Building replica of display tank - need help with ID

[doggonemess]

Greetings all,

I've been armor modelling for a few years now and decided to do something complicated. I want to build a replica of a tank that is parked in front of the Annapolis Maryland National Guard station. My idea is to build and paint it exactly as it appears now and make a diorama of the concrete pad and the surrounding grass. Then I can go back and take some side-by-side pictures for fun.

My only issue is that I'm not exactly sure what tank model this is. I'm fairly confident that it's an M60, but the history of the M60 (and earlier M48) with all of their variants makes me cautious about buying the model. Can you guys take a look and let me know what you think it is? Some images below. I would greatly appreciate it!

 

[128mm Tank Killer]

I am almost positive it's a M60A3 as opposed to the A1...

 

[urumomo]

IDK , but here's some reference material :
https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/coldwar/us/m60_patton.php
https://www.primeportal.net/the_battlefield_armor.htm

 

[doggonemess]

Thanks for the links, very helpful!

Comparing my photos to the tanks-encyclopedia page, the only one it resembles is one of the photos without a caption. The filename is "M60 Early National Guard". Could it be that this tank isn't even a variant? It would make sense since it's a static display, so it's probably really old.

 

[urumomo]

I'd compare it with the labeled M60 photos in that Prime Portal link to verify the model .

 

[doggonemess]

I've done a lot of comparing back and forth and it seriously looks like this tank is an M60, first production model. It has the hull of the M60s, with a turret and tracks that look like an M48's. I can't find a model online of an early model M60, just the A1 onwards, which have very different turrets.

Am I going to have to buy an M48 and an M60 and kit bash? That wouldn't be the worst thing ever.

 

[doggonemess]

I just discovered this page: http://www.guntruck.com/M60MBTPage1.html

He wanted an M60 MBT (A0, some people call them) but there was no kit for it... so he made his own. That seems to settle it then. From reading his blog and a few others, it looks like there are some small companies that sell the M60 MBT turret by itself.