Hey everyone, my names Alex and i'm new to armorama. I'm 16 and trying to keep the hobby alive. Ive been working on a Sherman Firefly IC from Dragons new kit and wanted to share where im at now

looking good Alex! I really like how dusty the tank looks, nicely done.

I'm 75-80% thru Dragon's Firefly... I forget which one it is, all welded hull. Looks like you're going to beat me to the finish!

Thanks Alex, the dusty look was achieved using Vallejo Pigments Yellow Orca. I apply it with a large brush and it really works well. I also used Tamiya's weathering stick fr the mud on the front of the transmission cover.
Thanks for looking

Hi Alex,

Nice work. Your decals have a bit of a silver edge. If you treat them with Johnsons Klear it will solve the problem.

Welcome along nice looking Sherman.

Al

Very good work, overall. Looks like the decal film around the unit insignia on the front has silvered a bit. With waterslide decals, you need to apply a clear gloss first, then apply the decal with a solvent solution sold for applying decals (Micro-Sol, Micro-Set, Solvaset, or the Testors setting solution). This will melt the film into the surface. When it's all dry, overspray with another clear gloss coat and then weather the finish. Finally, overspray with clear flat to kill the shine (any clear parts must be masked during this step, as clear flat will fog the transparent plastic).
If you skip these steps, you will have a fine layer of air trapped under the decal's clear film, and this will appear silvery under strong light.
If you find the decal has silvered despite your best efforts, you can repeat the application of the solvent, and prick the decal's surface with a pin to allow air to escape as it dries. If that still doesn't work, just use a fine brush to paint over the film with the vehicle's base color (in this case, Olive Drab).
Some builders prefer to use rub on transfers (like those produced by Archer and Verlinden) rather than waterslide decals. This avoids the problems of decal film altogether.
With the clear molded headlights provided by Dragon in their current Shermans, the key is to paint the back of the light silver, then mask the lens and paint the whole light Olive Drab. When you remove the mask, you'll have an Olive Drab housing and a clear lens with a silver reflector inside.

That is a great explanation Gerald.

This is looking good. I have one on the way myself. Keep up the good work.

Nice looking build there. I like the weathering.

Mike Canaday