I always liked the M60A1 and A3 series of tanks – bulky, mean and somewhat agricultural looking. Slap on some MERDC cammo and you get the epitome of a Cold War tank.
Esci’s M60 series are still the best Pattons you can get – at least until AFV Club releases theirs, which will be miles ahead of anything, no doubt about that. Esci has gone out of business long ago, and only some Patton variants (M60A1 and the Israeli version of it) have been re-released by Revell and Italeri. Luckily I was able to track down an original Esci boxing on ebay which was collecting dust in a basement in Germany.
The first time I built that kit must have been some 20 years ago. Back then I wasn’t too concerned with small details and weathered finishes, so it was a straight OOB build with a very lose interpration of Gray Desert MERDC camouflage.This time, however, I wanted to build a classic Reforger tank, maneuver markings, cammo netting and all. Apart from that I wanted to try some heavier weathering, something I never had the guts to do when I was still building armor on a regular basis.
I added some small details, like nuts’n’bolts to the suspension and air cleaners, scratchbuilt a new infantry phone, added some details from Tamiya’s modern armor set and used AFV Club’s excellent tracks. The cammo netting was created by soaking gauze in white glue and sprinkling dried marjoram on it. For painting I used acrylics from Tamiya, Gunze and Lifecolor, weathered with oils and Mig Pastels. The markings are a mixture of Verlinden Reforger stickers and Echelon bumper numbers.
