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Armor/AFV: Modern - USA
Modern Armor, AFVs, and Support vehicles.
Hosted by Darren Baker
Building A M60A1 from AFV Club
OldWarloke
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Posted: Saturday, April 18, 2015 - 12:42 AM UTC
Hi Guys I just finished that Kraz Tank Transporter.
I think a lot of you didn't particulary care for that one. I didn't either
This is to be a straight mostly out of the box build.
I have 30 Pics. of the Instructions & the Sprue, so it might take a while to get everything posted.
Donald




OldWarloke
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Posted: Saturday, April 18, 2015 - 12:45 AM UTC





That dose it for the instructions, the Sprue are next.
Donald
OldWarloke
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Posted: Saturday, April 18, 2015 - 12:48 AM UTC







OldWarloke
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Posted: Saturday, April 18, 2015 - 12:52 AM UTC






OldWarloke
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Posted: Saturday, April 18, 2015 - 12:57 AM UTC







This kit looks really nice, the only question is the cast texture on the turret and hull look a little heavy.
Now to build it.
donald
cheswickthecat
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Posted: Saturday, April 18, 2015 - 07:57 AM UTC
I will be following your build thread as I really enjoyed your Long March slog on the MAZ. This should be equally as educational.
Terry
Cookiescool2
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Posted: Saturday, April 18, 2015 - 08:27 AM UTC
I'm looking forward to this build! I'll be following this with great interest!
OldWarloke
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Posted: Saturday, April 18, 2015 - 08:23 PM UTC
Thanks Guys, I hope this build is interesting , and useful for you.
Well I started, below is the bottom of the hull.
The only issues I found here are the front Bump Stop Mounts parts C91 & C92 are reversed. The 6 ea. Bump parts # D24 need their mounting holes drilled out a little.



I'm working on the torsion bars now, there is a slight issue here.
there are 5 bars for each side numbered D4 two of them have notches for mounting the bracket for the shock & 3 don't I almost mixed them up.

The ones with the notches should have been numbered differently.
Here is a close up of what I mean.

That's all for now.
Donald
OldWarloke
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Posted: Sunday, April 19, 2015 - 04:43 PM UTC
Here is the finished lower hull, I drilled the openings for the torsion bars out slightly, the fit there is very tight.



There are 2 oblong markings on each side of the lower hull these aren't shown in any of my references does anyone know what they are for?


There are 2 armored access panels on the lower rear end that are not numbered on the instructions. They are K22 & K23 they are interchangeable, the mounting tabs on their back side need to be trimmed for a close fit.

OldWarloke
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Posted: Sunday, April 19, 2015 - 04:56 PM UTC
The sink mark in the Idler mount should be covered by the Idler Wheel.




It's back to work for me.
Donald
Vodnik
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Posted: Sunday, April 19, 2015 - 05:33 PM UTC

Quoted Text


There are 2 oblong markings on each side of the lower hull these aren't shown in any of my references does anyone know what they are for?





Remove them. They are locating aids for additional tie-down loops (or whatever they are) present on some M60 hulls, like this M60A2:



By the way, you may also notice a lot of small raised circles on upper hull and turret. They should also be removed, as they are locating aids for ERA blocks support brackets. Clear indication what other variant we can expect from AFV Club
Tankrider
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Posted: Sunday, April 19, 2015 - 06:56 PM UTC
Well, thanks Pawel,
That was a spoiler... Feel like sharing any other insights that you have gleaned from the model??

John
OldWarloke
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Posted: Monday, April 20, 2015 - 01:12 AM UTC
Hi John
If you look at the Sprue pictured earlier, there are M48 type road wheels for what could be a very early M60.
There are also the top opening air cleaners for the M60A3.
The inside of the upper front hull has a lot of spots to be opened for various coming types.
donald
TankSGT
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Posted: Monday, April 20, 2015 - 01:44 AM UTC
Don the steel road wheels (no Ribs) are for M60A3s and later A1s. The Army found that the aluminum (ribbed) road wheels were a maintenance headache and went back to steel. Rebuilt A3s came with steel wheels and and in service tanks gradually replaced aluminum as they wore out.
I will follow along thanks for the recon. I'm looking forward to building this kit as my ride in the 11th ACR.

Tom
OldWarloke
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Posted: Monday, April 20, 2015 - 05:17 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Don the steel road wheels (no Ribs) are for M60A3s and later A1s. The Army found that the aluminum (ribbed) road wheels were a maintenance headache and went back to steel. Rebuilt A3s came with steel wheels and and in service tanks gradually replaced aluminum as they wore out.
I will follow along thanks for the recon. I'm looking forward to building this kit as my ride in the 11th ACR.

Tom


Thanks for the Info.
I might have screwed up when I get to the M60A3 kit that I'm fairly sure is coming. Heck most of it is here except for the Gun and Track.
Donald
OldWarloke
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Posted: Monday, April 20, 2015 - 10:10 PM UTC
I have the Drivers area finished , with what the kit supplies.
The Seat is quite detailed , accurate ? I don't Know?



My reference Pics. show Ammo storage tubes on both sides of the Driver. None supplied, of course you cant see much in there anyway.

The upper & Lower parts of the front Hull have a lot on spots uo be opened for future versions .

OldWarloke
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Posted: Monday, April 20, 2015 - 10:28 PM UTC
The instructions have the Instruments attached to the upper hull as C38 & C39 they are really B38 & B39

You can't see much through the hatch.

