1/16 RC USMC M-60A1 Patton tank with ERA - Build

[Herr Dr. Professor]

Louis and Eric, you have started me down "memory lane" with Revell, Monogram, Aurora, Renwal, AMT, JoHann...so many stops on that lane. A fine, but demanding career took away modeling time just as Tamiya became a new name in North America. When I saw that retirement was to come, I found O Gauge trains, and trains need buildings, and airplanes overhead. I dug out the Thayer and Chandler airbrush I kept over forty years.
But back to the superb Leatherneck M60: thanks for all the great photos and tips.
Ed

[Kaczor]

@lmcq11 how do these glued bolts and nuts hold up after years? While in static models it is understandable, in RC I would be afraid that they would fall off.

[lmcq11]

@lmcq11 how do these glued bolts and nuts hold up after years? While in static models it is understandable, in RC I would be afraid that they would fall off.

Years of RC... you are optimistic. A lot of other thing on this tank will fail before the bolts on the filter. But seriously, the bolts are just superglued. I know many people use exotic glues but i prefer superglue for the ease of working with it. The idea to have a solid superglue bond is to sand the areas being glued. Rough and scratched surfaces provide a good anchor for the superglue. Nothing is worse than gluing glossy surfaces and that must be avoided, specially with small items. The air filter bolts are also located in a low risk area at the rear deep between bigger components. I am not worried.


Continuing with the build.

This is the driver's area, periscope and hatch to be studied. The lock for the hatch is probably something added by a museum, i did not reproduce it as i have not seen it elsewhere. Notice the lowered area for the periscope. The glacis has a light slope. The periscopes need to be horizontal, otherwise it will look wrong and really weird. These are tricky to repro.

1/16 RC USMC M-60A1 US tank with ERA - Build

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As shown earlier, this is what we are dealing with on this model. The periscope will be redone.

1/16 RC USMC M-60A1 US tank with ERA - Build

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I am using the AFV-Club 1/35 kit for reference because the Academy kit has proven to be totally inaccurate for this area. We can see the lowered area very clearly.

1/16 RC USMC M-60A1 US tank with ERA - Build

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Once removed, the periscope holes show that these are properly located. The hatch hole could be a bit more forward but it is not worth the effort. I have decided to reuse the hatch. Other than the thermal sight cover being inverted and opening on the wrong side, its not that bad after all. Lack of accurate references on the hatch does not allow me to do any better at this time.

1/16 RC USMC M-60A1 US tank with ERA - Build

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This is the arrangement with periscope to be reproduced, minus the flexible cover not shown here. Periscope dimensions and shapes taken from the AFV-Club and pics.

1/16 RC USMC M-60A1 US tank with ERA - Build

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Using a scalpel, i did my best to carve the plastic and make the periscope base horizontal. Not as good as i wanted. At one point, i was starting to get through the hull because it is uneven underneath. So, this is on a best effort basis with the time i was willing to allocate to it.

1/16 RC USMC M-60A1 US tank with ERA - Build

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Periscope bases are glued.

1/16 RC USMC M-60A1 US tank with ERA - Build

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With a sander, i am making sure the three bases are all horizontal between themselves, not following the slope of the armor plate that can be seen.

1/16 RC USMC M-60A1 US tank with ERA - Build

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Some finetuning, it's never really finished.

1/16 RC USMC M-60A1 US tank with ERA - Build

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I calculated that the periscopes need to be 3.5mm deep and 13mm wide and about 4mm high. A strip of 1.5mm plasticard plate is glued to a 2mm to create the 3.5mm deep periscope.

1/16 RC USMC M-60A1 US tank with ERA - Build

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Continuing on following post

[lmcq11]

The periscopes are ready.

1/16 RC USMC M-60A1 US tank with ERA - Build

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View of the mounting for the periscope cover, from the Verlinden book on the M-60A3, excellent reference by the way. Very tricky base. I simplified it because it is not showing much.

1/16 RC USMC M-60A1 US tank with ERA - Build

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Periscope and a 1mm rod behind them. Notice the two hatch gutters added, as seen in reference.

1/16 RC USMC M-60A1 US tank with ERA - Build

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Little arms made from plasticard scrap are added, to which the covers will be glued to.

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And the periscope covers are added, thinner but of the same size as the periscope base. I have used a scalpel to lower the hull around the hatch a bit, trying to give it an embedded look instead of floating on the surface.

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Checking out the results before adding some putty here and there, and some polishing here and there.

1/16 RC USMC M-60A1 US tank with ERA - Build

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I am satisfied with the results, better than the originals. Can't be worse i mean. It took about 3 hours. As mentioned in the previous post, i decided not to mess with the hatch. Dimensions are good but lack of any reference does not allow to improve it.

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That's it for now.

Next step, the 105mm gun barrel and installation on the turret.

Regards, Louis

[Herr Dr. Professor]

Recessing the driver's hatch just a touch is a subtle but effective improvement!

[Kaczor]

Seeing the amount of work that is required to turn a toy into a model shows that Chinese manufacturers still have a lot to learn

[HERMAN BIX]

Mass manufacturing Vs boutique finishing..............
They couldn't afford mr Mcq11 !!

[Kaczor]

I agree. But there are less things to improve in the products of a Certain Japanese Producer and more in Chinese ones

[lmcq11]

Still, for less than $200, its a lot of fun to enhance. And i am happily surprised by the electronics.

