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M8 Greyhound

by Luke Pitt

What makes us build models? 

How can the seemingly simple task of building a model out of the box with a few details turn into a major production? 

I just can't leave well enough alone. The very thought of building a model out of the box makes me dizzy, compelling me to have a nice hot cup of tea and a good lie down.

We all want to put our own individually into any model we build. For that reason I tend to pick subjects that have what I call "the look". The M8 Greyhound in my mind looks pretty ordinary with the mudguards fitted, but when you take those guards off - wow!! It becomes something like an armoured "dune buggy"…. way cool. When Tamiya released the M8 in 1/35 scale I immediately when out and bought it sight unseen, something I very rarely do. 

The model looks quite good in the box, but something troubled me - the wheels looked too big. Strange, I thought, Mr Tamiya doesn't make mistakes. This time apparently Mr Tamiya did make a mistake though - but fixing mistakes is half the fun, isn't it?

Many aftermarket sets are available for this kit from Verlinden, Tank Workshop, Royal Model, Eduard and Aber  - talk about choice dilemma.  There are way too many options for this kit, so much so if you added them all you would have a kit worth a couple of hundred dollars!  I chose the Verlinden update sets as they were the first out and quite frankly the budget would only stretch so far !! The following text is a rework of my construction notes used for competitions. So lets go though the steps I took to undertake this project:

Wheels 

The kit wheels are somewhat oversize and this is very evident when the guards are left off the vehicle. This is because the tyre itself seems to be too "thick" in diameter. The hub, on the other hand, is of the correct scale diameter. The air hole cutouts are far too small. I cut off the tyre completely and replaced it the tyres from the Tamiya Flak 88 kit. The air hole cut outs were then increased in size.

Engine Bay 

I used the Verlinden update here. It is quite a good set, however there are a few problems around the sidewalls, fuel tank and fan assembly.  Firstly the sidewalls are provided in a thin one piece that should fit onto the kit engine bay. The problem with these parts is that even if you do sand them down to wafer thickness their will be a "ridge "when viewed from the top of the engine bay .If you disregard these pieces the fuel tank provide will be way too small (the fuel tank is incorrectly shaped and needs replacement anyway). The fan assembly is generally the wrong shape at the top and needs to be improved. These are the improvements made to the "engine bay"

• Engine bay bottom cut out to fit Verlinden engine. 

• New fuel tank from plastic card 

• Verlinden Radiator and fan housing modified to include mounting points and correctly contoured radiator top, and radiator cap added 

• Sidewalls, the kit side walls are of the wrong profile angle and as a result, I have reprofiled them from the inside and added numerous details to the sidewalls themselves 

• The armored radiator covers have been replaced with plastic card to give that "see through effect" (not that you bloody well can!) 

• Engine latch covers added from strip

Engine Covers 

Rear Mudguards  

The rear mudguards are a little too narrow for a vehicle without the full-length brush guards fitted. I firstly extended these covers with plastic card. I then thinned them down to wafer thickness, added the "press pattern" on the inside of the guard and drilled the three attachment holes required for the mudguards.

Hull 

The mudguards were to be left off the vehicle. I have added the 12 attachment holes to the hull sides (some photos show the hinges still att attached to the vehicle). The other improvements are  Storage box hinge scratch build from lead foil  Storage cover sides re-defined with plastic strip  Storage box latch brackets added from thin fuse wire and attachment chains added  Numerous bolt head replaced  Velinden mine rack added

Hull Front 

Turret 

The turret had the following detail added to it 

• 20 tie downs were added from micro rod 

• Turret thinned and leading edge added to turret lip 

• New 50 CAL Machine gun mount added 

• Main gun detailed as per ref various bolts ect added 

• Main Gun has had the addition of the Verlinden "shell bag added". This bag was hollowed out and detailed with spent shell casings 

• 50 cal Machine detailed, note hollowed out cooling jacket, tie chains etc

• Turret bracket re-made from plastic strip. 

• Sight housing added to inside turret 

• Turret shells modified and Verlinden shell brackets installed. 

• Bed rolls manufactured from Milliput and added with straps made from Tamiya Masking tape.

Interior 

Turret Ring 

This was improved by the addition of small bolt heads around the base then painted white. The turret traverse numbers were then added by railroad decals of the appropriate size and shape.

The vehicle represents one of the many found in Europe at around the end of World War Two.

• Military Modeling 

• Web Article 

• US Armored Cars Squadron Signal

Model, Text and Images Copyright © 2000 by Luke Pitt
Page Created 07 June, 2000
Last Updated 26 July, 2007

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