Happy holidays gents. After years of lurking these pages, I’ve finally made the plunge to start blogging on my work here. I started this M8 project earlier this year, as part of the Washington Armor Club (WAC - AMPS DC) group build on anything wheeled. I’ve been capturing some of the key steps through photos along the way, and will try and use the next few posts to get caught up on the narrative. My goal is to not give a blow-by-blow of the entire build since this kit has been around for over 15 years and is very well documented elsewhere. Rather, I’ll try to provide highlights of key steps where I’ve chosen to do something different, use a new technique, or apply some AM goodies that I feel have not received much attention on our beloved interweb. I also plan to incorporate this build into a smallish vignette staged in the midst of the Battle of the Bulge/Ardennes Offensive. The vignette will include a full crew for the M8, plus 3 infantry men on the ground. This plan presents a couple of firsts for me: 1) winter whitewash on the M8 2) Hairspray technique for said winter white wash 3) snow/winter ground cover 4) more than 1 figure for a vignette.

Using the Legend Stowage set, which is sweet! Plus a bunch of other upgrades, including Aber PE, Aber PE stowage boxes, RB 37mm barrel, and various .50 cal upgrades parts.

Using the Legend Stowage set, which is sweet. Plus a bunch of other upgrades, including Aber PE, Aber PE fenders, RB 37mm barrel, and various .50 cal upgrades parts.

Here’s one of the inspirations shots.



Plan to load this bad boy up with lots of stowage and bits.

First thing first was completing the interior and suspension so I could close it up and tackle the Aber fender/stowage boxes, which would prove tone a pain in the a$$.

I used some of the Aber PE details for the interior, but was not too fussy knowing that I’d be adding a full crew. I also didn’t sweat the painting/weathering on the interior too much since it would be mostly invisible.

Here’s the completed Aber stowage boxes, minus the lids. I had to carefully remove the kit stowage boxes. Once I folded the PE boxes, I had to repeatedly dry fit and then trim/sand/hone the plastic to fit the brass. I also had to trim the brass to fit too. Once I had a good fit, I also had to add some reinforcement to the hull to support the new brass boxes. In the end, they worked out well, and the brass will allow me to “bang” them up to authentically reproduce scale damage as seen in many photos of M8s.

Next up, the stowage box lids. Aber provides working piano hinges, but after examining photos of the real thing, the hinge is pretty munch hidden, unless you were going to show the lid completely open, which I’m not. But I did want to use the working hinges for the clasps. To start that process, I annealed the brass under a tea light which would make it softer, and therefore easier to bend.



Next, I used a trick I learned from several folks, including Rick Lawler, which is to adhere both sides of the hinges to a piece of glass, in this case using tape. (Rick uses CA.) You need to start the respective bends on each piece before doing this, then place an appropriately sized piece of rod stock (not at my bench currently, so do not have the size) at the intersection of both parts.



Then I used a micro chisel to help bend and form the hinge wings around the rod stock. Here are the results. Then I had to solder the hinges onto the box lids using the “tinning” method.

That's it for now. Finishing some vino and calling it a night. More updates tomorrow. Cheers.

Excellent work on the hinges.
I'll be following this one.

Next up, the footman loops on the turret. I’ve typically made my own footman loops from styrene rod since I like the strength that the plastic-to-plastic weld provides. But I’ve never been completely satisfied with the look. So, I figured I’d try the PE versions and see if I could strengthen the brass-to-plastic bond.

Here are the Aber loops, formed and ready.



To attach, I mark the location based on the original kit loops that I scraped off. Then, using a tooth pick with a small blob of Blue Tak on the tip, I can easily pick each footman loop up, put some CA on the ends, and attach.



The CA I prefer for this job is Loctite’s UltraGel Control, which according to the packaging actually includes rubber in the recipe, which helps provide greater tensile strength. And, in my unscientific testing, it certainly seems to help!



