YHR

I have been plugging away at detailing this tank. Washes, highlights, wear spots, weathering tracks and trying to find just the right amout of stowage. I think I am getting close to calling it done,

YHR

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borealis

It gets better evey time you put your hands on it, beautiful

swathdiver

Nice work! BUT!! One thing is missing! You need one of these, an AL-140 or AL-141. No Allied tank would be caught without one.

killick64

Nice! ...Have you painted up another "Backdrop"? Is that the sun up in the sky, or a "reflection"? Neat effect, either way!

YHR

???? You got me. I have no idea what one of those is! You must enlightnen me.

Re Backdrop

THis is a sheet of cloud cardstock I bought from Micheals. I then just painted on hills on the lower 3rd to represent a European countryside field. The sun is a reflection off my photo lights. Not planned, but I noticed the effect as well.

Does anyone have a link to that website that allowed you to take a digital picture and it would doctor it up to look like an old wartime photo?? I want to run a couple of these through the process.

googlydoogly

This one?
http://labs.wanokoto.jp/olds

Great job on the Firefly! I hope to build one some day too.

YHR

I don't know if that was the site I was thinking about, but the result is the same. Thanks

gigantohawk

Yeah, it is the site you were thinking about. All the same it looks fabulous whether in period black and white or colour.

swathdiver

Aww come on, you're even goin gto look it up? You need an air identification panel.

Elefant

Very impressive model you have here ! I love the BW shots !!!
THUMB UP

Your work inspires me a lot for my own conversion.

pattoncommander

Beautiful job. That looks so realistic and the weathering is great. Very nice backdrop which does nothing but enhance the fine work you have put into it. Swathy means air ID panels, issued to every tank. Used on the tank or on the ground in patterns to indicate position or direction. Colors use varries, depending on higher echelon.

swathdiver

The panels were orange, arc yellow AL-141-B and neon red (cerise) AL-140-B on one side and white on the other. They were 6'x30" or 12'x30". Allied vehicles carried the orange one during D-Day and later both the yellow and red and were supposed to switch them depending on the orders of the day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UanUEfC8f-4

Check out the video of them on vehicles.

WhiteWolf McBride

My Feedback: (3)

Lesse...

That would make using ribbon of 1 & 7/8" perfect, in either 4.5 or 9" lengths. As for white backing, just stick white ribbon to the back with double-sided tape.

I used to use red ribbon on my antennas so people dinna poke 'emselves when they looked at my models, and the writing on 'em got a laugh. They were 'MADD' (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) ribbons, and got the most attention on my wheel'd buggies.

As for the orange, you can often fine orange hazard tapes laying about on the ground after events, as they use it to mark off areas. As its nylon and not woven, it could be cut/narrow'd to size w/ an Xacto/OLFA knife.

pattoncommander

James,

Thanks for the update on those Panels. I had forgtotten a lot about them. They were just another piece of OVM that rarely got used, but had to be there. Had them on every tank, but only recall using them 2 times...once in korea and once in Germany. Popping smoke was easier and faster and didn't have to worry about color changes. They used them a lot in vietnam.


Great Video. Have never seen so many Greyhounds in one place. Not fun to drive as the transmission shifter is backwards and awkward to operate. Nice to see so many running and wonder why there weren't a couple M-20s with them.

JerB

Hey Dan

I was in the hobby shop today and saw they had a FOV Sherman, $649 dollars [:-] Looks impressive in person though. I dont think I could get the nerve up to crack it open and make it a RC model though,lol

Jeremy

YHR

Surfing on the net I came across this FireFly and noticed that the rear deck has the hinged opening M4A3 rear deck lids. The cast transmission cover is three piece, so that is a difference, but it isn't hard to imagine a battle damaged cover getting replaced with a one piece casting. It is carrying Canadian colors as well. ?????? Maybe you don't have to use much imagination for this modelled Firefly to be prototypically correct.

So were there M4A3 Fireflies in Canadian service,or is this just a museum wonder.??????? What I have read so far would lead me to believe no, but on a Sherman website, somebody was claiming to have uncovered some information on some wartime conversion records that there was. IS this one of them?.

[link=http://www.peachmountain.com/5star/tanks_Sherman_Firefly_tank.aspx]Firefly[/link]

Also note the casting numbers. So no sanding and filing off the numbers on the Tamiya Sherman , OK!!!!!!!

edoubleaz

My Feedback: (1)

What you have there is an M4A2 (diesel engined) hull with direct vision. In commonwealth service a Sherman III. I don't know if there were many of these but fireflies were built on M4, M4 Hybrid, and M4A4 hulls. This seems to be a museum combination of surviving parts. If it were up to me I would have tried to get an early 75mm turret and restored it as an El Alemain Shermna but I digress.

YHR

This looks exaclty like the M4A3 hull to me. What is the features that identify this as an M4A2???? I need to improve my recognition skills on Shermans.

Website says this is a a legit tank?. I also have reference books that state there were many Firefly Sherman III's I also think that because fireflies were hybrids who knows what went into them as they were going through the transformation process.. A part from here , a part from there.

YHR

OK I spotted the "See thru" on the front hatches. What else.????

killick64

Engine Deck..!! The grilles and all those "gas caps" are unique to the M4A2 (the diesel engined Sherman).
Here's a "walkaround" of the Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) M4A2, "Catherine" :

http://s87.photobucket.com/albums/k1...ceboy/SHERMAN/

And here's the "Real" Catherine, leading C Squadron up from the Imjin River in Korea . -an M4A3E8 !