Look at all those different colours of plastic … how many different kits did you use??
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Uhhh… Tamiya hull (green), probably the old Commander’s turret, Dragon engine cover, Takom storage bins (gray), Tamiya turret details, Tamiya smoke dischargers, Dragon air filter housings, Academy gun crutch, Tamiya towing hitch mount, Tamiya Cr1 center caps on the wheels, some Trumpeter return rollers and center caps, Tamiya Merkave drive sprockets, Friul tracks, Italeri fender braces, Lo Model headlight guards with Tamiya headlights, Meng bolt heads, Tamiya Cr 2 idler wheels and some hull fittings, Tamiya and Takom bazooka plates, and an Academy commander’s MG mount. White is plastic stock.
I think that’s most of it.
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Wow Russel! A kitbasher’s penultimate build!
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It’s my happy place! 
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Primer’s on, looks pretty ordinary in one color…
IMG_4720 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_4719 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
I had a couple of things to fix, visible after primer was on, but not a lot. I added tail lights and trans access covers too, made up a couple of toe cables and decided to hang them off the back and use d-rings to secure them to the rear tow chackles, or something like that since I totally forgot to leave room for them in their normal location. Oops.
Also, I built up a couple of different drive sprockets from an Academy Magach kit and am thinking about using Merkava 1 tracks, mainly because they would be more in line with the time period I’m working with. I have some built up and ready to go from a scrapped model, and I really think they would look better too. Any input welcomed here.
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Looks great even in primer!
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Very nice Russ. Good to see the primer on.
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Very nice what if. Love what you are doing with this one Russ.
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Thanks all. I’m getting a little jazzed now, seeing it begin to take shape. I think it’s going to look good in sand-gray.
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I’d say it will look awesome in sand-gray!
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I remember having built an Airfix Chieftain in 1/72 as a kid, must have been around 1973, I stuck a needle in it with a tiny Israeli flag, looked really cool…
Bet this one will be to (trying to score the understatement of this year award… 
).
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That is looking great.
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Tan is on!
IMG_4721 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
It’s Tamiya TS-46, light sand from the can, my go-to for IDF up to mid-70’s. And while I was there, I did a test fir of some Merkava 1 tracks, salvaged from a very old build. I think I prefer the Merk tracks. They look more appropriate, if that makes sense…
IMG_4725 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
And again, something goofy: I’ve been boning up on British Cold War tank designs and proposals, and a bunch of interesting stuff keeps showing up, things like the “Aluminum (aluminium?) Chieftain” amongst them, and an Automotive Test Rig for the Cr1 with a bare bones, no-armor turret mounted, all of which got me to thinking of another way to use up leftover kit parts and bits from salvaged models. Eventually, I had a hull from Cr1 and Cr2 parts, Merkava 1 suspension and Merkava 4 tracks. The idler is from a HobbyBoss Leo 2A4, about the only usable part from that rat. I plopped a Tamiya Chieftain turret on it to see what it looks like,
IMG_4723 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
I have only a rough idea of where I’ll go from here, probably a completely different turret, but it’s fun no matter.
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Chieftain looks great Russ and I love the multi hybrid …that’s cool.
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The birth of a beast! You could skip the turret entirely and go for one of those early heavy APC conversions like the Centurion-based ones… Or a Flakpanzer/Terminator mash-up with autocannon + missiles… Or if you must have a big gun, how about something like the 155mm Braveheart turret?
Cheers,
M
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Thats a good idea for a What if tank.Chieftain chassis with upgraded engine deck Idf style and a superstructure like a Nagmashot or Nagmachon.
Richard
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I now have decals and a wash on, along with most of the detail painting done. I used an early 5-digit registration number on t he nose and rear but while doing the wash thought the number looked familiar. Sure enough it appears on a Star decal sheet for M50 Shermans. I just went over it with a number off a Magach 3 set.
IMG_4735 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_4734 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_4733 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_4732 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
At first glance it just looks like an Iranian tank, but the engine deck makes me look twice.
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This build is such a cool concept! The IDF Chieftain is one of those fascinating “what if” scenarios that really sparks the imagination—and you’ve executed it brilliantly. The weathering and stowage give it a totally believable battlefield look.
Did you base the scheme on any particular IDF vehicle, or just go with your own take on how it might have looked in service? Either way, it works really well!
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Absolutely great result Russ, it looks superb. Cool concept superbly finished, as usual… Nice 
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Thanks guys.
I’m trying to follow the same engineering process Israel did when they started modifying Centurions, right up to just before they added ERA. The major item of course is the US powerpack. So, yes, I’m kind of basing this off the Sho’t Kal of the early '70s, and overlooking the intro date of the Stillbrew package. It looked too good to not use vs. a “stock” Tamiya turret.
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