(Scale Model) Tamiya 1/48 M8 Greyhound US Armored Car

Описание: Click "More Info" for vehicle history and build details!

Music:
"Rjuken Sabotage" from the "Medal of Honor" OST
Composed by Michael Giacchino
© Electronic Arts
No claim of ownership intended

Vehicle History:
Initially intended to be a lightweight tank destroyer the M8 armored car eventually was accepted as a scouting vehicle by the Allied forces during the Second World War and was used by the US, British, and Free French forces. The 6x6 vehicle was armed with a 37mm cannon and a 7.62 machine gun on a coaxial mount. An additional .50 caliber heavy machine gun can be mounted on the turret top. The vehicle had reasonable mobility performance, though it can decrease significantly in soft ground due to it's wheeled configuration. It's light armor can only stand up to small-arms fire, moreover it's open top makes it more vulnerable to artillery fragments and stray bullets. It was also quite vulnerable to mines which lead to many improvisation measures. While not an outstanding vehicle the M8 was a very durable and reliable vehicle and it saw service in both the ETO and PTO. It also saw action in Korea and soldiered on in many foreign countries all over the world.

Construction:
After a few years of serious modelling with many failed attempts I finally managed to finish this one. Like many Tamiya kits it went together quite well and in spite being an open topped vehicle the interior wasn't too complicated (which also means there is a lot of missing and simplified detail as well). The die-cast metal hull as often featured on Tamiya 1/48 armor kits was actually just a small metal plate on this one. A few parts to be very careful about are the front and rear lights. Particularly the rear lights are very small and require a lot of care when cleaning them of the sprue attachment points. The wheels are also plastic which is nice too.

Finishing:
The model was airbrushed and hand painted (for the details) with Tamiya acrylics, I then sprayed Future Floor polish for the decals. Solve-A-Set was used for the decals and it snuggled down well. After another layer of Future I dry-brushed muddy streaks on the vehicle's sides with Tamiya acrylic paints. I also gave it a wash (darker colors around the raised details and light earth color around the wheels) with thinned down artist's oil paint. I also wanted to add mud to the model, so I used a mixture of real sand, white glue, and Tamiya Flat earth and applied it to the lower parts of the model (I DO NOT recommend this method anymore, while I didn't have any problems with this model, I had fungus growing on my other ones!). After giving it a few days to dry I spray a mix of Future and Tamiya flat base as a flat coat to seal everything.