Polistil Tanks – Part 7

By Robin Godwin

#C.A. 106 was the American M-60 A1 and the last in the series, although there may have been more models planned at one point. Released in 1976, it was the first and only tank (to my knowledge) to come in the new smaller window packaging, without accessories such as soldiers or mortars. Also gone was the “dispatches” that had been printed on the earlier boxes, replaced with photos of what appear to be Second World War German military equipment that perhaps had been planned for the range going forward. At least some of the vehicles pictured appeared in Polistils 1:72 plastic military kit range, so the basic drawings and a master would have existed to facilitate production in 1:50.

New packaging eliminated the accessories, and the screw mounting to the base (although the screw holes were cast into the model base, they have no threads, so they have never been screwed – apologies… perhaps indicating a late decision to go with a smaller outer box). Hefty inner shaped card held the considerable weight of the model well, but one subsequently likely can’t find a truly mint box, just because the model could shift a bit in handling. My box is missing the clear cello dust shield. Depictions of the operating features are still there, and show the hatch on the Commander’s cupola as openable, but I can’t get mine to budge, and I’m not going to force it. A new logo is included on the bottom of the box, that being “HF Club” – HF for high fidelity. Perhaps the intent was to ultimately include all the tanks in the “HF Club” with the smaller boxes. All six tanks appear in the 1977 Polistil HF Club catalogue without their accompanying accessories/soldiers

The M60-A1 seems to be the hardest of the series to find. I read years ago, and of course I don’t remember where, that Polistil upped the minimum quantity order for retailers, but this proved unpopular. Hence there are fewer to be found today (and when they are, they are easily the most expensive of the six). Did reduced demand lead to the ultimate cancellation of the series? Is this just conjecture or myth that I am perpetuating here? If an informed reader knows more, please comment accordingly.

There were contemporary companies that also modelled the A1 version. Corgi issued a toylike (scale unstated but smaller than 1:50) Hong Kong cast A1 with firing mechanism and plastic projectiles in 1974, but it doesn’t fare well in comparison. They reissued the model as a Corgi Classics in a set with a Diamond T Transporter – this had the mould reworked to remove the firing mechanism, and a different camo applied, but otherwise remained toylike.  Tomy issued three excellent M60s in its 1:87 Combat Tomica series from the mid-70s; the M60, M60-A1 and M60-A1-E1 (a developmental tank featuring a much larger caliber barrel), and there were other Asian small scale toylike issues as well. Solido (and others) did an M48, the Main Battle Tank from which the M60 evolved (and recently did an M60-A1 in their revived 1:48 scale military range, but I don’t have one). So here is another example of Polistil modeling a then current Cold War tank, but avoiding duplication with main competitors Solido. Just for fun, I illustrate the Polistil alongside a Tamiya M60 (not A1) Advancing Mini Tank in 1:48 scale from 2002. It features a battery-powered motor and is entirely in plastic. Thus some detail compromises had to be made to ensure some sort of robustness. There were four tanks in the Tamiya series.

Certainly the Polistil is as detailed as the others in the series, so discontinuing the soldiers/accessories may be the only manufacturing economy exercised. I mentioned in part 1 of this series that there was some commonality in drive sprockets between some of the models, but as I have progressed, I have been proven wrong – all the wheels are unique to each model. The road wheels replicate the aluminum wheels very well – simpler patterned steel wheels were also available on the real tank. As usual, the model is mostly metal with plastic add-ons. The .50 cal machine gun mounted in the Commander’s cupola is fragile plastic, and is often broken/missing on examples that have been played with. The usual gap between the last road wheel and the rear drive wheel is less noticeable on this model simply because the drive wheel is mounted higher on the chassis, giving better geometry for installing the tracks. If the tank looks tall, it’s because it is – a full two feet taller than it’s Cold War compatriot, the Leopard 1, and a foot taller than the Chieftain. The US embraced lower profile design with the later M1 Abrams, over two and a half feet lower than the M60-A1

The Polistil is listed as 1:50 and the Tamiya is listed as 1:48. The Tamiya is an M60, the Polistil an M60-A1 – many upgrades, but visible is the larger turret, and the addition of the infra-red searchlight box (although initial M60s also received the IR searchlight box as a later upgrade). The hull remained basically the same, with thicker armour among other upgrades, but these aren’t evident at this scale. The Commander’s cupola remained the same throughout the production run and accounts for some of the “tallness” of the tank. Three return rollers are cast into the Polistil, but are non-functional. The five round protuberances between the road wheels are suspension components. Tamiya omitted these details

The M60 was Americas main battle tank during the Cold War. Over 15,000 M60s of all variations (just under 8,000 A1 variants) were manufactured by the Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant with many foreign sales. Production commenced in 1959, with A1 production commencing in 1962 and continuing until 1980. The M60 has seen action in many conflicts, the first being with the Israelis in the Yom Kippur war in 1973 where it fared well against Arab tanks, but sustained fairly high losses mostly due to being significantly outnumbered and the introduction of the Soviet built AT-3 ‘Sagger’ anti-tank missile, effectively employed by the Egyptians.

The main armament consisted of an M68 license-built 105 mm barrel derived from the British Royal Ordnance L7, used by the Chieftain. The Leopard 1 also used a German built derivative of the L7, meeting the NATO standardization requirements. The engine was upgraded for the A1 version, now being a Continental AVDS-1790-2 V12, air-cooled twin-turbo diesel engine, providing 750 hp. There are four crew members; Commander, Driver, Gunner and Loader. The tank weighed 52.6 tons. The M60 remains in service with several countries worldwide, although much upgraded.

The stowage basket on the turret rear is plastic. Rear hull and engine exhaust detail is simple but accurate. Markings are stickers (as with the others in the series), not decals or tampo, and are OK when applied to a completely flat surface, but always look like they are peeling when applied to an uneven surface

I would like to say that I deliberately turned one track inside out (the top one) to better demonstrate the manufacturing process, but truthfully, I never even noticed until writing this caption. The previous owner must have removed it, but it does serve to illustrate the centerline channel required for track guidance and the gaps that allow drive sprocket tooth engagement

So that is the complete 1:50 scale tank collection from Polistil – six excellent reproductions, four of which would have been current Cold War armour, covering a large part of the global inventory of tanks. In my opinion, the M60 is the best of the lot, if only because the gap between the last road wheel and the drive sprocket is the least offensive. I really wish Polistil had kept going. I also wish that a “spares company” (replacement parts) would have a go at some of the more easily lost plastic bits – guns, antennae, tow cables, tow hooks, I-R boxes, mortar projectiles, etc.

That may be the last of the tanks, but there is one more article to come where I will discuss the accessories and packaging in more detail. As usual when researching articles, one stumbles across interesting websites. There is an excellent Italian site that deals with Polistil (but does not include the 1:50 scale tanks, for some reason) at www.quellidellapolistil.it