This tank actually was airborne after my encounter with the stairs the other day, so it has earned the Fly part of it's name.

Detailing commenced once I had repaired the damage from the short flight. I also added bearings on the idlers.

Nice work !!!

Finally a REAL RC Sherman Firefly!
Truly a one-of-a-kind masterpiece

Really nice work, especially the metal appearance of the tank. Two things though, really distract from the otherwise very reaslistic appearance... the stowed canvas items should not be directly laying over the engine vents. The Sherman is already overloaded with the new heavier gun and the extra tracks for added protection and coverering the vents would drastically overheat the engine. [&:]Exhaust etc exited between the air cleaners at the rear, but there is nowhere else on the Sherman for intake vents. The other is painting the inside of the hatches white.. absolutely a BIG no-no. [:@]Hatches have to be the same color as the exterior. When opened, they do not wave a big "here I am" flag, and when buttoned up, the darker color pointed the location in a smoke and panic filled interior. Do you have it motorised? Looks great.

No air cleaners at the rear for the A3 V-8 version as this is.

Panther F, incorrect....490hp Ford GAA engines were suppied only as of the M-4A3E8 with HVVS. Nearly all Fireflys (Sherman VC) were converted from M-4A4 (Sherman V) with Chrysler multi bank engines..30 cylinders developing 370 NHP. Small amounts were built from other models, but exact numbers are vague. YHR's Firefly is an early M-4A3 with VVSS, so the multi bank would have been there, or possibly the old Whirlwind, in either case the air cleaners would still be at the upper corners of the rear access area. The early M-4A3 hull would not accomodate the larger Ford GAA.

Here is some more video. The details aren't good, but it shows this tank moving around. Also this sucker is really LOUD, I mounted a 3" speaker facing down with about 1" of "space" between the speaker and the floor of the tank. This really improved the acoustics of the Heng Long sound chip, and gives it a much throatier sound.

[link=http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=cHypijsDgN4]Sherman in the snow[/link]

Here's a picture of the 1/16 FOV M4A3 engine area:



Looks like a Ford V-8 to me pattoncommander, so it is you that is incorrect.

VVSS M4A3 Shermans did have Ford V-8's, read up on it here: http://afvdb.50megs.com/usa/m4sherman.html#M4A3(75)W and, The Ford GAA was used in the M4A3 (1,690), M4A3(75)W (3,071), M4A3(76)W (1,400), M4A3 (105) (500), M4A3E5 (254), M4A3(76)W (3,142), M4A3(105) HVSS (2,539), M10A1 (1,413), and M7B1 (826).

Pick up a book and read!

excellent model yhr, i just wish heng long, or god forbid tamiya would release a firefly, the only allied tank that could kill a tiger or panther at a resonable range i thing deseves a model of it!.
Anyone know of news on the heng long offering????

Looks great YHR, I bought a book about the Canadian South Alberta Regiment. It had great detail on the people, tanks and life of the regiment. They were also in the area when Wittman met his end and one scenario has them delivering the killing blow. From the pics I seen they used German tracks for extra armor, it sometimes got quite ugly looking, I posted some pics from the book in the thread on my build if you wanna take a look [link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_5886153/anchors_5886153/mpage_1/key_canadian%252Cfirefly/anchor/tm.htm#5886153]Here[/link].

Gotta agree with Panther F here...

The A3 hull was the A3 partially because it HAD the Ford GAA engine - damned hull was designed to accomodate THAT engine. The M4 & M4A1's had the Continentinal R975's (radial aircraft units) the A2's had the GM 6046 diesels, and the A4's had the Chrysler A57 Multibank beasts (and was noticably longer because of it too!)

Only deviations from this that I'm aware of were post-war, when the Israeli's began their tweaking, and then it was 'Katey bar the door'.

I'll accept the multiple references off the AFVDB site over any undocumented statement anyday, especially when their first reference is the so-called Hunnicutt 'Sherman Bible'.

Care to document your statement with some references?

Found these pis of a Fire Fly bu I'm not sure if it's YHR's kind-

Well...


Caption says its a VC, makiong it an M4A4 hull, so that would be a no. It had the Chrysler Multibank beast, and was the longest of the Sherman models Not counting barrel protrusion, of course)

Kind of off note, but YHR how does this Picaso look in scale next to a Tiger 1 or even your Stug III?

The Blitz

I've probably seen them. Some of those Tiger tracks were hastily installed to say the least. I went for the official 31 links were allowed on each side, with something like 22 on the front and 26 on the turret.

Here is a comparison shot

Thanks,

That's not bad at all,,, it can pass for same scale! And great white wash wintering on the Tiger 1 very realistic looking!

The Blitz

Interesting.

Thanks


Well it should, it is the same scale!!!!!

Duh,

Hence the name 1/16th Firefly,,, I guess I Assumed it was 1/18th,,, where did you say you got this baby?

The Blitz

There is one on ebay right now. Die Cast, Forces of Valor,1/16 scale Sherman

Incredible job !!!
Could you confirm the reference of the FOV model you converted ? Is it the 85007 ?

Thanks in advance

Panher F....you are right and I was totally negligent in not checking references instead of relying on my own limited time with Shermans. The subject matter though, was the engine in the Firefly which was the Chrysler multibank. Along with Hunnicutt,(pg 550), Hogg & Weeks Enclopedia of Military Vehicles (pg 109) also states that most all Fireflys were made from M-4A4s. What threw a monkey wrench into this was the fact that YHR used an M-4A3 with VVSS for his,(as I did with my 1;18 scale Cent 21 sherman.) Not many A4s out there and it would be a major undertaking to extend the chasis and retain the lines etc. Since Fireflys were made until 1947, in theory, a few could have been made from a later A3, but by 1946-47 all Shermans had HVVS, except a very few NG units and a few M-4 105s with VVSS and a number of M-32 VTRs, which leaves YHR's great looking Sherman VC with out-of-era suspension, tracks and added protection tracks.

George Forty's M-4 Sherman lists three types of firefly, (pg 87-88) Sherman IIC,= M-4A1 with 17 pdr, Sherman IVC=M-4A3 with 17 pdr and Sherman VC= M-4A4, of which most were built. Unfortunately no additional dates, tech data or numbers are given other that a table of details on the Mk IV of Mk VII gun. Engine breakdown is on pg 95, with no correlation to any particular tanks. It would be interesting to learn about Firefly IVCs that were built, and when. No indication as to suspension was listed by Forty..

Nevertheless, YHR has a great looking Firefly with a lot of nice detailing. Leave the engine grills closed and don't crank it up and it'll sneak by OK.

That is one great looking tank - nice one!

Shep

I spent some more time doing some detailing, and adding stowage. That is what I liked most about wartime tanks, and the Sherman in particular, stowage everywhere.

I also discovered candle wick for rope. It has a small wire in it and it is great for tying things down.