COBI H.M.C M8 Scott Set 2279

COBI's H.M.C. M8 Scott is a 1:35 model built from 525 blocks, with working tracks, a rotating turret, a movable gun, access to a brick-built engine, a figure of an American captain and a printed nameplate. All markings are printed; the set contains no stickers.

The open roof was deliberate

H.M.C. stands for Howitzer Motor Carriage, and that classification explains the vehicle's most obvious feature. The M8 was not a tank. It was a gun on a chassis, built on the Stuart light tank hull to give armoured units their own artillery that could keep up with them.

Artillery crews need to see where their rounds fall, hear commands, pass ammunition and climb out quickly. So the turret had no roof. The assumption behind that was that the vehicle would work from behind the fighting, not in it — and for a while it held.

Then came Normandy. In hedgerow country and in towns, self-propelled guns ended up in the front line, and an open turret meant a grenade dropped from a window or a shell bursting in the trees above could empty the crew compartment. Around 1,778 were built between September 1942 and January 1944, and the type was withdrawn from American service before the war ended.

Specifications

Pieces: 525 · Figures: 1 · Scale: 1:35 · Also included: printed nameplate
Model dimensions: 13.5 × 7.5 × 9 cm (5.3 × 3.0 × 3.5 in)