Along with replacements for the drive sprockets, there is a solid resin block representing the rear-turret bustle – handy, but not useful for those who would like to show some detail in the bustle, since it is covered with a fitted tarp. There are also more resin parts than I’ve ever encountered in any mainline AFV Club kit. As per usual, the kit is replete with a variety of extras including at least five unused heavy machine guns and a variety of small arms, as well as extra fire extinguishers, grab handles, stretchers, etc., etc. Unusual for AFV Club, there was minor flash on many of the small parts, but nothing significant. The plastic is soft and in places, very thin, but I did not find any warpage or damage in shipping. The large, sturdy AFV Club kit box is relatively heavy and filled to the brim with parts and extras. If this isn’t the Legend set in the box, then it is something right up there with it. Looking closely at what AFV Club included in this kit, however, it appears that my wait is over. I had the Blazer in my stash, but Legend wanted too much for their resin set, so I walked away. The Legend aftermarket parts were mated with the old ESCI/ERTL Blazer M60A1… and it was just about the coolest AFV I’d ever seen. On a personal note, I’ve been waiting for this specific version of the Magach 6B Gal to show up in plastic for a long time, after having seen a similar build-up in the Legend Productions booth at the US Orlando Nationals back in 2012. Further upgrades included new belly armor, Merkava tracks, new fire controls, a thermal sleeve for the gun and smoke grenades, eventually resulting in the Magach 6b (Bet) and, ultimately, the 6b Gal Batash and equivalent Magach 7c Gimel models. Prior to the 1982 invasion of Lebanon (1982 Lebanon War), Magach 6 and 7 tanks were fitted with explosive reactive armor (ERA). Needless to say, these ‘re-wired’ M48 and M60 tanks proved to be equal to the task of filling the gap between earlier, British and WWII armor and the current Merkava armor types – the final conversion occurring in 2006. ‘Magach’, Hebrew for ‘battering ram’, has no less than six origins in Wikipedia, so I’ll let the reader decide where this moniker actually came from. This time around we meet the ‘Magach 6B GAL’ – a version that, as far as I know, has only been reproduced in 1/35th scale with the help of an after-market Legend set. AFV Club has released yet another version of Israeli’s rework of the venerable American M60 Main Battle Tank.
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