Hi guys, well i had an urge for something in green and after some headscratching this was the winner, this is the M8 greyhound from italeri with the eduard upgrade set.

The boxart and pe.



And shots of the sprues, the plastic is so dark it kind of messed up the pics but this still gives a general idea of what to expect from the kit parts wise, the quality is fairly typical italeri which is crisp flash free molding and good fit but there are a few sink holes and knockout marks to deal with and some missing details but the eduard set should fix that, over all i think it will look the part when done but its not quite up to the level of the tamiya kit.









Step 1 and 2 begins with the drivers station and there is very little of it in fact there were no pedals at all but the eduard set provides what is missing and i added new weapons from some tamiya spares i had, when all is said and done not much will be seen anyway, i got through the first 2 steps without any problems.







its not much but its a start

Ron.

Ron, with you at the wheel this will no doubt turn out to be another great one. Will be following along as usual!

Gday Ron
Good to see one of your projects with some AM stuff...
I too will be following this one with interest
Brad

Mmm very cool i was just about to buy the tamiya 1.48 scale one of these.

Off to a good start so far Ron, looking forward to this one especially since you're using AM.

Very nice detail. I built the Tamiya one several years ago and had a blast.

One thing to note...if you are going to go with this level of detail, you might want to remove the bayonet lug on the barrel of the M1 Carbine....they didn't have them in WW2. Only post-war ones had them.

Rob

Cheers guys im glad your following along and i appreciate you taking the time to comments.
Hi Brad yes i am slowly getting into the PE side of the hobby now i still try to make do or scratchbuild where i can but things like clamps and other small detail really do benefit also i am really enjoying the new challenge of it.
Bill i have very far to go before i get to the point of being able to do it anywhere near as clean as you but im having fun with it all the same heh.
Thanks Robert i appreciate you pointing that out, i dont go over board on total accuracy but i will do all the easy fixes i can so again thanks and i will be happy if you continue to point out things i miss that goes for anyone reading

I moved on with the build by joining the upper hull to the lower doing this hinders the painting of the front of the interior but i will still be able to manage also none of it will be seen forward of the drivers position so a basic paint job up there will be fine,



Following that i began on the suspension and drive train, the front first,



Then the rear, again all this goes together great with just alittle cleanup of seams and a couple of small knockout marks, there were some tiny sink marks but they were covered up and nothing needed doing to them, after it is together its looks quite decent perhaps again not quite up to the tamiya kit but still serves its purpose well.



I then turned my attention to the wheels and decided i wanted to spice them up a little, knowing there is a resin set of snowchain clad wheels available i still decided to try fashion some of my own so using some 16 link per inch chain and armed with my super glue i set about this task and i do believe with a little mud and weathering these will turn out looking ok not perfect by anymeans but definatly ok.





Ron.

Now that is just too cool, Ron. Hope your wife didn't find out you used her gold necklace These little extras really make your model stand out, keep it up!

Thanks James i am pleased with what i originally thought was a quite ambitious idea but turned out to be not so bad after all and if i can convince the missus thats gold christmas is gonna be a cheap affair this year lol

Well, Ron, if you do convince her make sure you do a build log on that! Otherwise, looking forward to the progression on this little guy.

Looks good so far Ron, I built the Italeri kit a while back and found it to be a pretty nice relaxing build.
Maybe one of these days I'll finish my Tamyia one.

Hi Ron. Love what you´ve done so far. The wheel chains are a stroke of genious. Have had the tamiya kit, and quite a few add-ons for an etertinity, and the resin wheels and chains (TWS) I have, look nowhere near as cool as these.
Have you any plans to ditch some of the fenders or turn the steering? IMO, this adds a lot to this particular model. Will be keeping an eye out for further installments.

Thanks guys, Frank i dont think i will be adding any of the fenders im thinking or muding up the undercarriage and showing off the snowchains if they look good with paint on if not then i may add the fenders lol Dave it is a nice easy build no doubt and just fun to mess with,
Hi James glad your following

We have an update,

heres a shot of the wheels cleaned up and posed on the vehicle



i wanted to position the drives hatches both in the open position but italeri molded the front ones shut so i had to cut them off,





then i added the strips back to the hatch frame and the side rests for the upper hatches



next the hatches were added the ones i cut open had no inned detail so i added a little of this and that i also replace the handles on the upper hatches, the PE side racks for the jerry cans were also fitted and the lights and PE frames and rest of the front details including the tools and clasps.





shes looking kinda messy at this point even by my standards lol but i believe she will clean up just fine

Ron.

heres a couple of shots of some of the small detail on the rear, the toolbox hinges and chains among other things,





that pretty much rounded out the hull and everything other than the turret although if i can find some refs i may rework some of the interior depending on how much will be seen when its finished,

so i moved onto the gun and mantlet which isnt too bad but the end of the barrel was missformed and need some work plus the breech needed a little filler here and there



finally for this update i worked on the 50cal for this i ditched the kit gun for an academy one i had in the spares box and used the eduard set on it instead and most of it fit just fine with a little fudging and once more its not perfect but i think with some paint on it, it will look fine.





all that remains is the inside and outside of the turret and a few last minute fixes and this will be ready for some paint.

