Sherman IC Firefly
Between 1942 and 1944, the British lacked a main battle tank that could compete with their German counterparts. German armour was evolving at a pace that the British could not catch up with. To fill that void, the British used Lend-Lease M4 "Sherman" tanks from the Americans.
There are many variants of Sherman tanks in the usage of the Allies, but the most successful must be the British "Firefly" variant, rearming the Sherman tank with their battle proven 17 pdr. anti-tank gun. Vehicles armed with the 17 pdr. gun was suffixed with a "C". The letter "B" suffix was used for vehicles armed with the 105mm howitzer.
The British Firefly tanks were based on a variety of Sherman chassis. The most common is the Sherman VC Firefly, based on the longer wheel-based M4A4. The next most common was the Sherman IC Firefly, based on the early M4 chassis. My model is based on this particular model.
My model was built with an Italeri/ESCI Sherman M4A1 plastic model kit, and an ARMO Sherman IC Firefly resin and photoetch conversion kit. The vehicle crew are from Antony Barton (Crew in battle dress - Set 1). You can find an article about the building of this vehicle at Step by Step - Sherman Firefly IC.
I airbrushed the vehicle in Olive Drab before dusting it over slightly in an Olive Green. I blackwashed the model to get more definition. Later, I drybrushed it in Khaki and weathered it in Buff.
I painted the crew with a red sleeve tag, to represent the Royal Irish or Welsh Guards. The commander still has time for a cuppa. Another embellishment is the spare bogie wheel on the superstructure.
Since I paint the models for wargaming, I usually paint the shafts of the entrenching tools Brown. It adds more colour the the model. You can see the spare tracks hung on the side of the turret, and a dented rusty "Flimsey" water can on the mudguard. I used that to cover a gap between the resin superstructure and the plastic mudguard. It is also from AB figures.
A counterweight is installed in the rear of the turret to balance the much heavier gun. I added an Allied star to the back of the counterweight. From photo references of Cromwell tanks in the Guards Armoured Division, I have seen the use of these symbols in the rear of the turret. Since my Firefly is attached to a Cromwell troop, I applied the decal there too.
Here you can see the wavy camouflage paint under the 17 pdr. gun barrel, to make the tank gun seem shorter. The tank chassis number is taken from the Revell Cromwell IV kit and is inaccurate.
I added the applique armour with plasticard.
The Italeri Sherman M4A1 kit comes with both vinyl and link and length tracks. I used the vinyl tracks for the vehicle and glued the link and length track to the turret. The tactical marking on this side of the turret was painted on, because I ran out.
This kit took me a lot of work, but I am very happy with how it turned out.
© 2004-2006 Michael Sng Woei Shyong. All Rights Reserved.