Award Winner Built Academy 1/35 IDFMerkava II Israeli Ministry of Defense

  

2 Main Battle Tank Israeli Ministry of Defense. Built To Order / Pre-Order.

Award winner built and painted Israel Defense Forces Merkava Mk. ka'va], "chariot") with realistic heavy weathering finish. IDF desert color scheme with accurate unit markings. Top building quality with outstanding details throughout whole model and very high standard accuracy on every individual part. Brass photo-etched parts add on.

Full of detail and the add on armor block on turret. Turret basket and side skirt from new tooling.

Detailed tracks with road wheel detail. Rotating turret and gun elevation. Add on vehicle tools and more add on details.

Moulding quality is excellent with detail is extremely sharp overall. Add on boxes, ammo and more fancy items. Adding ball and chain armor for great finishing.

Brass PE fret on exhaust and vents and more. Highly detailed brass photo-etched parts on grill and more. The upper hull with extra armor and lot of the detail integrated.

Driver`s hatch with details and open-able. The turret with busy on vehicle equipment details. Full of nice and crisp details add on armor block on turret.

105mm main gun barrel is a multi-part and looks very good. Detailed commanders and loaders MG's are also nicely replicated. Open-able commander`s and loaders hatch with detail in and out. The smoke dischargers is nice detailed. Turret basket with PE detail add on.

The rear hull storage racks are fair detail wise Boat hull ventral armor plate covers motorization holes in lower hull. The rear panel has the access clamshell doors as separate parts and can be displayed open or closed. The lower hull with suspension arms, return rollers, spring details. New type road wheels with hub details. The detail on the flexible tracks is very good. Heavier type side skirts with superb rivets details. Towing cable, lights, antenna, on vehicle tools and many exterior details. Metal chain, many boxes, antenna, and more add on accessories. Buffing and polishing to remove mold seam. Base color with primer and putty for better surface detail. Airbrushed and painted with multicolor.

Adding clear paint for good finishing on decal applying. Washing to enhance the surface detail increase the appearance of depth including panels, doors, hatches, rivets, bolt head and more. Dry brushing to emphasize and highlighting texture with edge for good wear, tear and fading. Multi-color filters for blend color effects.

Adding non glossy paint for better finishing. Great detail paint job on rust and paint chips off with scratches, worn and bare metal realistic simulating, flow rust and rain streaks effects, grease with staining appearing, engine smoking and muffler burned representing. Also smear and dirt with dust and real mud and more on real-life weathering. Final protective layer for long-term collection. The Merkava MBT is the main battle tank of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

The "Merkava" name was derived from the IDF`s initial development program name. Design: The Merkava MBT is optimized for crew survival and rapid repair of battle damage. The Merkava MBT uses spaced-armor techniques and quick-replacement modular designs in which the design team was able to incorporate composite armor, a derivative of rolled homogeneous armor (RHA) and Chobham armor. The space between the inner and outer hulls of the Merkava MBT is filled with diesel which is an economical storage method and a means of defeating HEAT rounds.

Layout: Following the model of contemporary self-propelled howitzers, the turret assembly is located nearer the rear than in most main battle tanks. This gives the crew additional protection against a frontal attack by putting the engine between them and the attack. This arrangement also creates more space in the rear of the tank that allows increased storage capacity, as well as a rear entrance to the main crew compartment allowing easy access even under enemy fire. This allows the tank to be used as a platform for medical disembarkation, a forward command and control station, and an armored personnel carrier. The clamshell-style doors on the rear entrance provide overhead protection when loading and unloading cargo and personnel.

The IDF officially adopt the Merkava MBT in December 1978, when the first complete battalion of 30 tanks was delivered for initial unit training.