M5A1 Stuart / M8 Scott - Project CLOSED!

[Pinky]

There are more on sprue C. Only sprue A is for both boxes. B and C come depending on wether you bought the M5/M8 or the M5/Recce version.

Sure - so that means sprue B should have its own .30 cal for the M5A1 version.  I can't see one.  Nor does sprue B seem to include the armoured cover for the .30 cal which was a feature of the late M5A1 turret (it's on sprue C along with the appropriate turret half).  So presumably it's actually the early M5A1 that comes with the M8.

[Rubicon Models]

We have made a mistake to quote the wrong configurations on the M5/M8 sprue earlier in this post.
It is supposed to be:

Kit #1 - M5A1 Stuart (Mid & Late Production) with M5A1 Reece (Kangaroo) consisting of Sprue A and C.
Kit #2 - M8 Scott HMC with M5A1 Stuart (Mid Production) consisting of Sprue A and B.

All other social media references are correct except on our own forum... We are sorry for the confusion!

[Pinky]

That's fine - but does kit #2 include a .30 cal?  The early M5A1 had a fairly large pintle mounting on the side of the turret, positioned between the grouser racks. The gun and mounting could be in one piece - C28 on sprue C would almost work.

[Rubicon Models]

That's fine - but does kit #2 include a .30 cal?  The early M5A1 had a fairly large pintle mounting on the side of the turret, positioned between the grouser racks. The gun and mounting could be in one piece - C28 on sprue C would almost work.

There is no .30 cal on the early M5A1, but can easily converted with C28 as you indicated.

[Pinky]

I guess you ran out of sprue space.  I suppose a lot of people will buy both kits, and will therefore have a spare .30 cal.  And presumably most people will build the M8 anyway (I can't see anyone buying that kit for the M5A1 version).  But it's still a bit unfortunate, as the .30 cal was standard equipment. 

[Rubicon Models]

Here are some images of the painted M5A1/M8 test shot plastic sprues after test-fitting...



















For more closeup images, please go and see our M5A1/M8 photo album on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1619424098310952.1073741880.1443080675945296&type=3

Enjoy!

[Pinky]

Very cool to see these kits painted.

Inevitably, I have a couple of comments (although I know it's rather late to make any changes):

- overall, the level of detail is really good, and it looks very crisp and well moulded.  These are obviously quite small vehicles, so they're probably going to look even better in the flesh.  The way you've done the M8 turret in relatively few parts is also very impressive.

- I still think omitting the .30 cal from the mid-production M5A1 is unfortunate.  The late production M5A1 has the wrong .30 cal cradle, but I doubt anyone will care.

- the mantlet on the M5A1 sits way too low.  The upper edge was almost flush with the turret roof.  Can you correct that?

- The M8 mantlet sits too far forward.  It shouldn't be possible to see the gun tube etc.  Is that a construction error?

- Does the M5A1/Recce kit come with British decals?  The Recce wasn't used by the US Army.

[Rubicon Models]

- I still think omitting the .30 cal from the mid-production M5A1 is unfortunate.  The late production M5A1 has the wrong .30 cal cradle, but I doubt anyone will care.

Yes, it was unfortunate, but you can easily modify the .30 cal on the late model to fit it onto the mid production one.

- the mantlet on the M5A1 sits way too low.  The upper edge was almost flush with the turret roof.  Can you correct that?

We are still fine tuning the sprues.  There are still some errors that need to be fixed.  Will look into this...

- The M8 mantlet sits too far forward.  It shouldn't be possible to see the gun tube etc.  Is that a construction error?

Yes, you have sharp eyes!  The horizontal upper piece should be glued much forward towards the mantlet.  It was in the wrong position.

- Does the M5A1/Recce kit doesn't come with British decals?  The Recce wasn't used by the US Army.

New decals are in the work!

[Rubicon Models]

- Does the M5A1/Recce kit come with British decals?  The Recce wasn't used by the US Army.

This is the new generic US & Allies decal sheet for the M5A1/M8 kits.



Any comments on its contents are appreciated.

Enjoy!

[Pinky]

Oh good - you're providing a mixture of US and Allied markings for these kits.

- the star in yellow circle was very rare, as it only featured on (some) vehicles involved in the invasion of Sicily in 1943.  I'd query whether it's worth including it.  The US flag was also pretty rare after 1943.
- you only need the bridging plates (black number in yellow circle) for the M5A1 and M8 - which seems to have been "15" and "16" respectively.  These plates were pretty rare on tanks, so you could drop them.
- if you're including French markings, you also need French-style registration numbers.  Maybe drop these to make more space?
- given that the moulded-on grouser stowage on the turrets makes placement of markings difficult, is it actually worth including the British squadron markings?
- I assume you've decided to omit formation signs and numbers for space reasons, but a couple of British formation/arm of service signs would be nice. The Guards Armoured used the M5A1, for instance.
- many US Army M5A1s in Normandy had their length, weight etc stenciled on the angled armour on the right side.
- maybe include more callsigns (the big numbers in yellow)?  These seem to have been pretty common.
- the only name you've included ("Hothead") is a USMC vehicle.  Some more vehicle names would be nice.  Here are some suggestions:
US Army M5A1 (mid production) names included "Sloppy Joe", "Mickey Georgiana", "Cognac", "Carol" and "Destruction"; USMC names included "Nannie" and "Hunter".
US Army M5A1 (late production) names included "Brig", "Dingbat" and "Dagwood".
British Army M5A1 names included "Halcyon" and "The Black Bear"
M8 names included "Laxative" (it also had a large yellow callsign "3-9").
Recce names (including Recces based M3 and M3A3 hulls) included: "The Curse of Scotland", "Havoc" and "Hornblower".

Hope that helps.

[Rubicon Models]

Pinky, thanks for the suggestions.  We tend to make our first "US & Allies" decal more "generic" in a sense that it could be used for multiple kits.  We probably will create additional decal sheets (much like what we have done with the German) to fill the void.

We will continue to revise this decal design until we send it to print...

[elias.tibbs]

If you made an A4 sheet of decals full of allied stars and other U.S. markings I wouldn't think twice before buying several!

[H0ffmn]

U.S. vehicle registration numbers were not in yellow or black, they were first painted on in blue drab, and then in 1943-1944  , they were painted on in white. It would be cool if there were a few of the registration numbers with the prefix letter 'w' on the sheet were in blue, for early war vehicles. Also , for early war vehicles, a few yellow vehicle identification stars would be good as well.

[Pinky]

U.S. vehicle registration numbers were not in yellow or black, they were first painted on in blue drab, and then in 1943-1944  , they were painted on in white. It would be cool if there were a few of the registration numbers with the prefix letter 'w' on the sheet were in blue, for early war vehicles. Also , for early war vehicles, a few yellow vehicle identification stars would be good as well.

Some early war vehicles did have white or yellow serial numbers.  Some even seem to have been black.  Blue drab was introduced in 1942.  Units stationed in Britain prior to D-Day had white serial numbers because they didn't have any blue drab paint, then white seems to have become the most common colour.  The "W" prefix was dropped in 1944.

[Rubicon Models]

Think the colour we saw on some of the earlier US tanks are not black, but blue drab - it was basically a bluish green, but when pitched against an olive drab background colour, it looked darker.  Also, complicated by image compression and sometimes RGB/CYMK colour conversions, it just got darker.

We are making changes to the decal sheet just as we speak... we need to send the decal file for sample printing tomorrow morning!

Will post the final version later!