My Own M60A1

Long ago, in a galaxy far away, I became a tank driver. Then they learned that I have only monocular vision and wasn't eligible for a military driver's license, so they made me a unit clerk typist instead. Then they made me an unlicensed Jeep / M60A1 driver. Right way, wrong way, Army way. Go figure.

I was really impressed by the M60A1's performance, and the one time in my life when I remember waking up from a really good night's sleep, all refreshed... was after sleeping overnight on the fender of an M60A1 in the rain. Superb.

When I took up model building again after a long hiatus, I decided I wanted to build a tank that was identical (in every reasonable regard) to the M60A1 I routinely drove illegally so long ago. And... so very far away. Remember, this was in a galaxy far away, y'all.

What I found was the modern Marine M60A1, slathered with all this Explosive Reactive Armor horsecrap and with a nighty-night vision IR Batman light on the front and all. Stuff that detracted from my goal & vision. Sure, I could dig up a hyperexpensive earlier model of the M60A1 but my budget ain't bourgeoning, if ya know what I mean.

So I stripped off all the excess fiddle and converted my model back into the tank beneath, the one I used to drive. This is as nearly identical to "my" tank as I can make it.

Weathered? No, of course not. The tank I drove was subject to periodic inspection, and a weathered tank simply would NOT pass that inspection. Even chipped pads on the tracks were enough to fail it. Besides, it takes a long, long time for a tank out in the weather to actually look weathered. Decades. The paint they put on these things is alkyd, and it's baked on, and it lasts some hideous long time. "My" tank never even stayed very dirty for very long.

One of these days I'll yank the tracks off this one and paint them "properly". They're still in Tamiya factory state, and it itches me merciless.