 1/35 Tamiya M8 Scout Car "Greyhound" Peter Battle The base model kit is from Tamiya with 3.7cm gun Barrel from Jordi Rubio, .30 Cal MG barrel from Karaya and Browning .50cal MG from the Academy US Machine Gun set. The Eduard Photo Etch set for the turretless M20 was used to add some details such as tool straps, etc, whilst the majority of additional detail was scratch built. The Tamiya kit lacks a lot of internal detail that has to be scratch built or sourced from After Market companies. The base kit itself is not as accurate as it should be, ie - the rear turret pintle mount is nothing like the real mount that was fitted very late in the war and the radio set up is wrong for the vehicle markings they offer.    Tamiya provide US Army markings for only Recon units, but no Tank Destroyer Battalion based units. All US recon vehicles had 2 radios, BC-652 and BC-653, generally one each side of the hull. Tamiya only provides one radio but 2 aerials! The second radio was fitted where the ammo racks were previously located and their removal depleted the number of rounds carried to just those located around the turret wall. Unhappy with that arrangement experiments were held in fitting a modified 43 round rack, made from the removed items, in place of the Jerry can previously located behind the driver seat. Some vehicles also had a 20 round rack in a box fitted between the commander and gunner’s seats. The large rack modification was so successful an official Ordinance paper was issued with instructions how it was to be done. The Tamiya kit provides no racks at all and the 43 round rack in my model was scratch built as it was not included in the Eduard M20 set (it is in their M8 set naturally) making the assumption 'Colbert' would have been so modified. The ready rounds were all cast items. The gun cleaning rod case on the hull in front of the turret race is made from Milliput. I had not intended to do the "Colbert" marked vehicle initially, but due to a paint lifting disaster, I chose it as a second option. This meant that correcting work was required to the base kit ring MG mount, as photos of the "Colbert", "Conan", etc vehicles clearly show the ring mount for Browning .50 Cal positioned 180 degrees from the way Tamiya make it to fit. They also had ammo boxes mounted on each support leg. Photos of these vehicles also show some form of dust boot on aerial mount bases and stowage covered by a tarp on the rear deck, all of which was added.     The vehicle model is painted in Tamiya acrylics, with tarps, tent packs, etc detail painted in Vallejo acrylics mixed with white and yellow in varying shades to give a less uniform effect to the finish. Pastel Chalks were used for weathering. Figures are Dragon Us Tank crew items. The Sgt. figure leaning on the vehicle was modified to appear to be eating an apple whilst talking to the other crewman. The crewman has just finished cleaning his side arm and is about to let release the catch so that the slide will travel forward. The Dragon colt .45 was cut and modified to show the slide in the rearward position. The figures were base coated in Tamiya Desert Yellow, flesh tones painted with Citadel Paints (Warhammer) and uniforms painted with Vallejo Acrylics.  copyright©2006 ausfwerks |