Desert Eagle specialises in one field and documents it in unusual depth: the armoured vehicles of the Israeli forces. The numbered series covers Merkava and Magach tanks, Namer and Nakpadon heavy carriers, conversions on M113 and Centurion hulls, armoured recovery vehicles, heavy trucks and anti-tank missile carriers. Several volumes are given over to wrecks and battle-damaged vehicles, reference that cannot be assembled from anywhere else. Because almost nothing in this field stayed in its factory configuration, the books work subject by subject rather than type by type. Below we explain how to use them at the bench.
Almost nothing in this field looks like a production vehicle straight off the line. These are continuously rebuilt and upgraded machines carrying appliqué armour, cages, stowage baskets and chain skirts, and individual units modified their vehicles to suit themselves. Two examples of the same type routinely differ. Without photographic reference, a convincing model is guesswork.
Choose a specific vehicle from the book and build that, rather than a general impression of the type. Only once you know what it carried does it make sense to source upgrade sets; otherwise you end up with parts that belong to a different vehicle.
Volumes on wrecks are a reference category in their own right. They show how armour deforms, what is left of rubber track pads and how a hull looks after fire - the kind of information a diorama builder cannot invent.
Vehicles from desert and semi-desert service carry a pale, thick dust that contrasts strongly with the base colour and sits on horizontal surfaces. Even so, dirt keeps its logic: it builds up around hatches, stowage points and running gear rather than coating the model evenly.
For magazine coverage of the same subject area, see Tanker Magazine.