More later.
Donald
TankSGT
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Posted: Tuesday, April 21, 2015 - 03:24 PM UTC
Don the parts they give you for the drivers hatch are spot on. I drove an A1 for over 2000 miles in the 11th ACR. Linkages from the gas and brake pedal are missing as well as the gear shift to the power pack but you can't see them. Your right about the ammo racks on either side of the driver, we called them honey combs. The driver sat between about 30 main gun rounds. The battery box was also right behind him. The seat frame, pads and levers are right where they should be as well as the gauges between the periscopes. They are the speedometer and tachometer. The T-bar steering handle is accurate as well but the linkage to the side is missing but not visible It looked like a tricycle handle bars but made steering so easy. All the controls were hooked to the pack by linkages. One thing out of place is the periscope in the drivers hatch. That model would use a drivers infra-red night vision periscope only mounted at night. While it is mounted you can't open the drivers hatch.
So only install it if your modeling a tank on night opps.

I just remembered it isn't accurate for the IR scope any way its a daylight periscope the IR scope had 2 eye pieces and a brow pad, as well as a power lead.

The later drivers hatch and passive sight is a whole other story.

Tom
OldWarloke
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Posted: Wednesday, April 22, 2015 - 12:27 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Don the parts they give you for the drivers hatch are spot on. I drove an A1 for over 2000 miles in the 11th ACR. Linkages from the gas and brake pedal are missing as well as the gear shift to the power pack but you can't see them. Your right about the ammo racks on either side of the driver, we called them honey combs. The driver sat between about 30 main gun rounds. The battery box was also right behind him. The seat frame, pads and levers are right where they should be as well as the gauges between the periscopes. They are the speedometer and tachometer. The T-bar steering handle is accurate as well but the linkage to the side is missing but not visible It looked like a tricycle handle bars but made steering so easy. All the controls were hooked to the pack by linkages. One thing out of place is the periscope in the drivers hatch. That model would use a drivers infra-red night vision periscope only mounted at night. While it is mounted you can't open the drivers hatch.
So only install it if your modeling a tank on night opps.

I just remembered it isn't accurate for the IR scope any way its a daylight periscope the IR scope had 2 eye pieces and a brow pad, as well as a power lead.

The later drivers hatch and passive sight is a whole other story.

Tom


This is about what I thought, it would be impossible to open the hatch with that long periscope mounted.
Thanks.
Donald
OldWarloke
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Posted: Wednesday, April 22, 2015 - 12:30 AM UTC
I have the front end closed up.

The rear panels went on without any problems, just be careful with their hinges.


The top cover fit perfectly, just the instructions labeled it B47 when it is actually K47

The side engine hatches fit really good, You should start with the hatch closest to the turret ring and work your way back to the rear.


(Question) There are some small tabs on some of the hatches where they join, some pictures show something that looks like this. Are they supposed to be there?
Donald
Kevlar06
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Posted: Wednesday, April 22, 2015 - 09:28 AM UTC
Pawel & crew-- those rings on the lower hull between the road wheels and the track return rollers are the hull lifting rings used for hoisting the tank when loading aboard ships. Early A1s had three (three on a side) and I see the photo of the A4 shows four on a side. My tank in the 11th ACR had three as I recall. Also, from 1977 to 1980, while I was in the 11th ACR, we only had the steel wheels without ribs, and used the later style track. I don't understand why AFV club didn't supply the later track, hopefully they'll provide some aftermarket track, although I have a set of "LoModel" track from Taiwan, but I think they are out of business.
VR, Russ
Vodnik
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Posted: Wednesday, April 22, 2015 - 05:11 PM UTC

Quoted Text

I don't understand why AFV club didn't supply the later track, hopefully they'll provide some aftermarket track,


They already have it for many years:


flugwuzzi
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Posted: Wednesday, April 22, 2015 - 08:01 PM UTC
Great build ... the AFV Kit looks impressive ... be very careful when using the AFV single link tracks Pawel mentioned.

I used these tracks on my last M60A3 build and after weathering with Enamel products from AK & Ammo they became extreme britle and the end connectors broke completely. See https://archive.kitmaker.net/forums/220742&ord=&page=9 on the bottom of the page.

Keep on the good work.
cheers
Walter
OldWarloke
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Posted: Wednesday, April 22, 2015 - 08:56 PM UTC

Quoted Text

Great build ... the AFV Kit looks impressive ... be very careful when using the AFV single link tracks Pawel mentioned.

I used these tracks on my last M60A3 build and after weathering with Enamel products from AK & Ammo they became extreme britle and the end connectors broke completely. See https://archive.kitmaker.net/forums/220742&ord=&page=9 on the bottom of the page.

Keep on the good work.
cheers
Walter


Hi Walter, I was planning on using the kit track.
It's pretty nice, if I have problems with it I have 4 sets of the Bronco track in reserve to replace it with.
Donald
TankSGT
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Posted: Thursday, April 23, 2015 - 03:37 PM UTC
Don, the tabs were there as I remember. The top grill doors over lapped so you had to open the last door closest to the rear and work your way forward. The doors closest to the turret did not open, they were bolted down and only removed for pulling the pack. Remember the M60s and M48s were air cooled and the fans on top of the engine sucked the air in the top grill doors around the sides of the engine up through the middle and blew it out the back with the exhaust.

What seems to be missing from the kit are the grill door combat locks. A large bolt was set above the last door near the rear. If it was tightened all the way in it prevented the doors from opening protecting the engine from a nefarious enemy who hopefully would not come equipped with a 3/4 socket and ratchet.

Russ I was in A troop 1/11 at Fulda from 77-79 when the unit transitioned from M551s to M60A1 RISE passive tanks and they all came with aluminum road wheels. We were always changing the damn wear plates. It was a real maintenance headache. Here is my ride A11 late late summer 1978.


Tom
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