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This is my first tank model in 30yrs and I made a few mistakes along the way.Noticeably the storage bins are missing,having used the PE brackets on the fenders,I found out that these are 20% bigger than the plastic alternatives so making the bins protrude over the hull line so i left them off! Sprayed with AK-Interactive IDF Sinai Grey 73 and then given a wash using Ultimate Modelling Products sand wash.Stowage from Legends M51 set.

I had promised everyone I'd stop counting the return to modelling builds once I got to 12. After 20 months and it going slower than expected, I'm nearly done. This 1/72 IDF Spitfire by Sword is: The first Sword kit I've done. The first Spitfire I've ever built. This includes my previous modeling life when I was at school. My first multi-coloured camouflaged build since this round of return to plastic purgatory. All I've done before are NMF and single colour builds. I actually started this when I was building the hell that was my 1/72 Trumpeter F6 Lightning. Thinking I'd lose THAT fight I started this one. Then miracle of miracles I actually finished the Lightning. I was then busy with my photo work so the Spitfire got put away, along with all the gear until the other day. So in a mad rush to get build 10 out of the way before the next interruption by Real Lifetm I have now finished it. Conclusions: As my first attempt at a multi-coloured camo I'm not sure I weathered it quite enough but it's all good practice! I quite like these Sword kits. Just as well I have a Banshee and a T5 Lightning in my stash. The Spitfire is quite small and if my eyesight keeps going the way it's going, 2015 will be the year I swap to 1/48. And I'm not sure I'm going to have time for build 11 till next year looking at my schedule. Here we go. Pictures! SpirfireIDF_190914_01 by IrritableRabbit, on Flickr SpirfireIDF_190914_02 by IrritableRabbit, on Flickr SpirfireIDF_190914_05 by IrritableRabbit, on Flickr SpirfireIDF_190914_07 by IrritableRabbit, on Flickr SpirfireIDF_190914_08 by IrritableRabbit, on Flickr SpirfireIDF_190914_09 by IrritableRabbit, on Flickr SpirfireIDF_190914_10 by IrritableRabbit, on Flickr SpirfireIDF_190914_11 by IrritableRabbit, on Flickr SpirfireIDF_190914_12 by IrritableRabbit, on Flickr

After reviewing the kit the other day, I thought I'd crack it open and build it to break my year or so hiatus of armour builds. It's going to be as close to OOB as I can manage it due to time constraints, and so far it's gone together very well indeed. The wheels are simple to clean up, just needing their sprue gates choping and sanding back, but I added some nicks and damage to the edges to give it a little more "lived in" look, then glued them together, remembering to put the poly-caps in between the halves. The suspension is easy enough to do, but don't be tempted to cut off all the swing arms at once. Do them piecemeal because there are different parts for different stations, and it's easy to get confused. Each one is keyed to the correct angle and direction, and it all fits together well, with just a few mild sink marks on the front of some of the arms, which are easily removed. I'm now 100% convinced that an interior was planned for this kit, because whilst building up the interior panels, there is a slot near the front where the driver's bulkhead would be, plus a box-shaped location point and a number of holes that could only be used to carry the driver's seat and controls. The detail in the sidewalls is just too nice to have been done so that it would never be seen. The sections go together really nicely, with plenty of mating surface and tabs to ensure everything stays together over time. I'm really pleased with how quickly it has gone together, and so far I've only needed to fill two ejector pin marks near the rear door, plus another two, one on the bracket of each of the rear mudguards. Very nice indeed The door has been added on its two hinges, and moves freely up and down, and the upper hul is a click-fit on the lower, even before the side skirts are fleshed out with the inner parts. Superb design and engineering so far

Ok so I have the Kinetic 1:48 F16c (block 40) 'Barak' and I am wondering which of the Gunze Mr Color paints are good matches for the camo scheme?? many thanks Chris

