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M8 Greyhound with M55 Quad Gun - Colombian Army PAINT JOB


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Hi guys, the Colombian Army modified a small number of M8s to carry a quad .50 caliber machine gun mount. So, after a long pause I decided to build this interesting modernized version, with a beautiful camouflage scheme, and I will use as a base one M8 Greyhound from Tamiya, code 35228, and one Quad Gun Trayler M55 from Dragon, code 6421.

 

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Necessary changes: raise the engine covers; change the position of the exhaust pipe; scratchbuild the air brake system on the rear axle, front mirrors, quad gun base and headlights, and others small things.

 

No details inside due to lack of references...

 

The vehicle and your amazing camouflage scheme. No markings visibles in some vehicles:

 

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Rear view (see the different exhaust muffler and new air brakes):

 

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Steps 1, 2 and 3 from Tamiya instructions ready...an easy and fast assembly:

 

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Some simple little modification: the raised "diesel" engine deck and new exhaust muffler:

 

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Now, I adapted the base of the quad on the upper structure of the hull:

 

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New progress...new exhaust muffler on place:

 

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A gasoline engine power driven charger and the battery located in the rear of the mount...I'm added some little details in scratch (but in the photos above the general power charger group appears to have been removed (????) - I do not know when and why)     :wall::

 

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A little more progress...

 

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That's all for now...

Edited by Carius
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What a cool project.....Will be following along.  :coolio:

1 hour ago, Carius said:

A gasoline engine power driven charger and the battery located in the rear of the mount...I'm added some little details in scratch (but in the photos above the general power charger group appears to have been removed (????) - I do not know when and why)     :wall::

Presumably the turret can draw any needed power from the vehicle itself, so the turret's petrol APU would be redundant (and its fuel tank a risk in such an exposed position above the crew compartment).....Just a guess,  ;)

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The independent "donkey engine" on the turret was to avoid the need to run the main vehicle engine.  Removing it would probably mean having to run the main engine, unless the engine refit included either an integral APU or significantly increased battery capacity.  Both of which are entirely feasible.

 

Did the Colombians use this as an AA vehicle or was it used as a convoy escort vehicle along the lines of the Gun Trucks from Vietnam?  A quad 50 with 250 rpg loaded can give you a nice edge in an ambush situation.  I often thought that a quad 50 on a DROPS flatrack would have been a really useful asset in Afghanistan.

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10 hours ago, Das Abteilung said:

Did the Colombians use this as an AA vehicle or was it used as a convoy escort vehicle along the lines of the Gun Trucks from Vietnam? 

 

18 hours ago, Carius said:

 

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Id guess AA. The back of the turret is open with no armor ? Not a good idea if protecting against infantry/insurgents. 

     Heres an M45 mount used during vietnam. 

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And a photo of the rear of an M45.

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Its more closed in then the M55 mount ? So a little better for anti-personnel use.  

Edited by Corsairfoxfouruncle
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I think you'll find that the visual difference is the lack of APU behind the gunner.  The actual turret was the same between the 2 types of field mount and the vehicle mount.  Gun Trucks had no added armour behind the turret AFAIK and the armour plates on the truck only protected the back of the turret when firing to the rear.  In an ambush, the front would be pointed towards the enemy.  You don't generally ambush from both sides except perhaps in a gully (where an ambush would be anticipated by any remotely-competent force): too much risk of friendly fire casualties.

 

To be honest it seems something of an odd vehicle for either purpose.  What air threat were the Colombians facing against which a manually-aimed, clear-weather quad 50 with a training speed suitable for piston-engined aircraft would still be an effective weapon at that time?  I still think it's a ground weapon.  Looks scary for the narco-terrorists and on parade in snazzy camo, but limited real use.

 

But on the modelling front, as I seem to have taken this off on a tangent, a very nicely done model of a very unusual subject.  Looking forward to seeing the paintwork.

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On 7/9/2018 at 9:23 PM, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Nice looking mod. Looking forward to seeing this one built.  

 

I thank your interest.

 

23 hours ago, Sgt.Squarehead said:

What a cool project.....Will be following along.  :coolio:

Presumably the turret can draw any needed power from the vehicle itself, so the turret's petrol APU would be redundant (and its fuel tank a risk in such an exposed position above the crew compartment).....Just a guess,  ;)

 

Great, interesting your point of view. Many thanks 👍

 

18 hours ago, Bullbasket said:

Hi Carius. Nice to see you back again. Great detail work on what looks to be an interesting subject.Great,

 

John.

 

Thanks my friend

Cheers

 

17 hours ago, Das Abteilung said:

The independent "donkey engine" on the turret was to avoid the need to run the main vehicle engine.  Removing it would probably mean having to run the main engine, unless the engine refit included either an integral APU or significantly increased battery capacity.  Both of which are entirely feasible.

 

Did the Colombians use this as an AA vehicle or was it used as a convoy escort vehicle along the lines of the Gun Trucks from Vietnam?  A quad 50 with 250 rpg loaded can give you a nice edge in an ambush situation.  I often thought that a quad 50 on a DROPS flatrack would have been a really useful asset in Afghanistan.

 

I agree with you too, the vehicle must have a full APU

 

16 hours ago, robw_uk said:

oh boy thats a great modification... love the work you are doing on this

 

Many thanks Rob

 

7 hours ago, Hamden said:

 

Interesting project great progress so far 

 

  Roger

 

Hi Roger, thanks for looking.

Cheers

 

3 hours ago, Das Abteilung said:

To be honest it seems something of an odd vehicle for either purpose.  What air threat were the Colombians facing against which a manually-aimed, clear-weather quad 50 with a training speed suitable for piston-engined aircraft would still be an effective weapon at that time?  I still think it's a ground weapon.  Looks scary for the narco-terrorists and on parade in snazzy camo, but limited real use.

 

But on the modelling front, as I seem to have taken this off on a tangent, a very nicely done model of a very unusual subject.  Looking forward to seeing the paintwork.

 

You are right :thumbsup:

 

Folks, I found out that currently 16 of these units remain in service with 1, 2 or 4 machine guns, mainly part of the vigilance and control of the most important Colombian highways, called "Plano Meteoro" or Meteor Plan. 

 

 

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Edited by Carius
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Hi Carius. Hope you are well and great to see you back with another project. And what a fascinating project too! Looking very good so far.

Kind regards,

Stix 

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Pintle-mounting a single 50 on the gunners' sight bar and leaving the side mounts empty is completely daft.  Gunner is hopelessly exposed, presumably perched on the seat back.  Unless the trunnions are locked off, I imagine the recoil of the 50 (that's not a recoil-absorbing cradle) will drive the sight bar backwards towards the gunner with each burst.

 

Is the army short of 50's or concerned about collateral damage in urban areas?  I don't imagine they're facing an armoured or long-range threat where the 50 would be beneficial. For reducing the collateral risk a 7.62 or 5.56mm weapon would be a better option.  For mounting a single weapon the vehicles would be better off converted back to an M20 style configuration, but probably with a small cupola or turret: or RWS.

 

But I digress from the excellent modelling again .................  

Edited by Das Abteilung
correction
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Hi folks, more progress today, now with the machine gun mount (dry fit in most parts). I really liked it a lot, the first test with the gun mount exceeded my expectations.  By the way, the correct decision was to remove the gasoline engine power driven charger and the battery.  I appreciate the opinion of all of you :thumbsup:

 

 

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Edited by Carius
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