Looking great mate. The .50cal appears to be a fine piece of work.
I actually have the Tamiya M8 built save for detail and painting, but it lost its mojo on me. This may provide the spark again! I even went the effort as Frank mentioned to turn the front wheels slightly...
Still following closely
Brad

Hi Brad i've had fun with this one so far its really been a nice change of pace from all the camo,s and tracks, i did concider adjusting the wheels but decided against it but hope i've added enough other bits and bobs to make it interesting, you should revive yours im sure you would get the spark again

well here's the final build update i finally got that part over with and the painting has begun more on that shortly for now the finished deal.





and broke down for the paintshop



some paint progress to follow shortly.

Im pressive build Ron. Looks so much tougher without the fenders. Cant wait to see it with paint.

Thanks Frank, totally agree about the fenders makes it look stripped down and mean heh

I have began the painting with the interior and have done a simple step by step using pictures once more like the bronco nothing fancy just the impression something is in there it still lacks some stowage and extra's but for now,,

Step 1 the model recieved a primer coat of red oxide then the interior got a basecoat of white.



step 2 using craft paints brown and black and a piece of sponge i applied some wear and tear



step 3 i applied several all over sloppy washes until i was happy with the look using burnt umber oil paints



step 4 a dry brushing of shadowed steel was applied



step 5 i applied a select pin wash using ivory black oil paint



step 6 i added bragdon's dustbowl brown pigments to complete the look



and the finished item









With the interior done i began to prepare the exterior for painting the kit stowage didnt do much for me so i decided to make some new tarps this is the process i used

using tissue paper and fine string i folded the paper and rolled it up and tie it off with the string tightly



next i placed it on the vehicle in its intended position



then using a mix of white glue and water i dabbed it on until it was soaked, now the tissue expanded leaving some nice folds and wrinkles



then i did another the same way



and a third one on the turret this one i had to be careful with and will remain on the vehicle for painting the others were removed after they had dried.



and how they look together, hopefully these should paint up nicely




Ron.

Cripes Ron, you always make it look so easy


First you do this, then you do that, badaboom, badadabing, and viola! perfect model-enjoy!

me> ok, I think this wash MAY work....

Couldn't have said it better myself Kevin! (Ok, maybe no stringed instruments... )

They are some of the best looking stowage I have seen using tissue paper Ron... Now I have second thoughts about sculpting mine. From memory someone makes decals for interior labelling and also hash marks and numbers for the turret interior...
Brad

Looking very sharp Ron, the tarps process in particular is something I'm going to have to try at some point.

Agree with Bill on that, thanks for the mini tutorial on the tarps.

Talking about reviewers lately, Ron can probably turn around an in-box and full build review for a new Dragon superkit in 72 hours I've watched 3 builds online in about the time its taken me to just clean up the track links on my tiny Hetzer....

Thanks for the continued interest guys
Thank you Kevin i appreciate the vote of confidence i've already done 2 ealier this year for the site, the Tiger 1 late and the 234/3 both great kits and have been in touch with Bill and hopefully around christmas time i will get to do another,, these are good times to be a modeler heh

final update on this one and strap on because its a doozy,,painting and weathering the model.

before i painted it i first added some texture using my trusty bondo and and old brush and just stippled it on quickly because it keeps setting up on the brush heh.



Next was the basecoat of Tamiya Khaki green the tarp was hand painted in dark brown then the model recieved its first all over wash of burnt umber oil paint.



Once dry i applied the decals there was no need for a gloss coat because i trimmed the carrier film to the end of the decal so there was nothing to silver



next up another all over wash of van dyke brown oil paint



The wheels had already been primered black then the centers airbrushed green after which i painted the chains, the metal parts of the hand tools and the under carriage and wheel wells of the vehicle in dark brown craft paint



After which the everything received a drybrushing of shadowed steel



Another all over wash of van dyke brown



Next a pin wash of ivory black



Some Wear and tear was added using van dyke brown applied with a sponge



next the wooded handles and details were painted, for the wood i paint it first in acrylic stone then using burnt umber and yellow ochre mixed to the right colour i streak the wood grain longways.



yet another wash of van dyke brown



finally everything was attached to the vehicle for the last stage of blending it all together



Once it was all together using my favourite pigments which i applied dry and scrubbed them into the textured areas and anywhere else i thought dust and dirt may gather then stiffly brushed the loose away, i added 2 part epoxy to the headlights which i drilled out earlier for lenses and that just about wraps it up except for the finished pics, this may not be the best available kit of this vehicle but im sure happy with the way it turned out and i had a lot of fun doing it, thanks for watching.













Ron.

Ya that gets my vote.
I really like the heavy kind of look it has to it.