hi guys
i have just bought the tamiya m-60a2 and i need help in making it special , i have the afv club 3505 tracks and i am hopeing that a m-60 starship crewman can supply a tweek list for this kit
thanks in advance
r19f

Hi,I was a crewman on one from January 1976 until October 1978.
The kit needs work.
the box art shows the placement of lifting eyes around the TC's coupola.One in front,2 others at 120 degree spacing.
make a soft "dustcover around the thick part of the coupola MG.It should fill up the space that the moving part on the kit occupies.
Get an M-48 kit from tamiya for the searchlight.The kit one is not good.Also use the M-48's fire extinguisher handle for the front slope,remove the "block that Tamiya put on the front slope of the A2.Paint it red.
sand down 1/2 the length of the 2 stiffening ribs on the long sponson box covers.this is so the real turret and mantlet cover could avoid dragging and ripping on them.
put a lifting handle on the loader's hatch,forward of the small periscope door in the hatch
I believe the box art shows the location of the 2 towcables.they belong on the side of the turret,and curve under the bustle rack.
Put fine mesh screen in the lower 2/3rds of the bustle rack,and on its bottom.
Drill tiny holes vertically into the 8 lugs on top of the turret.
Add a brace back from the light guards,to the front slope.Any on line picture of an M60-A1 orA2 should show this.
Drill out a large hole below the tow hooks on the front of the vehicle.YTou should have the hook,then a hole through the part you glue to the hull.This also may be on the box art.
The rear 2 boxes for the rear of the hull are wrong.apply them,then,fill between them with putty to make 1 continuous "lump".
Smooth the edges to a softer/rounded shape.
If you bought the M-48,use the rear sanddheilds that would go from the tailight boxes,up along to underneath the rearmost fender.In fact,I removed the A2's tailights,and used the ones from the M-48
Put 3 oval "mud relief holes".120 degress apart,on the outer"drum" part of both sprockets.
Use larger lifting lugs from the M-48 at the rear corners of the A2's hull/rear fender.The kit instructions have you add 2 teeny parts that are wrong.
Using the box art as a referance,make a gun mantlet cover.
Drill out the end of the crew heater exhaust pipe.
If you have one of the latest reissues,the driver's hatch has a lid for the IR driving periscope that is wrong.I was able to cannabalise an earlier A2 which had a better hatch for my latest model.
Add 3 links of spare track,hanging down on the sides of the bustle rack,they fit in the space opposite the grenade launchers.Centerguides facing IN towards the launchers.
The aircleaner boxes on the sides of the hull(between the front and rear sponson boxes are wrong
Smooth off the side,so there is no handleThe ones on the A2's were all top loading ones.Any online photo of An M-60 series vehicle will robably have the correct type.
Duh,do NOT USE the travel lock for the gun.It wouldnt reach File the mounting pad down flush.

Post a lot of pictures in the Rivet review section,and I will tweak you as you go along..

HTH,Carl (Zero) Gunner,C-23 Co.C,1st BN,37th Armor. (++) (++) (++) (++) (++)

TankCarl,

Were you by any chance located in Germany? That was where I saw the M60A2s during a REFORGER. It was quite a treat for me because as an Infantryman with the 1st IDF, the tanks our support armor units used were the M60A1s and the Cav Units had Sheridans which were replaced by M60A1s.

Dave

I was station in Katterbach,near Ansbch the 1st AD Hq at the time.
After all my training on A2's at Knox,I got to Germany in 1975,and was placed on an M-60. Plain
So i grew very fond of my New A2 when we drew them from Vilseck.It only had 11 miles on the odometer! Named it CHAOS

Hi guys,
the A2 is high on my priority list! Heard a lot of talk about the turret beuing completely wrong? Your tweaks list is not too long so I figure I'll have to try one one of these days ... One more thing, what about the roadwheels. Did you use the M48 ones or the aluminium type supplied with the kit, Carl?
- Andreas -

I'd just add, "find an old Esci (AMT/Ertl, now Italeri) M60 Blazer kit and use its hull." Superior M60 hull than any of the four Tamiya kits (old M60A1, old M60A2, newer M60A3, newer M60A1w/ERA) or to the multitude of Academy M60A1 variants.

The old AMT/Ertl boxing of the M60 Blazer goes for next to nothing online at places like Ebay.

thanks to all you guys
i will do my best to get it right and let you see the results as i go along with the build
best regards

eddie a.k.a r19f

Sabot,you are right about using a different hull.In fact,those kits may have a good enough drivers hatch too.
As for the roadwheels,use the ones in the kit,or the Esci ones etc.They have those nice stiffening ribs,since the real ones were aluminum.
Oh,and take small chunks out of all of the wheels,since after driving 1 or 2 miles,bits of rubber inevitably would get ripped out. (++) (++)