Magach 6B Gal- converting a Braille-scale M60A3

[Wouter]

Good to see you back at the bench mate. And I think I missed the start of this one. That's some great extra detailing going on here, really lifts the model a couple of levels. Looking forward to see it painted. Hopefully we don't need to wait another 4 months

 

[Jim R]

Hi Alistair
Nice to see you and glad work is ok in Sheffield. That 50cal was worth the wait.
Jim

 

[JR]

Alistair, like Wouter I missed the start., but have had a read through. A great model and your right in saying it was worth the wait, and complements your detailing.

 

[Road of Bones]

Wouter, Jim, John- thanks for the kind words gents!

Been doing a fair old bit of guitaring these last weeks- I resurrected my first ever Strat (replaced all the electrics and got it playing properly again), bought a new amp (Boss Katana), and started rehearsing bass with my metal band again, so bench time has suffered slightly

I did find time to tackle the commander’s MG though. I made a mounting pintle from spare PE bits, and scratched the ammo can & holding frame from odd bits. A cheeky dry-fit then!



The detail on these 1/72 guns is really quite astonishing! They come with PE bipods and a heat shield that would make them into a US-pattern M240B, but as the IDF use FN MAGs I left those details off. Just got to make the Loader’s MG pintle & ammo box, and the turret grab rails, and I can think about paint...

Thanks for looking chaps,

Alistair☠️

 

[Jim R]

Hi Alistair
That machine gun is a thing of beauty and the scratched add ons are top notch. And at 1/72 scale it's a case of "bloody Nora that's good"
Jim

 

[Richard48]

Great to see you continuing with this one.One of my favourite vechiles.Some magnificent work going on.I was thinking of buying one of the Ace models Centurions and converting to a Shot kal.Dont fancy scratchbuilding all the blazer boxes.Dont think there are any available in this scale?
Great work.
Rich.

 

[Road of Bones]

Great to see you continuing with this one.One of my favourite vechiles.Some magnificent work going on.I was thinking of buying one of the Ace models Centurions and converting to a Shot kal.Dont fancy scratchbuilding all the blazer boxes.Dont think there are any available in this scale?
Great work.
Rich.

Thanks Rich- if you want to convert a Centurion into a Sh’ot Kal, you could make one without Blazer armour from the Yom Kippur conflict? You would need to source a new engine deck from an M60 or M48 however. It was the later Dalet or Gimels that had the Blazer armour, IIRC

 

[Jakko]

The engine deck on the IDF-modified Centurions isn’t the same as of the M48A2/A3/A5 and M60-series. It’s clearly based on it, but you’d have to scratchbuild the whole thing, as far as I know. @Richard48, if you need drawings for that, I’ve got some 1:35 scale ones by Vasko Barbiç in a very old issue of (I think) Tamiya Model Magazine that I could go and find look for.

 

[Richard48]

Hi Chaps.
Thanks for the information.I have heard that Ace do a Shot kal from Yom Kippur 73 war.So maybe this beast has the engine deck upgrade.I will have a look and see what i can find out regarding the kit.
Cheers guys.
Richard.

 

[scottie3158]

Bones,
Really good to see you back at the bench, and it was well worth the wait. Cracking work Sir.

 

[Jakko]

Thanks for the information.I have heard that Ace do a Shot kal from Yom Kippur 73 war.So maybe this beast has the engine deck upgrade.I will have a look and see what i can find out regarding the kit.

It does have the right engine deck:


ACE helpfully put not just sprue shots but renders of the CAD model and quite a bit more on the kit’s page on their web site.

 

[Richard48]

It does have the right engine deck:
View attachment 395069

ACE helpfully put not just sprue shots but renders of the CAD model and quite a bit more on the kit’s page on their web site.

Cheers Jakko.Half the job done,Just the blazer armour to do.
Richard.

 

[Jakko]

Or just wait a bit to see if they release a version with it

 

[Richard48]

Or just wait a bit to see if they release a version with it

Now that would be great!!,I like the look of the Nagmachon with doghouse!!.
Stay cool n safe.
Richard.

 

[SimonT]

Looking good Al and those brass mg's are insanely good

Is the commanders mg ammo box on a hinged mount then? They've always been stuck out sideways on the pics I've looked at

 

[Road of Bones]

Looking good Al and those brass mg's are insanely good

Is the commanders mg ammo box on a hinged mount then? They've always been stuck out sideways on the pics I've looked at

Thanks Si- they are terrific, aren’t they? ( For the price, they wanted to be, frankly...)

As for the ammo can, I suppose they must be on a hinge, given how tight it is around the cupola, and the mount being on the right. With the can at right angles, they would have a job opening the hatch, I expect. I was just matching the MG on my 1/35 version, to be honest- I’d not really thought about otherwise!

Cheers,

Alistair

 

[Jakko]

Perpendicular is certainly a possibility:



I’ve not tried doing an exhaustive search, but I’ve not seen any with the box lengthwise alongside the mounting. It seems like that would be asking for feed trouble, at any rate.

Also note that this tank has a MAGs without a stock, at least on the commander’s cupola.

 

[Road of Bones]

Also note that this tank has a MAGs without a stock, at least on the commander’s cupola.

Which is what I have here, I believe ...

 

[Jakko]

You certainly do — I was pointing it out mainly for those following the thread who may not be aware of the difference