Desert Cats / Desert Foxes / Barbie's Chariot

Finally got this finished. This is an Academy Merkava Mk.IV LIC built almost box stock. The ball-and-chain armor was made by putting drops of super glue on the ends of the included photoetch chains. Strangely, even though the kit is of the LIC variant, it only comes with 2 of the 4 LIC corner markers, so I scratch built all 4 using resin spring mounts and fiber optic line. The flag antenna was made the same way with an ETA Israeli flag attached. Using Meng Namer kit parts for a master, I cast a stretcher out of Milliput to hang on the back of the tank. I also replaced the link-and-length kit tracks with SanXin Model assembled metal track.

This model represents a tank of the Edom Division, Paran Brigade, Caracal Battalion. The Caracal Battalion is a mixed sex battalion with some all-female tank crews. The crew figures are from Miniart, Black Dog, and Royal Model. 

The shield on the back of the turret basket is the insignia of the Paran Brigade. Some tanks carry them and they are hand made by the crews out of wood. Mine is made from sheet stryrene. I also hand painted most of the white markings on decal paper as I could find no proper decals for this battalion.

Stowage is from Black Dog and the rear basket covers are made from parchment paper. AFV Club Anti-Reflective Glass stickers were used on the kit glass (seen as metallic yellow and red in the photos).

The base is longer than needed because it has a cover which is needed to clear the figures and the flag. The only case with proper height was extra long. It would be nice to put something in that space, but I don’t know what.

Also don’t really have a firm name for the diorama (vignette?) yet. “Desert Cats” is a play on Desert Rats using the fact that a Caracal is a wild cat. “Desert Foxes” seems a bit sexist even though a fox is on the insignia of the Edom Division. “Barbie’s Chariot” came from the fact there is a tank in the US Army called “Barbie’s Doll House” because its commander is a woman (and Merkava is Hebrew for chariot).

Update: Added Israeli army logos in that blank spot at the end of the base and settled on the name "Hannah and  Her Sisters".

Meng Namer, part 2

 You have seen the beginning of the building of the new Meng kit of the IDF Namer in the post below.  There are several of us in the Houston Armor Club that are building this wonderful model.  In fact, there are several reviews in the blog discussing various steps in the building of this kit.

Here are 2 pictures of my build, painted and ready for the weathering steps.  Go get one, or two, it is a great kit!!

Enjoy your build!

MENG NAMER

 This is my latest project. The Meng IDF Namer in 1/35 scale. The kit is molded in grey and is nicely detailed, to the point of having the anti-skid texture molded in the upper hull.

The kit gives the modeler the opportunity to build one of three versions, and I have chosen the command version of which I will be posting photographs of my progress.

To date, the wheels and suspension are assembled and I will begin adding more pieces to the upper hull as the machine comes together.

Thats all for now, but I will keep you all posted and the project progresses.

Happy modelling!

1/35 AFV-CLUB SHO'T KAL GIMEL

 

This is the AFV-CLUB IDF SHO'T KAL GIMEL in 1/35. This kit was a struggle to build. I started it in July and finished last night. The only joy I had during the process was the painting and weathering. There is much discussion about color for IDF vehicles and in talking it over with folks in our group, it has been shown through research that the color has changed over the years, so the year that the modeler intends to showcase will drive the color choice. The good news is that there are a number of manufacturers that have products available to cover these colors with reasonable accuracy. Since I was going after the 1982 War in Lebanon, I chose Vallejo's Sinai Gray '82 71.142.

The Sho't Kal Gimel is a heavily modified British Centurion (either a MKIII or MKV). In my opinion, this is a classic AFV and given what the IDF has done to modify it to suit their needs, makes it a great subject to model. Unfortunately the kit is substandard and requires a tremendous amount of attention from the modeler to make it work. 

 

I gave it a pin wash with Tamiya Black and Brown Panel Liner. The paint chipping was done using the sponge method with Tamiya Dark Iron, and I used Vallejo Pigments for the sand and dust effects. The figure is from Valkyrie and is nicely detailed. The stowage set is the Legends IDF Centurion Stowage set. The tow cables are the Eureka XXL Israeli Merkava I & II metal/resin set and are quite nice.

