Part 1: First Look

MSRP: $27 USD 127 Pieces (124 olive green plastic, 1 White Metal Chassis Bottom and 2 screws) Background Even though Tamiya is not producing as many new 1/35 scale model kits these days as I'd like to see, they have been pumping out the 1/48 stuff quite vigorously lately. One of their latest kit offerings is their M8 Greyhound Armored Car. I am primarily a 1/35 modeler, but I do dabble a bit into smaller scales. So, being that I am not afraid of model kits smaller than 35th scale, and since I am an armored car/wheeled fighting vehicle (WFV) nut, getting the new Tamiya kit eventually was a no-brainer. Getting it for review so quickly after its release was even better. My first thought when hearing that Tamiya was coming out with a 1/48 Greyhound was: is this kit a scaled-down version of their excellent 1/35 M8? I was hoping so as their 1/35 kit is a beauty. Well, the answer is mostly yes. Geez, don't you hate it when I do stuff like this? Anyway, I compared this 1/48 kit to its larger 1/35 brother and the kit is mostly the same design. I'd estimate about 90% of the kit is a smaller scale version of the 1/35 scale kit. In fact, the two decal marking options mimic two of the marking options in the 1/35 kit. The 10% or so of the kit that is different was probably designed that way so as to facilitate the building of a smaller 1/48 kit, when compared to the bigger kit. So, great news. Kit Accuracy After checking the numerous resources I have on this vehicle, I have found no major discrepancies in size, shape or dimensions. Other than the point about the hull bottom (as mentioned under detail below), Tamiya has done their homework and made a very accurate kit. The main resources I used are: · George Bradford's 1/35 AFV Plans of the M8 Greyhound; · Allied Command Productions' Military Vehicle Workshop Series MV-08: Light Armored Car M8/ Armored Utility Car M20; · Easy 1 Productions TM-9-743 M8/M20 Informational CD. You can see my review of the Easy 1 CD here on IPMS. Easy 1 is also a sponsor of WarWheels.net. Quality/Detail of Parts The quality of the casting of the kit plastic pieces is top notch and typical of Tamiya kits. There is no flash present on the parts, and even the smallest pieces are also very well cast. Very little clean up and putty work will be needed. The detail level of each individual plastic part is again, excellent and typical of Tamiya kits. This scaled down 1/48 kit surprisingly retained a lot of the crisp detail of its bigger 1/35 clone. The overall detail level of the kit should be outstanding as well when completed. As mentioned above in the "Kit Accuracy" section the one problem I do have with this kit is the white metal hull bottom is not as detailed as the plastic bottom of their 1/35 M8 Greyhound. The most obvious missing details are the oil pump screen circular cover and oil drain plug. The circular cover is fairly large in diameter (about 4" on the real vehicle). The good news is the die cast piece is pre-primed though. Decals, Markings, Painting The decals Tamiya provides look to be of good quality. The decals are vibrant and printed in register with no color overrun. But like most Tamiya decals, they look a bit thick when compared to other companies' decals and may need a generous amount of decal softening solution. Of course as I've not used them yet, I cannot confirm this aspect yet. More later. Tamiya provides only 2 marking options for the M8. As mentioned earlier, these markings were also provided with their 1/35 kit. The markings depict vehicles in the units: · A Troop, 25th Mechanized Cavalry Recon Squadron of the 4th Armored Division; and · 3rd Platoon, C Company, 82nd Recon Battalion of the 2nd Armored Division. Honestly, I am a bit disappointed in the fact that markings for only two vehicles are provided. Since the Greyhound usually didn't have too many or too gaudy markings, I really thought more options could have been provided since the decal sheet is pretty small anyway. This is my opinion only, but I tend to like to get many marking options with my kits. The painting & marking guides are one in the same and printed in black and white. Four views of the 4th Armored Division vehicle and five views of the 2nd Armored Vehicle are provided to help you place your decals. Like their instructions, Tamiya's marking guide is very understandable and can be easily followed. Instructions/Packaging I believe that kit instructions are one of the most underappreciated, yet most important aspects of hobby modeling. A bad set of directions can cause unnecessary grief with an otherwise superbly designed and engineered kit. In my opinion, Tamiya consistently designs and produces the best hobby kit instructions in the modeling biz. Don't get me wrong, some other companies produce very nice sets. However, whenever I get a kit and look over the instructions, I always compare them to Tamiya's directions. After all, in my book, they set the gold standard for instructions. With their M8 Greyhound kit, Tamiya again matches their high standards in regard to excellent instructions. They are "typical" Tamiya directions, so if you've seen one set, you'll know what I am talking about. However, if you are not familiar with them, Tamiya provides VERY easy to understand directions. They provide great illustrations that usually make difficult steps easier. Plus, their instruction sheets are totally clear in where each and every part should exactly go. Also, I believe that they produce instructions that have perfectly proportioned assembly steps. What that means is Tamiya hits a happy medium with the right number of steps and the right amount of work for each step. As usual, Tamiya provides excellent kit packaging and "safety" by providing a box constructed of sturdy cardboard. They also follow the practice of bagging all sprues and decals separately so as to protect the contents. Finally, the white metal lower hull bottom is also packaged separately in a cardboard holder so as to not allow it to move around and damage the other parts. Conclusion Once again, Tamiya has another winner with their new 1/48 M8 Greyhound. It is pretty much a scaled down version of their wonderful 1/35 kit, so you should be very happy with the model. It will be nice to work on a well designed and engineered kit after struggling with a couple of my past few projects. This kit exemplifies how fun our hobby can be. My only MINOR criticisms are with the choices Tamiya made to include only two decal marking options and the lesser detail on the white metal hull bottom. Thanks to Tamiya Models for the review sample. Highly Recommended.

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