Israeli D9R Armoured Bulldozer Bar Armour 1:35 ET Model Meng's Doobie is a lovely looking kit, but lacks the bar armour that makes the dozer look a little more purposeful. This set contains all the parts you'll need to add it, but you'll also need to purchase some patience and a steady hand from your local model shop while you're next there, as the task will take some of both. Arriving in ET's usual thick polythene flat-pack with card header, the pack contains two black card inserts with large frets of Photo-Etch (PE) brass taped to them, plus a ziplok bag containing two more frets of PE and 70 lengths of 0.5mm brass rod all of which are roughly 11cm long and very hard to juggle – I now have 69 of them. I hope. Unusually for a PE set, you will attach less than half of the set to the actual model, as one of the large frets and a proportion of the smaller sheet is used up in creating templates on which you will build the bar armour panels. The instructions consist of 5 pages of light green A4, printed on 9 sides, so you can get a feel for the complexity of the installation. That said, if you treat it as separate sections as the instructions suggest, it shouldn't be too painful. The templates shaped to accommodate each panel of bar armour, and will require the supporting edges folding up before they can be used. They are all etched with their intended use, and each panel has a preamble that describes the layout and length of the parts required to make the panels, and a larger diagram that shows the final construction of the panel including brackets and ancillary parts. There are five panels that are labelled A, B, C, D and E, with sub-assemblies referred to by digits to ease construction. The final four pages of the instructions show the finished item from all sides, showing where each of the panels fit, and where the smaller numbered sections will fit. Conclusion It's a superbly engineered bit of PE and brass that will make your Doobie stand out from the crowd, but you'll need to check your markings options to see whether they are still appropriate for the later bar-armour equipped vehicles. You will need to cut the bars to the correct length reliably, and access to a soldering iron might be an advantage, especially for the top and bottom bars that can give the assembly rigidity without making the build into a total solder-fest! The set is most definitely intended for the experienced modeller with plenty of PE sets under their belts. The folds aren't difficult however, but handling and overall assembly will be crucial to make a good job of the panels, so it's not to be attempted lightly. Highly recommended to the experienced modeller. Available from White Ensign Models in the UK Review Sample courtesy of

Finished this a while ago but have only just got round to posting it. Its a kit of 2 halves, some new tooling and some not so new! Built almost out of the box with the following exceptions, Friul merkav mk3 tracks, and rb models .50 barrel and antenna mount. Also added the non slip with rustolium textured paint and .5mm masking tape! The tracks were blackened with am interactive burnishing fluid, paint is again my own mix of varying tones of IDF green/gray and the dust is ak dust effects enamel wash applied with my air brush. Thanks for looking Jon

Hope you dont mind guys if i start another topic here, this time with AZ Model Spitfire IXc. Bought this in duo pack, with IDF/REAF decals. As i m building just one of the kit, it is low enough under the 10 limit I chosed to finish this in IDF version. In the kit there are two quite interesting IDF options, both spits have many panels "cannibalized" from other spits, so while most of the surface is in some kind of olive green, you can see there panels with desert camo or even left in bare metal. That should make the look somehow interesting, together with the marking being made mostly by chalk from hand. I ll do some research yet, trying to find out which panels were replaced and so, because as i saw around, some aftermarket decals have quite diferent paint scheme for the same aircrafts. But i think, if they were replacing the panels, it could vary by the time. I ll finish this purely OOB, just to have some rest while working on my mossie, so i ll work on this just at the free time. So not a single wire, not a single evergreen ll be wasted during this build! I m sure if i used just a little of these, i wouldnt stop... So, here goes quickly painted, washed and drybrushed cockpit. I tried to use oil paints for drybrush (trying to drybrush with acrylic tamiya/italeri paints drives me crazy.. the brush is literaly dry in few seconds doesnt matter what you do! ), buti have just like 5 colours here so it was not best.. Also tried to use the oil paints for seat, to simulate the laminated surface. For the back of the seat i used dark green, i saw some of the late spits used some overlay for that. I did also blind the exhaust openings a bit, the exhausts should be glued from outside but i was scared i would drop it inside later..

