Outstanding info Mike, tanks.

Would be safe to say the paint was probably summer MERDC for CONUS tank and paint the deployed similar to the photo posted above or would it be overall sand?

Howdy Ryan, I imagine that if A Co 4th Tanks used 1st Tanks left behind hogs then you could model one similar to the one Marc posted. In 1990 there were also tri-color NATOflage machines at 1st Tanks. If you are not modeling from a picture its your call Amigo!

Out here, Mike sends . . .

Mumbo! Thanks for the heads up, saw one at the LHS and grabbed it today. Never did get the Brave Tiger kit, but I am impressed with the one piece drive hub with the holes molded into (out of?) it already! Looks like a solid kit.

Jim

Tanks again.

Your intel helped with a better google search to find this for 4th and 5th MEB.

https://www.marines.mil/Portals/59/Publications/U.S.%20Marines%20in%20the%20Persian%20Gulf,%201990-1991_With%20Marine%20Forces%20Afloat%20in%20Desert%20Shield%20and%20Desert%20Storm%20%20PCN%2019000314500_1.pdf

Now to find useable photos.

Howdy Jim, long time no see'um or hear'um. It is pretty nice, I too like the mud relief holes in the sprocket hubs. The rubber band tracks connecting with a pin is also a novel approach.
A huge plus is has all the complicated mounting brackets for the ERA that everyone always wished for!;^) I cannot wait to see your build of one next year in Buffalo.

Ryan, maybe the A Co 4th Tanks Jugheads have a FB page? Or Pinterest? It would be neat to see how those tanks actually looked once they came ashore. Please share whatever you find.


Outta here, Mike sends . . .

Great to hear this kit is shaping up to be a winner.

I've noticed a few variations of paint schemes that might make for some interesting models.

Desert Tan with the green ERA tiles...nice contrast. December 1990 is the date for the pics.





This one is cool...It looks like Grey Desert MERDC on the tank, clean new looking ERA tiles, nice bare metal on the dozer blade, various green and tan aluminum roadwheels. The M88 is Grey Desert MERDC too. Pic is captioned as Desert Shield.

Howdy Jason nice find man! Those are some neat images.
The bottom two pics are C Co 3rd Tanks. The platoon group pictured is 3rd Plt. The Plt Sgt was GySgt Schofield who is kneeling at the left of the Platoon picture as viewed. The blade tank is C-34, TC Gunny Schofield. We were rolling with a custom TO&E!
The C Co M88A1 C-53 and most likely the Bravo Company VTR are shoving the left track back over to C-34. By the time we crossed LoD in February C-53 had sand bags secured with commo wire covering the crew compartment from the fenders to the top of the superstructure.
The Blade tanks came off the MPS boats with Aluminum Roadwheels to offset weight added by the Blade kit. All those green ERA tiles were painted some kind of sand, tan or brown before LD.
May I ask which site you found these fantastic pictures on? I was in 1st Platoon and have not seen most of those 3rd Plt faces since 1992.
Outta here, Mike sends . . .

Hi Mike,

Fantastic info on history related to the pics. It was just a search I did for images using "USMC M60A1 Desert Shield".

I found images on the page link below. There are a couple of other images of the dozer tank recovery from different angles.

https://hiveminer.com/Tags/marine%2Ctanks/Timeline

Thought I read somewhere that many of the Marine M60's were fitted with dummy tiles? Maybe that would explain the green ones in the pics above?

I found these two photos. I think that they are the same M60 and it was in Desert Storm painted in camouflage scheme, not completely painted in desert sand. Regards.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/153864156@N03/24717864668/in/album-72157667434517419/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/153864156@N03/27511867169/in/album-72157667434517419/

Pablo Montero

Howdy Jason, I had not used 'Shield' in any of my searches, only 'Storm'. What a difference a word makes. The Flickr site album belongs to Francis Anderson who was the Gunner on that C Co Blade tank. He also has pics from Gunnery at 29 Palms pre-1990. And good images of an experimental paint/scheme that was crew applied to some of our NATOflage hogs to make them more less conspicuous out on the desert. That hiveminer search engine is impressive. "Tanks" for the tip.

Howdy John I, the green tiles on the 3rd Plt Tanks pictured above are Service tiles. Greg Smith of "American Express" fame commented previously that his hog did not have the full compliment of Service ERA tiles. His recollections of DS/DS is in the old Concord book 'Sword In The Sand'.

Hola Pablo, yes that C Co 3rd Plt Blade tank facing the T-55 and the M60A1 Blade without the ERA are one in the same. This hog also had the ERA package applied in KSA. The T-55 and Blade tank were posed facing each other to use as a back drop for Platoon and Company pictures along 6th Ring Road. SW downtown Kuwait City near the Agricultural School Citrus Grove. The picture with the ERA removed is at the Port of Al Jubail in KSA prior to turning in the tanks for embark and retrograde to the USA. In the links you provided the albums have many interesting subjects. "Tank"-you for posting them.

Outta here, Mike sends . . .

I hadn't seen any posts previously about the restoration of "Genesis II"...markings included in the Tamiya USMC M60A1 w/ ERA.

The restoration and display 1:1 display diorama was in the works when I visited the National Museum of the Marine Corps in August 2017. It is fantastic to see so much effort is being made to get the details correct.

https://www.marines.mil/News/News-Display/Article/641985/mdmc-restores-historical-artifacts-for-corps-national-museum/

Howdy Jason, 'Genesis II' is also featured as a marking option in the #2113 kit. The Genesis II refers to crew members of C-51, and others, believing that our Company Commander Capt. Ed Dunlap had an uncanny resemblance to Phil Collins!

Outta here, Mike sends . . .

Great background info Mike...always great to hear about the real reasons tank crews name their rides.

Howdy all, that first pic of three that Jason posted, CARC Sand hog with Green ERA, Camo net on the mantlet/barrel was Gunny Schofield's original tank upon arrival KSA August 1990. 3rd Plt was Task Organized early 1991 as C Co Breach Platoon. They swapped that tank with the XO for his Blade tank. The Marine in the white Long John top is Cpl Frank Anderson whose flickr album the photos were harvested from.

Outta here, Mike sends . . .

Here is another hog from B Co, 1st Tk Bn, the same outfit in the picture Marc posted taken at MCAGCC 29 Palms, CA.



It also has aluminum roadwheels/idlers and the ERA Dummy Tiles are making their presence known on the bottom row. The Velcro to attach MILES is also visible.

I found the picture on the web it may be a picture from a Concord book.

Outta here, Mike sends . . .