M60s in MASSTER Camouflage

This was a project to paint a platoon of M60A1s in the MASSTER scheme, circa 1975. This was a camo scheme that came before MERDC and was used in Germany by the US 7th Army. Its use continued for a time after the introduction of MERDC in US units. Tankograd books on Reforger exercises of 1976 and 1977 show US units wearing either scheme. This is a camo scheme that seems, to me anyway, inappropriate for Germany, but it appears to have been widely used. I got to Germany in the spring 1976. I don't recall noticing this pattern in the 2nd Brigade of the 8th Infantry Division. My battalion, the 1-39 Infantry, was still painted in olive drab. We repainted in MERDC in the late spring of that year.

The full platoon

Comparison of MASSTER to MERDC

I couldn't find any references that showed any officially approved patterns for this scheme and the photos I did find of vehicles wearing MASSTER showed great variety in patterns. I based my interpretation on tanks belonging to 3-64 Armor of the 3rd armored Division (Link to examples of MASSTER camouflage) to include what appears to have been retaining the OD in the running gear portion of the tanks. I also noted that MASSTER painted vehicles often wore black stars, so I put them on my models. Much thanks to Flight Deck Decals ) for making these available.

Judging the colors was a process of looking at as many examples of the scheme as I could find and compensating for apparent light conditions then trying to get the right tones. I think I got fairly close.

Models are GHQ 1:285 M60s.