Academy Merkava Mk.IV InBox Review - Kit 13213

While there's been a few release of Merkava IV variants in the past all of them have been in resin. Academy must be thanks for coming out with the first plastic version. Let's see what we get in that rather large box.



Inside the box you'll find 562 parts on 7 sprues, lower & upper hull, a small PE fret (15 parts), some rope, Poly caps, Instruction sheet, a small decals sheet, a painting & decal placement/Parts locating diagram sheet and a tube of glue.

















Instruction sheet is broken down into 15 major steps and a few sub-steps. Everything seems to be well laid out and should ensure an easy build without too many questions about positioning the parts.

The hull come in the usual upper and lower part. First major distraction is the motorization hull. There is a plug for the middle hole but you'll have to make your own for the two at the front. Good point is that the dimensional accuracy don't seem to be affected.

Details on both part is very good and compare very well with actual pictures of the tank and the Legend Production resin model. The only glaring omission is the prominent anti-slip surfaces we see on all Tsahal tanks. But then again even the top of the line Legend Production resin kit don't come with it. So modeller will have to provide their own using the technique that suit them best.















Turret comes in a top/bottom halves and, like the hull, have very good details but lack the anti-slip surfaces. The fit between them is very good and shouldn't cause any problems. There seem's to be a small dimensional issue at the front (the flat surface on both side of the gun) but, again, nothing too distracting.

















One very interesting feature is the separate armour protection over the loader position. This let us believe that Academy may put out another Merk IV variant in the future with the new loader hatch and the LIC package.

Moving to Sprue B. Here we have the various components to dress up the turret. Parts are very well moulded with no apparent flash, mould shifting or pin marks. Some part are showing some very minor seams as usual on that kind of injected moulding process.



Here we hit the first potential problem: the gun tube. It may not be major but as soon as you know about it it become a little annoyance. The smoke extractor is seating a little too low on the gun barrel. Like I said nothing major and the average modeller should be able to live with it but still strange since Academy seems to have take great care in making this kit.













For the rear basket you can choose between a plastic or PE part for the bottom. The choice is yours but as there's no complicated folds to do on the PE part I wonder who would use the plastic one.

What's missing however is the multi parts canvas cover that goes over that basket. You'll have to make your own or buy an aftermarket one (see at the end of the review for an alternative).



















Look at that nice MG and the delicate handle. And what about that nice 3D ammo belt instead of unrealistic flat PE. Btw the two MG comes with slide-moulded barrels.









Continued...

Moving on to sprue C: Hull details



The side protective plates are, if I'm right, of an older style. But unless you want to model a specific vehicle there's nothing wrong with them except maybe some slightly under scale rivets. As can be seen in the next pictures both style can be installed on tanks from the same group. Again aftermarket replacement are available if you want





Again Academy offer you the choice between plastic and PE for the two basket at the rear of the hull.















Sprues D & E: Driving train

Tracks are of the length and links type and show good definition. There's seems to be a small proportion problem with the interleaving parts of the links at least when comparing them with the Legend Production ones. Overall they should look good when painted and weathered. Some aftermarket ones will surely appear in the near future.









Here we have a nice little surprise. It seems that Academy as beaten Legend Production on the sprockets.



















All the little hemisphere you see are used to build the chain fence around the rear of the turret. The solution Academy chose to depict this may not please everyone but I for one see the good thing in it. The chains come in PE section and you cement those little hemispheres to add the 3D effects. While the chains themselves will be rather flat when you look closely the effect should be more than ok from a few feet (like standing in front of a show table). I see it as a great help for the average modeller who will not have to cut length of tiny chain and then try to cement some tiny balls on them and, finally, try to cement all to 70 chains around the basket. Again, some aftermarket alternatives are already available for those who want a more accurate depiction.



Conclusion:

Pros:
- First plastic offering of this mighty fighting machine
- Very nice details
- Seems to be quite accurate overall (but don't quote me on this )
- Simple PE and plastic chains fence (beginner/average modeller)

Cons:
- No anti-slip surfaces
- Simple and flat chains fence (intermediate/advance modellers)
- Smoke extractor is a little off
- No clear plastic parts
- No cover on rear turret basket

Overall and from the point of view of this review (inbox only) I would say that Academy has hit an homerun with this kit. While there is room for some amelioration the basic kit should build into a nice "representative" vehicle of the Merkava Mk IV Family.

As this mini-review don't deal with actually building the kit I can't comment on parts fit for now.

Aftermarket I'm aware of at the time of writing:

Legend Production LF1178 - Merkava Mk.4 Turret/Hull Basket set
Legend Production LF1179 - Merkava Mk.4 LIC Conversion set
Legend Production LF1180 - Merkava Mk.4 Detailing set

added 2009-05-24
LF1186 Merkava Mk.IV Side Skirt Detailing/Loader's Hatch set
LF1187 Merkava Mk.IV Heavy Duty Side Skirt

added 2009-06-19
Hard Corps Models sell a number of great addons for the Merk IV
3D printed tracks
Droid
Idler
Rear door
You can find more info at their website: Hard Corps Models

Reference:
- Internet
- RAID Magazine Hors-serie #39 "Les chars de combat en action" Tome 4
- - Comparative picture review between the Academy (plastic) and Legend Production (full resin) kits

And to conclude with a smile here's some shots of the Merk beside some Axis vehicles







Hard Corps ModelsHard Corps Models

Now this is the approach that should be used from now on when it comes to an "In Box" review.

Lots of great photos of the kit sprues, use of photos of the actual vehicle or competitors kit for comparison along with knowledgeable text about the subject.

You have really raised the bar for us my friend.

Dman

oh wow! missed this one earlier!

thanks for reviewing richard!

As the others have stated, great review!

Dman is being modest as there is a set of Merkava IV tracks coming with which he was involved.

Regards,
Saúl

Thanks, your comments are highly appreciated

Not something I would do on a regular basis but writing this one was enjoyable.

When Dman tracks are available I will update the thread

great review . i like merkavas and israeli armour in general. at first i was a bit sceptical of academy merkavas and was waiting for an in depth review . now thanks to you my debit card account is lighter.
thanks richard keep up the excellent work
alex

I just finished reading this review, and can hardly keep mt credit card in my wallet. I gotta get me one of these!!!

As you know I'm not a tread head, but; I do know what I like!
I've always like the "look" of the Merkava, and said if I ever build another armor kit this would be IT!

This will be THE ONE!! It may be a little while till I can clear the bench, but I will!!

Richard, great review and thanks. You've sold me on this kit. I think I've caught the disease!!

Thanks for the nice comments geedog.