Hi All,
I just can't help myself. The dust has barely settled from my last build, the Panzerjager Triebwagen 51 and I gotta build something else! For this build, I'm going to do something rather simple: Tamiya's M8 Armored Car. For a little splash and dash, I have the Eduard photo-etch set. But, while this will be in American markings, I plan on doing a post-war vehicle in West Germany in the late 1940's.
Several units of the U.S. Army were re-organized as constabulary units in Germany to keep order as the German police had been removes. The police had been incorporated into the SS under the Nazi's and once the war was over, the de-Nazification program left the country without a viable police force. So, here's the vehicle I plan to build:



When I was at Ft. Knox back in 2002 (was it REALLY 11 years ago?) I got some shots of one of their M8's done up in constabularly markings:







With the reference in-hand, here are the bits. The only other item I'm going to use is the markings form my M8 Armored Cars Around the World set from Decalcomaniacs!:



This kit is a great example of why Tamiya is the best: SPECTACULAR engineering! The ENTIRE drivetrain is one piece! Not mention that the mould seams are nearly non-existant.



The first three steps of the instructions tackle the suspension and drivetrain. It took about 1 hour to get it all asembled:



My only gripe, if this is one, is the fact that the front wheels can't be turned. But, in light of the fact that the undercarriage is simplicity itself, I'm not going to gripe.



Here's the drivetrain with all of its parts together. Very detailed, with very few parts. Being that it's going to be almost invisible, I'm not sweating more detail on it.



And here's the finished undercarriage after 1 hour. The only thing missing are the towing shackles on the bow!



More later!
Regards,
Georg

Hi All,
I got some time last night to work on the M8. Here's where things stood when I closed up shop last night. I got the front tow shackles in place:



Then I worked on the remaining suspension pieces and exhaust. I needed to thin out the rear fenders/mud flaps as I would not be using the side skirts, so out came the files, sanding sticks and a little putty:









I think most of the undercarriage is done. I hope to start working on the interior later today.
Regards,
Georg

Hi Georg,

interesting project. I live here near the former Iron Curtain. I found in a book some informations about the US Constabulary stationed in the City of Coburg. The guys were nickneamed "Kartoffelkäfer" by the Germans. Now that I see the yellow and blue markings, I understand why. Good Luck with the Circle C markings. I will follow this build with interest.

Cheers
Hans-Hermann

Hey Georg. I'm looking forward to seeing how your project goes as I also have a set of your decals I'm planning on using to make a Circle C Cowboy M8.

Hi All,
Boy have I been busy! My club, the New Jersey Historical Miniatures Associates had their annual show last weekend on the 8th and I had some minor surgery on my leg last week. Needless to say, I'm just getting back to the bench now. I found some more reference for the project, so here it is:



I tried using the Eduard ammo rack and managed to screw it up (I gotta learn how to solder!), so I scratch-built the ammo box from styrene sheet:



I also got most of the interior together. The Tamiya kit is pretty barren inside, but with one hatch closed and what is visible through the turret, I think I'm going to be OK with the Eduard set and some simple detailing. I will, however, have to create another ammo rack under the radio tray. Incidentally, I learned that few, if any M8's actually had both radios fitted. If you look at my reference pic, it's on the left side, meaning the radio should be over there. I had to rip everything out and swap it. The fire extinguisher needed to be moved in order to clear the new ammo box.



I used a bunch of pieces from the Eduard set on the steering column. I'm not sure it they will be visible (probably not) but I'll know they are there! Sanded the instrument panel flat in anticipation of using the Eduard set.



All for now. More tomorrow!
Regards,
Georg

Hi All,
I'm still recovering from my surgery last week, so the Dr. keep me out of work today. I'm feeling better, if somewhat sore. I was able to get more done on the armored car. First off, I test-fitted the roof plate onto the hull to see if the my ammo box would clear. Sure as shootin' it did not. So, I shortened the legs as much as I could and then sanded the roof plate get everything to fit without any problems. Next, I'd noticed a detail in the hull: there was another ammo rack under the radio. So, I broke out the sheet styrene and made one from sheet and the remaining punched out "bases" from the upright ammo box. I think it fills the hole nicely. I also assembled the engine deck at this time, too.





Once everything was together in the lower hull, it was time for paint. I took the lower hull, the hull top plate and the instrument panel and gave it a coat of Tamiya XF-2 flat white.




