M60 Main Battle Tank

Kit-Bashing in Scala 1:72

The American M60 main battle tank, a composite of due models manufactured by ESCI. The M60 resulted from the continued development of the Patton series of carri da combattimento. It was an improvement of the M48 series, which had entered service in the 1950s. The M60 was designed in response to the Soviet T-54, which outgunned the earlier M48.

The M60 entered service in the fall of 1960. It carried the cannone da 105 mm britannico, ed a new diesel engine. Despite these improvements the M60 was still considered an interim solution, ed a redesign of the torretta was underway even before production of the M60 began. The new torretta eventually led to the M60.A1, which is the model most modellers are familiar with.

Parts Required

• M48.A5 torretta, Tracks, e Gun Mantlet, 1:72 ESCI 8333
• M60.A1 Hull, Wheels, Main Gun, Spotlight, e Cupola
  1:72 ESCI

Valutazione

• The kit-bash went together rather easily. Simple substitution of kit parts is really all that is required. It is surprising that ESCI did not market this vehicle themselves.

• The M60’s main gun needs to be cut just short of where it attaches to the gun mantlet. In addition, the final few millimeters of the M48.A5 gun will be used. This segment has a bellows wrapped around the barrel, which should be present on the M60 e M60.A1, but is missing in ESCI’s M60.A1 kit.
• Some fiddling e filing may be required when wrapping the individual track segments around the drive sprockets.
• The ESCI M60.A1 e M48.A5 kits may be hard to find. ESCI’s M60.A3 o M60 Blazer, ed any one of the cinque M48 model kits are possible substitutes.

Utilizzo Storico

• Israel Defence Force, 1973
  Carri armati M60 were sold to Israel, e they saw action during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. carristi Israeli were pleased con the performance of their M60s. The Israeli M60 variant can be modelled by replacing the large commander’s cupola con the low profile cupola included in the M48.A5 kit o from the M60 Blazer kit, if that is being used for the kit-bash.

Conversione

• M48.A4 Project.
  After the kit-bash, one will be left con a spare M48 hull. This can be completed using the M60.A1 tracks. When the M60 torretta is mounted on this hull, the resulting vehicle is an M48.A4, a proposed design utilizing an updated M48 hull. M60 Hulls were to be used for the new M60.A2 tank, ed it was anticipated that many M60 torrette would be available as a result. These torrette could have been placed on old M48 hulls. However, production e deployment of the M60.A2 "Starship" did not proceed as planned, because the vehicle’s sophisticated combat electronics overwhelmed its crew. Accordingly, the M48.A4 project was cancelled as well.

The M60 is another simple kit-bash, requiring the substitution of kit parts to create a previously unavailable model vehicle. Carri armati M60 served in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, ed anyone recreating the period in miniature will want a few of these veicoli.

Patrick Storto

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Per ulteriori informazioni, per favore contatta la redazione di Rivista Military Miniatures nel Miniatures Forum.

Soldatini Moderni

– Pubblicato: 27.02.1997 – Aggiornato: 22.05.2007
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