Post by rbaer on Jan 13, 2014 14:30:07 GMT -5
It's here, and of course I could still here the UPS truck leaving as I was opening the box. First impressions: What I have is a very good representation of what the kit is labeled as. The vintage hull and suspension is still used, complete with simplified final drives and rear hull plate. Road wheels are the newer steel type, no longer with separate rubber tires, which wouldn't take paint anyway. It looks like all the old sprues necessary to finish out the hull details are still there as well. One sprue has most of the parts from the old Magach kit, less the original 'Blazer' armor packs, but with a new TC fig, who looks pretty good.
The turret parts now have the -Batash modular armor as a semi-integral parts, with the top of the modules separate. This appears to be an entirely new mold, with the exception of the top of the turret shell, an adaptation of the old part. Also included is a new Urdan cupola and new loader's hatch, both better than the original Magach parts. All detail parts on this sprue, both turret and hull, look to be very nicely done, not Dragon quality but very close.
Also new: side skirt armor a and turret basket, both well done. Turret top armor, new mantlet, belly armor, Batash-specific hull and turret fittings and details are all crisply molded and flash-free. The new turret basket has a solid floor, but is otherwise sharp.
Tracks are molded in a new-to-Academy soft material that may be glue-able, don't know yet. They appear to be the same tooling as before, so while Friuls are a better choice, these are at least now usable. I have a pic below of them wrapped around my sausage-like finger to demonstrate how flexible the material is, a pleasant change from the old Magach tracks.
Really good news for a kit-basher like me: with Academy's old Magach in hand, it's now easily possible to build a Magach 6B-Gal, or this:
The gunner's sight and turret basket were the major visible changes necessary in the upgrade, and they're all in the -Batash box as separate pieces. Oh boy, now I have a Legends conversion I won't need.....
Okay, sprue pics:
Turret parts. Also in this bag, nice roadwheels, return rollers and M48/60drive sprockets. Turret hatches are all new, correctly sized, nice detail.
Above, new hull armor packs, mantlet, turret armor packs, side skirts/armor, turret bustle rack, and hull and turret details. Also here are (sit down for this) Eight! tow cable ends, period-correct IDF style tow cable ends, with (still seated?) fully-molded, hollow, ready- for-cable ends. I will buy another kit just for these. Lots of nice parts here, like a full and empty turret-top rack for MG ammo, commander's stowage box, brackets and hangers for side skirts, etc. Schweet!
And those tracks: You just couldn't wrap the old one this tight around anything, let alone the suspension of the tank they were supposed to fit. Nice improvement. They're still a little thin, but as I mentioned earlier, usable.
All in all, I'm jazzed about this one, and if you build IDF stuff or M60s, I recommend this one. Yes, the old hull parts are weak, but ALL the new stuff is good. The Italeri/Esci hull should take all the new Academy parts just fine if that's a concern, and there is enough in this box to bash with the old Academy (or Esci for that matter) Magach to build the -Gal. What a deal! I'll be buying more of these.
The turret parts now have the -Batash modular armor as a semi-integral parts, with the top of the modules separate. This appears to be an entirely new mold, with the exception of the top of the turret shell, an adaptation of the old part. Also included is a new Urdan cupola and new loader's hatch, both better than the original Magach parts. All detail parts on this sprue, both turret and hull, look to be very nicely done, not Dragon quality but very close.
Also new: side skirt armor a and turret basket, both well done. Turret top armor, new mantlet, belly armor, Batash-specific hull and turret fittings and details are all crisply molded and flash-free. The new turret basket has a solid floor, but is otherwise sharp.
Tracks are molded in a new-to-Academy soft material that may be glue-able, don't know yet. They appear to be the same tooling as before, so while Friuls are a better choice, these are at least now usable. I have a pic below of them wrapped around my sausage-like finger to demonstrate how flexible the material is, a pleasant change from the old Magach tracks.
Really good news for a kit-basher like me: with Academy's old Magach in hand, it's now easily possible to build a Magach 6B-Gal, or this:
The gunner's sight and turret basket were the major visible changes necessary in the upgrade, and they're all in the -Batash box as separate pieces. Oh boy, now I have a Legends conversion I won't need.....
Okay, sprue pics:
Turret parts. Also in this bag, nice roadwheels, return rollers and M48/60drive sprockets. Turret hatches are all new, correctly sized, nice detail.
Above, new hull armor packs, mantlet, turret armor packs, side skirts/armor, turret bustle rack, and hull and turret details. Also here are (sit down for this) Eight! tow cable ends, period-correct IDF style tow cable ends, with (still seated?) fully-molded, hollow, ready- for-cable ends. I will buy another kit just for these. Lots of nice parts here, like a full and empty turret-top rack for MG ammo, commander's stowage box, brackets and hangers for side skirts, etc. Schweet!
And those tracks: You just couldn't wrap the old one this tight around anything, let alone the suspension of the tank they were supposed to fit. Nice improvement. They're still a little thin, but as I mentioned earlier, usable.
All in all, I'm jazzed about this one, and if you build IDF stuff or M60s, I recommend this one. Yes, the old hull parts are weak, but ALL the new stuff is good. The Italeri/Esci hull should take all the new Academy parts just fine if that's a concern, and there is enough in this box to bash with the old Academy (or Esci for that matter) Magach to build the -Gal. What a deal! I'll be buying more of these.
