IDF Magach 3
w/Blazer Armor
Conversion Set
Legend Productions 1:35 Set #LF1134
Review by Terry Ashley
The set consists of 187 parts in light cream resin plus a fret of etched parts, two lengths of 0.5mm brass wire and a small lead sheet with the quality of the resin casting being excellent with only some fine resin film on some of the smaller parts and a few very small air bubbles with just the usual casting blocks to be removed.
Cleanup of the smaller parts will require care but the softer type resin makes this quite easy with all the parts numbered in parts layout photos to help with the identification. With the many ERA blocks it would be advisable to use the parts layout as a guide and number the parts with a soft pencil to avoid confusion after removing them from the casting blocks. Each ERA block has a thin resin lip on each side and care is needed not to damage this during cleanup but the casting blocks are positioned in such a way as to limit any possible damage which is good to see.
There were very few blemishes exposed after removing the casting blocks with only the barrel having a few small scars to deal with but these are along the bottom and out of the way with the barrel itself cast perfectly straight but you may want to drill out the muzzle for a better appearance.
The largest part in the set is the full turret which is cast hollow with a separate lower turret ring but there are a couple of large casting blocks on the back of the turret which you will need to remove from inside the turret shell to fit the ring.
The fit of the turret ring is not the best and will need some trial fitting and trimming to get a good fit.
Detail on the turret is very good with subtle cast surface texturing and the integrated mantlet with dust cover is especially well done and looks most convincing but you must take care as there is a very fine lip around the rear ventilator housing that is very easy to damage if not careful.
Most of the details on the turret are separate parts such as the Commander’s Urdan cupola and hatch with additional mounting, the Loader’s hatch, sight cover, ventilator dome cover and many smaller fittings, plus an multi-part etched metal rear turret basket and the 0.5mm wire for the side grab rails with a few parts such as the lifting eyes and the two range finder domes used from the Tamiya kit.
The detail on the two 7.62mm MAG Chashan with stock and .50cal machine gun
is very good although the .50cal barrel was slightly warped but easily fixed
with warm water and there are a couple of .30cal MGs also included to use if
you wish.
The Loader’s swivel arm MG mounting is provided but the parts for the
scissor mount on the Commander’s cupola are not indicated in the instructions
making identification a bit tricky but are made up of parts 35, 36, 38, 39
and 41.
Fitting the Blazer ERA blocks will also require care as their location is not indicated on the turret itself but only on the assembly photos and the exact orientation with the turret bottom is not clear and some test fitting will be required to get them to sit correctly in relation to other turret details.
Numerous parts are provided in resin and etched metal for around the hull and thankfully these all simply replace the kit parts not requiring and surgery which makes fitting easy.
These include the driver’s hatch, front headlights with etched bush guards, the two rear air filter boxes, engine deck travel lock, rear fender storage boxes and the hull front mounted Blazer ERA panels as well as thin etched frames on the fenders with additional small resin bolt heads added.
Again the exact location of the ERA panels is not clear especially those on the lower hull front and some additional reference would be of help.
The instructions as mentioned are photos of the model during and after assembly with most parts called out by number but some of the more intricate assemblies are a little difficult to follow such as the mantlet .50cal mounting and exact location of the ERA panels and careful study of the instructions and additional references if you have them would be helpful.
Conclusion:
This is an extensive conversion set for the Tamiya M48A3 kit
with cleanly cast parts that have very nice details included and not having
to alter the donor kit makes assembly easier but some experience working with
resin and etched parts would be helpful.
As mentioned careful study of the instructions would be needed but the end result is a very detailed model of the Magach 3 with ERA.
Highly recommended for IDF fans.
Thanks to Legends Productions for the review set.
Page created November 3, 2006