I also wanted to make a corresponding original base model of the Merkava III from Academy to provide the contrasts of the upgrade.
I decided to kit base 2 Academy III early model with Legend IIID resin conversion kit, however, without instruction sheet. I bought the kit 4 years ago, and it was supplied without instructions! I only found out last week!
Due to the age, the kit has shrunk significantly! The hull top is now 6mm shorter than the hull bottom!
The gap is fulled up with Tamiya 5mm card and filled up with Tamiya Epoxy Putty and normal cellulose putty.
The back portion is aligned and patched. There is a stub at the bottom lines in the top hull that required me to cut some portions of the bottom hull to align and marry the parts together.
The exhaust part needed some work on the resin part to fit. No a major thing to contend with. However, the front portion is a major challenge.
The front fenders needed extensions to match the shortened hull. I used the 3mm foam from Tamiya and then file them to shape and filled up the gaps.
For the original Version III turret, I wanted to put on the tarp covers which is common amongst IDF tanks to protect from the dusts. Also, we wanted to depict the 3 weighted flags showing tank number. These are all made with Tamiya Epoxy Putty.
Till next time, Cheers.