I have just purchased an M8A1 cargo tractor kit from a company called Blue Tank i think its a repop of the Nitto kit, i am looking for any pictures so i can detail this kit i have been doing internet searches for 3 days and have found nothing so far any help with this kit or pictures would be great.

Not much outh there i'm afraid!!!

Thanks Matt i new this was going to be a tough one to find.

The only reference I found were some shots of one in the RP Hunnicutt Bradley book (also covers support vehicles). Even this large volume didn't cover that particular vehicle very well.

Thanks Robin it looks like i will replace the tracks i think they are the same as the Walker Bulldog, not shore though anything else i will just have to take a guess.

Yes, they are. Fortunately, AFV Club makes a set of M41 suspension and tracks. A few folks were building this kit for a group build (Mud, Sweat and Gears?). I believe they discovered two sets of tracks were required since the M8A1 has a longer hull.

Howdy rv1963,

As our good Rob has already told you, we did indeed have a couple of M8A1's being built for the recently concluded 'Mud, Sweat & Gears' Campaign. In fact I was one of those participants...unfortunately, I was unable to finish my entry.
But another member here, our own very talented PlasticBattle built a fabulous example of this unique vehicle.
We both did a decent amount of research on this vehicle, so hopefully either of us can be of at least some assistance....

But just so you can enjoy how good your Blue Tank kit can turn out....here's a link to PlasticBattle's Gallery.....

PlasticBattle's M8A1

Enjoy!

hth.

Tread.

Thanks again Robin now i know for shore what kind and how many for the tracks that will be a big help. Thanks Gordon i looked at the link he did a great job on that build, if you have any pics or advice you can pm me that would be great there is no hurry, thanks again everybody.

Hi RV

You could also try to get in touch with Wim Wink, who's the webmaster of Mil-Mod website. He has scratchbuilt the E2 variant of the M8 tractor and I think he should help you with M8 Technical Manuals....
[email protected]

Here are some pics of a "not-exactly-in-mint-condition" M8E2 tractor :
http://community.webshots.com/album/91146810VmkHXV

HTH
Frenchy

Thanks Frenchy every little bit helps i will try to get in touch with him. Those pics will help also.

There's a full set of technical manuals on eBay right now....

M8A1 Full Tracked High Speed Tractor Tank ORD 7 ($25)

WWII M8A1 Full Tracked High Speed Tractor ORD 8 manual ($40)

WWII M8A1 Full Tracked High Speed Tractor ORD 9 manual ($85)

AbeBooks has a listing for the ORD 8 book for $15...
http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=144968730

There's a nice summary of the M8A1 in the book Standard Catalog of U.S. Military Vehicles 1940-1965 by Thomas Berndt. It also lists load limits, engine and accessories.

What's interesting is that Amazon has the book with search features....

Standard Catalog of U.S. Military Vehicles 1940-1965

...and search on M8A1, you'll get to read the information. No picture though.

So, let's do a few pics. I don't think anyone has linked to this one...



http://www.jedsite.info/tractors/mike-number-us/m8_series/m8-series.html

You might find these pics of M8E2s interesting...







All three are from here...
http://www.panzerbaer.de/helper/us_ct_m8e2_a.htm

Let's see there are some nice builds out there. Frenchy mentioned Wim Vink's. Here's another pic of it...



Which has the caption, "3.975 Scratchbuilt parts and 460 hours later.....

To see more of their incredible work, check out the MIL-MOD site. The M8A1 is under the "Construction Articles"...
http://www.mil-mod.nl/html/

Here's another great build by Serge Dompierre...



Oh man, that one looks like a 1:1 walk around. They have many more great pics here...
http://www.smhq.org/galeries/blindes/sdompierre/m8a1.html

Good luck with it.

Thanks for pics and the links they will help me out alot.

Hi RV.
Good luck on finding reference pictures for this .. you´ll need it
Regarding the AFV Club tracks; Dave Cox used the vinyl types for his , and IIRC it needed 1.25 sets per side. I used the indy tracks, and one set worked. Because of all the extra tracks, there is enough to go around, plus 4 for the drivers cabin roof (Actually I have 4 or 5 extra in the spare box as well). There is not enough "Y" shaped pads however. So the four tracks on the cab-roof got them, but theres about 8 missing along the bottom run, on both sides.
If you can live with this, go with the indys as the price will work out similar. They are a dream to assemble. they come pre-cut and I didnt have to clean them at all. Snap fit and it took 1 hour for both lengths, watching the football. I placed them and them used cement to fix them.
The kit drive sprocket doesnt fit the tracks so this will need to be doctored or get a Tamiya or AFV Club replacement.

Some pics; Front side


Back side


Inplace


The whole top hull can be built as one piece, and set on here. I painted the tracks and weathered the steel. Then i glued on the "Y" pads and just filtered the ground colour to weather. The "Y" pads are not cementable, so you´ll have to use superglue anyway.

The only available PE is from Airwaves, and this is practically useless. The grills dont fit, the belts dont look right,and the only thing is useful is the little conical piece on the cab roof, but this needs to be cut to fit nicely.

Replace the thread for the lift at the back with fine chain ... this really looks good.

And also depending on your wants ... you could easily replace the timber sidings with real wood.
I also plummed up the cab insides with radios and small box type items with wires running along the walls. The windows are very small and this is hard to see, but if you look closely enough it can be seen. I used thin clear acetate instead of the kit supplied stuff.

Hope this helps a bit.

Thanks for the pictures Frank, i think i will try the indy tracks and make a simple mould of the pads for the missing ones, the tracks will be the biggest improvment i think, i may go for the wood on the sides and some work in the cab also. One more question do you know who carries the tracks. Thanks again everybody for your help.

AFV Club makes them.
See review on PMMS HERE
I experimented and tried to glue the pad to the track with hobby cement ... it didnt take. Super glue is needed.
Because I heard, 2 sets were needed, I bought 2. Therefore I have a full set at home. Im looking to swap them ... if you´re interested, send me a PM.