A farmer in Mianzhu, Sichuan province, built a 3-metric-ton tank for his son as a gift, Chengdu Commercial Daily reported on Thursday.

Jian Lin, 31, used to work in the Chinese navy repairing planes and then worked as a truck driver after he retired from the military. Early this year, a toy tank owned by his 6-year-old son was broken and Jian decided to make a "real tank" for the boy.

He took two months to build the tank, spending more than 40,000 yuan ($6,450) on tracks and other materials.

Jian completed the tank, which is 4.5 meters long, 1.6 meters wide and 2.1 meters high and weighs nearly 3 tons, with an engine and gearbox taken from his truck.

The tank can be driven and its turret rotated 360 degrees and Jian drives it for his son, who considers it a cool toy.