Project: M-8 Greyhound Armored Car Progress I

Like any OOB (Out Of the Box) build, construction is fast, especially in 1/48 scale. The entire build time took perhaps 3 hours spread over the course of a few evenings. One of the techniques I have been using is building in "micro-sessions" of perhaps 15min or so spread out over an entire night. I found that when I had longer sessions, I spent an inordinate amount of time staring at the directions or waiting for things to dry. But spending only 15 minutes or so building meant that there was less wasted time.

Here essentially construction is complete. The only details that must be added are the wheels (left off for painting) and the fenders (for the same reason. This vehicle will get a primer coat of Testors Enamel in a spray can, before airbrushing with Polly Scale Olive Drab (my preferred brand for this color).

Although the kit comes with a figure, it looks like it falls short like many Tamiya kit figures in this scale, literally. Many Tamiya figures scale in at around 5'4", making them a little short. While soldiers of this size were not unknown in WWII, it would have been nice to get a figure with a little more height. What I may do is pose him standing in the vehicle while looking off in the distance with his binoculars. This should make his height deficiency less apparent. I'll have to come up with a gunner from somewhere, perhaps aftermarket.

Project: 1/48 M8 Greyhound Armored Car

The M8 Armored Car was the standard of its type used by the US Army during WWII. Developed from a family of different armored car designs, the US Army selected the 6-wheeled vehicle as the best compromise between mobility, weight, and protection. Although there were larger armored cars (with armor approaching that of a medium tank), for the selected role of reconnaisance and cavalry duties, the vehicle was potent enough for the job.

The M8 mounts a 37mm anti-tank cannon, the same as fitted to the M3/M5 Stuart family, and could fire AP, HE, and Cannister rounds. Backing this up was a .30 (7.62mm) M1919 machine gun, and a .50 (12.7mm) M2HB machine gun. Early models had the heavy machine gun mounted on a simple pintle mount at the back of the turret, but later designs replaced this with a ring mount for improved 360^o coverage.

Like the SU-122, this kit is another OOB (Out Of the Box) build, and there is not much needed to improve it on the outside. That being said, the interior is very sparse, with only the turret floor and crew seats in the turret (thus lacking things like the ready-rack for the 37mm cannon), and having absolutely no detail in the driver's compartment. This is less of an issue with a vehicle like this, since not much of the interior can be seen anyway, but the turret details are sparse enough as it is, and could have used a few more details in this area.