So after getting the Meng Merkava IIID LIC last week i was asked what my opinion of the kit was and how it compares to other Merkava kits
And my awnser to that is simple
I don't know as i never build a Merkava and this is the only Merkava kit i have
But from my other Meng kits i can say the overall quality of Meng is good
The parts fit very well and the overall engineering is good aswell as the detail on the parts
But that statement is based on other kits of the same brand so that doesn't mean anything about this kit
A bit of background information
This is third or forth Merkava III that is made by Meng
Other kits inlcude the regular Merkava III ,a version with mine rollers and the Merkava III D early
This kit offer the late version of the III D wich has some modifications comparred to older vehicles
These upgrades include a pistol port in the rear door , belly armor plate and some smaller upgrades in terms of electronics and other equipment
But that is enough boring talk
Now let's take a look at the kit
So here is the bix art showing 1 of the 2 vehicle options
The rather big box is stuffed with styrene
But i will start with the seperate parts that aren't in the sprues
So these are the upper and lower hull sections
The turret bottom and part of the roof
So on to the sprues
This is sprue A wich contains the wheels
You get to choose from steel wheels and wheels with a tyre fitted to it
A close up of the steel wheels
Sprue b contains parts for the suspension
A close up of some parts
Sprue C has various parts for the hull and possibly the turret
Sprue D has parts for the upper hull and read door
A close up of the engine deck shows a nice amount of detail
Sprue E is a small one but it contains the ball and chain armor for the rear of the turret
Sprue F has parts for the main 120mm gun and several small parts wich look like the are for the machineguns and their mounts
Sprue G has various parts that go all over the tank
Sprue H has various parts aswell but i think i can see some turret hatches
Sprue L has parts for the turret roof
A close up of the turret panels
Sprue M has parts like towing eyes and hooks and the big belly armor plate
Sprue J is the sprue with the clear parts
Then there are some loose parts like the 2 idler wheels ,ploy caps and the tracks wich i left in the bag so i don't loose any
They are supossed to be snap together tracks
Then we get a nicely printed A4 sized instruction book with 41 steps to build yourself a tank
How it should look in the end
The 2 versions look the same with the exception of the markings
There is a small bonus
You also get this small reference booklet
And in the corner of the box i found the decals and photo etch
So these are the decals and the photo etch
So those are the parts
I think that it looks like a good kit with more then enough details
Ofcourse i can't say anything about the fit of the parts at this point but once i will start this kit i will keep a buildthread for it
There is 1 thing that needs improvement
The anti slip surfaces are far too smooth
Even the reference provided by Meng shows the very rough surface of the anti slip areas
Wich almost looks like gravel as it is very rough
So my plan is to recreate this with diluted white glue and beach sand wich should give a nice surface for these parts
1 other feature i noticed is the seamlines on some parts of the A and B sprues
But i think the reason that these are bigger is that these sprues already where used in the older Merkava kits that Meng released
So that concludes my review of this kit
I hope it is helpfull for someone that is thinking of getting this kit
Take care and untill next time
Cheers
Mark
