldWarloke
Visit this Community
United States
Joined: October 14, 2012
KitMaker: 2,663 posts
Armorama: 2,649 posts
Posted: Saturday, June 10, 2017 - 01:43 AM UTC
The Eurka XXL are a bit tricky to assemble, a little super glue on the ends should keep them from unraveling and make it easier to install the cables into the ends.



I'll be working on the Ball and Chain Armor next.
Donald
JSSVIII
Visit this Community
Massachusetts, United States
Joined: March 28, 2007
KitMaker: 1,169 posts
Armorama: 1,067 posts
Posted: Saturday, June 10, 2017 - 06:15 AM UTC
Nice work Donald, I really like the Eureka XXL cables, the wire they use is very tightly wrapped, more so than some other brands, it looks very realistic to me. Looking forward to seeing what you think of the tracks that you are using when you get to that point, they seem to be very reasonably priced.
OldWarloke
Visit this Community
United States
Joined: October 14, 2012
KitMaker: 2,663 posts
Armorama: 2,649 posts
Posted: Sunday, June 11, 2017 - 10:44 PM UTC
I have the Ball & Chain Armor finished and installed, the following Pics. show how I did it. (NOT EASY)

The 2mm. Ball Chain I purchased from my local hardware store.


OldWarloke
Visit this Community
United States
Joined: October 14, 2012
KitMaker: 2,663 posts
Armorama: 2,649 posts
Posted: Sunday, June 11, 2017 - 10:48 PM UTC




OldWarloke
Visit this Community
United States
Joined: October 14, 2012
KitMaker: 2,663 posts
Armorama: 2,649 posts
Posted: Sunday, June 11, 2017 - 10:52 PM UTC



OldWarloke
Visit this Community
United States
Joined: October 14, 2012
KitMaker: 2,663 posts
Armorama: 2,649 posts
Posted: Sunday, June 11, 2017 - 10:56 PM UTC
Here's how they look installed.







I'm finished for today, next will be installing the tow cables.
Donald
GTDeath13
Visit this Community
Attica, Greece / Ελλάδα
Joined: June 12, 2015
KitMaker: 921 posts
Armorama: 919 posts
Posted: Sunday, June 11, 2017 - 11:41 PM UTC
Great methid for the ball and chain, will sure make use of your idea.

Some photos:




maximus8425
Visit this Community
England - North East, United Kingdom
Joined: May 12, 2006
KitMaker: 331 posts
Armorama: 320 posts
Posted: Sunday, June 11, 2017 - 11:49 PM UTC

Quoted Text


Quoted Text

Is the gap between the armor block and the resin basket supposed to be present on the actual vehicle?
Nice job so far.
Olivier



I have no idea Olivier, this is how the Legend parts fit. Quite frankly I wasn't expecting anything to fit.
I've had a lot of bad experiences with the Legend sets, most notably with their M88A2 Hercules conversion . Every thing there was too small, like the resin shrunk after curing. They said that they would send a replacement but never did. It's all in the garbage now.
Regards
Donald



There seems to be quite a gap on this picture, it's not often I come across a pic squarely from the side like this.



There are some good close up images on this link
http://korearms.egloos.com/1113176
Armorsmith
Visit this Community
Pennsylvania, United States
Joined: April 09, 2015
KitMaker: 1,063 posts
Armorama: 1,000 posts
Posted: Monday, June 12, 2017 - 01:12 AM UTC
Impressive ball and chain work.
JSSVIII
Visit this Community
Massachusetts, United States
Joined: March 28, 2007
KitMaker: 1,169 posts
Armorama: 1,067 posts
Posted: Monday, June 12, 2017 - 03:51 AM UTC
Yes very nice! Thanks for showing how you did it.
OldWarloke
Visit this Community
United States
Joined: October 14, 2012
KitMaker: 2,663 posts
Armorama: 2,649 posts
Posted: Tuesday, June 13, 2017 - 05:41 PM UTC
Here is how I installed the tow cables, the kit would have you glue them to the turret. It's really quite different.
I used 4 of the Pe. parts and small chain from the Legend set.

I used a small strip of brass to join 2 hook units together after soldering a short length of chain to the one end of each hook.
Super Glue would probably work, but with solder I know it isn't going to come appart.

I installed the inner cable to the rearmost hook, then the outside one to the forward hook.
OldWarloke
Visit this Community
United States
Joined: October 14, 2012
KitMaker: 2,663 posts
Armorama: 2,649 posts
Posted: Tuesday, June 13, 2017 - 05:51 PM UTC




I'll be working on the Mgs. next while everything is in the paint shop.
Donald
ReluctantRenegade
Visit this Community
Wien, Austria
Joined: March 09, 2016
KitMaker: 2,408 posts
Armorama: 2,300 posts
Posted: Wednesday, June 14, 2017 - 02:17 AM UTC
Served on one of these, following it with great interest. Excellent stuff so far!

OldWarloke
Visit this Community
United States
Joined: October 14, 2012
KitMaker: 2,663 posts
Armorama: 2,649 posts
Posted: Wednesday, June 14, 2017 - 10:49 PM UTC
I have the Mg. s assembled.You have to move the ammo box mount about 2mm. forward so it lines up with the ammo intake opening.

The small protrusion at the bottom is where I mis cut the parts, I cut it off later. The Ammo Belt is from Taska .



I'll be painting and assembling the Wheels next.
Donald
OldWarloke
Visit this Community
United States
Joined: October 14, 2012
KitMaker: 2,663 posts
Armorama: 2,649 posts
Posted: Thursday, June 15, 2017 - 08:46 PM UTC
The Wheels are painted and assembled.




Installed.
OldWarloke
Visit this Community
United States
Joined: October 14, 2012
KitMaker: 2,663 posts
Armorama: 2,649 posts
Posted: Thursday, June 15, 2017 - 08:51 PM UTC
There is another set of wheels included in the kit.
Does anyone know if they are usable for the Megach 6B Gal Batash ?




Thank You.
Donald
GTDeath13
Visit this Community
Attica, Greece / Ελλάδα
Joined: June 12, 2015
KitMaker: 921 posts
Armorama: 919 posts
Posted: Thursday, June 15, 2017 - 10:14 PM UTC
The left over wheels are standard early Merkava II wheels. The Gal batash has steel M48/M60 wheels except the sprockets, which are Merkava ones.

Keep them, you might find good use for them if you come across an early Merkava II kit from Academy.

Your paints looks a little too sandy ut it might be the photo.

Watching with interest...
OldWarloke
Visit this Community
United States
Joined: October 14, 2012
KitMaker: 2,663 posts
Armorama: 2,649 posts
Posted: Monday, June 19, 2017 - 11:04 PM UTC

Quoted Text

The left over wheels are standard early Merkava II wheels. The Gal batash has steel M48/M60 wheels except the sprockets, which are Merkava ones.

Keep them, you might find good use for them if you come across an early Merkava II kit from Academy.

Your paints looks a little too sandy ut it might be the photo.

Watching with interest...



It's the photography It really is kind of grayish green.
Donald
OldWarloke
Visit this Community
United States
Joined: October 14, 2012
KitMaker: 2,663 posts
Armorama: 2,649 posts
Posted: Monday, June 19, 2017 - 11:06 PM UTC
Now for the Tracks,


They go together easily, they just don't stay together.