Darren Baker takes a look at an M60 A3 from Revell of Germany in 1/72nd scale. This is the first braille scale armour model he has looked at closely for nearly 40 years and shares his thoughts on how the scale has progressed.

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If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

Darren, this kit is not a brand new release other than new decals. The plastic is from at least 2004. That aside it is a fairly nice kit. Too bad the guide horns on the track are molded in the middle of each link instead of between them.

Thank you for the info Peter, but I was still impressed due to the scale.

Where are the bumper codes for the 1st 210 armor?

They would be 42 I 1-210. NJ guard 102 armor drew some of those tanks in 1990 too in 210th markings. Notice no triangle. This was seen on vehicles at Fort Drum at this time.

Stephen all of the decals are shown in the review, I have supplied the detail on what they are supposed to represent.

Darren,

Nice to see you checking out the the kits in the one true scale. Things have come a long way since Affix was almost the only game in town. From the images the kit appears to show significant improvements over the older ERTL incarnation, especially with the road wheels. I’ll have to keep my eyes out for it to appear in local shops.

Cheers,
Jan

Great looking kit with exception of the barrel the tracks are superb. I built this for 1991 operation desert storm.

Some discrepancies I noticed in decal identification:

US Army, B Company, 8th Infantry Division, 3rd Battalion, 68th Armor, 1988 West Germany

In 1988, 3/68 Armor did not exist as a unit in Germany, the 8th Infantry Division or the US Army. 3/68 Armor "Pacesetter Battalion" reflagged to 5/77 Armor "Steel Tiger Battalion" late 1983/early 1984 until the unit turned in M60A3TTS tanks the summer of 1989. I served in 5/77 Armor from 1987 to 1990. 3/68 Armor was one of the battalions that never came back from the dead during the massive Combat Arms Regimental System reflagging movement of the 1980s.

US Army, B Company, 1st Armored Division, 1st Battalion, 1st Cavalry, 1991 West Germany

This one has has various errors. The unit markings would be B Troop, 1st Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment. It is a divisional cavalry squadron and not a battalion. The year is also incorrect. In 1991, all front line USAREUR armor units were equipped with the M1A1 Abrams. The only unit in Germany to still use the M60A3 was the OPFOR at the CMTC in Hohenfels.

The last two operational units to field the M60A3 in Europe were A Company, 5/77 Armor (my old unit) and F Company, 40th Armor (the tank company belonging to the Berlin Brigade). Both units went through transition to the M1A1 the summer of 1989, July-August timeframe.