Continuing with the gun barrel, recoil and weapons system tests. A short video of the model in action is provided at the end of the second post.


I was curious as to how much recoil to give an 105mm RC gun. Using a totally non scientific approach, i took snapshots from an M-60 firing on a video on Youtube. First picture below is the gun at rest, the second picture is the gun at maximum recoil after firing. I took the measurement of the recoil and multiplied it so that i can figure the length of recoil using some reference points. The reference is the first section of the barrel. I ended up with about 6 equivalent sections. So, if my 1/16 gun barrel is 126mm long for that section, and if i divide it by 6, i end up with a required 1/16 scale barrel recoil of about 21mm. Someone tell me if this does not make any sense.

1/16 RC USMC M-60A1 US tank with ERA - Build

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I received the new L7 barrel from MK Modellbau. So, what i have below is the L7 made for the Ti-67 at the top, and the one for Nato tanks at the bottom. I was surprised that its breech section is so much longer, and the internal hole is not the same diameter... So, i made a decision to use the new L7 for an upcoming Centurion Mk11 conversion instead, and use the L7 i had for the Ti-67 on the M60 build. I do not need the extra length and i want to keep the internal hole matching the gun recoil center tube i have previously created.

1/16 RC USMC M-60A1 US tank with ERA - Build

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The fume extractor is the same, still too long but the first section of the metal barrel is a bit short so in the end, i just removed about 3mm between the two rings and the main cylinder. It will look more accurate this way. Also need to remove the two lips and use putty where needed to correct some holes.

1/16 RC USMC M-60A1 US tank with ERA - Build

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The ML Modellbau metal barrel is separated in 2 sections that screw into each other. I was able to remove that 3mm taken from the resin section from the metal center by screwing them in a bit more.

1/16 RC USMC M-60A1 US tank with ERA - Build

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Inside the mantlet, there is a section of plastic at the bottom that need to be removed to allow the barrel to slide and recoil.

1/16 RC USMC M-60A1 US tank with ERA - Build

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Otherwise, the size of the TONGDE mantlet and the hole for the barrel is perfect for the MK Modellbau barrel.

1/16 RC USMC M-60A1 US tank with ERA - Build

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I was able to provide the gun recoil unit with 20mm of recoil, very close to the 21mm required. To allow the barrel to be at the right length and recoil, the internal section need to be cut about there.

1/16 RC USMC M-60A1 US tank with ERA - Build

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The ruler does not really help because of the angle, but the new total barrel length is 234mm and the external barrel section that shows minus area covered by the accordion is 212mm. These 1/16 measurements are according to my calculations extrapolated from 1/35 kits of the M-60A1.

1/16 RC USMC M-60A1 US tank with ERA - Build

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Everything is being reassembled in the proper order, also making sure the fume extractor is not upside down, the larger part is at the top. This is the only time where a flash can be added to the muzzle. A 5mm LED was installed at the tip, and a hole was created for the wire exit at the back of the recoil unit. All the electronics are fully tested before closing the unit.

1/16 RC USMC M-60A1 US tank with ERA - Build

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The accordion section is glued back to the mantlet without touching the barrel when it recoils, thanks to its sloped section, allowing it to recoil freely. I looked at replacing this static accordion by a dynamic one made of fuel syphon tubing, however, i could not get more than 10mm recoil from it so it did not work. A small plasticard ring was added at the tip, as per reference.

1/16 RC USMC M-60A1 US tank with ERA - Build

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continuing on following post

[lmcq11]

The reshaped fume extractor. I tried to make it match the style of the US M68E1 barrel. Reduced section at the front and no lips on the cylinder.

1/16 RC USMC M-60A1 US tank with ERA - Build

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The coax machine gun is created with a 2mm brass tube and a small fiber optic cable linked to a 5mm white LED, later covered with black electric tape as to not lit up the inside of the turret with every bullet. Make sure to install the coax machine gun in the proper hole of tha mantlet, not the wrong larger hole for the sight, as TONGDE did with their ugly and huge red LED.

1/16 RC USMC M-60A1 US tank with ERA - Build

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The finished complete gun barrel section is ready to be mounted on the the turret.

1/16 RC USMC M-60A1 US tank with ERA - Build

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A few more pictures of it before we don't see it again. This shot shows the coax machine gun next to the recoil unit.

1/16 RC USMC M-60A1 US tank with ERA - Build

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I could have removed the section of the BB unit that is no longer used but it would not look any better. Its not impacting anything.

1/16 RC USMC M-60A1 US tank with ERA - Build

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View of the recoil servo and the pull rod.

1/16 RC USMC M-60A1 US tank with ERA - Build

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Positioning within the turret. We can see the new elevation wheel I gave to the unit.

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Ahhh, finally, the M-60 has its 105mm gun. It will be a very good looking tank.

1/16 RC USMC M-60A1 US tank with ERA - Build

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Next step is to figure out the canvas for the mantlet. I'll see what i can do while still allowing for the elevation i gave to the tank.

1/16 RC USMC M-60A1 US tank with ERA - Build

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The model as it stands today

1/16 RC USMC M-60A1 US tank with ERA - Build

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And here is a short video of the turret in action. Take note that the extra elevation i gave to the model is really worth it. WIth the stock elevation wheel, the gun barrel was barely moving. Now it's ready for war.

phpBB [video]

Regards, Louis