Tank Beginner - - Merkava Mk. III Conversion

When it comes to military models, I don't have much of a preference.  I like Japanese and American WWII ships and planes since the Pacific theatre of war is the one that directly affected my own country.  But when it comes to military kits, ships and planes have to take a back seat to the king of detail:  tanks.  Admittedly you can get just as detailed on a ship or plane as you can with a tank with today's superb kits and addons but ground-based armor adds a dimension unique to itself...mud/dirt/rust/dust/sand/damage...in other words weathering.  Tanks get more banged up than ships or planes and they are usually covered in whatever is on the ground they're fighting on.

When it comes to tank modeling, the market is HEAVILY weighted towards Germany in WWII.   Dragon, especially, with it's super detailed kits seems intent on producing every single version of Panzer, Tiger and all German armor, real and even ones that never got off the drawing board.

I have a couple Dragon kits of German WWII tanks but to begin my tank building I decided to go for an easier kit.   Looking around at the impressive range of modern tanks, I found one that to me, is the coolest looking tank in the world:  Israel's Merkava.  Its awesome low-profile mean stance is matched by it's performance and equally impressive is that it's a vehicle designed and build by Israel for itself.

I picked up the much-maligned Academy Merkava III kit cheap and played around with it but a few things popped up to make me change my mind and rather than build a starter kit as I planned, the project has morphed into my first attempt at a conversion kit.  The issues with the Academy Merk III are well-documented on the net but the big ones are the tracks (rubber bands) and the turret.  As a result of my ambitition to get into resin and also my need to get some experience with making link-by-link tracks, I picked up a set of Fruil tracks and Legend Productions' Merkava Mk. III Detailing Set (Blk.III).  Fruil tracks are considered the best available and are made in Hungary; Legend Productions are a leader in resin conversions and kits, especially IDF kits.

Legend Productions Merkava Mk. III Detailing Set

Fruil Merkava III Tracks (ATL-49)

Academy Merkava III Base Kit