Sherman Based Vehicles

[John Hale]

Out of curiousity John, is there a reason why you didn't use the DML Normandy M4?

Chris

Yeah Chris, It's because I've turned into a Tasca snob. Besides, I didn't have a DML Normandy kit available in the stash.

[Chris Smith]

My contribution to the group madness will be this,



but as I want it to look something like this



I will have a bit of work to do. I've got the Eduard Achilles set, brass ammo from Armorscale and AFV Club, tracks from Bronco, stowage from Legend, decals from Accurate Armour and I'll be hitting my spares from AFV Club and Bronco for things like the No. 19 Wireless Set, fire extinguishers etc.

Chris

[John Hale]

Looking forward to that project Chris!

[Philipp Gross]

Some great stuff all of you have

Since I'm a little tired on working on the suspension or hull of a Sherman right now for reasons you can probably imagine, I decided to start on the turret of my Firefly, which is also the part were most of the conversion work has to be done.



Regrettably the Firefly gun mount was a little too small, so I had to fill the gap with styrene strips and putty. Notice the cast-in cheek reinforcement bulge. I'm impressed....



The RB Model 17 pounder surely must have the most elaborate mounting of any aftermarket barrel ever...

Philipp

[Shawn Ramsey]

Chris- I will be following this for sure. I can't tell you how many times I have picked this kit up to buy then put it back down again. Plus you have all the goodies to go along with it.

Philipp- Already fit problems huh. I hope things get better for you. That barrel looks massive.

Shawn

[Mark Aldrich]

Wow I am soooooooooooooo far behind the power curve. Won't be touching mine until Tuesday probably! Great progress so far!

[Philipp Gross]

Shawn: I guess fit problems aren't very surprising when you bash together pieces from different kits. It's all not really a problem and the rest of the kit should be just fine. Famous last words...

Mark: If it's any help, I'll be on vacation later in september. Yo can catch up then

Philipp

[Mark Aldrich]

Thanks! I might need it!

[John Hale]

After building 4 other Shermans this year (1 Tamiya and 3 Dragon kits), It feels good to be cutting plastic on Tasca again.

I started with the lower hull from Asuka’s Firefly Ic kit. The reference photo shows Hurricane with the late sharp nose transmission so one was installed from TMD.


This photo shows the hull dry fitted and every thing is playing nice.

[Philipp Gross]

Nice start John. It's so very obvious how much better Tasca Shermans are compared to everything else.

Progress on the high bustle Firefly turret:





As usual it's basically impossible to assemble a Sherman turret without generous portions of putty, but thankfully it's not that difficult.

The cast texture on the turret roof was well intended but is enourmously oversized, I reduced it with some putty on the roughest spots and of course more sanding.

With the basic turret shell now complete, it's on to the various fittings.

Philipp