Israel’s Merkava main battle tanks have been a staple of modeling since the early 1980s when the early versions entered service. Meng’s new Mk.IIID fills an important gap in the available kits, bridging the gap between the early Mk.III and the latest version, the Mk.IV. The kit is also the first in Meng’s Tyrannosaurus series.
Molded in gray-green plastic, the parts show good detail, with crisp recessed lines, sharp bolts, especially around the add-on armor, and well-textured mold seams. Fine items like the stowage rack rails and grab handles are scale thin.
Among all the parts, certain things stand out. The one-piece idlers have to be seen to be believed. There’s detail front and back as well as inside. Also, I really liked the way Meng represents the Merkava’s unique ball-and-chain apron that protects the gap underneath the turret bustle. Other companies have used combinations of photoetched metal and plastic or photoetched metal and metal balls. Meng instead molds fine chains and balls out of plastic in strips glued to the bustle rack. These parts are delicate and need to be handled with great care — ask me how I know — but they couldn’t have been easier to build, and they look great when finished.
The kit has a lot of other terrific features including: optional steel- or rubber-rimmed road wheels; headlights that can be modeled closed or open; movable hatches; individual-link tracks; and lead sheet for the bustle-rack ID signs. The kit doesn’t include photoetched metal, but it didn’t seem it was needed.
Decals are provided for two Merkavas: one in Lebanon in 2006, the other in Gaza in January 2009.
The first six steps involve assembly of the running gear. I was impressed by how well the multipart outer wheels drop-fit together with no need for fiddling or fine-tuning. Pay attention: There are different road-wheel arms for each type of wheel. The road wheels, idlers, and drive sprockets all trap vinyl polycaps so the wheels rotate after assembly. The only hiccup during construction is that the plastic is a little soft, so it’s easy to damage the parts during removal and cleanup.
I finished the lower hull with the rear hatch and stowage baskets. The latter are a bit fiddly and the chains are easily broken, so be gentle and take your time.
The upper hull came next and presented few problems. Pay attention in steps 14 and 15: They present optional driver’s hatches, but no information about which is appropriate for the marking options. I left the hull halves separate for painting and track assembly, but was disappointed by the gaps under the sponsons; they let light in and will be visible through the driver’s hatch if it’s left open. It’s not a make or break thing given the fender skirts, but it seems a little old-fashioned on a new kit.
The detailed turret takes a lot of parts and 27 steps to complete. There weren’t many wrinkles, but I departed from the sequence, assembling the turret panels before adding the fine details to make cleanup easy. (I didn’t need to do much.) I attached the lead foil with super glue.
The track links are off the sprues and bagged, but each had an attachment point on the outside face that needs to be sanded off to make construction easy. I built two runs for each side, glued them together with Testors liquid cement, then wrapped them around the running gear overnight. I removed the runs for painting.
Color choice for Israeli tanks can be puzzling. The kit calls for both marking options to be painted overall sandy brown. I found a couple of photos of Mk.IIIDs with camouflage that looked similar, but many wear a green-gray color. I used the kit-recommended Vallejo dark sand (No. 70847) over olive drab primer. The decals laid down beautifully over a coat of clear gloss with a little Microscale Micro Sol.
The finished model looks terrific. I spent about 40 hours on mine, about average for a modern tank kit without photoetched metal. The delicate parts make this a kit for intermediate rather than beginning modelers.
Note: A version of this review appeared in the December 2012 FineScale Modeler.