First tank kit in 55 years

There is also the Academy kit. The Academy kit began life as an updated copy of the Tamiya base kit. It suffers from the same issues the old motorized Tamiya hull has.

If you happen to see the Italeri M60 "Blazer", that is the old Esci kit, which was better than Tamiya's M60-series, but it only includes parts to make an Israeli M60A1 aka Magach 6 with the style of reactive armor they use and not the USMC version.

Rob Gronovius

 

 

JohnnyK

Is there a better version of the USMC M60A1 RISE than the Tamiya kit?

 

 

 

 

Most definitely, while AFV Club has produced the base M60A1, M60A2 and M60A3TTS kits, Takom jumped in and made an even better one: https://www.amps-armor.org/SiteReviews/ShowReview.aspx?ID=14245

 

JohnnyK

Is there a better version of the USMC M60A1 RISE than the Tamiya kit?

 

Most definitely, while AFV Club has produced the base M60A1, M60A2 and M60A3TTS kits, Takom jumped in and made an even better one: https://www.amps-armor.org/SiteReviews/ShowReview.aspx?ID=14245

Is there a better version of the USMC M60A1 RISE than the Tamiya kit?

The base kit, the M60A1, was first issued in 1970. They also did the M60A2 turret, but mounted it to the same hull to make an inaccurate M60A2. The kit was originally designed to be motorized.

In 1988, Tamiya retooled the turret and included new tracks from their M247 Sgt York kit and some new updated parts to create either the US Army M60A3TTS or the USMC M60A1 RISE/Passive kit.

After Desert Storm, Tamiya added new ERA armor tiles, new road wheels and sprockets and reissued the kit you are asking about. It also still includes parts to make a US Army M60A3TTS as well.

It is a solid kit, but there are plenty of compromises due to the original motorization holes in the lower hull. The original gear box was kept into place with screws and the metal axle for the drive sprocket leaves a big cut in the plastic.

But it is still a decent kit, just not worth a whole lot since it was surpassed by newer, better kits.

Just remember, the base kit is now 50 years old.

It’s an older Tamiya kit with upgraded parts.  That means it will be simple and enjoyable to build.  I built the original M60A1 back in the late 1970s and had a blast.  The armor blocks and new figures will make your modeling experience even better I think.

There are more modern kits with greater accuracy, but at a higher price and complexity.