Thanks Tojo.

Wow that finished up nicely,congrats on a nice build.

Hey Rob, thanks for the mud idea.lol. I'm glad that you and Gamera like the tank.

Nice work there Tiger! Great work on the M60, the base, and the backdrop! 

Virtually everything below the fenders was "dirt" colored. Either caked on dust or mud that hardened like brick. If you ever see a guy's mudding truck around town, that's what our tanks looked like in the field.

Nice cornfield Rob. Nice pic.

Looks good, I'm not sure if this photo will show up, but it's from Reforger 1988 and is an M60A3TTS in some random maneuver rights area we used back then. We had to turn in our maps for OPSEC purposes, so I'm not sure where we were exactly.

Hey Rob, thanks for clearing that camouflage thing. So I've finally finished my upgrade. I'm very happy with it, eventhough it took longer than expected, but that was the model and life. Life comes first. So I hope everyone enjoys the pictures and as always all comments and critiques are greatly appreciated.

That's the 7th Army MASSTER Modern Army Selected Systems Test, Evaluation and Review, because the military loves acronyms.

It was the precursor to the MERDC camouflage system.

https://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/237082-the-armys-new-afv-camo-paint-job/

Those soldiers are wearing the old "pickle suit" fatigues. I only wore those my freshman and sophmore years in ROTC and my first year in the Guard (1982-1983), but by 1984, all we wore were BDUs except for when we were at Bragg in 1985. We could also wear the old jungle fatigues that were lightweight and ripstop.

I still have my old leather shoulder holster that carried my M1911A1 and later an M9. 

I'm almost finished with my upgrade. I added the figures and I'll be adding one more piece of equipment, then setting my tank on its base. BTW, when everyone was going on about the camouflage scheme on "my" tank, I discovered a photo while looking for tank uniforms of an M60 tank in Germany, in a different kind of camo scheme. Enjoy.

As for the tank; I took off the tracks and stripped the old paint. They were too silvery because I didn't prime them. Well I repainted them and now I'm glad with their look. They'll get some tweaking and weathering along with the rest of the hull. I also decided to go with 3 crewmen and some personal packs and ammo cans. I think I'll use the 'old' MRE's and whatever else I want to add. Enjoy the pics.

I never had the pleasure of eating MRE's during my tenure in the Corps. I did try them when my son brought some home. I forget which ones he brought, but they were OK. I remember enjoying some of the C rations. They were the B-1, B-2 & B-3 meals that came in the carton. Normally everyone avoided the B-2 meals, especially the 'Beef and Potatoes(Rocks)'. They never cooked thru, no matter how many heat tabs were used. The only B-2 meal I liked was the 'Franks & Beans'. The B-1 'Tuna' was my favorite and the B-1 'Ham & Eggs' was pretty good, once you added hot sauce and salt & pepper and melted the cheese into it. The fortified hot chocolate mix was excellent, with the coffee creamer and sugar. The jams, jellies and cheeses with crackers were also very good. The Nestle's type chocolate was good along with the coconut patty. The worst dessert was the fruitcake, the best cake was the pound cake and of course the best desserts were the canned fruit. That's my 2 cents regarding C rats.

And there's now a Collector Community developing a whole history on the issue of combat rations.

In case a person needs to know too much on the topic, check out Steve1987MRE on Youtube.  He will actually taste test some of the old rations o_O 

After putting them out on a tray.  Nice!

LonCray

Yeah, those dehydrated strawberries were really tasty.  I think they came in the dehydrated pork patty or beef patty MRE's - the worst entrees came with the best sides.  

 

Yeah, those dehydrated strawberries were really tasty.  I think they came in the dehydrated pork patty or beef patty MRE's - the worst entrees came with the best sides.  

I do remember some items that were in the first MREs I ever had never reappeared in any other MREs afterwards.But then certain things were added like the Tabasco sauce bottles.

I remember this dehydrated strawberry dessert thing that was pretty good after you added water and let it soak for a bit. After my first couple years in, I never saw it and only the dehydrated fruit cocktail or pears was in some meals.

Urban legend had it that there are folks with strawberry allergies was the reason for its deletion.

As far as C-Rats, if you added up all the C-Rats I ate, it would probably equal maybe an entire week of meals (3x7=21). Seems like you always had a can of something left over in your pocket. An MRE entree packet seemed like a lot more food and you could stick them in your pockets more easily than a tuna fish sized can of someting.

Just joking about the test.  I guess they were fully fielded before '88.  Maybe the NRDEC verbiage is refering to the new 1988 version being fully fielded at that time.  

HeavyArty

 

 

Rob Gronovius

I beg to differ. We were getting C-Rats the fall of 1982, but by 1983, only MREs. I only saw C-Rats my freshman year in college (82-83 school year). By basic the summer of 1983, I only saw MREs and that's all we had in ROTC as well.

 

 

 

Maybe you were part of a test and didn't know it.

According to U.S. Army Natick Research, Development and Engineering Center (NRDEC) MRE History,

"MRE I (1981) was the first date of pack. In 1983, a field evaluation was conducted with the 25th Infantry Division for 34 days.  They ate noting but MREs three times a day. Although troops rated the ration as acceptable, consumption was low – only about 60% of the calories provided were consumed.

