Hi all,

some quick Pictures of my Dragon Firefly (kit 6121) with the addition of a Top Brass PE set. Kit goes together reasonably well, but there are a few things that raise a ( considerable) eyebrow..





Not sure what Dragon was thinking of when they came up with this little set up, but the gap is appaling. Now I might have done something wrong, but I can't see what. I followed the instructions, and can't see another way of fitting it.


Cheers for now

Henk

Working on the links, in the meantime they are in my 'in progress' albumm in my gallery....


Cheers
Henk

I knew that...
Thanks Rodders

Henk

Looking good Henk - the PE loooks very clean and crisp!

That gap should fil and sand OK, and it's a part of the vehicle which would be most dirty, so it shouldn't affect the end result too much, I think.

Keep up the good work!

Nice work so far henk,love all the pe parts.

now about that gap i dont think these that much of a problem.did you dry fit it first to see if it lined up well,as my dragon sherman fits like a dream.theres a groove that the piece of plastic sits in,so more or less it fits on the inner hull.
heres mine anyway.



keep us updated
cheers karl

I had lot's of gaps on my firefly hull as well...so it's probably not your fault

Your progress looks fine!

Martin

I don't have any in progress pics but mine fit perfectly like a glove

That looks good so far Henk, the gaps i am shore you can fix, since you are adding extra detail you can add the eight bolts holding the trans cover to the hull, your PE work looks nice and clean.

Thanks guys,

I'll fill that gap, and a few more, but I'm not impressed.
Anyway, another ommission I found seems to be the airfilters on the rear? I'm no Sherman expert ( nooo, really? :-) ) but I thought that this Firefly had the Radial engine, with two airfilters hanging under the rear overhang of the deck, like in this pic.


And another question, would these hulls have had the sandshield strips along the edge?

Cheers
Henk

I don't think that sandsheilds were all that common on Fireflys. Just looking quickly through my references and I havn't seen one pic where they are present.

As for the filters. One book I am looking at says Fireflys which were converted from Sherman V's used 5 Chrysler petrol engines coupled together. On a side note this engine arrangement explains the longer hull and wider gap between the boogies.

Hope some of this helps.

Henk,

The M4A4 used a different engine, only radial engined (M4/M4A1) had the air filters.

Looks good so far mate, the PE really adds to the kit

regards

Joe

Cheers Joe and Jeff, that clears that up. That only leaves the colour to be decided on... opening can to free worms now...

There's too many different Shermans out there.. :-)

Cheers
Henk

Hey Henk- Firefly colours eh?
As far as I am aware they were SCC15, but I have seen references where they claim that running gear/ lower hulls would be US OD and only the bits modified by British workshops overpainted in SCC15. Having said that I would've thought that it'spretty rare if indeed it is the case..
SCC15 overall I say, with any differences arising in the field... I stand as ever though, ready to be thoroughly corrected!

MC

Managed to get most of it done last night, just a few handles etc to do. I bought a Resicast Crew which I hoped would set this off nicely, but the torso's are to short to properly fill the large cuppola.. . And there they wrong shape/position for the driver/co-driver hatches.. . Never mind, I think I'll use one in the loaders hatch anyway.


it's
MG in 'stowed' position, showing of the brass bracket.
Did the Firefly have all the periscope brackets on the hatches or not? There's no reference in the instructions.

MC, SCC15.. what would be the Tamiya equivalent? I've use Olive Green in the past for a Churchill I did, but that was so heavily weathered and mudded (??) that the original color was only vaguely noticable on the turret..

Thanks for your continued help and interest...

Henk

Henk,

Most fireflies didnt have the wire periscope guards, they were usually produced using early low bustle turrets.

As for the colour, all fireflies will have been SCC15. When US made vehicles arrived, any that required modification etc would have been repainted.

British OD was more green than US, and tended to fade more of a greyish green than Brown like the US one.

