Chariot of Fire- Meng Merkava IIID

[Jakko]

...and this is why I love forums like this! No worries about hijacking my thread Chris, as I have no problem with Jakko sharing his knowledge with everyone. There is always something new to be learned, after all!

One of the best blogs I ever did was the one for my M60A3, where 3 different guys who‘d crewed them shared their own stories, pictures and technical knowledge to help me build a better model

Heh, I’ve got the TM for that. And for the basic M60/M60A1 and the M60A1 RISE/PASSIVE, for that matter Though seeing the model is built, it’s probably a bit late to offer to look up information in them, I suppose.

 

[Road of Bones]

Oh, don’t worry Jakko- I’m not done with M60s yet! No doubt I’ll revisit the subject again (got more than a few ref books myself). Probably do an A2 in the not too distant future

 

[Jakko]

I built a fair number of M48s and M60s about twenty years go. I did start on an M60A2 using an Esci hull and a Tamiya turret (best options back then) plus an AEF Designs engine, but never did finish it. I do still want to build one one day, but will probably just buy an AFV Club one to make instead of finishing what I have Wish I had a TM for that particular variant, though.

 

[MikeC]

Alistair,
I like it, I like it, I like it, I like it, I like it.
Mike.

 

[Road of Bones]

Had a busy day yesterday! I primed the beast on Thursday, using Ammo One-Shot:

Very pleased to see the antI-skid has survived
The skirts were not exempt either- I mounted them on a strip of tape which I then taped to the inside of my “spray booth”:

After letting it cure for a day, I broke out my H&S and some MIG Sinai Grey, and tried a little reverse pre-shading:

...continued...

 

[Road of Bones]

...continued...
Then I got a little carried away! I blew a couple of coats of more Sinai Grey, then a light overspray of Sand Grey just to highlight it a little. I didn’t want to overdo the preshading effect, so I allowed the later coats to dial it right back.


Anti-skid still there! Here you can see where I thickened the lighter sand grey coverage over the tarps in the stowage bins and the ID panels:

I de-masked all the periscopes and TC/gunner’s sights:

And after detail-painting stuff like the ammo cans and smoke grenades, the rubber mud flaps and the bung in the mortar, here’s how she looks now:

The foil required a little careful manipulation to remove, but there were no hanger casualties! Just as well, as I loathe having to make repairs after painting!
On to the decals next- thanks for looking chaps!
Alistair☠️

 

[Jim R]

Hi Alistair
Wow! Wow and thrice wow! You have been a busy bee. That paint job certainly looks good and your reverse preshade has worked.
Jim

 

[Allen Dewire]

Damn Al,

Really wonderful work and the anti-skid came out tops with a coat on it. Worn roadwheels and the little bits and tarps look the biz. I am also glad that with all the paint, you didn't clog up your balls!!!

Prost
Allen

 

[Wouter]

Ah, a dreaded ball and chain tank . Very nice work Alistair. Looking very tasty there. I built a Merkava IV once and I found assembling the ball and chains nervewrecking .

This is looking cool alright. Looking forward to see her finished ^^

Cheers

 

[minitnkr]

Balls, happy Pi day. PaulE

 

[scottie3158]

That Sir, is the nuts

 

[papa 695]

Looking brilliant

 

[Road of Bones]

Jim- thrice wow? Many thanks!
Allen- I did have a clogged ball or two, but a bit of careful tweaking saw them de-clogged
Wouter- did you ever share your Merk IV? I’d love to see what you did with one
PaulE- thanks brother!
Scottie- saw what you did there!
Ian- thanks sir!

A bit more work today. I located a guitar-string offcut with a bit of outer winding and exposed core, and put in a kink, as I want to fold one of the antennae forward, as per my refs:

You might be able to see that I added the skirt plates in the background. Next up, I masked a line down the top of the barrel, for the obligatory white stripe (I assume for air-recognition purposes). This is painted by using a square-ended brush dipped in neat white oil paint, and dabbed on down the length of the masked area:

After mounting the antennae, I added the MGs, and painted them white. I then added the decals, and spent a merry afternoon tweaking the look of the tank to get to this stage:



I made a tie-down for the folded antenna using a PE chain link and a length fine headphone core wire:

I binned off the barrel stripe decals, as they required too much decal-soft to get them to conform to the barrel straps, and used the same masking/painting method to put them in too:

And the ranging MG got it’s servo control wire:

Time to turn back to the crew...
Thanks for looking chaps,
Alistair☠️

 

[BigGreg]

Very nice color priming and desert color.... the antennas are superbly made.... METSUYAN..

 

[Steven000]

Very nice Alistair! Looks great with paint on

 

[papa 695]

Fantastic

 

[boatman]

WOW if im ever coverted to the muddy side this is the tank id love to build very nice build sir
chris

 

[minitnkr]

Love those antennae. Great job. PaulE

 

[scottie3158]

Al
Excellent work mate.

 

[Wouter]

Wouter- did you ever share your Merk IV? I’d love to see what you did with one
Alistair☠

Very nice update mate!
And the Merk IV was shared on the old place. If you bought MilMod mag in the past you might even have it in print . Ill see if I can find some photos when Im back from work ^^

Cheers