Been working on this for a while now. Doing all the research was just as fun as the build.

Fortunately I was given the opportunity to rebuild it a couple of times due to fumbling and dropping it!

I still have a lot of details to add. I wish I could find the GRIEF headlight clusters I've read about, but for now I'll have to settle for MV lenses. I have AFV Club tracks to add and then some subtle weathering.

I've been airbrushing highlights and low lights on models for a while now.. come to find out I've been "color modulating"... didn't know I was doing something so fancy! ha ha.














The damn camera flash ends up magnifying weird particles and stuff that I can't see with my 40+ year old eyes. Nothing a little weathering Mig powder pigments can't cure!

I've been putting off the individual track links and keep finding other work to do before talking them. I'm starting to run out of stuff so I'll have to face them sooner or later!

I've detailed the interior of the cupola but if the hatch is open you can see into the turret and I didn't do that interior, so I guess I'll have to leave the hatch closed and shut out my work. bummer.

Really nice work. The soda bottles are a nice touch. Where did you find the markings for it?

Tank markings are dry transfers. 1st Inf Div, 3rd Brigade, 63rd Armor Reg. There's a bumper sticker on the back fender that says "We drive for your safety" in both English ands German - noticed these on early Reforger tanks.

The coke bottles came in a kit with a couple of coolers and water bottles. The Coke labels are decals. It even comes with some crushed plastic bottles.... now - I know that the plastic coke bottle didn't come out until later but I was playing around with the decals and experimented. I'll probably cover them up or remove them.

I still need to add the searchlight in the stowed position, but the mount that came with the DEF turret is missing some details (handles that latch the trailer hitch style ball) so I'll have to come up with that or rob some parts from an Academy kit.

Besides the missing details, how was the DEF turret to work with? I've had my eye on that turret and a couple other DEF upgrades.




Erik

Great job. I was on one of these from Apr 75 to Dec 75. By then, our marking stars ere black,as were the registration numbers on the sponson boxes.Love the detail on the driver's hatch holder,and the bilge pump outlet block off plate.

Hi bruce lovely M60 can you put a name to the kit that comes with the soda/coke bottles please.

I'll look it up when I get home. It's the latest kit out there with modern coolers. It comes with coke bottles and water bottles... even little clear cubes for ice!

The DEF kit was great to work with. Using the metal rod for stuff was a pain though. I redid the handrail several times. Finally, I got rid of the soft wire they gave me and used stiff rod bent to shape. Then, instead of gluing the tiny braces in place, I drilled holes and inserted the rods into the side of the hull and then trimmed to rods to the right length to attach to the handrail.

The antennae base of the turret was incorrect and the stowage bracket for the searchlight is a pain. Also, the search light bracket needs some details, but I've always love the M60 - old and newer - so it was a labor of love!

For me, any of these photo etched bustle racks are like playing Whack-A-Mole... you get one part fixed and it screws up the other parts, you fix the other parts and it screws up the part you just fixed... and on and on and on until I'm covered in super glue and ready to cover the whole damn thing with a tarp!

The sleeping bags are Mil-Putty and I was excited to get them the correct color - at the faded color of all the "extreme cold" sleeping bags I was ever given.

Eventually, there will be pairs of rubber boots in the turret handrails. There's already a bucket hanging from the pintle hook that's used to catch leaking oil when it's parked!

I wanted to add barrel stripes; the vehicle is marked B-23 so I couldn't remember what color Bravo company was supposed to be.

It took some digging to find reference pictures but the Graf device is a little different mounting than the later ones. These old ones had a deflector and a different clamp.

I know the drivers seat in the early M60 should have been wire mesh, but I used black padding... only really really old timers would remember that though!

I've learned the hard way to wait until last to install the second half of mast of the antennas. Either the damn cat will jump up and chew them off or more likely my fumbling hands will break them off over and over.

Thanks! This one is closer to the 1975 era!

Here's the coolers and bottles... they are by DEF.
"Modern portable coolers with empty dented bottle"


I was wrong about the brand of the turret conversion - this is the older one by LEGEND not the recent DEF turret.

I think DEF has a lot more bonuses - like decals, a better search light and uses plastic for some of the basket and handholds. But - the DEF turret achieves just as crisp accuracy without the hassle - like the clamps on the mantel cover.