These look rather nice, the future release list looks rather good too, including cold war German tank crew as well as IDF. https://www.facebook.com/valkyrieminiature Regards Dan

Hey guys, i finished this kit as part of the tenner GB here on BM. The goal was to build this OOB and practice some new techniques and paints on it, which as usualy (at least for me) led to not as clean build as it should.. i just have to learn to focus on OOB kits too Anyway, to the kit - the kit is not so bad, but it has some catches. Two worst for me were the canopy and decals (both tooooo thick, ll replace these on my next AZ spits with aftermarket). The marking is one of very first IDF spitfires with C wing, which was finished and painted mostly by green primer, but some panels were taken from wrecks and other spitfires. I wanted to make the extra panels looking diferent and more or less aged. I tried to make the exhaust stains with airbrush by hand, using much much thinned vallejo air black colour with drop of brown and white. Obviously i need a lot more practice in the airbrush handling For those interested, the WIP thread can be found here (though nothing special as it was mostly OOB realy ) http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234956074-spitfire-mkixc-idf-172-az-model/ So, here are some shots, any recomendation or tips or comments are more than welcome guys

So I began wanting to build Meng's excellent D9R Dozer, then I thought; well I can't build it without a diorama, so this has snowballed into a few different areas now. One of which is this Israeli Armoured Humvee The base kit is Academy's old M966 TOW Carrier which I got on ebay for about a tenner. On top of that I got the Legend Productions Conversion set, Aggressive Pattern Wheels and a weighted suspension set from DEF Model and some Hamer Memugan decals from Model Minature. This was my first resin conversion project and it's an interesting learning curve I've also noticed some bits that need touched up in the photos so I better get to them!

So here is the finished 1:25 scale model of the Centurion mk.III British main battle tank. It has been built out of the box with no extras, apart from the camouflage netting around the barrel which I made myself. The paints used were as follows: Primer was Vallejo grey polyurethane acrylic. This was also used for all of the interior surfaces. It gives a lovely smooth and resilient surface for the following paints. The main overall colour was Tamiya Dark Yellow Matt XF-60. This was mixed about 40% paint with 60% Tamiya X-20 thinner. Panel line preshading was done with Tamiya XF-1 Matt Black and overhead light simulation presahding was done with Tamiya XF-64 Red Brown. Some weathering effects and shadow areas were done with Tamiya XF-49 Khaki. The matt finish was thinned Vallejo matt varnish. Chipping was hand painted with MrMetalColor MC24 Dark Iron. Exhaust and metal tool parts were also airbrushed with this paint as were the tracks and tow cables. Weathering and rusting was done with a combination of Rust and Sand pigments. Various Tamiya weathering master sets for were used for streaking, rusting and staining effects. Lighter colours from these sets were used for edge highlighting. Once the track pieces were buffed where the wheels ran and also where the locating lugs rubbed between the wheels, the pieces received a dunking in first rust, then sand pigments, with a good brush scrubbing between the two. The exhaust parts were treated in the same way. Although this was an old kit that I picked up from ebay for £30ukp, it went together reasonably well. There were plenty of moulding lines that needed scraping off before painting and the instructions had a couple of anomalies. The old decals were very yellow, so the markings for my choice of variant were spayed using a template that I cut out with a laser cutter, from a CAD drawing that I made. I learnt a lot from trying various weathering methods on this build and thoroughly enjoyed myself. As usual, and observations or comments are welcome. Enjoy the images.

We've received this boxtop shot from Meng for their forthcoming second venture into the injection moulded figure world. It's a four figure set of a group of modern IDF Tank Crew at rest, with one sat in a gun position or hatch taking a drink, three more seated, one on the phone, one gesticulating, and the other looking to his side with knees crossed. They should spruce up any diorama with an Israeli theme, and as Meng already have a number of IDF subjects in their range in the shape of the Merkava IIID, IIIBAZ with Nochri Dalet mine roller, and now the D9R Doobie combat bulldozer, they should be an excellent fit with those and many other kits. If the quality of the moulding is the same or better than their Middle Easterners, they should find plenty of buyers. Mike.

