Chariot of Fire- Meng Merkava IIID

[boatman]

HI Alistair! a question please how will that front M/G be fired as I cant see a hatch for a crew man to open nr it to fire the gun or is it automatic ?
chris ps or has one of the crew men got long arms ? lol

 

[Road of Bones]

HI Alistair! a question please how will that front M/G be fired as I cant see a hatch for a crew man to open nr it to fire the gun or is it automatic ?
chris ps or has one of the crew men got long arms ? lol

Hi Chris,
It's fired remotely - there are a pair of servos at the rear of the MG, and a control wire that feeds back through the Loader's hatch. It's not really an anti-personnel weapon, more used for determining trajectory of the main gun in urban areas, I believe. There's a co-axial MG to the left of the main gun, as well as the commander's and loader's hatch MGs used for dealing with dismounted threats.

Alistair

 

[boatman]

Hi Chris,
It's fired remotely - there are a pair of servos at the rear of the MG, and a control wire that feeds back through the Loader's hatch. It's not really an anti-personnel weapon, more used for determining trajectory of the main gun in urban areas, I believe. There's a co-axial MG to the left of the main gun, as well as the commander's and loader's hatch MGs used for dealing with dismounted threats.

Alistair

OK thanks Alistair! for the info I can stop scratin my head over that now but very nice build an a very nice lookin tank I just love the shape of it to me it ticks all the boxes
chris

 

[Jakko]

The Israelis have been putting M2 HB machine guns over the main gun barrels of tanks since about the 1980s, including on their Centurions and Magachs (upgraded M60A1s). If I recall correctly, they are (or at least were originally) intended as a heavier coaxial gun, initially mainly for urban combat in Beirut. You even see them on photos of M109 self-propelled guns in Lebanon.

 

[Road of Bones]

This might help:

Missing-Lynx-? Re: 50 cal. mounted on main gun on IDF tanks

I supposed I could probably just Google this, but I'm guessing perhaps it might be easier to ask on here. I'm just curious why so many of the IDF tank

www.tapatalk.com

Basically, it fulfils both roles - as spotting/training round, or as a less-destructive main armament for dealing with targets that perhaps don't require a full 120mm round, or in areas where such ordnance would be overkill.

The M1 Abrams link of the coax 0.50" to the main FCS is a sensible idea too.

 

[Steve Jones]

That really is up there with the best of them Alistair. Some terrific attention to detail. The crew will indeed be the icing on top of a most sumptuous cake.

 

[Jim R]

Hi Alistair
That is looking quite superb. Looking forward to the figures.
Don't smudge the white on the barrel - oils take a while to dry
Jim

 

[Allen Dewire]

Beautiful Al. Absolutely top class work there Sir!!!

 

[Wouter]

Hi Alistair, here is my chariot number 4 from the past:


Cheers

 

[MikeC]

Alistair,
Superb, once it has had a wash then the anti-slip should pop out, great build and still like it.
Mike.

 

[papa 695]

That look fantastic

 

[Road of Bones]

Steve, Jim, Allen, Ian- most kind of you, gents!
Wouter- that’s a beauty, though I do prefer the more cluttered asymmetrical lines of the Mk IIID . You’ve always had a lovely touch with your weathering- thanks for sharing those pictures
Mike- thanks sir, read on...

Time to start bringing out the details on the beast then! I decided to eschew the usual AK or Mig ready-mixed washes, as the ones I have don’t quite work on Sinai Grey. I decided to mix my own using a combination of these:

I used a low-odour thinners to make a wash, and a fine brush to start picking out all that lovely hull detail- here I have done about half the front glacis area:

An hour or so later, I had completed my first pass over the whole tank:

I’ll let this dry for a day or so, and re-assess for a possible second pass. I turned back to the crew, and used light washes of Payne’s grey and burnt umber on the uniforms, and worked on the faces, using more oil paint. I blocked in the eyeballs with a tiny spot of white, and will go for the irises when the white is more dry:

Happily enough, the boom mics are still intact!
Thanks for looking chaps,

Alistair☠️

 

[Mr Bowcat]

Just had a catch up Alistair, the Merk is looking awesome.

 

[boatman]

HI Alistair she lookin great this tank is to me its design looks like something out of S/F but I love all the low angles whoever designed this tank certainly knew what he was doin an as for clanky noway I bet she runs like a R/R as to me she is the R/R of the tank design id even go as far as sayin she's beautifull she has a lovley figure on her GAWRD im getting carried away over this tank I mustant go over to the dark side lol
chris ps I think its the shape of the turret that does it for me beautifull

 

[boatman]

I wonder if there is one of these tanks in a big scale big enough for R/C ?
CHRIS

 

[scottie3158]

Al,
The washes are really making the details pop. The figures are top notch.

 

[Road of Bones]

I wonder if there is one of these tanks in a big scale big enough for R/C ?
CHRIS

I had a quick google Chris, and it doesn't look like it, sadly. Any amount of Tigers and Panthers though

Bob - thanks, glad you think so!

Scottie - the figures are coming along pretty well, I think. The oil-painting method makes going a little slow, but I reckon the results are better than using basic acrylics. The matt varnish will really bring them to a finish.

Currently sat in a near-empty office at work - most of the sales & logistics team are working from home, but it's a bit difficult for me to work from home in a rolling week - the mill needs to be able to call me out to look at hot bits of steel now and again!

Stay healthy everyone

 

[MikeC]

Alistair
Looking better, both vehicle and figures.
Mike.

 

[Jim R]

Hi Alistair
The oil work on both the tank and the figures has worked a treat.
Jim

 

[Jakko]

its design looks like something out of S/F but I love all the low angles whoever designed this tank certainly knew what he was doin

It may interest you to know that the turret armour is a stack of thin plates, all at that angle:



(This is a Merkava 4, but I doubt the 3 is very different in this respect.)