This will be dirtied up with an oil wash once all the details get painted. I also added the vision blocks from the Eduard set to the inside of the upper plate. I'm also planning on adding the instrument panel at that point, too. More later.
Regards,
Georg

Let us know if you resolve how that steering arm is supposed to look where is enters into the bottom of the driver's cabin. I could not figure it out or find reference on the question. The kit seems oversimplified in that area.

I feel that all and all the Tamiya undercarrage builds up into a quite nice representation.

Mike,
As presented, the kit is totally barren down there. I used the Eduard parts to spruce that area up. It includes a set of pedals and some other bits above where the column hits hull. For this alone, the Eduard set is worth it. But I doubt once the hull is closed up you'll ever be able to see it.
Regards,
Georg

Interesting project!

Curious about the different front tires in the reference photo. Was this done to improve steering grip on paved roads??

Looking good so far Georg.

Hi All,
Once the hull got base-painted, now detail painting could begin. Since most of the interior is going to be pretty much invisible once closed up, I was not going to go crazy.







Next up was the wheels. For those of you are really sharp-eyed, you noticed the civilian pattern front tires on the reference picture. Since none are available specifically for the M8, I had to adapt something already out there. I had a set of Tiger Model Designs SdKfz 234 wheels with the civilian pattern and they looked like a close match:



With much trepidation, I cut the hub out of one of the wheels and then judiciously sanded it to fit the resin wheel. This was the result!



I repeated the process to do the other front wheel, with equal success. The other four wheels followed the kit instructions and when I was done, I had this:





Not only did they fit, but they are close enough in size that I did not have to sand any of the tire down to get the model to sit flat! A win all-around, to be sure. All for now!
Regards,
Georg

Hi All,
As some of you know, I'm the chief judge at the NMMA's show, Armorcon. It was held last weekend, so I was pretty busy with that. Then getting back into the swing of things at home kept me pretty busy last week. Now I'm back at the bench! Here's what the first session yielded:



I was able to get the headlights mounted, as well as the grab handles and locking handles on the engine deck (these were made from wire). I filled any holes with some diluted putty.



Here's a close-up of the brush guards for the headlights.



I was getting ready to button up the top plate, so I took one last shot of the interior.



The next session involved some PE from the Eduard set in the form of the hatch stops. I also plugged one of the antenna base mounts as my vehicle only had one (see above). The top plate is now permanently fixed in place. I have not painted the radio yet, but I'm not worried about it fitting.



Last but not least, I thinned down the kit parts for the mine racks and attached them to both sides. With a small model like this, at this point, steps are going to be small due the size of the parts involved. I'll keep plugging away at this one. See you soon!
Regards,
Georg

"Potato-Bug"! Good one!

Hi All,
Not a huge update today, but I was at the bench last night. I did alot of work on the rear of the model (he said, "rear" hu-hu-hu-hu!). Anyway, things went pretty somoothly.



I also began work on the ammo racks in the turret. I think I'm going to have to tear this out, fill in the divots and start again.



All for now, more tomorrow!
Regards,
Georg

Hi Georg,

Nice work on the M8.

In the photo you show, the troopers are wearing their steel pots and look like they're ready for combat.
In some photos I've seen of the US Constabulary, the M8's had high gloss OD paint. The troopers wore bright cavalry yellow scarves and helmet liners with blue and yellow stripes and Constabulary insignia, and spit shined paratroop boots, all intended to impress the civilian population.

Cheers

Dick

I also began work on the ammo racks in the turret

HEH HEH HEH!!!!! YOU SAID RACKS

LOOKS GREAT GEORG

Hosrt DONT confuse him. He's easily confuse-able. Confucius say don't confuse him....
its confusing....

Hi All,
When we last left our hero (that would be the M8, not me), it needed its turret filled. With putty in hand, I filled and sanded the divots and replaced the ammo racks with PE parts from the Eduard set. Since Tamiya seriously chumps out on GIVING YOU ENOUGH AMMO TO FILL THE AMMO RACKS (you get 6 rounds to fill 16 slots!), I pillaged an Academy M3 Lee kit for some of its ammo. I guess I'll be doing that one buttoned up:



You probably also noticed that I got the turret shell together. Here's the outside:



The rear seam was a pain and it looks like it will need some putty:



Just for kicks, I dry fitted the turret ring into place and put the turret on. The face of things to come. More tomorrow!
Regards,
Georg

Hi All,
I had a really busy weekend, but I did get some time at the bench! I've pretty much got the turret basket together and while perusing my references, I made an interesting discovery (more on that later). There really isn't too much to the turret basket. It went together smoothly and the only PE I added were the pedals.