Merkava IIID Update Sets (for Meng) 1:35 Eduard Meng's Merkava IIID is a good kit, and must have sold very well for the aftermarket companies to be producing so much for it. Eduard's three sets include a general hull upgrading set, the prominent baskets on either side of the infantry/emergency door at the rear of the hull, and of course the side-skirts. All three sets are produced in Photo-Etch (PE) brass, and have detailed instructions to assist in creation of the assemblies, and all arrive in Eduard's usual flat-packed cellophane bags with white card backing to protect the delicate frets of brass from damage. IDF Merkava IIID exterior (36242) The Merkava is studded with grab-handles, tie-downs and lifting lugs, not all of which are present on the kit, and those that are present are moulded into the upper hull and turret, so the first task is to remove them and replace them with the parts from this set. Various small panels with louver detail in them are placed around the hull, and the large grille on the port is replaced by either a flat PE part, or a larger type, which is folded up into a raised box arrangement. The mudguards for front and rear are also included in the set, as are a number of other grilles at the rear, which again have the flat or boxed options to choose from, and speaking of grilles, the grille over the main exhaust louvers is supplied as PE. A full set of pioneer tool tie-downs and brackets are provided, requiring you to cut off the chunky moulded in sections, and moving onto the turret, all the straps that cover the gun jacket are supplied in PE, which will again require removal of the thick kit mouldings. On the top of the turret, all the sensors are upgraded with various parts such as mounts, covers and so forth, the grenade launchers have detailed end-caps on the grenades, and around the turret basket, the kit supplied ball-and-chain RPG curtain is cut off, and the kit ball & chain mouldings are used with a new more detailed attachment bracket being added along the full length of the shot-trap at the rear of the turret. The two crew-operated guns are given ammo boxes and link, as well as iron-sights, additional mounting detail, and in the case of the centrally mounted .50cal, a mounting bracket and optics details for the remote operator. IDF Merkava IIID baskets (36243) A pair of prominent stowage baskets are fitted to the rear of the Merkava IIID either side of the rear access door, and this set replaces the slightly over-scale styrene parts with PE chain, base and rear parts, plus some highly detailed straps. Also included are detailing ribs for the base of the turret bustle basket, and a rigid frame for the inside port side of this big basket. In case you are also adding canvas covers to the top of the three main stowage bins, Eduard also include the straps that hold these in place. You could make the canvas covers with rolled epoxy putty, lead foil, or even a suitable type of tissue paper soaked in PVA or similar. IDF Merkava IIID Side Skirts (36246) The side skirts supplied with the kit are used as the base for this set, which adds thickness to the inner face of the basic kit parts in the shape of the armour blocks, after removing the thick mounting lugs from the kit parts. The mounting brackets are fabricated from PE parts, and here you'll need to exercise your PE bending skills as well as your patience to create 10 of these mounts, five for each side of the hull. The thickened kit skirts are then added to the hull, along with the hooks that support some of the weight. If the skirts aren't to be used, the brackets are augmented by the unseen parts, and you'll need to add lots of short sections of 1.5mm rod to depict the mounting lugs that hold the panels in place. Conclusion Some nice sets for this good looking tank that shouldn't task your PE skills too much, apart from some of the finer details on the skirts set. Not quite as comprehensive as the ET sets, but also not as challenging from a point of view of construction either. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Merkava 3D Updates (for Meng) 1:35 ET model Meng's first foray into 1:35 Armour was the 3D Early, which has been well received by AFV modellers, and IDF modellers alike as being a good kit, representing the Israeli's Main Battle Tank well. Meng have released these two update sets to improve on the base kit, adding additional detail that isn't possible within the constraints of an injection moulded kit. Merkava Mk.3D "Basic" (E35-158) As usual with ET Models, ignore the "basic" moniker, as this set is far from basic, comprising ten sheets of Photo-Etched (PE) brass of various sizes, and a small bag of six biconvex springs. In standard fashion, the assemblies are built up in isolation, before being attached to the hull or turret, following diagrams with legends that match the assembly steps. The hull is detailed first, having new armoured grilles built up from PE on the front fenders, mudflaps at the front and rear, tool tie-downs, rear-stowage boxes at the side of the crew accessway, a mesh vent over the exhaust louvers and many tie-downs, handles and small plates that are dotted round the upper surface. The turret receives the same treatment with a a comprehensive upgrade of the centrally mounted 0.50cal machine gun with cooling jacket, mount, day/night-vision optics, ammunition can, plus the spent cartridge basket. The other two turret mounted close-defence weapons are also given new ammo can and gunsight details using the two supplied types, with the boxes mounted transverse for the stockless weapon, and perpendicular for the other. Spare ammunition boxes are lashed to racks on the roof of the turret, close to the guns for easy reach, and the myriad bolt-heads on the forward reactive armour are removed and replaced by PE bolts from one of the small sheets. The gun jacket has its chunkier strapping removed and replaced by PE alternatives, while the turret-mounted panoramic sight in front of the replacement PE commander's cupola are given a pair of clamshell doors for protection when not in use. The two smoke grenade launchers at the front corners of the turret are given more scale brackets, and the infrared jamming turret at the rear left of the turret is removed and replaced by a rolled PE part with a flat disc on top. The rear bustle has some hooks stowage racks and track-link tie-downs added, with the springs used at the base of the numerous antennae that the 3D sports. Merkava Mk.3D Side Skirts On opening the bag, my brain was sent into a small tail-spin because all of the frets in the set are marked as "WWII German Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.J Basic", which is probably due to the CAD artist not changing the text while he was designing the set, and at least a few sets sneaking under the radar. Looking at the instructions confirms that this IS the correct set, and even the fret diagram shows the incorrect designation. We'll file that one under "Mistakes", sub-section "No harm done". The set consists of four 9.5cm2 frets of brass, and replaces the whole side-skirt area of the kit, and a small bag containing two biconvex springs (not pictured). Each section is made up from the basic blocks found on sheets D, which are folded up to a rectangular shape, with one end tapered front and back. These are then skinned with the outer panel, which had etched bolt-heads for attachment, and a wavy-edged skirt that hangs down below the armour blocks. These are mounted in pairs on a bracket, which in turn mounts to the side of the tank at positions marked on the final diagrams. Short lengths of 1mm rod are needed to add location pegs to the blocks, as well as to the hull, which must have holes drilled at corresponding locations. A pair of short aerials are mounted on the rearmost block, which is why there are two biconvex springs in the back to use as their dampers. Conclusion The "basic" package is a sizeable set with a lot of updates, few of which should tax the less adept PE user. I'm not sure why the commander's hatch is replaced with the more grandiose cupola, but I'm sure an IDF expert will pop up shortly to explain. A good value set which will add plenty of visual interest to your build. The side-skirt set adds extra detail that isn't present on the simplified kit parts, which have simple lugs attaching the whole skirt to the tank, rather than the complex attachment points that exist on the real thing. A genuine improvement in the level of detail should result if built with care. available soon from White Ensign Models in the UK Review Sample courtesy of