Another test in 1986 with the same division resulted in increased consumption and acceptance.

Based on these tests, a significant number of changes were made to MREs starting with the 1988 MREs and full fielding began.”

 

 

 

Very doubtful my 50th Armor Division National Guard unit, my ROTC detachment, my armor officer basic course and my 8th ID tank battalion were all part of the same test.

The only time I was fed C-Rats was during my first year in ROTC (82-83 school year). After that, all we had were MREs in both ROTC and the Guard until I was commissioned and discharged in May 1986.

All we had at Knox for my AOB and my battalion in Germany were cases of MREs. 

Rob Gronovius

I beg to differ. We were getting C-Rats the fall of 1982, but by 1983, only MREs. I only saw C-Rats my freshman year in college (82-83 school year). By basic the summer of 1983, I only saw MREs and that's all we had in ROTC as well.

Maybe you were part of a test and didn't know it.

TigerII

Thank you Rob. Whether it was early or late MRE boxes or C-Rats, it was no problem, since I have both. BTW, I still carry my P-38 aka 'John Wayne' in the corps

It would be very early style MRE cases. The more cube shaped cases was a 2000s thing. Throughout the 1990s, it was the flatter cases exactly like they originally issued in the 80s. The only thing that really changed was the types of meals and the addition of the heating packets.

Thank you Gamera. When it comes to the tracks, AFV Club tracks go together well, just like the real thing basically. Never had a problem with them.

Looks cool! Sorry hear about the short tracks. I've had a few that just wouldn't fit, thankfully they had skirts so I could just tie the tracks together with a little gap and rotate the gap out of sight. Not much of an option for you on the M60 though... 

Rob Gronovius

 

 

HeavyArty

 

 

TigerII

I'll be adding ... MRE boxes...

 

 

Looking good.  One note though, for the timeframe, they would be C-Ration boxes, not MREs.  MREs were not fully introduced asross the US military until 1988.

 

 

 

 

I beg to differ. We were getting C-Rats the fall of 1982, but by 1983, only MREs. I only saw C-Rats my freshman year in college (82-83 school year). By basic the summer of 1983, I only saw MREs and that's all we had in ROTC as well.

As a lieutenant in Germany in 1987, C-Rats were long gone and only MREs were around. Only a few old timers had a P-38 on their keychain or dog tags.

 

Thank you Rob. Whether it was early or late MRE boxes or C-Rats, it was no problem, since I have both. BTW, I still carry my P-38 aka 'John Wayne' in the corps

HeavyArty

 

 

TigerII

I'll be adding ... MRE boxes...

 

 

Looking good.  One note though, for the timeframe, they would be C-Ration boxes, not MREs.  MREs were not fully introduced asross the US military until 1988.

 

I beg to differ. We were getting C-Rats the fall of 1982, but by 1983, only MREs. I only saw C-Rats my freshman year in college (82-83 school year). By basic the summer of 1983, I only saw MREs and that's all we had in ROTC as well.

As a lieutenant in Germany in 1987, C-Rats were long gone and only MREs were around. Only a few old timers had a P-38 on their keychain or dog tags.

TigerII

I'll be adding ... MRE boxes...

Looking good.  One note though, for the timeframe, they would be C-Ration boxes, not MREs.  MREs were not fully introduced asross the US military until 1988.

Well, I can honestly say that this M60 upgrade is 85% done. The AFV Club workable tracks went together great, but eventhough they look good, I'm not particularly happy, with their color. I'll be adding some 782 gear, MRE boxes, extra track links and whatever I feel should go on the tank. I'll be adding some figures, but I haven't decided if I'm going with two or three of them. Here are some 85% finished, WIP pics.

Well using an oil pin wash, an acrylic grime and tone down wash along with the weathering of the metal, I got a pretty decent look. The camo might be a bit off the deep end to some folks, but that's what I wanted to do. Unfortunately, the 'hexagonal' vinyl tracks were shorter than the original 'chevron' tracks and after painting them and trying to put them on, they snapped one of my sprockets. It has been repaired, but now I'm waiting on AFV Club individual tracks links. But while I wait, I'll tweak and paint what needs to be done, then I'll add equipment and figures. As always all comments and critiques are greatly appreciated.

Hey Tojo, thanks for the comment. As you can see that is exactly where I went with the camouflage. Basically its still all the colors used in camo; Flat/Olive Green, Red Brown, Black, Desert Yellow and Buff. I guess Rob is correct that I went a bit overboard on the black, but I hope it works itself out after the washes and weathering are applied. To Rob and the rest of the forum; I appreciate all the info and comments. I'll post some WIP pics on my next post.

Pawel

Thanks a lot for the good info here, Rob!

Towards the end, we painted the A3s using the NATO 3-color scheme that you would see USAR and ARNG tanks in, but ours looked like lepers. Instead of the darker NATO brown, we used the field brown, but often had to mix it with the green and sand to make it last.

Our tanks were painted by the young men who crewed them.