introduction

One of the problems/advantages of being a Sherman fan is that you never tire of building them, and your stash grows compulsively as you struggle to keep up with the new releases. Although US and Comonwealth markings evolved and changed during the war, sometimes the changes are so subtle that a certain amount of Olive Drab fatigue can set in so you have to look further afield for inspiration to help you reduce the stash.

Thankfully there are Sherman fans out there doing research into Sherman usage and markings during and after WW2 and these decals are the result of such an investigation by Greg Buechler, Mike Stevenson and Moustaffa Assad in cooperation with Military Modelcraft International Magazine.

The Decals

Each set of decals come in a clear sealed plastic envelope. As well as the decals you get two A4 instruction sheets, a set of religious icon photos on photo paper that can be reduced to 1/35 scale, and a set of photocopied party logos and party leader photos on paper to add to the Militia tanks also.

The decals cover four different uses of the Firefly in Lebanon.

Sheet 1:

■ The Lebanese Army 1954-1980
■ The Arab Army of the Lebanon Mutiny 1976

Sheet 2:

■ Al Mourabetoun Militia 1978-80
■ The Phalange Militia 1973-78

In sheet 1 for The Lebanese Army and Arab Army of the Lebanon we get license plates, slogans for the tank side and turret as well as tank numbers in Arabic script, and what I think are weight classification numbers on yellow circles. There are also small decals of sprayed silhouettes of Palestine that can be added to the hull sides.

Sheet 2 for the Militia Tanks gives us slogans and posters, painted over army license plates, two variations of the Phalange Militia cedar tree symbol as well as hand painted white crosses.

The decals are printed by Begemot for Bison Decals to their usual high standard and are in perfect register.

The Instruction sheets are very good and contain painting instructions as well as a lot of information as to any changes made to the tanks during their service, as well as tips on weathering and the correct track types to use.

Although the early Lebanese Army Fireflys were used in the configuration they arrived in, to convert your model to a later version you would really need to read the accompanying articles in Military Modelcraft International Magazine for December and January or you can ask the authors of the article for help in this thread on which replacement kit parts to use.

I have a couple of Fireflys set aside and I’ll be using these decals sets on them over the Christmas holidays at which time I’ll add a build log link to this review.

Conclusion

This is a very useful set of decals for Sherman fans and is a great example of what is possible with cooperation between modelers, magazines and decal producers. The decal sets are free when you subscribe to the magazine or you can order them separately from the Magazine's website.