Israeli Merkava 3D Chain Set (for Meng) 1:35 ET Model The Meng Model Merkava 3D has been roundly praised for the quality of the kit, but as always you can improve on injection moulded kits with other media. One of the prime candidates on any of the later Merkavas is the ball & chain skirt that acts as stand-off armour in the potential shot-trap under the turret bustle at the rear of the turret. These flexible chains are designed to detonate shaped charges such as the ubiquitous RPG early, causing their force to be dissipated by the time it touches the main armour. The set arrives in ET Model's now familiar flat-pack with thick outer clear plastic sleeve with green header card and stiff black backing card. Taped to this is a small (6.3cm x 5.8cm) Photo-Etch (PE) fret, plus a bag that contains another postage-stamp sized fret, a length of chain and a lot of small brass ball bearings with a recessed hole bored into them. The Meng kit has the chains moulded into the rear wall of the bustle basket, and this set removes those parts, replacing them with the real thing in miniature. The chain is cut into short sections as per the instructions, and a tiny hook is added to each ball from the smaller fret. The balls are then hung on the chains to give an exact replica of the real thing. The chains are then attached to PE rails that are glued to the edges of the basket, and the long "fingers" are folded around the first chain link to retain them. Each chain is measured by the number of links (called "knots" in the instructions), so you will need to keep them all separate to avoid having to recount each one every time you come to use them. There are seven different lengths, the shortest having the ball hanging directly from the rail, the longest having six links between the ball and rail. In addition to this, a new finely etched PE basket bottom is included, with three supports that fix to the underside, giving a better scale look. Conclusion What a great idea! No two dimensional PE chain, but instead a real chain and real ball bearings. Each hole in the balls extends roughly the length of the hook shaft, so there is nothing to tidy up when you have completed the job. Take care, take your time and you will end up with a Merkava that stands out from the crowd. Very highly recommended. Available soon from White Ensign Models in the UK Review Sample courtesy of