in-progress pictures of dragon's sherman firefly Vc. nice kit..but there's some discrepancy in the instruction regarding the suspension assembly. the gun barrel is warppie and too long so i replaced and shorten it with turned steel shaft..scratchbuild it in our shop. sorry guys..can't find any aluminum rod. the barrel is heavy so i glued some lead on the turret as counterwieght.









the turned steel barrel is 5mm shorter. no problem with the PE parts and indi-tracks. the firefly has lots of spare parts that can be use to convert M4s waiting for assembly. comments and suggestions are welcome.

Great looking Firefly Liberator

I got that very kit as a Christmas gift and loved it , well apart from those indi tracks :-) :-) :-)
Unfortunately I didnt find out about the barrel length issue till after mine was finished , oh well.

Do you intend to do anything regarding the recessed hull weld seams ?



Ian

I'm just about done with mine.....if you're going to go to the lengths of changing out the barrel, etc., there are some other, much more glaring problems with the kit that you have not yet addressed:

1. The location of the pistol port/empty shell port is too high. The locating hull is too high on the turret. Easiest fix is removing the pin on the back of the hatch and the putting the whole thing were it belongs.

2. Weld seams (already mentioned) should be raised. Easiest fix with styrene rod, liquid cement, a hobby knife, and patience.

3. I filled that gap at the bottom right front of the turret. It's supposed to be depicting a later turret with thickened cheek armor, except the CHEEK ISN'T ACTUALLY THICKER ON THE KIT! So you have to thicken it yourself w/putty or fill in that gap.

4. The sandshield skirts molded along the bottom edge of upper hull are horrible! They have molded on bolts (which should only be there if the skirts are fitted!) and a seam running the whole length. I cut mine off, carefully, with a knife and added my own of styrene strip, drilling holes in the appropriate places with a pin vise.

5. The fire extiguishers were actually mounted on a L shaped bracket, not just attached to the hull as depicted in the kit. Styrene strip an easy fix.

That's all I noticed at first glance. Good luck with the rest of it.
Rob

some more pictures..









reshaped the hatches..added details on turret and hull..indi tracks completed and closed. tiedowns made of copper wire. more pictures..









i'm still working on the hatches..reshaping them is quite a challenge.

Hi Liberator ...don't forget to add the plug to the front of the hull MG position...it was blanked off on the firefly..

Rick

hi guys, oh yes..the cover on the MG port. thanks again. here's the completed model of the firefly....









comments and tips are welcome..thanks for viewing.

Looking good! As a Firefly freak, I'll add some comments on the kit for all to ponder for their next build.
1.The mantlet sits .050" too high, and needs to be repositioned. This means hogging out the lower turret front and filling the new gap at the top with styrene.
2. Replace the barrel with Rubio, Eduard, or CMD. Don't mess around with the kit barrel.
3. Replacing the recessed weld seams with styrene strip is easy. However, use epoxy putty to add the seam around the Hull MG plug.
4. The turret base at the rear is incorrect, and needs to be filed down to a circular profile.
5. The short antenna goes in the base with the wire basket, the tall one in the conical one.
6. Pistol port can be left off entirely.
7. If you are really crazy (and I am), a trunnion/breech set from an Academy Achilles will fit nicely with suitable modifications like twisting the breech opening 90 degrees. Building a turret basket is tough, and I still am not quite sure how to replicate the elevation mechanism. Hope to wheedle my way inside the tank at Bovington next year...

Regardless of the tweeks needed, mighty fine job I must say. the faded paintwork looks real good to me.

Good job

Liberator:

Your firefly looks good. Almost makes me want to make a Sherman :-) .
I really like the look of the tracks. Were they hard to assemble?

hi guys, thanks for the comments and tips. the tracks were okay and easy to build..if you're planning to build one..just make sure to check on how and where to place the suspension assembly. the part (V4) a suspension plate which is still a mystery if i have to or not to glue in the suspension assembly. but i did and it went well. instruction sheet was kind a misleading in some ways. double check them before making a final fit. kinda tricky and it may affect the alignment of the tracks. and also check the clearance of the drive gears.this will be the turning point..my advice is to put a spacer between the gears and side transmission covers so that the gears and tracks will not touch the front fenders. just one note on the dragon's transmission housing..it's a little narrow by a few millimeters.
thanks again.