Here are the completed loops on the turret. I’ve also added some foundry marks behind the mantlet using Archer Resin Transfers.



I also added a touch of Mr. Surfacer to the connection points to help blend them in and add a bit more strength. (Sorry for the out of focus shot...must be the beer!)

Bouncing around a bit, I also completed the light guards. I’m still refining my soldering skills, but getting much more confident. I made the light plug from brass tube and rod, and added a chain from the Aber set.

I've got the Tamiya M-20 waiting in my stash, this build log is great to watch. Makes me want to pull my kit out and go to town. All that PE... Can't begin to imagine dealing with that

Awesome stuff

-Conor

That is high speed low drag stuff. Looking forward to more updates. Nice work so far.

Great explanation of how to make the hinges, very useful for me. The bluetak method will be tried as well. Most often I use a wet toothpick, but this seems to be a bit more stable.



Jelger

Very nice work, glad you decided to share.

Good work and great patience Jeff. Thanks for the tips that I am going to try soon. Please keep those images coming and have a great 2015 !

Tom

Happy New Year for those already in 2015!!!! Only about 5 hours away for us here in the US Mid Atlantic. Just popped my first adult beverage of the night, one of my favorite IPAs from a local Virginia brewery.



Anyway, on with the modeling….Up next, a field installed ammo rack. Through my research, I noticed a variety of field applied racks to the rear of the M8 turret. The one that caught my eye was specifically designed to store extra .50 cal ammo boxes.



While the Legend update set provides a lot of great add-ons, it did not include any rear turret storage bin. So, with some Evergreen strip and my trusty mini-mitre box from UMM, I constructed a simple storage rack.



To attach to the turret, I simply use a generous amount of Tamiya Extra Thin while the rack was supported with my custom hi-tech clamping device, aka the cork from last nights beverage.



After it was dry, I added the top supports. I also added some small bits of stretch sprue to the joint, added some more Extra Thin, and shaped some subtle weld beads in the semi-dissolved sprue using the tip of my hobby knife.



The pic also shows progress on adding the Legend storage bits. I made the musette bag straps from lead foil, and use an Able clasp to add an additional bit of detail.

That's it for now, or, that's it for 2014! Hoping to get some quality time at the bench over the next few days. Will try and keep the momentum going. Cheers everyone, and Happy New Year!!!

Started working on the .50 cal. Breech/body are from Tasca. Barrel is from LionMarc. Other details are from the Aber set.



The LionMarc barrel comes with a nicely rendered barrel changing sleeve/handle, but it seems a bit over scaled. So I used the Aber PE version instead.

For the ammo box, I used ET Models PE boxes, which are quite nice. I used the Aber PE for the ammo box bracket and brace mechanism. The ammo links are from Tasca.

Good Stuff... I love the greyhounds

Wonderful craftsmanship there, Jeff. Really like what I'm seeing. This is what makes modelling fun, in my opinion.

Keep up the good work!

What do you use for soldering? Trying to break into PE but thats the one snag for me.

Hi Jeff,

happy New Year and congratulations on your beautiful super detailing job!!

The M8 is one of the ideal vehicles for such a plethora of "stuff", isn't it!

Cheers

Romain

Hi Jeff!

Super Build, congrat. Will follow Your topic, cillecting the ideas for my next M8 Greyhound.

You certainly know your way around PE. NICE hinges!

Hi

Lovely workmanship on the PE, especially those tie downs. One of my favourite vehicles which I hope to do one day.

Just have to say I think the ammo rack you've made may be positioned wrong. I think the turret is at 90 degrees to the hull and as such the rack is mounted on the turret side. Handy for grabbing ammo on the turret mounted browning. The bedrolls etc I think are at the rear.

Plus I believe there is a hatch of some sort on the turret rear which the rack if fitted would interfere with.

Look at the rail mountings for the machine gun and compare to the picture.

That being said, its still a very nice build.

Alan

Alan

Alan: it's an open topped turret -- why would there be a hatch there?