Most of the PE is from LEGEND M60A1/A3 - like the guards around the headlights, etc. Some are from a DEF M60A1 turret kit. The backdated drivers hatch with the old round night vision periscope is from an old Tamiya M60A2 I built 30 years ago.

Really like your M60A1. I just tried my hand on a M577 in MASSTER. Did you just use the Tamiya 60A3 and leave off the A3 parts? (maybe?)

What company makes the transfers? Those are perfect for a 48A1 I have in the stash.

What else did you have to do to the hull to make it a 60A-nothing other than the early air filters?
-Seth

Just wanted to pipe in and say nice job. I wish someone would put out the whole M48 / M60 series in plastic, one of my favorite series of tanks. Tried to find the DEF coolers and bottles but no one on the planet has them in stock, if anyone knows who has them right now I would love to know!

I think the MASSTER camo is great, so colorful compared to MERDC and easier than DualTex that's for sure!

For the M60A1 there are many graduated differences that eventually make it into an A3. The most obvious true A3 is the barrel shroud, the wind sensor and the laser range finder in the starboard side blister with the little trap door.

Because I wanted an earlier A1, I used:
1. side loading air filters
2. should have used old chevron style tracks
3. the old gunners sight with the squared housing
4. I should have used a drivers hatch with the rounded periscope cut out.
5. Aluminum Wheels
6. I wanted to add the search light stowage brackets on the back of the turret above the air intake to get it even more backdated, but didn't have the time or parts then.
7. Used open range finder blisters on each side (not the one with the trap door on the starboard side)

For the A1 I was shooting for about 1975 when MASSTER was all the rage. The Tamyia kit needs a lot of work for details like the torsion bar stops, aluminum vs steel wheels, and radio box mounted above the fender.

The A1 ended up being a learning kit in preparation for my early M60 which I was careful to correct every detail of the suspension, including relocating a return roller, and adding back side details of the torsion bars and wheel axels.

Transfer were from Archer (small & large bumper codes as well as black stars). Used similar transfers in white for the early M60.

You can find lots of great reference pics by doing an image search for "Reforger M60". I have the Bid Patton book as well as a couple of Tankograd books: Reforger and MASSTER/MERDC/DULATEX books that had great references as well.

My next kits going to be yet another M60... this time a later M60A1 with octagon tracks, top loading filters, and will attempt putting the DUAL TEX pattern on it. I already did an M577 in DUALTEX so I've learned a little more to tackle the M60A1 I hope!

Here's my practice DUALTEX

Thanks for the tweak list for a 60A1. I assume the hull for a 60A-nothing is the same as a 60A1?
-Seth

The original M60 hull is a little different from the A1 or A3...

You have to:
Remove the second "snubber" (shock absorber) and then relocate the front return roller backwards a little bit so it's spaced equally between all three rollers.

The bilge pump drain next to the heater exhaust needs to be capped off.

The infantry radio box should be mounted on the fender.

Of course side loading air cleaners.

Drivers hatch with old style night vision.


There's Hull inaccuracies for all M60's that need fixing on any version - fuel cap is only on starboard side. Hinges added to the rear engine doors, the starboard tail light is a black out light while the port side is a stop light, headlight brackets, fender braces, etc.

For all M60's in Germany -
need to add the "anti-collision light" or the yellow beacon to the port rear of the vehicle (starting in mid/late '70's became a requirement for all vehicles there). Before the beacons, need to add "side marker lights" - two yellow lights on front and two red on back fenders.
In the early '80s need to add "delineator" reflectors to back fenders (large reflective red squares with a yellow corner).
For mid '80's you can add MILES equipment or at least the Velcro for the sensors.
Water cans were metal, then changed to black plastic, and eventually tan plastic.
Search lights changed from the large squares to the smaller rectangles about mid/late '70s.

Check out Jim Lewis's M60 article for further information on the hull changes: http://www.guntruck.com/M60MBTPage1.html. Nice job, an Israeli M60 has been on my 'to do' list for a while now.

Jim

Didn't realize the 60s all had so many differences in the hull. The only two I really know about are the A1 and A3.
-Seth

There's also some lifting rings on the sides of the hull that are absent on the early straight m60. The sight Jim pointed out notes those I think.