Some time ago I got the strange idea to scratchbuild the interior for my Patton. To be exact, I was already very deep in a conversion of the AFV Club M60A1 to the M728 CEV, and the AFV Club model has some interior there. At first I said I’ll only do a little bit, things visible through the driver’s hatch - but then I started getting TMs for the CEV and the whole project started creeping and I got mired…
Then a tanker contacted me with a request for help - he’s trying to build an interior for his M60A1. I made some parts for him and re-started my project by the way.
And then I started drawing in 3D and printing some parts - that’s a very cool technology. You can see some of my designs here:
Now here’s the idea: since I already need some interior parts for my CEV, and many parts of it are exchangeable with other Patton tanks, I would like to put up parts like gunner’s controls, TC’s seat, banana boxes so that anyone interested can have them 3D-printed and build their own M60 or M48 tank interior. Maybe eventually I could have complete interiors for 3D printing?
On the other hand I must say thre are not that many references online but I know we have lots of military veterans here on the forums, so I thought maybe those of you who “been there, done that” could give me a hand on this project here. I could also use a TM or two for the M60A1 or the M48A3, for example.
I would like to hear your opinion on this. Who would be interested to build an interior for the Patton tank?
Wow that’s some nice items you have really like the M60s and M14s. I’m not very familiar with the Patton but would be interested in what would be visible through the hatch maybe not the full interior.
Right now I need to concentrate on just getting something built out of the box but if I ever decide to detail the interior of a M60 I’ll know where to look!
Thanks a lot for your comments and your kind words!
Rob - I’m especially counting on you with this one, given your experience with the subject.
And to show you I’m not only writing about it, but also working on the subject for some time, here’s a render of the turret floor ammo boxes for the MGs, also known as “banana boxes”:
I have based this 3D design on some photos, and on this diagram I have created:
So I’d like to as you for review of my design and your comments. Thanks a lot in advance and have a nice day
Looking good. Couple of things. In the drawing, the fire extinguisher was not mounted there. It was mounted under the drivers seat. Also, no ammo boxes were inside the turret. All coax ammo was stored in the banana boxes.
Gunner’s controls were called Cadillacs, I think that was the company that made the controls. The grease gun magazines were stored in a three pouch container that had a spot on the turret wall to affix it. It could be removed and attached to a soldier’s web belt. There were two of them.
Thanks a lot for your comments! That’s what I was looking for.
M60_tanker - it’s interesting what you write about the fire extinguisher - I have some references where the fire extinguisher is mounted exactly where I modelled it. I have also seen this space blank, so could it be it’s a difference between versions?
Also, the TM I have says the big box feeds the coax directly, and the small box is for grenades. The TM also says the pouch with mags for the grease gun should be stowed in the tray in the bustle, between the main gun ammo and the radio. I’ve seen the second ammo pouch above the instrument panel, to the right from the driver. By the way, are we talking about a pouch like this?:
Rob - Cadillacs, that’s a good one. Then the company would probably be Cadillac-Gage?
I was planning to do a separate fire extinguisher to be mounted under the loader’s seat, and I’ll probably have to develop a version of the coax ammo box without the extinguisher, too.
Thanks again for your comments and have a nice day
LOL! Those mag pouches are straight out of WWII & Korea… I know that the Grease Gun was too. I suppose like the mag pouches and holster for the 1911 pistol, they stayed around as long as the weapon did. Did those mag pouches have the wire attachment for the grommets on a pistol belt, or cloth loops on the backside?
I don’t know. The only time we really messed with them was when we conducted lay out inventory. The magazines were still sealed in aluminum packaging. When we fam fired the guns, we just used a handful of magazines that were already used.
