My new project TongDe M-60 Metal Edition

[Marc780]

Immediately I got close to finishing my M-113, I was already deciding what my next tank would be. It was between the TD M109, and their M-60. Finally I got the M-60, but unlike the M-113, I got the metal edition this time around.
It was $365 from Motion RC out the door price.
But I almost regretted getting the metal one as soon as I unboxed the M60 - it's heavy! So very very heavy. And since much of that weight is tracks, I sent off for a set of plastic tracks to replace them that cost $65 shipped.

Of course I planned a repaint as soon as I verified that it actually worked and choosing which pattern to paint it took me a while. I researched all the images I could find and even looked at camo patterns they used on the older M-48 tanks. Since the US military did operate both these tanks during the Cold War era (with the notable difference, only M-48's were deployed to Vietnam while M-60's were deployed mainly in Western Europe, and in the Middle East) and as a result, camo patterns were applied more or less interchangeably between them.

One of the things I started painting first were the tracks. Naturally I used the real thing as a painting guide, like the rusty tracks on this US Army M60:

I used Vallejo rust in several shades, along with black for the rubber track pads, and a product called "Track Wash" which i sprayed on.

Those are all the images I can post right now for the moment. I don't think I am done with the tracks though. I still have the camo "MERDC Red Desert" pattern and the searchlight to install. The searchlight will be operational, but that'll be the last step, probably.

[MrChef]

I'm in.

Still on the fence with Tongde. But I look forward to see what magic you work with her.

[Herr Dr. Professor]

I'm watching attentively, even if I am silent, for I have the most basic M60 (no ERA) waiting for attention (except for initial check-over).

[ColemanCollector]

Looking forward to this. M60s don't seem to get a lotta love, and it is nice to see something a bit different.

Mike.

[tankme]

I love me a nice M60. I have an M60 Slick started and an M60A2 build almost finished. Then there is the M48 which is a kissing cousin of the M60 which has also been started. The A2 is almost finished so maybe that will be my next project to finish after my IS-4. I'll be following this one.

[Marc780]

I wanted a working searchlight on this tank so I've been trying to figure out the best way before I even got the tank to install it on. The only one I found available was from an E-bay seller who makes it by 3d printing the parts. Unfortunately the searchlight parts don't include any bulbs or wiring since it's just for looks...making it light is up to the model-maker.

I needed to fabricate a mount but I had to come up with my own design for that, because I want the light to be semi-permanent, removable, and to not mangle the model in the process. So I used thin sheet plastic to fabricate a mount that I hoped wouldn't look terrible (in this image there's masking tape on the underside of the mount to keep that area paint-free).

The mounting plate will have a magnet glued on its underside, to attach to a 1" X 2" (25 mm X 51 mm) piece of thin steel sheet on the tank turret glued on semi-permanently with white glue.

I'm having issues with the light source. In this image I used a model car headlight connected to a 9-volt battery. The headlight bulbs are very bright, but don't fit nicely enough for my taste; but even worse I'm thinking this bulb might create enough heat to melt the plastic searchlight.
Oh well, I'll have to revisit this issue later, once i have the rest of the tank finished!