M60A1

Not very familiar with the M60 family, but Revell Germany have a brand new, beautiful and inexpensive A3..

to the forums. You might try Archer Dry Transfers for the decals you want. Somebody else will surely turn up with more of the info you're looking for.

The Revell 1/72 M60A3 won't build into a 1960s era M60A1. Neither will the ex-Esci Revell 1/35 M60A3.

Right now, the only kit on the market that will build into a 1960s era M60A1is the Italeri rebox of the old Esci M60A1. The Italeri kit is 6397. This is the best M60 series of kits on the market, far superior to Tamiya or Academy's M60A1 or M60A3.

The only problem with the Italeri M60A1 kit is that the kit comes with the later T-148. AFV Club makes a real nice set of the older T-107 track that will back date the kit. That is set #AF3503.

Forgot to list the problems with the latest Tamiya and Academy M60s. Both of these kits include the late style all steel road wheels, late style top loading aircleaners, and late style tracks as well. Not bad kits though.

You're in good hands with these guys. Look forward to your progress.

Even though the Italeri kits are the same as the Esci kits, I recommend that you buy the Esci M60 kits. The Italeri molds have a lot of flash and the detail isn't as sharp as on the older Esci models.

Should have known Rob would have had the answer! LOL

I spent my formative years on the CEV and M60A3TTS. Other than the Academy M60A1 Blazer kits and Gunze Sanyo M60A1 RISE/Passive, I've owned and built them all.

Gentlemen, thank you very much for the information! I appreciate it greatly and will be posting pics of the build as it gets going. It will take a while for me to collect everything I need for it as I want this one to look good. It will be a desk piece for the man who drove that tank in '66 in Bad Hersfeld. I intend to mount it on a wooden display with a brass plaque identifying the piece and to place the regimental badge and colors on the display to either side of the piece.

Any other information that others of you have would be greatly appreciated.

I would like to commend you for your effort to build what seems to be a very important memory for a friend. All tankers that served on the 'ol 60 (myself included) have a soft spot for this old girl. I had the privelege of serving both in Armored Battalions and the Cavalry. In the 6th Cav, tank companies were officially referred to as a Company, and , platoons within. The scouts and armored Cav (the APC guys) were officially referred to as "Troop",i.e., I was in H Company 2/6 Cav, right next to G Troop 2/6 Cav. Maybe this Cav unit in '66 had different structure.

Good Luck with your project!

Steve

OK, I have another question for the treadheads out there - what are the differences between the M60A1 and the A3? How hard would it be to convert the kit for an A3 to an A1?

Thanks again for the assist!

to the FSM forums!
Not too familiar with technicalities of the M60, but if I may suggest, one of the better 1/35 scale offerings is the Academy one. Great fit and detail, and a good balance of detail versus price.

QUOTE: Originally posted by kdseymour OK, I have another question for the treadheads out there - what are the differences between the M60A1 and the A3? How hard would it be to convert the kit for an A3 to an A1? Thanks again for the assist!

Well, I'll just cover the external differences here and state some of them as they pertain to the M60A3TTS and the old M60A1 (not the M60A1 RISE/Passive used by the Marines in Desert Storm).

-The gun tube is different. The A3 had a thermal shroud around the tube to lessen gun tube droop. Plenty of aluminum tubes to replace the A3 tube with an A1 tube.
-The M60A3TTS (tank thermal sight) did not need a searchlight. The A1 had an IR searchlight. The M60A3TTS still had the searchlight mounts on it though.
-Tracks, the A3 used the newer style track with replaceable octagonal track pads. The A1 used the original style found on M48/M60/M88 that had a fixed chevron pattern. Late A1s used the late style as well.
-Aircleaners, the A3 used the newer style top loading aircleaner boxes and the early A1s used the older side loading style.
-A3 had a crosswind sensor mounted aft of the loader's hatch.
-A3 had smoke grenade launchers and storage boxes on the turret sides.
-A3 had an armored right side sight blister with a little door and padlock. The laser range finder emminated from this blister. An A1 would have an open blister for the coincidence range finder.
-Road wheels. During the A3's rein, the Army went to the smooth steel road wheel. It was still common to see the old finned aluminum road wheels intermixed with the steel ones as late as 1989. The A1 would have just had the finned aluminum road wheels (little strengthening fins added to the inner circumference of the road wheels).

That's basically it in a nutshell (externally). You can make an early M60A1 out of just about any M60A1 or M60A3 model on the market with just a little bit of backdating and some aftermarket items. Namely tracks and gun tube.

Only Tamiya's original M60A1 (solid OD one with white star) kit builds into the proper variant straight OOB. Its detailing is rather dated, but all the bits are there.

If you end up finding any M60 kit, contact me and I'll look at one of mine to see what you'd need to make it correct. I've probably got the proper tracks, gun tube and aircleaners in a parts box that I can send you.

Also, avoid the Trumpeter ones.

Thanks for all the great help all of you, and especially you Rob. When I get this one going, I will be posting pics. I am gathering goodies now, but it will take a while as money is tight. I am doing this for my father as a Christmas present hopefully. I am also going to do a diorama of a m113 and a m41 walker bulldog in Vietnam as he served with MACV as an advisor to the ARVN in '69. Basically, I am building out the highlights of a long career to be put into displays in a trophy room for him. I appreciate all of you again! Thanks!

since it looks like nobody mentioned it, don't forget m60 in action for a reference.

Does anyone have a list of all M60A3 kits still being produced?

QUOTE: Originally posted by Ziegler Does anyone have a list of all M60A3 kits still being produced?

Here's what I know in production:
Tamiya M60A1 w/ERA #35157, still contains all parts necessary to make the M60A3 except US Army decals.
Revell of Germany M60A3 #03057 (great kit, reboxed Esci kit)
Revell of Germany M60A3 #03140 (new kit in 1/72 scale, not the old Esci kit)

Here's what I know is OOP but you may be able to find on eBay:
Tamiya M60A3 #35140
Esci M60A3TTS #5040
Esci M60A3 #8317 (1/72 scale kit, different from the new RoG one)

Check ebay for the old ESCI M-60a1 kit. They show up frequently and are usually pretty cheap. AVOID the mini-hobbies stuff. I think this is alsothe Trumpeter Rob suggested you avoid. If you can find the original Tamiya M-60a1 kit it is a real good build. Now, you want a challenge do an early 60's M-60 round turret.

Thanks for the information. :)

I built my very first model, a Tamiya M48A3, last month and enjoyed it so much that I've become instantly addicted. Right now I'm building a Tamiya M60A1 I bought from Ebay. Unfortunately it was an open box with several parts missing ... including the decals. I also bought another M48A3 and a M60A3, both from Tamiya. So they should keep me busy until I can find an M60A3 kit from Revell of Germany that Rob mentioned. BTW, is there a site on the Internet that sells the Revell kit?

www.greatmodels.com carries them as does squadron.com

What Tamiya M60A1 parts were missing? I probably have extras kicking around.

Oh yeah, if you want to build a Slick 60 (original M60 A-nothing), Chesapeake Model Designs (CMD) made a beautiful resin Slick 60 turret with a metal barrel.

http://www.chesapeakemodels.com/

Just from looking at the instruction sheet I knew the E sprue was missing which contained the basket parts. The decals are also missing, as I mentioned earlier. One of the arms from the figure is missing, but that's no big deal. I can live without the basket, but I'd love to get my hands on a few decals.

I noticed the kit does not include the "wire rope" that wraps around the back of the turret, or the cable that runs from the infrared projector to the turret ... two details the M48A3 kit includes. I'm hoping those are included on the M60A3 kit which should arrive this afternoon.