Small Scale Military Headquarters

This past week I finished building a vintage Monogram kit of a M-8 Greyhound armored scout car. Although there are more detailed versions of the M-8 made by Tamiya and Italeri in 1/35 scale, I went with the old Monogram kit as it is actually 1/32 scale and thus fits better with all my 21c and FOV vehicles.

The kit is very basic and an easy build, save that the decals were terrible (probably because they were about 35 years old!) I could not find much in the way of custom decals for the M-8, so I went with a set of 1/35 decals for the M-5 Stuart tank made by Bison Decals. Save for the wrong type of serial number, which should begin with a "60_" for M-8 scout cars, the decals achieved the look I was after.

The model was painted with Tamiya Olive Drab USAAF spray (AS-6) and weathered using various Tamiya weathering powders and a light spray and wash of Tamiya Flat Earth (XF-52) for the wheels and vehicle underside. I wanted to do something showing moderate wear and dusting, not like it had driven through a mudhole or something. The model comes with a basic interior which I detailed and added some extra equipment. The .50 MG mount on the turret is a custom made from spare parts and the stowage is FOV. Figures (which are really fantastic!) were painted with Tamiya Olive Drab (XF-62) and Khaki (XF-49) with a wash to highlight the facial features.

I'm really happy with the way it came out

That looks great Tman.
When I was younger I built most of the Tamiya 1:35 German kits they offered, and then
found the Monogram 1:32 line. I remember building the Panzer IV, Panzerjager IV, Sturmpanzer,
Flakpanzer, Sturmgeschuetz IV and others.

Tman did this kit come with Shepard Paine "TIPS ON BUILDING DIORAMAS" sheet?



This just added to these old kits.

Your Greyhound is nicely done, for me just the right amount of weathering on the vehicle and a cool display
base.

Well done! Always wondered how well it turned corners with that wheel set-up

The Greyhound would have been a nice 1/18 item. Simple design, no treads, less complicated than a command car.

I have to snicker every time I see the 1/6 scale guys display the GI Joe M-8 with their other 1/6 scale items. It looks silly as it is so undersized, it probably scales out to about 1/8. Same with their halftrack.

Thanks guys

Normandy, the kit didn't come with Shepard Paine's diorama guide, but I do have his book, "How to Build Dioramas" and it is a fantastic reference! For most of my displays, I've just been making simple display boards (using paint, glue, and dirt mostly) where I can display various vehicles without much headache

And Axis, I've seen those GI Joe "1/6" scale M-8s. I remember when they were at TRU back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but for some reason, I never got one... Every once in a while I will look them up on eBay, but their underscaled size (and usually high price) always drive me away. This vehicle would have been very doable in 1/18 and even prebuilt 1/32. I know the W. Brittains company made one in prebuilt 1/30 scale, but its not cheap!