Taskforce Ripper M60A1 RISE PASSIVE Academy 1/35

[Plasto]

I’m going to build the Academy USMC M60A1 (RISE) (Passive) in 1/35.

 

 

 

 

The USMC operated the M60A1 until shortly after the first Gulf war.  Units deploying to the Gulf arrived to find M60A1’s from United States Marine Pre-positioning Squadron Two had arrived. 

The USN keeps vessels in pre-determined locations with enough materiel on board to support a USMC expeditionary force. A lot of the M60’s were essentially brand new late 60’s / early 70’s builds with associated upgrades that had been kept in storage afloat.  Probably anchored off of Diego Garcia.

 

 

 

The Tanks were painted overall green were hastily repainted in more suitable colours and the Reactive armour panels were installed by the crews. It became apparent there were not enough Reactive armour blocks so some tanks had a mixture of live Reactive armour panels and empty holders fitted.

 

 

 

 

 

The Tanks from ‘Taskforce Ripper’ of the 1st Marine Division encountered Iraqi armour during the Battle for Kuwait International Airport where the Marines Destroyed around 100 Iraqi AFV’s including T-72’s for one tank lost to a mine.

 

 

 

 

The Marines seem to have operated the upgraded A1 variant of the M60 MBT rather than the upgraded A3 operated by the US Army.

The M60A1(RISE)(PASSIVE) featured Kevlar spall liners for the turret, AN/VVS-2 passive night vision block for the driver, the AVDS-1790-2D RISE engine with CD-850-6A transmission and VEESS smoke generation system, a deep water fording kit and the capability to mount Explosive Reactive Armour (ERA). The M239 six barrelled smoke launcher on the turret face and replacement of the coax machine gun with the M240C were implemented in late 1978 and were denoted as M60A1(RISE)(PASSIVE).

The M60A3 tank on the other hand was built in two configurations. The earlier version, sometimes referred to as the M60A3 Passive, uses the same passive gunner's sight as the A1 RISE+ and the M73 coax machine gun was upgraded to the M240C and the latest version has a Tank Thermal Sight (TTS). This sight allows the gunner to see through fog, smoke, and at night without the aid of a searchlight. The M60A1, RISE, and RISE Passive tanks used a coincidence rangefinder and the mechanical M19 ballistic computer. The M60A3 uses a laser based rangefinder and the solid state M21 ballistic computer. This system increased the first round hit probability.

The armour protection for the turret was increased to 330 mm on the gun mantle and to 276 mm on the turret face. The hydraulic fluid was replaced with a non-flammable one.( the Israelis had suffered numerous M48 and M60 losses due to the flammable nature of the standard hydraulic fluid.)

 The electronics and fire control systems were also improved. These included an M21 solid state ballistic computer, AN/VVG2 flash-lamp pumped ruby-laser based rangefinder usable by both commander and gunner, AN/VSG2 Tank Thermal Sights (TTS), a Mercury-Cadmium-Telluride (HgCdTe) IR detector for passive night and dust vision, a muzzle reference system, an improved turret stabilization system, and a Vehicle Engine Exhaust Smoke System (VEESS) that visually obscured the area around the vehicle.

 

( Thanks to Wikipedia for some of the info above)

 

 

So while the A3 was a better protected tank with an updated fire control system the Marines familiar with the A1 went to battle in this.

 

 

 

The Academy kit seems to get ok reviews and seems to be favoured over the Tamiya kit as the hull is deemed to be more accurate.  My kit has separate rubber Tyres(tires) for the road wheels which I think may be an upgrade from Academy’s M48A5(K) kit.  I’m a bit dubious about these but a quick check reveals they fit ok. Tracks are also Vinyl but the real track is a live unit so with some careful painting these should be ok… The kit comes with some basic stowage and a couple of figures.

I may go down an upgraded barrel route and also perhaps some resin heads for the figures.

Apart from that it should pretty much be what the box provides.

 

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Very nice choice, this should look good when its done. Are going for the Desert sand of desert storm, or a Green MERDC Camouflage ? 

[Plasto]

Hi Dennis,

 

I’d like to represent a Tank during the Battle for Kuwait International Airport so it will be Desert Sand...

 

Cheers

 

[Badder]

Liking the look of the Patton in sand yellow, and the reactive armour adds even more interest.

Good luck with your build.

 

Rearguards,

Bad

[Hewy]

Good read, I look forward to seeing the slight differences of our builds going together

[Yetifan]

Just finished the Tamiya M60A1 and it builds into a handsome vehicle. I did mine in desert MERDC and am pretty please with how well it came out. Be interesting to see how the Academy version builds up.

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Hello John... Im hoping everything's ok ? I hadn't seen you posting for awhile ? 

 

Dennis