Merkava I

Manufacturer:ESCI (ESCI/Ertl Kit #8323)

One of thefirst ESCI kits I built, the Merkava was an excellentintroduction to the brand. The amount of detail included on thismodel is overwhelming. Much of it is molded onto the hull, withsome small, additional details to be glued on. There's really nota whole lot more I can say about the details, just look at thephoto above, and judge for yourself. I did no scratch buildinghere.

Only thetank commander's hatch is molded open; the loader's and Driver'shatches are molded shut. The 7.62mm driver's and loader's MG'sare pretty decent, but what really shines is the .50cal remote MGabove the cannon. I've made a mold of this MG so I can usereproductions for other kits that require a .50cal. It is superb.The main gun is fixed and does not elevate.

Thesuspension is also very well detailed. But unfortunately, ESCIonce again chose to mold each pair of bogie wheels as a single,double wide wheel. I HATE THAT! There is absolutely NO reason fortaking shortcuts like that. Aside from that glaring error, thewheel hubs are very detailed, and the tracks are hard plastic,link and length style, and have excellent detail on the outsidesurface, but the inner surface is smooth. The kit includes sideskirts, which are not shown on the above vehicle. I found thatthe tracks stick out a little too far, and the edges of the tracklinks would have to be sanded down some to get the side skirts tofit. Perhaps with the skirts on, the stupid wheel design wouldnot be as noticeable.

The onlyalterations I made to the kit were:

• I sanded grooves down the center of each double-wide bogie wheel to give the appearance of a pair of wheels.

• I added some bed rolls and other stowage inside the bustle rack on the turret rear, and made some numbered flags to hang off the sides of the rack. These flags were used in tactical exercises.

I paintedthe model in a desert tan color (I forget which one), but it isincorrect; the Israelis use a unique greenish-tan color.XtraColor produces this color, called Israeli Tank Sand Grey(X810) ( thanks Harald ).I'm not sure who else makes it. ESCI also makes a Merkava II kit,which is identical to this kit, but with the inclusion ofadditional turret armor. Hopefully, I will soon have a review ofthat kit as well.