Looking very nice, looking forward to some paint being thrown at it now.
Chariot of Fire- Meng Merkava IIID
- Thread starter Road of Bones
- Start date
Steve Jones
Steve Jones Scale Modelling Site
Great to see you changed the clamps. It would have been so easy to leave as is. Wonderful work my friend.
Jim R
SMF Supporter
Hi Alistair
Attention to detail 10/10. Really looking great.
Jim
Attention to detail 10/10. Really looking great.
Jim
Thanks all!
Pressing on, I fired up the compressor, only to find my hose had developed a leak at one end. I bound it up in tape for a temporary fix, and broke out the Iwata Neo carpet bomber and my Ammo One shot primer. I sprayed the lower hull and the wheels:
The crew got primed too. Next up, I soaked the Kung Fruils in burnishing fluid, and rinsed them off:
While I wait for the replacement hose, I will break out the oils and make a start on the crew.
Thanks for looking chaps,
Alistair☠️
Pressing on, I fired up the compressor, only to find my hose had developed a leak at one end. I bound it up in tape for a temporary fix, and broke out the Iwata Neo carpet bomber and my Ammo One shot primer. I sprayed the lower hull and the wheels:
The crew got primed too. Next up, I soaked the Kung Fruils in burnishing fluid, and rinsed them off:
While I wait for the replacement hose, I will break out the oils and make a start on the crew.
Thanks for looking chaps,
Alistair☠️
The mojo burns bright on this one, as I decided to fill the turret basket with various bits & bobs. I used a spare Israeli Jerry can from AFV club for the left hand side, added the spare track links and then an old camo net roll and some milliput packs, plus a few resin stowage items. I’m not going to bother painting them:
Next, I cut up one of my old nitrile gloves into a trapezoid shape to cover the basket, and stuck it down with a little CA. Then I used the strip of lead sheet supplied in the kit to make the identification panels that hang from the basket sides. I drilled out holes and threaded some florists wire to make the hangers:
You can also make out where I threaded some towing shackles through the side bars on the stowage baskets, as per my refs. The shackles came off an old Stryker currently languishing in the same dusty box as my old Chally 2...
Finally for tonight, I blocked in the base colours for the crew’s uniforms, all mixed using oils (olive green, sap green, White, raw ochre and a little Payne’s grey). I am aiming for a faded-out field green for their overalls:
More tomorrow gents...
Alistair☠️
Next, I cut up one of my old nitrile gloves into a trapezoid shape to cover the basket, and stuck it down with a little CA. Then I used the strip of lead sheet supplied in the kit to make the identification panels that hang from the basket sides. I drilled out holes and threaded some florists wire to make the hangers:
You can also make out where I threaded some towing shackles through the side bars on the stowage baskets, as per my refs. The shackles came off an old Stryker currently languishing in the same dusty box as my old Chally 2...
Finally for tonight, I blocked in the base colours for the crew’s uniforms, all mixed using oils (olive green, sap green, White, raw ochre and a little Payne’s grey). I am aiming for a faded-out field green for their overalls:
More tomorrow gents...
Alistair☠️
Steve Jones
Steve Jones Scale Modelling Site
Beautiful work as always Alistair. Wonderful detailing. Nice to see you are able to start on the wet stuff
Jim R
SMF Supporter
Hi Alistair
More excellent progress. Figure looking good. I suppose you had to use "real" stuff for the stowage as it can just be seen. I've never used that track blackening stuff. Lots of different makes about. What is it that you use?
Jim
More excellent progress. Figure looking good. I suppose you had to use "real" stuff for the stowage as it can just be seen. I've never used that track blackening stuff. Lots of different makes about. What is it that you use?
Jim
Steve, Bob - thanks chaps, very kind of you.
Jim - well, it was just stuff I had kicking about, with no real purpose, so it made sense to use proper "stowage-looking" items! as for the burnishing fluid, I used this:
https://www.scalemodelshop.co.uk/pr...-burnishing-fluid-ammo-mig-jimenez-a-mig-2021
I've saved the goop left over, but it's pretty manky-looking, so I don't know if it's reuseable or not. I'll let it settle for a while and see how it looks.
New AB hose being delivered today, so should be able to blow some colour tonight...
Jim - well, it was just stuff I had kicking about, with no real purpose, so it made sense to use proper "stowage-looking" items! as for the burnishing fluid, I used this:
https://www.scalemodelshop.co.uk/pr...-burnishing-fluid-ammo-mig-jimenez-a-mig-2021
I've saved the goop left over, but it's pretty manky-looking, so I don't know if it's reuseable or not. I'll let it settle for a while and see how it looks.
