It is an old kit, but I made my loading items with Super Sculpey clay. It was built in October 2014.
This time I try U.S. Howitzer M8. It’s ancient, released in 1974, and resold with a new figure of loader and gunner.
I am assembling wheels.
It’s easier, and faster assembling compares to AFV Club’s M3 kit. I think easy making is a significant value.
This kit is open-top, and there are inside parts of shells and extinguishers. The panel floor mold is very nice.
I could make this tank easy by adding extra sandbags, bedrolls, and cloth bags. This is Super Sculpey, baked for 10 to 15 minutes in the oven to harden up.
Considering the right and left balance to attach many bags. Its total weight is a little heavy as attaching many clay parts.
The turret top is open, and I can see quite a large inside space.
Before painting, I first blew surfacer as its multi-color material.
I just blew the olive drab U.S. tank’s basic color. This kit includes a belt caterpillar. The side armor covers this model, and the caterpillar has tension. I usually want to use pieces divided by truck links, but this M3 and M5 caterpillar is not needed to consider precisely.
After painting basic colors, I feel it’s close to completion. Firstly, I attached all OVM and bags and boxes. Decals are trimmed to adjust the spaces.
It’s strange, like a brand-new car. But remain weathering.
I just made one figure. The inside of the turret is too narrow and difficult to set him in. I’ll see him sitting on the sandbag. This kind of U.S. soldier figure wearing a tanker jacket was precious in the old time. We can get it from Alpine, Miniart, or other material makers.
(18-October-2014)
The M8 is a self-propelled howitzer based on the M5 Stuart light tank body. It produced approximately 1,800 tanks during World War II. French military used them after World War II in Vietnam, and the South Vietnamese forces used them until the early 1960s after France Army withdrew.
This marking is the European front with Tamiya’s manual.
I attached a lot of extra baggage, made in clay and putty, concerning American tanks that tended to have a large amount of equipment. Only the wooden box seeming not to be fixed…
By the way, the appliance of the iron tools side on the gun turret was called additional grousers for going through the muddy or sandy loose area. They are attached to caterpillar treads. When I made the Stuart M3 AFV Club kit, I wondered about these tools, but it became clear. It was written on Tamiya’s instruction. Though it was trivia, I became more brilliant.
The headlight was changed to clear parts made by the runner by myself.
The vehicle inside is small, and the figure is not readily positioned. It is pretty interesting to glance inside.
I painted weathering using pastels with acrylic resin here and there to express a three-dimensional effect.
I let one figure sit down on a piece of baggage.
Another shot from a different angle. This Tamiya’s kit was an easily assembled nice kit, I suppose.
When I rode, a lot of baggage and sandbags piled up. It was slightly troublesome to bake clay called the Super Sculpey. This model size was small but had a significant presence. I’ll use it again soon because I remain a lot of clay.
(30-October-2014)
