Hey all.
I am looking for information on the M60A2. I found the tamiya kit at a local shop pretty cheap recently and started building it. I took care of the usual hull detail problems with plastic card and som stuff from the spares box and even built up the bulge on the lower rear hull. what I would like to know are operational details like paint scheme, external stores, basket detail, thing like that. Ill have some pictures posted of what I have done so far soon. Any constructive criticism would also be appeciated.

Jim,

Try doing a Google web and image search for "M60A2". You will find plenty of images to help you out.

Photos I have seen of the M60A2s in the field are either in the MERDC schemes or a single colour Forest Green type colour.

Go to Tanxheaven and Primeportal for reference images too.

Here's some links to get you started:

http://svsm.org/gallery/m60a2

http://www.usarmygermany.com/USAREUR_Gallery7.htm

http://www.patton-mania.com/index.html

[url]http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v231/HeavyArty/M60A2%20CBSS/[url]

Good luck with your project.

JACKPOT!! Thanks alot.

I noticed in a few pictures that some of them have M48 style steel wheels I have heard that in the late 80's A1's and A3's started getting them but the A2 was reportedly retired before then. Can anyone clear this up?

Wow, I've been sighted as a referance, cool!!

Both types of roadwheels are correct. The steel wheels were reintroduced in the mid-late '70s when the aluminum finned wheels were found to be failing at a quicker rate than the steel ones. Many M60A2s had mixed roadwheels.

Thanks that clears that up. So does anyone know if they ever wore a dessert MERDEC Camoflage scheme?

[

The ones in 2AR DIV at Ft. Hood were in the grey dessert scheme.[/quote]

Thanks that keeps my options open.

Anyone know whenr the last one's were taken out of service?

They soldiered on into the early '80s. I don't have an exact date of when they were retired though.

What colors made up the grey desert camo scheme? It sounds interesting. In Germany all I ever saw was the temperate climate scheme and the lighter colored scheme that the Cav units seemed to favor.
Off topic but.....I never could figure out what was up with those Cav camo schemes and colors of the late 70's. Who's brain child was that? I don't even know what name to call those schemes, so I am not sure I am making myself clear. IIRC, it had a base of a sand type color and random patterns of reddish brown, and a medium green. I can't recall if there was any other color. Oh well, sorry for the off topic question. I now return you to the regularly scheduled program.....

Sounds like you may be describing one of the desert MERDC schemes. Here is a site that shows the different versions of MERDC.

Tamiya's kit depicts an early protoype, and needs a lot of work for an operational vehicle. The main gun tube lost its bore evacuator early on and got a forced air bore clearing system instead--the compressor for this was located in the vehicle's lower rear, and a bulged area was added to the tailplate below the exhaust louvers to accommodate it (build this area up with scrap styrene and epoxy putty). The searchlight is pretty poorly detailed and proportioned--very tedious to fix. Many details on the hull are poorly represented (like the handles on the stowage boxes and triangular outriggers that support the mudguards) or just plain wriong (most of the detail on the rear fenders). Tamiya's wheels are poorly designed, with visible soft plastic keepers disguised as the vehcile hubcaps. Cut the poly hubcaps with a very sharp X-Acto knife because you can't sand off any molding nubs. They fit very loosely on the axles, which looks terrible, so wrap them with a layer or two of cellophane tape to tighten the fit.
AEF Designs offers resin replacement items if you are interested. Personally, I would probably mate their resin turret and hull parts to the excellent Esci/AMT/Italeri/Revell-Germany M60A1 rather than try to make the old Tamiya effort presentable (same kit, but it has appeared in all those companies' boxes). http://www.aefdesigns.com/aefcat.html

That dual tex scheme is kind of simular to the new camo patern on the new army uniforms.

I crewed on an A2 from Jan '76 til Oct '78.My tank had the bore evacuator on it.And we had the CBSS system.Basically the earlier it was built,the older the tube
The next "step" in gun tubes had the mounts,but no bore evacuator.The latest version had no mountings or bore evacuator.All 3 styles were present in my Co.

What did the bore evacuator mounts look like?

This is what I got so far

Jim that looks very good.
Next,add some mesh between the 2 lower rungs on the turret bustle rack.
The bore evacuator mounts were larger diameter "rings" which the ends of the bore evacuator sealed on.They were about 4-6" long along the gun tube.I will look to see if I can find an image of that style tube.
Also,I cant see in that photo,but the 2 center reinforcing ribs on the long stowage box lids,should be half as long towards the turret.Imagine the mantlet cover rubbing against them,thats why they were shorter.

The bore evacuator mounts were larger diameter "rings" which the ends of the bore evacuator sealed on.They were about 4-6" long along the gun tube.I will look to see if I can find an image of that style tube.
Thanks for that info Ive never seen that in pictures.

Also,I cant see in that photo,but the 2 center reinforcing ribs on the long stowage box lids,should be half as long towards the turret.Imagine the mantlet cover rubbing against them,thats why they were shorter. [/quote]
Dous this also effect the two center box hinges because I could see that creating the same problem.

Thanks for the input.

No the hinges were in the same places,just those ribs were higher up,so they might snag.Also put the same mesh on the bottom of the turret bustle rack too,so duffle bags dont fall out.
look here for bustle rack mesh:http://afvdb.50megs.com/usa/pics/m60a2cupola.jpg

Here is a small view of the shorter ribs;
http://tanxheaven.com/m60a2/m60a2-015.jpg

I think he was talking about something more along these lines from 2ACR:

That M109a1 brings back memories of my plain M60 I was assigned to when I arrived at my Co. in Apr 1975.Those were the exact colors most of our m60's and A1's were.Some were just the dark forest/green.When we drew our M60A2's those were in the dark green/forest green,with no camo.As I was heading back home in oct 1978,they were just starting to paint the tanks MERDC.

Based on what Plasticat said below, the scheme shown in the pics I posted is the closest to what he described