Even though I considered this a challenging build, I am pleased with the way she came out. My intent is to put this in a diorama with a couple of other vehicles some time next year, so stand by for more!

Happy modelling.

T-34/D30 122mm Syrian Self-Propelled howitzer

 This is RFM (Ryefield Models) #5030, in 1/35th scale.

It is painted with MIG paints; Sand Yellow #0030 is the primary color, then Zashchitniy Zeleno (Russian green) and Shadow Rust added as the camo.

This is the first time I pre-painted the wheels and tires before assembly.  Turned out quite nicely.

This kit is nor for the faint-of-heart.  It was a booger to build.  I had many issues, and am not sure if it is the kit, certainly some of it is the kit, or me, probably a little bit too.  My first issue came in Step 4, assembling the length-link tracks.  Following the instructions, combining parts C-1 and C-3, the length was too long.  I had to alter on the C-1 links by cutting it in half.

In this picture, you can see the shortened track, and the putty necessary to hid the fit issue.

In Step A-9, you are supposed to use PE to make the fuel tank straps mounted on the rear.  I could not get them to correctly bend and mount on the rear panel so I rummaged thru my spare parts and found acceptable parts to use as the tank mounts.  Once I got the fuel tanks mounted to the rear plate, I discovered that the hull was warped where this assemble would join the hull.  Had to do some pushing and shoving to get it super glued in place.

The sub-assembly in Step B-7 has lots of fiddle-bit parts.  Mine kept breaking off the gun, I had to super glue it in place several times.  Looking back the the instructions, I am certain this aiming mechanism is incorrectly glued in place.

Now for the interior.  Wait--there is NO interior!!  As you can see from the first picture, I made a rudimentary fire wall, front axle and driver and gunner seats.

You can barely see the seats with the hull on!

Then I painted and washed the interior, very heavily.  I added Mini-Art ammo cases and shells, 2 AK-47s, various packs and a fire extinguisher.

And finally with the hull on, I added Mini Art green wine bottles to add some color to the interior.

And the finished product!  Painted and heavily weathered track with Mig powders.

I don't think I will be buying another RFM kit soon!!I really like the subject, but it was very difficult to build!

Meng Namer, IDF Heavy APC

     This is the first of a multi part series regarding the kit build.  It includes tips, tricks and warnings discovered while building the kit. 

 Session 1     https://youtu.be/5x_MUW5hiig

 Session 2     https://youtu.be/nIm0VSfSQu4

 Session 3    https://youtu.be/Mb8YH8Uc1Yw

Session 4     https://youtu.be/GN5E9wMs8xA

Jagdtiger

 The Tamiya 1/48 Jagdtiger is similar to the Sturmtiger of my previous Blog entry.  As you can see the main difference is in the gun.

The kit is nicely detailed with all of the tow and track cables with tools included.

The kit tracks were length and link which fit great, though you cant see much of it. 

The only details I added were the personal stowage hanging from the spare tracks and the antenna. I did find an ammo cylinder for the MG on the back. Oh. I also needed to add the tow hooks on front and back. 

The End... literally. Same great details on the jack and tools. 

Vince B.  8-6-21

Sturmtiger

 Tamiya 1/48 scale kit with added zimmerit. This was one of those easy kits... until you get to the missing details.  Like what you ask?

There wasn't any detail regarding the shell hoist. I had to drill out the frame and pulleys to pull through some EZ Line as a cable. I scratch built a facsimile of the lift ring from Evergreen strips. 

Also, there were no tow cable hooks.  I had spare cables and tow eyes so made one up and draped on the stowage hooks. I also added some personal gear from the Tamiya accessory set.

Since the kit tracks were length and link, there were two single spare links which I used and mounted on the upper structure.

Vince B.  7-25-21

 

Panzer II C

 This is a 1/72 PzKpfw II Ausf C from First To Fight. It is a simple kit that comes with a small magazine of a few pages containg photos, drawings, & info about the object being modeled. Unfortunately, the magazine is all in Polish.

Model was painted with Model Master acrylics and weathered with oil paints. I used the base to practice applying static grass with my applicator. The grass used is 4mm long.

