Watch the news from the Middle East and you're likely to see the latest version of the Israeli Merkava, the Mk.IV. Academy's model is the first injection-molded Mk.IV.
This kit appears to be an all-new mold, with none of the parts from Academy's earlier Merkavas. Molded in tan plastic, the parts are well molded with few defects; the injection-molded, link-and-length tracks have only faint ejector-pin marks on their interior faces. A small fret of photoetched metal gives you license plates, optional mesh for the stowage racks, and chains for the unique ball-and-chain turret armor. Decals are provided for one vehicle; no figures are included.
I assembled my model in three main subassemblies: lower hull, upper hull, and turret. While the lower hull is a new mold, I was surprised to find several holes in it (could they be intended for motorization?) with only one of the holes filled by a plastic plug.
On the suspension, the location of parts D6 in Step 3 (shock-absorber flanges?) is very vague. When placed so they aligned with the shock absorbers, they barely met the suspension arms. Academy has molded the outside tires as separate pieces to capture the undercut of the real thing. The inside wheels are molded as one piece where they are not really seen. The photoetched-metal screens for the hull stowage baskets are very delicate; I left these baskets off until final assembly to protect them from damage during other construction.
I assembled the turret with little trouble, though the location of a couple of parts is difficult to determine from the instructions. Checking the box art, photographs of the built model, as well as images I found on the Internet, I was able to divine their proper location. The instructions suggest using tissue paper to make the canvas panels for the turret-basket markings, but I made mine out of thinly rolled epoxy putty.
The upper hull also went together without a hitch. I found the string provided for the tow cables a little too thick, so I replaced it with twisted lead wire.
I painted my Merkava with Tamiya's khaki as a base coat, then lightened the khaki with some buff and highlighted various panels. The decals went on perfectly using Micro Set and Micro Sol.
Once paint and decals were dry, I installed the tracks. I found them a little too long, so I took about a quarter of a link out of the left-side run. Were I to build another kit, I would leave off a link on the rear of the drive sprocket which is covered by the hull and side skirts.
The last step was adding the balls and chains to the turret basket. The chains were a bit too long in places, so they rub the hull a little.
My finished model matched dimensions I found for the Mk.IV on Wikipedia. Academy has done an excellent job of capturing the look of this modern beast of war, and at a very reasonable price to boot. It only took me about 17 hours to build the model; I would recommend it to tank modelers of intermediate ability.
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