Tamiya M8 Greyhound Group Build: Turret Construction

In this session we assemble and detail the turret. For the most part this portion of the build will focus on Steps 12-15 in the kit instructions. To complete detailing of the turret I’ll be using detail parts from the Verlinden Productions (VP1453) M8 Interior/Exterior Detail Set, Aber (35072) M8 Greyhound PE Detail Set, Eduard (35200) M8 Greyhound PE Set and Archer Fine Transfers casting symbols and foundry marks (AR88007).

If you are building the turret without replacing the 37mm ammunition storage racks then you should be following the kit instructions in this step. Before I started work on the interior of the turret, I removed the 20 stowage tie downs from the outside of the turret. I plan to replace these with PE stowage tie downs from the Aber PE set (part 2).

I elected to replace the kit ammunition storage racks with those found in the Eduard PE set. There are two channels cut in the right turret side (part D15) which align the kit ammunition storage racks (parts D13 and D20). These channels need to be filled with putty to smooth out the turret wall to accept the PE ammunition storage rack. Each Eduard PE ammunition storage rack consists of a rack assembly (part 45), lower plate (part 44) and eight ammunition clips (part 27). These clips are the spawn of the devil. Using the trusty Fold-n-Hold I bent various parts for the rack assembly. I then soldered the lower plate into this assembly and glued the assembly to the right side of the turret.

Download the PDF for Part 5, Turret construction.

Project Introduction
P1: Building the suspension
P2: Building the driver's area
P3: Completing internal details
P4: Detailing the upper hull
P5: Turret construction & details
P6: Project completion
Mark's Build Blog (external link)