Hello all,

Its been a while since I posted any pics of my work, and thought I would share this one with you.

The model is a slightly converted Tamiya M8 Greyhound depicting a Swedish version used in the Congo in the early 1960's.

The Swedish water-cooled dual mg's on the turret are scratchbuilt, and all decals are custom made on my printer (the text on the turret is applied one letter at a time - very tedious work :-) ).

The first part of the Swedish text says "ring så kommer vi" ... "phone us and we will come", which is a play on words on the name of a radio program called "ring så spelar vi" ... "phone us and we will play (your requested tune)" .

The names and dates on the turret are the locations and dates where the vehicle saw action.

Decals are now available from Star Decals, which will save a lot of work for anyone wanting to build Swedish Congo M8's, M3 Scout cars and M113's.

This model was actually completed in 2010, but I had a slight mishap with it last year when I took it out of the cabinet. The turret crashed to the floor and the basket on the rear broke off and the dual mg's shattered.

I repaired the model, added some new stowage in the basket, and at the same time decided to "upgrade" the weathering since I was not happy with the original job I did (at the time I was really scared of overdoing the weathering on my models, and this resulted in very underdone and terribly boring results).

I had the honour of meeting a Swedish veteran of the Congo, and the actual commander of "Lulle Belle" at a model competition in 2010, and he was very excited and moved to see his old ride depicted in miniature - he told me some great stories of his experiences there as well.

That is about the best and most touching praise I could ever have asked for.

Anyway, without further a-do, here are some pics, feedback is always welcome.

The model in its original 2010 form:









The result of the accident (repairs underway, 2015):



Repairs and re-weathering done (2015):

It looks fantastic, and a great unusual subject for a model.

The stowed sacks on the back of the turret have really caught my eye. They look like real fabric. How did you achieve that look?

Very nice kanon snyggt som vanligt Sven! Men du har smutsat ner den lite mer sen senast.. Blev skitsnyygt! Såg den på Arsenalen för något år sedan..

Hi Ralph!

Many thanks for your kind words.

The packs hanging on the turret are painted with oils, which is my preferred medium for fabric. Other than that, no special tricks. I'm really glad you like the result.

Cheers,
Sven

Tack skall du ha, Roger!

Yes, the model has been weathered a lot more since you saw it live. Glad you like the transformation :-)

Sven, I really liked the original but the new weathering has really brought it up another notch. Congrats and thanks for sharing!

Hello Stefan,

Thank you very much for looking and for your very kind feedback.

Very much appreciated.

Cheers,
Sven

Wow! Superb job. It is always nice to see models of UN vehicles.

Your M-8 looks better now than it did before.

Hello Veli-Matti and Jason,

Thanks very much to you both!

Veli-Matti, I agree, UN vehicles are very interesting, and as the subject of this model proves, they don't all necessarily have to be painted in all-while either.

Jason, I am glad you feel that I succeeded in improving on the model, I guess the turret drop was a blessing in disguise, which gave me a perfect excuse to do some more work on the poorly done initial weathering :-)

Hejsan Sven
I have to agree with the others, the new weathering really makes a difference in the appearance of the model. And now this is done, you have PLENTY of time to start working on the German kits, which I know you have in your stash.....
Jacob

Hej igen Jacob!

Thanks for your kind comments, glad you like it! :-)

Haha, yes, a few WW2 German subjects have snuck themselves into my stash, I wonder how THAT happened? ;-)

I remember seeing such a vehicle at the Axvall tankmuseum back in 97. I was pretty impressed by it, especially the mg-layout.
You captured that very well!

Thank you Ron, much appreciated!

The 1/1 scale vehicle (French M8 painted in Congo paint scheme) is now standing at Arsenalen armour museum in Strängnäs. The paint scheme and markings are not entirely correct, though, but nevertheless its nice to see these vehicles from the Congo represented in our museums as well.