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Not in the field. Not in a war zone might be a training base. Cause as I said the gear is always on it during operations.
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Ok . Iām not gonna take your bait. Since you are the master baiter here.
Enjoy living under the bridge.
Iām no expert but I live and served in Israel I know most of our equipment and how itās used . So enjoy your games.
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Ball and chains are on it they tilted forward as you can see if you enlarged the picture.
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Well, you clearly arenāt! 
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Well actually you claimed that there is no way that Merkava is without towing cable, I show you picture that it is possible (maybe on training but there is). Then that it can not be without ball and chains ( I know, customer wants that way). You and Mr Goldman encourage me that this is first and last time I post my picture on this forum.
Nice to have " egzperts" like you two that can not prove anything.
Have a nice life 
Look, it isnāt our fault your customer is a clown and that you werenāt savvy enough to spot itā¦
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Am I correct in understanding that the customer wanted the chains that way and that you know that it is not correct?
@Robert_Goldman is there any way however improbable that there would not be a tow cable? I too think it strange that there would not be one it combat. Maybe the photo that @salep found is of training exercises. I donāt think he is asserting that he is smarter or knows more than you; @salep am I also correct that you meant that GIF in jest? I think Salep is only providing what heās found.
@salep I would be saddened to see you go if you do decide to leave this forum.
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I know that there is no Merkava IV without ball and chains, and did not put towing cable on purpose because saw pictures without. Quick search on Google and you will find also.
Also did not suggest that my Merkava is in combat. Really donāt get what is all the fuss, model Is my representation and donāt have to prove anything . (I provided picture without towing cable on training excise)
I will not leave forum,only will not post my pictures.
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One picture had broken chains the other one fresh out of the paint shop had a full set of balls and chains and the third one the chains were tilted forward since the tank was going down hill. Soooooo yeah Iām the big bad expertā¦ Iām not counting rivits Iām just stating facts . If he enlarged the pictures heād see it clearlyā¦ only the early Merkava Mk 1 didnāt field with the balls and chains in the very beginning of the first Lebanon war in 1982 but later In the year they added them due to the RPG and Sager AT rockets. The first balls were steel the new ones on the MkIV and V and the replacement ones on the older marks are a composite of some sort and much lighter then the old solid steel ones.
I can only state the facts and the history
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You missed the point. I know that there should be ball and chains on turret.
Please read my postās carefully, or you can try with Google translate.
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@salep Sasa, thank you for explaining the customer didnāt want tow cables on the model. I think the model is very sharp looking, well built, nicely painted and weathered. I would be proud to have a Merkava like yours in my model collection.
Please continue to post pictures of your work.
Myself and many others have enjoyed looking at the Merkava. Iāve posted quite a few pictures of my model work thatās been questioned over the years. Sometimes someone had more information than I did and wanted to be helpful, sometimes their information wasnāt accurate and we had a good discussion and sometimes Iād made an artistic license choice others didnāt understand.
Please donāt let a discussion over whatās artistic license cause you to decide not to post your work. I will feel very bad about that because that unfortunate event occurred due to me asking a question about an artistic license choice.
Letās move to other discussion please. My question on tow cables has been answered.
Thank you, everyone for providing insight & details.
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Iāve read your post each and every one of them all I stated is they would not be in the field without all the gearā¦ including the crews personal gear . Hence the maintenance comment. Yet your little meme of we experts was a shots fired moment.
If your customer wants it that way had nothing to do with what I wrote and I really donāt care that he wanted it that way . Heās paying for it so Mazal Tov.
Did you argue with teachers as a kid? Cause all I did was fill in some blanks that were really big.
I bet you fight with judges at contests as will.
Hereās what I know from experience. Yes, the customer IS always right. If he asks for something implausible, which has happened, Iāll point it out and in every case he accepts my word on it. However, if he wants it with no antenna (most of my builds get shipped overseas) that makes sense. But maybe he wants to add his own for whatever reason. I use carbon fiber usually - itās nearly indestructible but doesnāt have the taper in it. Perhaps the customer in this case wants to add his own real chain and not settle for the injection molded or PE chains. Same with the cable. Perhaps heās found something he thinks is the catās meow compared to what some kit give you.
A great majority of these also require no weathering, and no stowage. They just want a clean build with no flaws, and in many cases with alterations not available, or with intricate PE work. I know for a fact that one of my builds was finished by the customer and passed off as his own. This happens more often than you might think.
In fact, a hobby shop near me is selling Verlinden builds - at least a couple of them are billed as such - and Iām sure theyāll end up being used by someone, if not three states away.
Iām just mystified at the prices. Theyāre going for less than the cost of a kit and a few tins of paint.
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Maybe:
- Doesnāt like the ball and chain
- Thinks he can do it better than the kit parts
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I added that immediately after I posted. That and corrected a few fat fingered errors. Who uses ātonsā of paint? 
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Maybe not a ton but I have seen some models that looked as if they had been dipped in paint ā¦
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YES! This.
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Yes, I stated to him that original (Academy) ball and chains are dreadful and if he wants proper one and me putting them on tank will cost him more. He rejected, so we have Merkava IV without them.
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