ADVANCED BUILD
Relative newcomer Tiger Model shows real quality with its 1/35 Nagmachon release. Paul Cawte builds this example of Israeli military ingenuity.
While operating in Southern Lebanon, the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) identified the need for a heavy armoured personnel carrier (APC), with the solution based on the service’s ageing Centurion (Shot-Cal) tanks.
Requirements were drawn in response to the use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and anti-tank munitions by opposing forces, which highlighted a discrepancy in both armour and manoeuvrability between tanks and the APCs operating alongside. Luckily, at the same time, the Israeli Armoured Corps was beginning to retire the Shot-Cal and, by simply removing the turret and replacing it with a box-like superstructure and a crew compartment, arrived at a solution to the heavy APC requirement. Even with additional armour, the overall vehicle weight was similar to the standard tank.
The Nagmachon, a portmanteau of the words Nagmash (APC) and Gachon (belly), in reference to the additional underside armour, entered service in the late 1980s. It is capable of carrying ten infantry soldiers and a crew of two. Armed with four 7.62mm FN MAG machine guns or a combination with …
