When former Chinese military man Jian Lin's six-year-old son asked for a tank for his birthday, never in his wildest dreams did he think he would actually get one.But with plenty of time on his hands the youngster's father, a former Navy officer, decided he would grant his son's wishes, by building him the ultimate boy's toy.Basing his design on the People's Liberation Army's Type 63A light tank, Mr Jian set to work and just two months later he rolled out a fully functioning replica, featuring a cannon that actually fires.Mr Jian said: 'I had a look around at what was available on the market but nothing really fitted what I wanted, which was when I decided to have a go at making one myself. I wanted the gift to be something really cool.'He said he had originally decided to make a smaller working model but when he realised he could easily get hold of parts such as tractor tyres and a truck engine at an affordable price, he decided to go the whole hog and make a life-size replica.He said: 'I used to work on maintaining military aircraft and later I retired and started work as a truck driver.'I did quite well and decided to take some time out so I sold the truck but was then at a loose end – I don't like doing nothing. So the idea for this came along at exactly the right time.'It was a hard job keeping the project under wraps but 31-year-old Mr Jian said all the work was worth it when he finally pulled off the covers of the vehicle and showed it to his son at their home in the village of Mianzhu in China's Sichuan province.The proud dad had even donned his old military uniform to take the camouflage-painted tank for a spin. It is not authorised yet for use on the road so he had to be content by driving it around a field, and even gave a demonstration of its firepower when he delighted onlookers by sending a few rounds into the air that he insisted was entirely safe – and perfectly appropriate for a child to play with.He spent around £4,000 over two months on building the tank which is almost five metres long and two metres high.It also weighs just three tonnes instead of the 20 tonnes the real thing weighs because none of the armour is real.The realistic looking vehicle differs from the real thing in having a special low entrance so that Wang and his friends can climb inside and outside easily.And there is no shortage of friends to join the youngster on the vehicle, even if none of them have any toy tanks of their own.But they might not have to wait long – as Jian said he enjoyed himself so much he was now planning to build a second vehicle – this time an amphibious one which can go on water.Only a few weeks ago, a Chinese grandfather built his grandson a 12 metre long and two metre wide model replica of an aircraft carrier so he had somewhere to land his toy airplanes.The 12-year-old youngster's aircraft carrier came into being after he was taken out by his grandfather Wen Yuzhu, 80, to a local park in the city of Qingdao in eastern China's Shandong province so he could fly his model plane. The schoolboy had joked that his grandfather, who was a keen sailor, should make him an aircraft carrier for his model.But instead of laughing off the joke the pensioner thought it was a really good idea, and a month later together with pals had managed to create a 1:25 scale model of an aircraft carrier that was launched at sea on 1 April.(dailymail.co.uk)ANN.Az