I am looking to do a build of a M-60A3 and Italeri's m-60A1 is about the only consistant M-60 kit out there right now. What I want to know is if the Italeri kit comes with the proper shrouded barrel and top loading air cleaners, and the smoke grenade launchers... so if you have the kit, could you please check for me?

Thank you

Look for the Revell version, it´s a M60-A3. Got the smoke grenade launchers, thermal shroud for the gun, wind sensor, etc. The same basic Italeri mold with the main modifications. Look for it on E-Bay, it´s OOP but you can still find it, lots of them still around. I bought one on my LHS a few weeks ago.

Cheers

No, the main difference between the two ex-Esci kits (Italeri M60A1 vs. Revell M60A3) are:

A1 has the plain barrel vs the A3 shrouded barrel
A1 has the old side loading air cleaners vs the A3 top loading
A1 has the old style primary sight housing vs the A3 later style
A1 has a searchlight
A3 has the smoke grenade launchers and grenade boxes
A3 has the crosswind sensor and LRF blister
and of course, decals are different.

The above differences are the same for the original Esci kits as well as the Italeri and Revell reissues.

The one to avoid is the Italeri reissue of the M60A1 Blazer. The original Esci Blazer and AMT rebox includes the complete US style M60A1 and adds the IDF Blazer package. Italeri removes almost all of the US fittings like the standard cupola, plain barrel and headlight guards.

On the other hand, the Tamiya USMC M60A1 with ERA includes all the parts that came with their OOP M60A3TTS. I wish Esci had done the same.

Thanks guys.

Yes, i was hoping the Italeri re-issue had a 2for1 inside, but alas...

Off to find the Revell A3...

I think I saw a Revell M60A3 in a LHS not too long ago. If all else fails, I can check and grab it for you.

Cheers,
Jim

Thanks for the offer...I am sure I can find the kits, but I was hoping it would be easier to just buy the curently available Italeri kit. Oh well...

You can also find someone who built the Tamiya USMC M60A1 and see if they have some of the A3 parts left over. This is not a complete solution because you will still be missing grenade launchers and the later air cleaners, but you will gain the gun tube, crosswind sensor, sight housing, and LRF blister.

Another solution is to look for the ancient Lo Models (1989-90) M60/M48 conversion set. It was designed to upgrade the original Tamiya M60A1 into a late M60A1 or M60A3 and turn the Tamiya M48A3 into an M48A5 or M48A2GA2. This set goes for about $5 on eBay.

There's also the old Verlinden set that did the same thing, but it would be harder to find and much more money.

Thanks Rob. I have built the Revell of Germany version once before, (that is why someone wants one for themselves) but the kit went OOP in the interim. Seeing that the only easy-to-find-on-the-webstores version of the M-60 was Italeri's A1, I was hoping they would make it easy. Silly me.

That said, it should be easy enough to find the RoG version, higher price and all. Just wanted to make sure I checked that the Italeri kit did not "include" the needed parts and I went off getting the RoG version when I did not have to.

And I will concure, we need someone like DML or Trumpeter to do the M60 justice...Current kits are ok but a lot of work, which equals time, which always seems to be in short supply. (Man, I wish I had saved all that free time when I was a kid, invested it, and reaped the rewards now! )

revell