New AB hose being delivered today, so should be able to blow some colour tonight...
Outstanding! An excellent representation of one of my favorite tanks. I have one in my scale on the "Shelf of Shame" as the ball'n'chains defeated me. Maybe someday. PaulE
Paul- to be honest, I think trying to do the RPG screen in your scale would test my mojo! Thanks for the kind words though 
Had a good couple of sessions at the bench this weekend. My new AB hose arrived on Friday, so I painted the lower hull and wheel hubs with Sinai Grey. I found the wheel mask I made when I built my Nagmachon (pretty much the same wheels), so I used that:
The tyres were left in black primer, so I used a little rubber black (more of a dark grey) to dry-brush around them, before using a Tamiya weathering compact to dry-brush the sandy colour over the top of that. I then used some gun-metal paint to do the worn steel of the idler wheels and sprocket teeth, before a pin wash around the hubs and bolts:
I then applied a little 800-grit wet ‘n dry to the tracks, adding some wear to the cleats and guide horns:
I may have mentioned that the kit came without the fret of poly caps. I scoured all my old kit boxes and spares tins for unused poly caps from other builds, but was only able to find a half-dozen or so of the right size. I found quite a few that were undersize though- I ended up by using these anyway, by cutting a single split in them, thereby allowing them to flex around the axle stubs. Rather than trust these completely, I elected to glue the wheels on with PVA as a precaution:
I’ll let these set thoroughly before wrangling the tracks on...
Thanks for looking chaps,
Alistair☠️
Had a good couple of sessions at the bench this weekend. My new AB hose arrived on Friday, so I painted the lower hull and wheel hubs with Sinai Grey. I found the wheel mask I made when I built my Nagmachon (pretty much the same wheels), so I used that:
The tyres were left in black primer, so I used a little rubber black (more of a dark grey) to dry-brush around them, before using a Tamiya weathering compact to dry-brush the sandy colour over the top of that. I then used some gun-metal paint to do the worn steel of the idler wheels and sprocket teeth, before a pin wash around the hubs and bolts:
I then applied a little 800-grit wet ‘n dry to the tracks, adding some wear to the cleats and guide horns:
I may have mentioned that the kit came without the fret of poly caps. I scoured all my old kit boxes and spares tins for unused poly caps from other builds, but was only able to find a half-dozen or so of the right size. I found quite a few that were undersize though- I ended up by using these anyway, by cutting a single split in them, thereby allowing them to flex around the axle stubs. Rather than trust these completely, I elected to glue the wheels on with PVA as a precaution:
I’ll let these set thoroughly before wrangling the tracks on...
Thanks for looking chaps,
Alistair☠️
Jim R
SMF Supporter
Hi Alistair
Thanks for the answer regarding the track blackening stuff. Wheels look good. I hope they stay on when the tracks are fitted.
Jim
Thanks for the answer regarding the track blackening stuff. Wheels look good. I hope they stay on when the tracks are fitted.
Jim
Thanks Bob - yes, they do. If you have a quick look at MikeC's Challenger 2 thread, he posted a few pics of some Chally 2s tyres earlier that show even more damage than I've depicted!Looking good Alistair. Out of interest, do the rubber wheels get that nicked and worn in real life?
When I was building an M60A3 on another forum, a couple of US tankies contributed their experience of the guide horns of the tracks chewing up the rubber tyres on their mounts, especially when turning or driving in mud. I've seen plenty of pics of Israeli vehicles with extremely second-hand looking wheels too. If you consider the rocky desert conditions of the region, you can understand why the tyres wear out as quickly as they do. Interestingly, the kit provides steel wheels as well as the tyred ones - I chose the tyred version because I could scab them up like this.
Coming along great guns Alistair.
Bob- don’t follow me, I’m lost too! 
Ian- thanks very much
The chariot now has wheels and tracks...
This thing is starting to get quite weighty now! Very pleased with the tracks and wheels so far though. Next up will be masking off the running gear, so I can mount the skirt hangers...
Thanks for looking chaps,
Alistair☠️
Ian- thanks very much
The chariot now has wheels and tracks...
This thing is starting to get quite weighty now! Very pleased with the tracks and wheels so far though. Next up will be masking off the running gear, so I can mount the skirt hangers...
Thanks for looking chaps,
Alistair☠️
Looking like the beast it is.