Rubicon Models M8 / M20 Scout Car

After the recent review of Warlord's M8 / M20, let us take a look on Rubicon Models take on the scout car.

Rubicon put both variants in a single kit as well, but that is nothing new from them, as most of their kits offer several variants and options to begin with.

Once again, this is a 6x6 armoured car that can be build either with the turret as an M8, or with the open topped super structure as an M20.

This is a 28mm scale plastic kit, that comes with two large sprues, an illustrated instruction leaflet and a decal sheet. The M8 / M20 were used by the Allied Armies, and sometimes even as Panzerspähwagen Ford M8(a) by the german army.

No surprises here, properly casted sprues and good use of the space in them. As always with some plastic sprues, it might be helpful to give them a slight wash in luke warm soap water to get rid of remaining release agent.

The build begins with the chassis, a detailled bases with 6 wheels. Easy first steps.

The upper part of the chassis is added. The fit is fine and simple to assemble. As the design of the individual parts (or to be more precisely the split) is streamlined, it would take a bit more effort to convert this kit into a captured vehicle, as you would have to trim the side skirts.

The upper plate along with the details is the same on M8 and M20, the boxes, front and back plate are added to the chassis.

As you can see, the interior is pretty well designed and has a good amount of detail.

Next up is where the differents between M8 and M20 are, you got one upper part with the turret and one with the MG ring. You could easily build them in a way to be able to swap them.

Variant M8 on the left, and M20 on the right.

Here is the direct comparison between the Warlord kit on the left with the light grey colour and the Rubicon kit on the right with the brown-grey colour. As written in the review of the Warlord kit, both have great detail, the Rubicon kit is a bit faster to build and both offer the same options between M8 and M20.

Next up a view around the M8.

Conclusion
Plastic is a very pleasant material to work with, and with the proper instructions and variants, Rubicon is worth its money again. Usually the part about the variants is something, were Rubicon is ahead, but as Warlord puts both into the kit as well, the head start isn't so much there.

It is difficult to compare both kits, Rubicon has an advantage in build time, as the Warlord on is more like model kit due to the cooperation with Italeri. Both are great kits and it depends what you're looking for. The Rubicon feels more sturdy, the Warlord a bit more detailled. If you're going to convert one of these into a captured M8 for the german heer, go for the Warlord one, as the modification of the sideskirts is easier with this kit.

As mentioned earlier, this kit is suitable for american and british armies, as well as a captured vehicle for late war german armies. After the second World War the M8 was used in the Korean War by the US Army and by the French in the Sino-Indian war. The M8 was even converted to be used from 1951 by the german federal police, to protect its borders.

Link: Rubicon Models