MERKAVA MKIV מלחמת חרבות ברזל WAR OF IRON SWORDS,GAZA

[Pavel]

That's a completely different matter!

[Pavel]

The version in Tsarist Russia before 1917 differed from the American one in that only one leg was ringed, since convicts were driven to hard labor on foot, and the roads were a bit dirty, so two shackled legs did not allow them to walk normally, and so they carried the ball in their hands, making their way through the mud...

[HERMAN BIX]

Question folks, there is a gadget on the rear deck which I assume is some sort of crow bar/splitting wedge but Im really not sure.
Not having any reference for these modern MBTs I can only draw inference to what it might be.
Its mounted under the turret bustle behind the shovel, and is some sort of pioneer tool with big wedges on each end.

If any of you can confirm what the tool is supposed to be, so I can get it closer to what it looks like, I really appreciate it.

[Pavel]

Yes, that's what you think and in principle it's similar in all countries....
Let's not forget that God's chosen country in the form of the UN, almost all of it is made of rock, where this gadget is in 100% demand

[Pavel]

The Germans pay special attention to the tool!
By the way, when I was in Germany, I was at the testing ground and saw that even on a dirty Leopard, the crew carefully cleaned the tool. When a modeler makes it dirty, I am very surprised... Well, the Germans are very pedantic, it is their national trait.

[HERMAN BIX]

Ok it must be a very simplified crow bar in a holder then.
I will try to get it looking a bit better!
Not many clear pics of the rear deck on these things.

[Herr Dr. Professor]

The same sort of crowbar is supplied on a sprue for the the HengLong Challenger 2 on which I am currently working. This type is double ended and much longer than what I knew in the 1960s as a "Johnson Bar": viewtopic.php?p=355967&hilit=Johnson+Bar#p355967

[Pavel]

Sorry for the tediousness.
We sell this gadget in two versions: Soviet length 1300 mm and Eurostandard 1000 mm.....
Look in your stores, what you have on the shelves.
I think that IMI, having 70% of people from the USSR, used a long crowbar...

[HERMAN BIX]

Right, a crowbar it is.
I assume its supposed to have some form of retaining clamps and a socket so the thing is properly secured.
I will look around the 1/35th scale models to see if any light can be shed on the minor subject!

[HERMAN BIX]

Prepped for paint.
Just need to mask the skirts & we’re on
Lot of periscope glass in this thing !!