 

 

I also got to use a new set of LED lights I just bought from Amazon to shoot the model. They seem to work pretty good. These are the lights:
Emart RGB LED Photography Lights

Panzer IV Ausf. D

 Now I have completed the Tamiya 1/35 scale version to compliment the Bandai 1/48 scale version I completed a few months back.

This is the old 1980s release as was the Bandai kit, which was very basic. I added some details and various stowage to complete the look. 

The tracks were left over spare links from other Panzer IVs. I used several layers of chips, rust and wash for the overall effect of a worn out tank, but not damaged.

I don't normally get this muddy with my tanks, but this seemed to be begging for a lack of maintenance and in great need of a car wash with an under carriage sprayer. This effect was done with my normal oil wash, pigments and plaster for texture.

The stowage was from various sources and materials, Resin, Plastic and metal cast parts. I used a heavy thread waxed and painted, for tying down. I also used the pigment,plaster and wash method on the mufflers.

Vince B.  7-5-21

Marder Madness

My latest fling has been modeling the German Marder.  Of course I had to find and buy all the Marder variants that existed (originally trying to stay in 35th scale).  Sometimes the chase to get what I want is as much fun as building the kits. I've got three under my belt so far, the latest being the 35th Marder III from Tamiya.  I strayed a bit with the 48th scale Tamiya kit of the III just because it was cute.  None of them are finished, each sort of stalled here at the end.  I'm going to try to finish them this holiday weekend.  I'm still learning with the whitewash and the mud, but I'm getting there,

To my eyes he Marder I looks to be kind of disproportional to the III.  I did not really notice it until I saw the pictures.  Both are Tamiya 35th, so I'm just thinking it's me.

I used Ammo by MIG acrylics for all the painting and the foliage is photoetched.  I took photos on my iPhone on my workbench.

Thanks for looking - George

1/16 Panzer IB

 From the Takom kits a few years back. This is my first attempt at 1/16 scale because it was of a small enough subject. I haven't tried putting in the case yet. 

Of course the kit is well made and has individual link working tracks. There is a trick to sliding in the plastic pins, which I figured out toward the end after breaking several of them. This allows for realistic sag on the return rollers and articulation when on ground work.

I only had one comment about the attachment of the running gear. The insertion pin into the hull has tiny 'C' clip washers which break easily, if you don't lose them first. I ended up gluing in place anyway. 

I managed to get the Value Gear set in time to complete the work.  If you haven't tried these resin add ons you should. I painted the pieces separately and glued on after completing my weathering of the tank. Then I tied up with string and re-weathered to blend in. 

Vince B.  6-25-21

Mad Maxine: Girls Just Want to Have Fun

 Just in time for Father's Day. Finally the girls got together, rolling hard through the ruins of St. Petersburg. Its June 2025, the end of the Pipeline wars. The remaining Russian cities are in chaos, with rioting, and looting of the local Hobby Stores. In St. Petersburg, these young ladies are keeping the streets safe. Oh Yeah, Please Help Me!!!

This was both a pleasure and a pain to build.  It started out as a Trumpeter, Russian Rocket Launcher Truck from the 80s. I had lots of problems with it, mostly my own mistakes which I wasn't able to fix. So.. what else to do but to re-purpose it in a Sci Fi way. 

In the spirit of MAD MAX Thunder Road, I began to modify the vehicle. The ideas grew, compounding the need for more stuff, Gatling gun, Flame Thrower, Plow Blades and a wacky engine. 

Then I saw those Master Box sets of GIRLS. Bought a few and started mixing and matching.  As they developed, so did the story behind the vehicle. Thus the need for the Graffiti and Tattoo decal sheets. 

And now for the details on the girls: 

Maxine: Former Russian Army Tank Driver and Mechanic. Lost her eye in the war of 2024.

Annika: Former Russian Spetsnaz Sniper.  You'll never hear the shot.

Irina:  Former Russian Special Weapons designer graduated from Kazan University.  Loves to pull your trigger.

Khristina: Former Lingerie model. Disfigured in the firebombing of St. Petersburg in 2024. Still hates wearing cloths.

Marisha: Former Petroleum Engineer from USPTU turned saboteur for the GRU. She'll light your fire. 

Vince B. 6-20-21