Hello!
This has become my latest armor project. An old ESCI kit from 1992 based on the M-60A1. It’s an Israeli modified U.S. tank with Explosive Reactive Armor (ERA) developed in the late 80’s for the Isreali Army and known to us Americans as the “Blazer”.
I’ve already begun modifying the kit as I see fit to do, adding a new .50 Cal mount, side skirt hangers, and a turret stowage box. Don’t worry, I’m pretty sure this is just the beginning of my modifications.
The most recent modification as of yesterday was to modify the loaders hatch so it functions on a working hinge. I’ve got an Academy Isreali tank crew that I’ll be working on to go with this build. But for now the hatches will remain movable until I decide to permanently add the crew figures.
I’m not sure where I’ll end up with this build honestly. It will be an Isreali tank, but it won’t be a standard Magach. This will be a one-off vehicle such as a platoon commanders tank or something like that.
Please join me as I figure out where I’m going with this build. It should be an entertaining, yet slow, build.
I still have some details to add to the box, such a hinges and a latch. I’m copying some resin upgrades from a Joffy kit for the side skirts however I do plan on modifying those somewhat also. My skirts will be less armored and a bit lighter because of it so the hangers and attachment will end up being my own design.
Borrowing from Russ’s Gimel, I will be adding other bits and details as I go.
I feel I must apologise to my fellow forum members. A new work schedule at a new job and a serious lack of time have been wreaking havock on my ability to spend any serious time modeling.
Mostly I get to daydream about which kits I’d like to send time on. This build, I hope, will be a main focus for a good long time.
Thanks for supporting my habit with your own beautiful builds lol. At least I can watch something getting done lol.
I took a couple of hours today and roughed out the side skirts. The hangers are spaced out just enough to clear the tracks because I didn’t want to have them extended too far out.
I’ll be adding bolt heads and other such details to them later.
Yes, the Israelis are the ones who make the Turkish M60 Sabra. That’s why it has many “Magach” style looks to it.
The Esci M60 ‘Blazer’ is one of my favorite kits. I found a bunch of them at a closeout store called “Odd Lots” in Huntsville, Alabama when I was stationed there in the mid to late 90s. I built many of them using detail parts from Tamiya kits.
Well that explains why the M-60T looks like a Magach 7. Thanks, Rob.
I’ve had a fondness for ESCI kits for decades. I remember building a lot of the 1/72 series kits. But this is the first time I’ve had a 1/35 ESCI armor kit. The details are pretty good from what I see, but there is quite a bit of minor flash on most of the smaller parts.
Nothing I can’t handle or add more details to. It’s not a bad kit. That being said though, the wheels wobble around horribly on the axles. I know they’ll be okay once I glue them on, but alignment will have to be carefully monitored when I do.
I’m still contemplating what I’ll modify next. Keep watching. [Y]
In case some of you didn’t know, M60_Tanker is my father. He still hasn’t figured out how to upload pictures and I still need to show him how lol. We’ll get to that eventually.
He taught me all of my basics and dropped out of the hobby for a lot longer than I did. Now he’s close to retirement and building up a platoon of 1/35 armor, while updating his skills.
Here is his latest build that is close to completion, next to my M-48 (The dirty one on the bottom). An M-48A3 from Dragon, I think.
I can’t wait for him to show us what he’s done with an M-60A2(E1). From what I have seen of it, it should gain a lot of attention.
The Esci M60A1/M60A3/Blazer represents the high water mark for their 1/35 scale armor kits. Unfortunately for them, Tamiya released a 3 in 1 M60A3/M60A1/M60A1 RISE/passive kit at the same time. Tamiya’s armor was top notch in the 1980s and Esci didn’t have the same reputation, even though their M60A1/A3 series was better.
Italeri and then Dragon basically put Esci out of business in the late 1980s. Esci did a series of HMMWVs that were not as good as Italeri’s. They did a series of LAVs that weren’t as good as Italeri’s. They did a Leo 2 that wasn’t as good as Italeri’s.
They did a series of BMPs that were better than Dragon’s, but Dragon’s T-72 series was better than Esci’s T-72/74 and Dragon did a more complete line of modern Soviet armor. The Esci T-55 series remained well regarded for nearly twenty years though.
By the mid 90s rolled around, Esci was all but done in 1/35 scale armor. Italeri got their molds of the kits they didn’t have in their line. Their LAVs, HMMWVs, T-72s, Leo 2, BMPs vanished.
Like the M60A1/A3/Blazer kits, Esci released three versions of the T-55. The regular T-55, the T-55 A (M), and an Israeli version called the Ti-67 which is actually a Tiran 5. These kits are virtually the same models with a simple mold swap for a portion of the sprue. Italeri has reissed the Esci T-55.
At the time it was released, the only other T-55 available was the Lindberg T-55, which was a Squadron Kit of the Year way back in 1989. I built it and it is not a very good kit. This crappy kit is available at Hobby Lobby today.
I love crappy kits lol. I my have to pick that one up just to slap it together and paint it. Or maybe scratch build the heck out of it.
Either way it sounds entertaining and I don’t have any 1/35 Soviet armor except for a Dragon Su-85 which I still need to complete the tracks for on one side.
Rob, thank you again for all of this information. I love to learn.
I think Esci’s biggest downfall in these modern 1/35 scale armor kits is that they basically took one kit, made a couple changes to some sub sprues and reboxed them as different kits.
Like the crappy Lindberg T-55, they gave all the options to make three or four different variants in one box. Sell one kit to people wanting whatever variant, and the kit flies off the shelves.
Esci had a better kit, and one kit sold out quickly and the IDF one died in clearance bins. Likewise with the M60A1/A3. The M60A3 sold quickly and the Blazer died on the shelves. Had they incuded all options in one kit, people wanting any version would have bought it and they would have all sold out.
When AMT/Ertl reboxed the Esci M60A1 Blazer, they included parts and decals to make either a US Army M60A1 or an IDF Blazer. It sold well.
