Those tracks are too much for me…
LOL! I was going to say something similar. I feel like those provide no advantage over somewhat simpler AFV Club’s offerings.
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Agree. I have both sets of AFV club tracks and they’re easy to put together. The T-142 track set went on a Tamiya M60A1 ERA and the T97E2 will go on a Tamiya M48A3 I have; but if I buy the Takom, i will most likely replace the kit’s tracks with the AFV Club tracks.
the guard unit south of me used nothing but M60a1’s if memory is correct. They still have three or four placed as gate guards. Some units did make the switch to M1a1’s awhile back and they have at least one on display.
gary
No sinkmarks unlike AFV T97s, which have two on every link. And the end connectors will not fall off with the easiest of touches, unless you glue them in place so the track does not articulate. And maybe the plastic will hold against solvents like those used for oils.
AFV Club tracks look easy at first but you might end up spending more time on them then the TAKOM ones.
It all comes down to whatever suits each one’s needs and the time and effort he wants to spend on each model.
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Just saying, down the road, if any one wants to unload the Takom tracks, either kind, holler at me.
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I may take you up on that offer if I CAD the heck out of them and 3D print them [in case if assembling them drives me nuts].
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Me and a buddy were talking about that very idea after watching Andy’s video.
I watched that video last night, and I’d buy the kit just for the cast metal effect alone! Did you notice the machine guns?
gary
I would love to see a build of the new Takom Pattons; I can imagine the upper/lower hull fitment will be world’s better than the Tamiya.
Hello Sable,
I remain curious as to the US Army’s use of the reactive armor tiles on it’s M60’s. At one point, it looked like these ERA M60A1’s were going to be type classified as M60A4’s…based on scuttlebutt around the community.
I did photograph a number of M60A3’s at Range Control with mounts for the ERA tiles. I don’t recall if any of these “hard targets” had any of the inert tiles mounted at that time. Interestingly, they were in a variety of MERDC colors as well as plain sand. I have often wondered just how many the Army actually had in the inventory.
As a side note, there is a very nice example of one on display at the 1st Cavalry Museum on Fort Hood painted in a dark olive green color.
Respectfully,
Allen
I just saw all the sprues of the tracks, how long would it take just to clean up all the individual track pads, they must be perfect or they will not fit.
I don’t have the patience for that, if you do, more power to you.
The Bronco tracks that are similar take me two hours per side to clean and assemble
Those may be USMC vehicles. The Army only did a few up on an experimental basis for testing; then decided not to adopt them, going for the M1A1 instead. Also, I don’t believe the Army ever painted any of them in plain sand.
Ken
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As Tankerken mentioned; the US Army tested a few but decided against adoption. The ones sitting at Range Control are all decomissioned Marine tanks. As for the camo MERDC colors were common to both Army and Marine tanks, with the ERA plate being in 383 CARC green.
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Hello Ken,
You may be correct, yet, there were a couple of things that I just haven’t been able to nail down.
When I first saw them, I thought that they might have been USMC vehicles that had found their way to Fort Hood. However, these were M60A3’s with US ARMY markings. I wish that I had stopped to ask the folks at range control.
As for the overall sand finish, I think that the 24ID as part of the Rapid Deployment Force (RDF) was the first that I saw with the monochrome finish to many of it’s assets. But, I do not know if this was division wide.
It was nice to chat with you,
Allen
Hello Reynier,
Thanks for your response. I responded to Tanker Ken’s post, too. You are correct about the MERDC patterns. We painted one of the M60’s that I was on in the summer green colors totally by hand brush one year, like the A1 that you posted. It took more paint and time, but, the colors looked more distinct and there was no overspray…lol
By the time we got the idea to repaint the turret interior, we had a spray gun…but, that is another story.
Thanks for the photos,
Allen
I was in the 24th in the late '80’s and the whole division was sand colored as the middle east was our mission in a war.
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I was in the 24th as well, in the early 90s after the division returned from Saudi Arabia. Never saw a single vehicle that wasn’t painted in Desert Tan, unless it was brought out of Lima, OH or Anniston, AL.
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But did they have any M60A3s with ERA?
Ken
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