Dragon 1/35 M60 Patton

 The M60 Patton is a main battle tank (MBT) introduced in December 1960. With the United States Army's deactivation of their last (M103) heavy tank battalion in 1963, the M60 became the Army's primary tank during the Cold War. Although developed from the M48 Patton, the M60 series was never officially classified as a Patton tank, but as a "product-improved descendant" of the Patton series. In March 1959, the tank was officially standardized as the 105 mm Gun Full Tracked Combat Tank M60.

The M60 underwent many updates over its service life. The interior layout, based on the design of the M48, provided ample room for updates and improvements, extending the vehicle's service life for over four decades. It was widely used by the U.S. and its Cold War allies, especially those in NATO, and remains in service throughout the world today, despite having been superseded by the M1 Abrams in the U.S. military. Egypt is currently the largest operator with 1,716 upgraded M60A3s, Turkey is second with 866 upgraded units in service, and Israel is third with over 700 units of Israeli variants.

With the success of their M48 series of tanks, it was only a matter of time before Dragon embarked on a number of variations on the theme and this includes the M60 series. There are differences between the M48 and the M60 so it is not surprising that there are some new sprues to deal with this.

For example, the  M60 mounted a 105 mm M68 main gun with the bore evacuator mounted towards the middle of the tube, compared with the M48's 90 mm M41, which mounted the bore evacuator towards the end of the tube right after its T-shaped muzzle brake. It also had a hull with a straight front slope whereas the M48's hull was rounded, had three support rollers per side to the M48's five, and had road wheels constructed from aluminum rather than steel, although the M48 wheels were often used as spare parts.

These are all located on sprues C, A, and N. A small photo etch fret is included, but from the look of things, you don't actually need to use any of the parts. There are a few options such as optional braces and the ability to have the two turret hatches open for figures. The kit also comes with Dragon's DS deformable styrene tracks. While not quite as nice as individual links, they are much easier to assemble and paint just as well. This same material is used for the cover of the mantlet

Instructions include the usual Gunze and Model Master paint references. There is but one markings option, that is for the box art vehicle with the 2nd Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment in 1964. I would have thought there would have been more options due to the rather widespread use of the M60, but perhaps the initial production vehicle only saw limited use. Those whose eyes glaze over looking at the many hundreds of parts of a panzer kit will be happy to know that this one maxes out at 260.

I know of several modelers who are particularly happy to see this one released and if it is anything like their M48 (and it is) it will be a super kit to build and have on your shelf.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M60_Patton

July 2016

Copyright ModelingMadness.com

Thanks to www.dragonmodelsusa.com for the preview kit. Get yours at your local retailer. 

If you would like your product reviewed fairly and fairly quickly, please contactthe editor or see other details in the Note toContributors.

Back to the Main Page

Back to the Previews Index Page