Excellent job so far Russel. Love the finish and weathering.
It looks like the second photo- the one taken of the top of the tank - doesn’t show much of a difference at all between the barrel color and rest of the tank, at least to my eyes. The pic below that seems to show the barrel a little lighter so maybe it’s just the lighting?
Again excellent job Russel!
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I do not have access at my reference at the moment but I can do a search and post any photo I might find tomorrow evening.
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I’m certainly aware of the fuel can in that position, (I believe I may have done a build or two, or twelve, with the can there)
…but they were being phased out from that location on the Sho’t Kals and would eventually disappear altogther. The Amusing Hobby kit itself doesn’t even have the can there. They would all eventually end up on the right rear fender and on the bustle rack.
I would not have based my build on that one admittedly ambiguous photo. Whatever made me do it at the time was pretty clear evidence that the wheel was there.
If Nikos doesn’t believe that spotlight stowage box would support the weight, I’ve no reason to question that. I simply offer an alternate location.
Just to be clear, the one I did it on was from 1982, and its location meant doing away with the triangular shaped ERA atop the fender, but with the wheel there it sort of obviated the need for the ERA in that spot. You can barely see it this photo:
I am always fond of saying NEVER use someone else’s model for a reference - you will always be disappointed. But trust me on this, the wheel was seen there. Perhaps rarely, but then I like to model rare. Mine were among the first accurate examples ever to have been done, mainly because AEF Designs’ kits were pretty much unbuildable. Most of what I ended up doing was scratch built.
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Where did you get this info from? The only spare road wheels I’ve ever seen mounted on Sho’ts were sitting on top of the battering ram as seen on some of the Dalets. Would love to be proven wrong though, so please do share if you have some photos.
This photo shows a standard 20l plastic water can. It is the cover photo in better resolution.
We did not carry any on our Merkavas in the '90s. Spare wheels were carried by a M-113 Fitter manned by ordnance troops attached to every tank company.
I guess the same was true for Halftracks fulfilling the same role earlier.
It isn’t that difficult at all and it doesn’t require any special tools we didn’t have in our tanks.
Carrying a spare wheel seems to be more common on late Magachs. My (semi) educated guess would be that cracked road wheels were probably more common due to the increased weight of the later marks.
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Looks pretty crowded on that vehicle!
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You’re right, but it isn’t a quick job and potentially exposes the crew to enemy fire. Having done this myself, I can confirm it wasn’t my most favourite maintenance task!
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YKW photos, I think the wheels are carried separately
Found a Bet or Gimel with a spare wheel atop the air cleaners
Lebanon 1982, notice the wheels on the track and the dozer on the second tank
On another subject, Upgraded shots with the curls on the turret boxes, I assume six day war timerframe
Upgraded Shot with the wheel on the engine deck, Six Days War
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Those are trailer wheels I believe.
You seem to be looking at the wrong part of the photo…
Interesting details: the vehicle belongs to the XO (Dalet) of the third company (three horizontal stripes), 75th Battalion (a single barrel ring plus number one in the middle of the brigade insignia), 7th Brigade (shield shaped insignia). The writing above the insignia says ‘Golan’ (the official name of the 7th is Storm from Golan, after Isaiah 66,15: “It shall come in fire, and its chariots shall be like a storm").
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aha! The one lurking in the shadows …
They seem to have a tread pattern → spares for the heavy equipment trailer hauling something which looks like an M88
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You mean you found evidence of tank crews putting spare wheels where they found room? Say it ain’t so.
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Where indeed? Have you not been reading the thread? I think I stated several times - from photos. They could have been form one of my many coffee table books from the 80’s, loaded with photos. Of maybe from one of many Born in Battle books. I neither know nor care.
Just because you haven’t seen something doesn’t mean it didn’t exist. I’ve got 31 years in the Army and I can assure you there’s a lot I haven’t seen. If a private with six months in the army told me about something I hadn’t seen I certainly wouldn’t say he was wrong based on my own somewhat “limited” exeprience. 
Proven wrong? You haven’t exactly proven yourself right yet. Again, absence of evidence doesn’t make something untrue. Besides, it’s not in my nature to spend my time trying to prove people wrong, but rather to try and help them. Other guys seem to have that kind of time on their hands.
If I happen to be back in my attic and happen upon any photos, I’ll be happy to post them. I’m not going out of my way any more on what has become quite a silly topic. (not the topic per se, but some of these responses) 
I got no dog in this hunt- Russ can build it however he likes.The whole thing takes away from a fine build by trying to prove someone wrong. If it helps you any - I’m wrong. No tank crew anywhere on the planet in any army in any time frame decided to put a spare piece of equipment on their tank where they felt it would fit, especially in combat conditions in an enviroment known to be harsh to tank suspensions. Will that do it for you?
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Thanks, that sums up your entire post pretty good. I don’t know why you bothered with the rest. Ego perhaps?
Well at least some REALLY good pics surfaced…
No matter the tone, all good info too. Maybe I’ll hang the wheel on the Academy fitter I did a few years ago. It was kind of fun to remove the hub from the Takom wheel I thought I’d lost though. I should clean my work area more often.
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Done. I posed it on one of my generic bases, which may or may not have appropriate signage.
IMG_4080 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_4081 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_4082 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_4084 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_4085 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_4087 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_4088 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
Thanks for watching, and big thanks to all who contributed pics and advice!
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Great build Russ, you didn’t let us or the Cent down. Lovely finish as well … Plus that generic base is perfect … It’s something I keep meaning to do as well, 3 all round display bases, desert and grass and road/ hard surface one …
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