The Nagmachon is an armored personnel carrier based on a turretless Shot and fitted with a well protected superstructure. It is the successor of the Nagmashot which has been designed to meet the requirement of improved protection for the personnel conducting patrol and escort duties during the occupation of Southern Lebanon. Like the Nagmashot the Nagmachon was initially fitted with an open superstructure armed with 4 MAG MG, one at each corner. It is also equipped with heavy duty side skirts and Blazer ERA blocks fitted to the front and the sides.

To increase the protection of the personnel vertical armored panels were added to the superstructure. These were equipped with armored windows to enhance the vision of the crew.

To face the increasing threat the superstructure has been replaced by a pillbox for two or four men. The first pillboxes had protections for the windows then slat armor has been added all around the pillbox to better protect it against antitank weapons. This pillbox is nicknamed Doghouse. The access to the interior is through the large hatches at the rear which is the main drawback of the Nagmachon.

The vehicle is armed with 4 MAG 58 fitted to fire ports at each corner of the pillbox. To improve its protection the Nagmachon is equipped with 2 smoke-grenades dischargers (4 dischargers on the early versions), a threat warning system and a jammer.

It is still in service with the IDF to perform patrol and escort duties along the border and more specifically with the Gaza strip.

The kit

Released in 2015 by Tiger Model it depicts the latest version of Nagmachon used by the Israeli army fitted with a 4 man pillbox and protected by slat armor. The box contains 22 plastic sprues with 7 for the track links, 1 lower hull, 1 pillbox, 3 clear parts sprues of which 2 are colored, 1 sheet of photoetched parts, 1 chain, 1 metal cable length, polycaps, 1 sheet of decals, 1 instructions booklet and 1 color plate for the decoration and additional instructions.

The carving is fine and the cast is high quality. However many parts have visible ejection pin marks which need to be filled. The instructions are usually clear but the lack of marks to glue several parts including slat armor panels brackets is a real issue. As far the accuracy of the kit is concerned Tiger Model was partly mistaken as shown later.

A single decoration is proposed by Tiger Model based on a real vehicle. But the actual vehicle is slightly different from the model you get when strictly following the instructions

Before I started the assembly I made some researches during which I noticed that the vehicles fitted with the slat armor only have one smoke-grenades discharger per side. The exhaust cover issued by Tiger Model although being correct is not the standard one as well as the Hush Puppy tracks provided in the box. So I decided to use the standard exhaust cover (provided in the box) and standard Centurion tracks.

The build

It starts with the pillbox and from the very first step you need to use putty to fill the numerous ejection pin marks on panels F2, F4, F7 and F8 and fill the gaps between the panels and the pillbox. The installation of the supports for the grilles is easy but on the rear face you also need to use putty to fill several gaps.

At step 5 Tiger Model asks to glue the threat warning device but I preferred to let it aside for the moment. The installation of the grilles in front of the firing ports of the FN MAG is a bit tricky. In fact under the MAG barrel there is a kind of hook you have to insert between two bars before it sits at its place.

At step 6 you have to glue the support S11 at 5 mm from the angle of the pillbox. To be sure of the right location, I test fitted the grille F40.

From step 7 the hull assembly begins with the suspension. It comes smoothly. The roadwheels and the sprockets are not installed yet. They will be after the side skirts are glued.

At steps 16 and 17 I used a razor saw to separate the pieces of rubber of the mudflaps.

At step 18 I didn't install the grille F14 and used the standard exhaust covers E10 as mentioned above. I didn't glue the fenders E15 and E18. I preferred build the fenders and the side skirts as a sub-assembly.

At step 20 the fuel cans are not glued to paint them more easily.

At step 21 you need to shorten all the supports S1 of the large bin on the engine deck and use only 6 of them instead of 8. Only sides of the bin parallel to the vehicles sides rest on these supports.

At step 24 I modified the supports D25 and D35 to represent them without the smoke grenades launchers. To do so you just have to remove the trapeze shaped part on top of the part.

At step 25 you need to fill the gap behind the first armor blocks of the side skirt C16 and the same should be done with part C15 at step 30. I assembled the whole armor blocks and glued them to the fenders. I already added the retaining chains as stated at step 33. Tiger Model provides some chain but none of the shackles at each end of the chains. After two fruitless tries at making my own shackles I finally replace them by chain links larger than those provided in the box. The first 5 chains count 7 or 8 links and the 3 rearmost have only 4 without the "shackles". Beware of the drawings on the instructions which do not show the right number of links.

At step 27 I didn't use the cable provided by Tiger Model because it is too thin for the plastic towing eyes which makes the fit too loose.

At step 31 I decided to glue the jammer mast without the jammer. The latter comes as a PE part. Most of the pictures of the actual vehicles I have do not show the jammer fitted.

At step 32 you have to choose between a straight antenna base and a bent one. Weirdly the latter is larger. Tiger Model provides no mark to locate the part. You have to refer to a drawing showing the right position.

The following steps deal with the grilles installation. I preferred painting them separately and gluing them after the first weathering step. On the grilles you need to clean all the molding lines which is time consuming.

The decoration

Tiger Model has included only one decoration. As I modified the vehicle compared to the instructions I didn't use all the markings. Instead I used the decals with white numerals on the black background.

The base paint is a mix of Lifecolor UA35 Israeli Sand Grey and Tamiya XF-49 Khaki (2 parts for 1 part). I enlightened this shade with some XF-57 Buff to make highlights on the largest panels. Again I enlightened the mix to hand paint the small details and enhance the contrast.

After spraying a coat of Klir I started the weathering with oil dots (yellow ochre, raw umber, yellow and egg shell white). Then I applied a dark brown pinwash in the recesses and around the details.

The dust was simulated by multiple layers of Tamiya paints highly diluted with water. For this I used some XF-52 Flat Earth, XF-57 Buff and XF-59 Desert Yellow. With this method you avoid the feeling of monotony.

Conclusion

This kit enables to get a quite unusual vehicle with a very sci-fi look. But it requires a lot of work because of the numerous ejection pin marks to fill and the vagueness of the instructions. It is recommended for confirmed modelers.

05/2020