Tasca Sherman Firefly Mk VC

[Adam Durrant]

The brush guards were introduced some time in late 1943 when production of the M4A4 was ending, so the vast majority wouldn't have them fitted.

Philipp

Sweet, I was either going to have to use the kit PE offering or try to solder up something in brass.

[Adam Durrant]

All done on the basic build, including the tracks. Turns out you need 88 per side not 80, should have seen this coming as the Firefly has the "stretched" hull. This does, however, use every link in the set with no spares.

The Ak "cast" product is really good, dries fast, and can be removed with water whilst still wet. This makes clean up pretty quick.





The version Im building had some angle iron extensions off the final drive housing. Not sure what they were for (any ideas?). Tasca don't give you the angle iron between them that I assume is for stowage. Luckily I had the correct size "u" channel in my styrene box.

The Aber barrel is way better than the one provided.

I'm going to add some welds with putty, then primer.

...I can see why Shermans are addictive

[Vincent Power]

Looks great Adam.

Vincent

[Mark Aldrich]

Nicely Done. I believe the fender mounts and hull side attachments were for something called a Houseboat or a form of applique armor.

[Adam Durrant]

So, primer on (Mr Surfacer 1500 out of the rattle can)...



A few issues identified and corrected. Weld lines around the appliqué armour look good. The cast texture from AK also looks convincing. Modulation with the Ammo basic Olive Drab set...



VMS acrylic gloss varnish (love it, works very well) and decals on, all bedded down with MicroSet and MicroSol



Will give it a couple of coats of VMS Satin varnish to unify it all and then on with weathering

[Adam Durrant]

Quick question, from a Sherman novice, I assume that the return rollers on the bogies are metal, not rubber? Pics on the net are unclear and a YouTube video on servicing the return roller suggests they are a solid lump of cast steel.

[Philipp Gross]

Yep, they are solid metal, and so are the idlers. Only the roadwheels have rubber.

Nice paintjob by the way, sorry I'm two months late with that observation

Philipp

[Adam Durrant]

Thanks Phil. Since those pics I’ve done a bunch of initial chipping after dot filters. Too many projects on the bench at the moment and I need to clear some space!

[Vincent Power]

Have you done any more on the Firefly Adam?

Cheers,
Vincent

[Mark Aldrich]

Adam,
The AK casting. Was it just brushed on or did you stipple it? I am going to have to do the same trick with my M31 (the three piece cast transmission cover [like all three piece transmission covers] is made of three pieces that did not join well at all).