Tiger Model Designs
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TMD's rebirth has brought forth a kit which was long in gestation. I watched along as Karl van Sweden asked many questions about the M8 HMC on several web sites including G-103 Yahoo Group. Well, the wait is over. The kit is finally here! This kit is simply the best resin kit put forth by TMD. The full interior and the inclusion of several aftermarket parts make which a complete kit in every regard. Other than decals, there is very little to improve upon. The Kit Inside a large box adorned with a full color TMD label, we find all the parts in sealed plastic or ©Ziploc bags with the exception of the plastic rods. The packing has been careful with the PE and lead foil on the bottom and covered with the 15 page instructions printed on a color laser. The price, prominently displayed on the cover label, may seem like a lot until one takes into account what is found in the box: Eduard
AFV Club
Toadman & TMD Special
TMD
The Eduard sets included in this kit are designed for the Tamiya kit. Therefore many parts will be left over. It is up to the modeler to decide what to use and what to forego. Hopefully, no one will grind off the bolt detail on the AFV Club drive sprockets to add the PE replacements! The AFV Club sprues are up to their excellent quality just needing casting marks to be of the same level as the resin. Plenty of parts will be left over on the sprues. They were packaged in sealed plastic bags. The resin parts are packed in ©Ziploc bags separated by the different sets they come from. Care should be taken in removing the parts so resist the urge to shake them out. I learned the hard way by breaking off two parts, one of which I lost so I can't repair. The reproduction is excellent with only one air bubble found on an ammunition packing tube and a pin hole on one of the road wheels. Both were easily filled. The Instructions This is an example of excellent aftermarket instructions. While the kit built for the photos was created with rejected parts, the notes included along with the admission of mistakes are refreshing. The cover page has warnings and information and is followed by four pages of parts maps. Construction begins with the transmission. A page from the Technical Manual is included but it is rather small. I have included a larger scan from my TM copy in the forums. Painting guides are included and the sequence is easy to follow. Step two has one adding the knee pads but I personally would replace the mounts with thin aluminum or brass sheet so as not to remove any detail from the transmission. The instructions do make a note that this may be necessary. The third step has the modeler add the firewall and it should be noted that the hull tub is fully detailed inside and out. The next step is where the modeler should take notice of the written instructions. While the photo shows the battery box in place, it is in the wrong location. Before gluing the battery box in place, go to step five and place the tread plate over the transmission hump. This will help the modeler know how far back to move the battery box before gluing in place. I suggest the modeler paint the interior of the hull tub before adding the tread plate. The modeler should also consider if they want to use Eduard's fire extinguisher brackets, parts 43 and 45 from set 35 530, to replace the resin one molded onto the fire extinguisher. By now, we reach the sixth step where details are added to the hull interior. Do not add the periscope box as shown! It should go behind the roof support rod. This is explained in the following step. I would replace the roof support with brass rod and drill lightly into the sponson to allow some leeway when fitting the upper hull to the lower. The location of the radio should be closer to the sponson inner edge as indicated in the text on the photo. The radio needs to be wired and the needed thin solder is included but no diagram. See the references section for leads. Steps eight and nine both cover ammunition and their racks. The rounds appear to be M48 High Explosive shells which fit into two six round ready racks. The floor assemblies seem to have a high difficulty factor so I recommend building a jig to ensure the parts are square. Another option is to use the Eduard parts from set 35 530 but remember that it is designed for the Tamiya kit. The upper hull and all its details are handled in the next step. I found a slight warp on the upper hull. Due to the thinness of the piece, I am sure it would straighten out when gluing it to the lower hull. However, I decided to dip it into hot water to relax the part into the proper shape. The trick here is to hold the part by a casting gate and dip the part very slowly into the hot (just below boiling) water. Do not let the part touch any of the sides and slowly remove it and dip slowly into cold water. The resin has memory and will relax into the state it was while in the mold curing. Hopefully, it was true and square since this is the memory it will take. The instrument panel, provided by Eduard as either acetate or printed paper to place behind a PE cover, is of the early type. The later instrument panel is shown in the TM figure I have posted in the forum. This assembly is added to a resin back plate which has the rear portion of the dials and is only missing wiring. The periscopes can be positioned in any state. The housings themselves are in a very clear resin which is better than some clear plastic parts I have found in mainstream kits. These M6 periscopes are available separately. The wire guards from the set are left over and can be used on any Sherman project. Steps 12 through 14 cover the exterior. Here the modeler adds the vision doors. Note that in the open position, the doors swing 30 degrees making them parallel to the ground. No clear material is included if showing the vehicle road march mode with the doors open. Plastic parts, from the AFV Club suspension set are added as well as resin brush guards. Here, I would prefer to use the PE parts from Eduard and detail them up with home made weld beads. A nice touch is the clear resin head lights. Two types of exhaust shields are included. The lower set is more accurate than the PE parts from the included Eduard set, 35 509. The tow pintle, used with the late variant, shows exceptional detail but has a slight sunken pin mark which needs filling. See photo in forum. One thing that I would personally do is replace the numerous tie down brackets with some from an Aber PE set and the resin grab handles with bent wire. Eduard provides the clamps, brackets, and antenna base to finish off the hull. While an antenna base is included, no mention of the antenna is found. The next few pages cover the suspension as provided by AFV Club. One omission is the tie down hooks, parts C48, which should be added to the lower hull. However, the part must be modified to fit the correctly shaped base on the resin kit. This is down by paring down the flared round base and then inserting the resulting pin into the mount. A gel type glue can be used to blend in the hooks to the base to resemble a cast part. See photo in forum. The tracks are individual link T36E6 three bar steel cleat tracks. The can be assembled to be workable. Track tension should be a scale ¾ inch sag between the return rollers. In other words, do not allow any! Steps 16 and 17 begin the turret assembly. Carefully trimming the corner MG box will help camouflage the work needed to get it to fit in the right location. This is necessary due to the inability to mold the turret shell to a scale thickness. The details of the turret shell are very well done from the cast sections to the rolled steel and the toothed ring it sits on. The MG box base has open loops through which one can thread hold down straps. Should the modeler have the Plus Models oil can set, a decal can be added to the kit's oil cans. The sight assembly from step 17 looks very good and it matches the photos in the manual. The main gun, step 18, is very detailed and care should be taken to test fit everything before committing any cement. Several TM images are included to help the modeler add more detail since this is an open topped vehicle and quite visible. The last two steps cover the 50 Cal HMG and the grouser storage. The HMG is all resin and looks very good with incredible detail. The muzzle is hollow and it has the small ammunition box. Again, this will be available separately. I would add a LionMarc Model Designs brass barrel to improve it. The grousers are included in the AFV Club sprues. The last four pages cover the Eduard sets 35 509 for the exterior and 35 530 (mislabeled 35 509 in the instructions) for the interior. There are several useful parts but one must remember that these sets are designed for the Tamiya kit. Accuracy Comparing the component parts to the TM and a few photos I have in my collection, this is certainly the most accurate M8 General Scott available in this scale. It is certainly TMD's best effort to date and amongst the best resin kits out there. Imagine a Plus Models kit with interior and better instructions and you know what is in the TMD box. Assembly As tempted as I am to build this kit, I only tested a few parts to see engineering. However, I am sending this kit out to a well known modeler for an online blog. Since this review is completed, the modeler can now concentrate on the build any show us any techniques to overcome the hurdles mentioned in the instructions. To help out by providing more options, I have included the decals, tow ‘cable' and rubber block tracks from AFV Club's M3A3 kit. Reference Used
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User Contributed Notes |