Development of the American M60 series of tanks began in 1956 following a decision to create an improved version of the M48 'Patton' tank. Built by General Dynamics, the M60 entered service in 1960, but was quickly superseded by the A1 to A3 versions. Over 15,000 vehicles have been produced, many of which are still serving in the armies of 22 countries. The M60 has been continuously advanced and upgraded with advanced weapon control, ammunition, applique armor, and increasingly powerful engines. The M60 series main battle tanks of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the US were deployed in Operation: Desert Storm in 1991 during the Gulf Crisis.

The M60 A1 with a new turret, thicker armor, and a new ammunition stowage system, was manufactured from 1962 to 1980. The M60 A2, fitted with a new turret mounting a 152mm gun and missile launcher, was halted in the mid-70's and development and production effort was instead diverted to the highly successful M60 A3, which incorporated improvements to the gun fire control system. The M60 A3 entered service with the US Army in 1978 and is still being used by several National Guards units. Although General Dynamics' Land Systems Division has ceased production of the tank, it continues to provide fleet management support to the US Army Tank Automotive Command and to user countries world-wide.

This particular 1:32 scale USMC M60 A1 main battle tank is painted in the NATO standard MERDC camouflage pattern. Also features opening hatches, an elevating gun, rotatable turret, and travel lock for the gun barrel located on the aft deck. Sold Out!

Dimensions:
Length: 11-1/2-inches
Width: 4-1/2-inches
Height: 4-1/2-inches

Release Date: April 2005

Historical Account: "Paint by Numbers" - In the 1970s, the US Mobility Equipment Research & Design Command (MERDC) developed a system of camouflage patterns for US Army vehicles. These consisted of a set of standardized patterns for each vehicle, to be used with a set of twelve colors. The local terrain conditions and colors decided which of the paints were to be used, and on which parts of a vehicle. Then, if conditions altered, for example by a change in the weather, or by the unit moving into a new area of operations, the scheme could be quickly adjusted to suit them by replacing only one or two colors by different ones.

For example, if a vehicle was painted in the US & European winter scheme, which had a dark green and a medium brown as its predominant colors, and it started to snow, by overpainting either the green or the brown with white, one of the two snow schemes could be created.

This gave a high degree of flexibility, though in practice it was hardly ever actually made use of - most vehicles were painted in one scheme and kept that.

Any of the MERDC schemes could be found with either hard edges (hand-painted) or soft edges (spray-painted) to the color patches. Soft-edged patterns seem to be more common, however, probably because it takes less time to spray a tank than it does to spray the tank and then touch up the edges.