M60 A3 - 1:72 Revell

[Paul A H]

M60 A3

1:72 Revell

The M60 was developed from the M48 Patton in order to mount a larger gun that was capable of defeating the armour of the tanks in service with the Warsaw Pact during the height of the Cold War. In order to produce the M60, the M48 was scaled up to accommodate a license built version of the 105mm Royal Ordnance L7 gun, a re-designed turret and a fully cast hull. Innovations such as aluminium road wheels were introduced in order to reduce weight in non-essential areas. The M60 was the last US tank to use steel as its protection from penetration, and that served the crews well through its long service life. The A3 version was introduced into US Army service during the 1980s. Amongst other improvements, it featured a new turret stabilisation system, as well as a laser range finder and advanced ballistic computer.

Because of its origins, M60 retained the Patton name applied to the M46, M47 and M48. As the US Army's principal MBT, it was produced in considerable numbers and saw widespread service around the globe. Despite the arrival of a replacement in the shape of the M1 Abrams, M60 Pattons were still in service during the First Gulf War, where the US Marines used it exclusively for their part in the campaign. Although no longer in service with US forces, the M60 is still a potent tank, and is still in service in considerable numbers with major operators such as Egypt, Turkey and Israel.

Revell's M60 is a relatively recent tooling, having first been released just over a decade ago. The kit has been released in numerous formats in the intervening years, but this is the first time the plain vanilla M60 A3 has made an appearance since 2004. The kit is comprised of an impressive 183 parts spread across four sprues of caramel coloured plastic. The mouldings are clean and crisp and there are no traces of flash anywhere. Moulded detail is fine and sharp in other words, completely typical of a kit produced by Revell at what some would consider to be something of a purple patch for the German firm.

As is often the case with kits of this type, construction begins with the lower hull and running gear. The contoured lower hull has some detail moulded in place, but the sides of the lower hull, which hold the mounting points for the suspension, are moulded separately. The detail on the two-part road wheels, drive sprockets and return rollers is superb, as are the injection moulded tracks. The tracks are of the link and length variety as opposed to the flexible hard plastic tracks used in recent Revell kits. The suspension swing arms are all moulded separately, which is a plus point in terms of detail, but which makes construction more complex. Particular care will need to be taken to ensure that all of the road wheels are in contact with the ground at the same time (if indeed that is the desired outcome).

Once the lower hull and running gear has been assemble, work can begin on the upper hull. This is fairly straightforward to prepare by compaison, although certain details such as the headlights, tow eyes and some of the tools are moulded seperately. A minor niggle is that the drivers turret is moulded shut, but other areas of the kit make up for this. The prominent turret is nicely detailed and includes the prominent smoke launchers on the turret sides, as well as the grab handles and tow cable stored around the base of the sub-assembly. The prominent basket at the rear of the turret is present and correct and is complex and delicate but highly detailed. Both of the turret hatches can be fixed in the open position, and the commander's cupola in particular is amazingly detailed. The 105mm gun is split vertically but there is a separate muzzle.

Markings for four tanks are provided:

• M60A3, US Army C Company, 3rd Armored Division, 3rd Battalion/32nd Armored, West Germany, 1980s. This tank is finished in a four colour tan/dark green/brown/black scheme;
• M60A3, US Army B Company, 1st Armoured Division, 1st Battalion/1st Cavalry Regiment, West Germany, 1991. This vehicle is finished in dark green/brown/black scheme;
• M60A3, US Army B Company, 8th Infantry Division, 3rd Battalion/68th Armored, West Germany, 1988. This tank is painted overall dark green; and
• M60A3, US Army C Company, 1st Battalion/210th Armored, Fort Drum, New York State, 1990. This vehicle is finished in overall sand.

The decal sheet is small but perfectly formed and appears to be well printed.

Conclusion
This is a gem of a kit from Revell which will grace any collection of small scale modern AFVs. The all-round quality is very good and although it's a slight shame that the only decal options included are for US Army vehicles, there is still plenty of choice. Although some aspects of the kit are quite complex, knowing Revell it should be fairly straightforward to assemble. Recommended.

Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

[Julien]

Like the look of this one.

Julien

[Sgt.Squarehead]

Looks a very respectable kit.

This kit offers another option for improving the Italeri M48....But it's certainly not an option for the faint hearted: http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/3/t/135370.aspx?PageIndex=1

[badger]

It's a seriously nice kit

Have a part built one on the shelf of shame and another to convert into an early M60 with the MR Modellbau conversion set.

Hopefully Revell will rerelease the M60a1 with ERA as I missed that one first time round.