nice weapon

I totally agree-- she was a great tank

Great work so far, very amazing! Just one thing: the lifting eyes on the hull sides, use either the three vertical ones or the two horizontal ones on each side. Most of the M60A3 had the two horizontal lifting eyes on each hull side.
I would recomed to cut off the three vertical ones.

Yes Sir Col. Best Job that I ever Had. I loved Being a tanker. I was traing National Guard recuits on them at Ft Knox until about 1993. Didn't mind being call a Dino tanker.

Track bash time.. Bronco tracks.

10/10 for detail but 0/10 for fitting....













I've tried the sprocket from the Esci kit and the AFV Club M88 and they don't really fit either? Can't figure out which kit Bronco intended these for ?

So Take 2 .. AFV Club.

7/10 for detail but 10/10 for fitting.. guess i'll use these now.



















I have a set of fruils but I'm worried about the tension and weight, of the tracks, they also stretch over time.


Regards

Dan

Both sides now done.











Enjoy

Dan

Looking better and better with each post. I really like the AFV Club tracks as well. They turn out really nice.

Hi Dan.
I was missing the updates on this build. I'm glad you are back. As for the tracks, I've always reaplaced my M60's and M48's with Afv's. The only drawback are all those sink marks that have to be filled and sanded but other than that they look the part and are easy to build.
You must have said this somewhere else but it looks like those are not the original wheels. Did you replace them with some aftermarket or did you use other model's?
Looking forward to the painting and weathering...
JesPer

Thanks chaps all comments are really appreciated.

Road wheels are resin from Panzer Art but I did read that they are now closing ? Shame as they are really nice items.

Some pictures taken today in some better light.
Figures arms are just Bluetaked at the moment.













Enjoy

Dan

Started on the rear engine doors,
Lots of PE parts to add so I might be a while.







Cheers for looking

Dan

Very very nice!!!!

Looking better with every post. Great job so far. Still need to take care of that weak tow pintle though.

Awesome build. Whose gun tube did you use? I couldn't find it mentioned. I have not seen a late model thermal shroud aftermarket gun tube before. I my need one for my build. The A3s I crewed all had M1 style shrouds.

Tom

GREAT WORK, DAN! Here is another CLASSIC example of what one can accomplish with an old "inferior" kit, when care, research, a boat-load of aftermarket parts and TALENT come into play! KUDOS, Dan!

I've been following your build with great interest! I haven't touched my TAMIYA -A3 yet, which I've got loaded up with EXACTLY the same extras as Dan got for his. I've been waiting to see what AFV CLUB will be doing to expand on their M60A1 kit. It's been quite a while since they announced their -A2...

How long before the AFV CLUB -A2 sees the light of day?

Thanks for comments guys,

Another enjoyable build to be honest, but I think if I was to build another I would plumb for the AFV Club version.

The main gun barrel is made by DEF Models, a really great bit of kit and they come in the late or early version, I was worried that I bought the wrong one TBH.

Managed to finish the louvers on the rear, Phew !







Cheers for looking in

Dan

Wow Dan,
Looks like the exhaust fins were a ton of work but they look great!!!

Larry B

Dan,
I've been following along on this build "at a distance" and want to commend you on what a great job you're doing. I was a Maintenance/Supply Officer in 2/11 ACR when we transitioned from Sheridans to M60A3s in April-May of 1980. Before that I'd been an M60A1 Platoon leader. You've really captured the look of these tanks with the blank adapters and Hoffman device-- I don't think I've seen another build anywhere with the additions you've put in. Just a suggestion though-- I'd tighten up the T-142 tracks over the return rollers so they have straight runs with no sag or kinks. The T-142 was a "live action track", with a bushing surrounding each track pin, and as such it had no sag in the track whatsoever-- if there was a sag, the two adjoining links were considered "dead" and were replaced immediately. When the T-142 is left in sections of four or more, the tracks curve slightly outwards due to the torsion of these pins/bushings, this is why serviceable M60s are never seen with sag over the return rollers or between idlers/drivers and road wheels unless there was a problem. "Dead" track links usually ended in a broken or thrown track. Entire track sets were replaced by schedule to avoid this. Just a side note, most Russian tanks from the 40's through the 70s used "dead action" track links with a simple pin that joined the links-- there were no end connectors, the pin was "hammered" back into the links once every rotation of the track from the inside by striking a plate mounted at the rear of the hull as the track came around. That's why there is usually a noticeable "sag" between the road wheels and idler/drivers.
VR, Russ

Thanks you very much chaps for the comments and tips,

I think I can get some of the slack out of the track after painting, so that shouldn't be issue so thanks for the info on the tracks.

As for the towing pintle, I'll have a crack at modifying the undersize kit part and hopefully bring it up to spec.

Smoke grenade dischargers now wired and added.
















Please enjoy

Dan

Looking really good Dan. I've got the bronco tracks for mine as well. Looks like those need to go! Thanks for sharing.

Mike

Getting better and better. Too bad you have to paint it and the ammount of work put into this build will not show.

I tried the Bronco tracks too, I think that the problem is the way they are built. The gap between the track links is wider than intended and as a result they do not fit. I will try to glue them in place instead of making them workable and see what happens.

I have this kit in my stash. Now I won't be able to build it for a long time so I forget how good you're making yours look. LOL

Super nice job Dan!!!

Thanks you guys for the comments

So paint time, I'm not convinced on the colours, they are mixed from the instructed colours (Tamiya )








You'll notice that I have still one colour to add, XF-57 which is the light colour, I'm using the CM-C airbrush for the first time on this project and for some reason the Tamiya XF -57 wont go through the brush? I think the paint pigments are bigger than any of the other colours I have used as a friend who also owns a CM-C had the same issues?

Going to play with other brands of paint to see if I can get better results.

Cheers for looking

Dan

RIP M60

Great Scott!!!!!!!!!
What happened?

Anto.

Wha..............

I feel like crying!

LCB