If you are using Tamiya paints, try a lightened OD over sprayed with Khaki Drab - Thats what i use.

Regards

Joe

Hi (again).
As for the Tamiya colours for SCC15 I don't know (I use enamels), but it probably tells you over on the MAFVA website.
The MG on the cupola ring was usually omitted in action... which is a shame considering the job you've made... although again, there are always exceptions with British Shermans!
MC

Looking good from here. I believe I'm one of the few that has'nt tried the Dragon kits.
Good job

Hi Henk...I'm getting here kinda late but if it is not to late the skids on top of the bogies should be stretched out a bit more as the bolts should be quite close to the front end of the bogey. The .50 cal was rarely used by the brits but it can happen . If I were you I'd change that shovel ...the tools are one of the weakest points on the kit . Lastly for the Tamiya paint mix ,I used a mix of OD and olive green with a dab of Khaki drab mixed in and then lightened it up using desert sand for the post shading .

Rick

Thanks Rick, I'll have to leave the skids as they are, I hope that the mud which will be applied to cover the open backs of the wheels ( ) will cover these little imperfections aswel.. . I'll have a dig through my spare box for a shovel.

Did I mention the headlights yet? No? I tried to forget, but it's impossible. They must be the headlights, as the numbers on the sprue match with the instructions, and the headlights are in that position. I do know that much about Shermans . So I don't know what the bod at Dragon who is responsible for those headlights is chewing, but it's potent stuff.. . These 'headlights' are THE worst I've come across in any kit I've built. That includes MAtchbox, Heller, Italeri, Tamiya, ESCI, Academy, AFV Club, CMK, Azimut, Revell, and a few more I can't remember off hand...
I think I may remove them, but was that a common practise or am I just adding another ' possible but not likely' to the list?

And another question, the Hull MG? mounted or not?

Thanks for your patience and help

Sleep tight
Henk

The hull MG is never there on a firefly they had to remove the radio operator to make room for the larger Ammo for the 17lb gun...I hadn't noticed the lights as I plan to replace them anyway with Formations lights with the MV lenses. Have fun with your paint job ...let's see some more pictures when you've finished.

Rick

Guys, I'm not much of a tank builder but I have just started the DML Sherman Firefly and have a couple of quick questions:

From my research I believe that British armor (in NW Europe) was painted Khaki Drab (Humbrol 159) up until Aug-Sep 44, at which point they switched to Bronze Green (Humbrol 30). Is this correct?

When building my Firefly should I assemble the running gear before painting it or after? It sure looks to be a messy job to try and paint it after it’s assembled, so how do you experts do it?

Henk, I have a good reference on British armor and the others are correct, the .50cal was rarely seen on the Firefly, although it was common the Sherman V

Cheers
Darren

In an FSM issue (I know I'm obsessed with it), a guy built it and had the same problem. I think he replaced the part with sheet styrene and a section of the part from an Academy Sherman, but I think cutting it from sheet styrene, sawing off the flat part, snading the other part's inner side thin, gluing the sheet piece.
I'll try to show you what I mean, but it's gonna be hard...

Gday Henk
What is the quality of the Top Brass PE set? Have yet to dabble in PE for my M4s, but this looks good to me. Want to go all out on my next big steel can
Brad

HI Henk-
the easiest (or perhaps that should read 'cheapest':) ) way I use to improve the headlights is to drilll them out and paint the inside silver you can then leave it as is and weather to look broken or add a piece of shaped clear plastic from sprue or whatever. Problem I have doing that is that it's difficult to get the clear part in without fogging, so I tend to end up with headlamps full of 'condensation'.

Back to the MG, I think that most of the 'AA' MGs to be seen are on Polish vehicles, and here is what the hull mg blank would look like:
http://www.d-daytanks.org.uk/images/exhibits/4238-E-6.jpg http://www.around.ntl.sympatico.ca/~toby/sherman.jpg
http://kiwisinarmour.hobbyvista.com/images/firefly.jpg