I was also able to finish the ammo racks in the turret (gotta work on that whole "depth of field" thing):



I also got most of the gun together. The gun went together with no snags and is a little gem of engineering, as we've come to expect form the "The Big T." It's still got some stuff to get hung on it (yes, I did say, "hung"):



Finally, one last look at the turret shell:



I started looking into how to paint the turret interior and stumbled upon these two pictures in the Hunnicutt Armored Car book:



What it shows is that the Tamiya kit is totally wrong when it come to the turret's construction! If you'll notice the arrow (painted on the turret) pointing to the turret ring, you will notice that the ring CANNOT move. Unlike the kit, the turret shell rotated and the ring stayed stationary. Now, how to mark the ring so it LOOKS like it's stationary! An interesting dilemma, to be sure. More later!
Regards,
Georg

Hi All,
I know, I know, it's been a while. The past weekend was pretty busy, but I did get some time at the bench last night. First on the list was to complete the gun. It went together with minial fuss and since it's pretty much buried in the turret, I'm not going to spend much time on it:





I still have to fill the knock-out pin marks on the 30 cal and drill out the muzzle, but it's pretty much done at this point.

Next up was the ring mount for the 50 cal on the turret roof. Again, Tanmiya did a great job engineering this part and it went together and onto the model with zero headaches. I did, however, detail the 50 cal mount with a locking handle on the bottom and traverse handles on the back of the mount itself using bent styrene rod.





Last, buit certainly not least was I fired up the airbrush and painted the turret basket/race combination with Tamiya XF-2 flat white. This will provide the base color for the bottom of the turret. I'm going to have to give it some deatil painting, washes and dry-brushing, but otherwise, it's together.







That's all from last night's building session. Tonight, I hope to get the turret interior and main gun painted and possibly get the decal together for the turret race. Here's to hoping!
Regards,
Georg

Hi All,
I'm getting clobbered by a wicked cold right now, so I haven't spent any time in the workshop. That aside, I haven't posted the last set of pictures from the last building session. I spent most of that time painting the interior of the turret, the gun and the inside of the mantlet (just in case).









I painted the inside of the assistant driver's hatches so I could them attached and glued down. I also got some of the turret basket details painted, like the seats, ammo box and traverse handle. More to come!
Regards,
Georg

Hi All,
I had a really busy weekend, so I did not work on the armored car. I got some time last night, so I went to work. First up was to get the turret basket finished. I needed to finish painting the seat covers and the ammo box, as well as add the numbers around the turret ring. I made up some decals on my laser printer and got them on the ring. Being laser-printed they are a bit more fragile than my Alps printed ones, but with a little weathering they should be OK. Also, being buried in the turret, you shouldn't be able to see much!



Next up was some more PE work for the finer details. I secured the assistant driver's hatch and opened the driver's hatch. I used Loc-tite gel superglue and I'm pretty impressed with the stuff. I'll keep you posted on how it handles for the rest of the PE in the build. I think I need to reseat the open hatch, though!



I did some more PE work on the rear. These two parts are for the tools, but I have no idea what they are. Anyone have any ideas?



Finally, I finished the decaling by adding the turret position indicating arrow on the inside of the turret with an arrow I made up and printed with the Alps:



I'm hoping on getting more done tonight. Stay tuned!
Regards,
Georg

Hi All,
I had a bunch of stuff to do this evening, so I didn't get to the bench. However, I did get last night's pictures together. I got the ammo painted in the racks, the gunsight and co-axial MG painted. I then put together the turret.





From the there, I started to paint the carbines for the rack on the turret basket painted. They need a little clean-up, but are just about ready.



Finally, I began to prep the tools for PE parts and straps.



All for now, more tomorrow.
Regards,
Georg

Hi All,
I was able to get some more work done over the weekend and last night. This primarily had to do with the OVM tools. I was able to get he PE tool mounts in place and get the tools themselves base-painted.





Here are what the tools look like base painted:



I'll be decalling the tool handles and other wooden parts once everything is dry. More later!
Regards,
Georg

Lookin' great Georg!