Hi all,

Please forgive me if this is a dumb question,but was the Firefly V C hull (ie not including the gun) longer than the 'standard' U.S. M4 and M4A1?

I've only managed to get very inconclusive answers,one search indicating the Firefly was 2inches longer,the other saying they were the same length. The reason I ask is that I have a set of fenders from the Eduard M4A1 kit that I'd like to use on a future Firefly V C but am not sure these will fit with regard to hull length?

Thanks in advance!

The Firefly is an M4A4 (Vc in British Amy speak V=M4A4 c=17pdr) which had a longer hull to accommodate the longer engine. The front and rear fenders will be different to an A1 but the side parts are usually the same (from memory) - just a slight gap between them.

Gary

The British Firefly employed the Chrysler multi-bank engine which was physically longer than either the radial or the GAA engines and therefore required an extended tank body/chassis.

The side shields were the same. The M4A4 (and Firefly VC) were issued an extension plate. Easy solution, eh?

Thanks so much for the information!

As a logical conclusion the tracks on a Firefly V C would have more links than on an M4A1 too I'd imagine? I have a set of Bronco T62 tracks that I'd like to use on my Tasca kit, has anyone used this combination before and was one set enough given the extra hull/track length?

Thanks!

IIRC the VC was about half a foot longer than the standard M4 hull, but the sand shields used standard parts common to all models. However, the triangular front fenders were different on the cast-hull M4A1 tanks, so you may need to modify your PE set if it includes these as part of the front shield components. (Those fenders on real Shermans were separate to the actual sand shield parts...)

As for tracks, these were 4 links longer on the VC, so 83 rather than 79 links per side. The Bronco sets have enough links for up to 96 per side, so should be more than enough. (The extras can be used as spares, or "track armour" for turret & glacis.)

Ah thank you so much for that advice. That really helps.

I'm probably going to depict 'Alakeefek ' of the 4th City of London Yeomanry at Villiers Bocage and this particular vehicle did have the fenders on the rear and sides but was missing the front set.

Thanks once again for the valuable info.

The standard M4 measured out to 5.84M whilst M4A4s were almost 6M, which would be a 4.3MM differance in 1/35 scale

Most Sherman based AFVs used 79 links per track, whereas the M4A4 (and Firefly Vc) used 83 links per track.

John