RFM Sherman Firefly

[BlrwestSiR]

12 hours ago, Bomber_County said:

Go on Carl, muddy, dusty and generally weather beaten all over............

Well the reference photo that I have for the tank is during the victory parade in the Netherlands and it's all clean and shiny...

I do have some pics of other tanks in the division from slightly earlier in time and they're more typical looking as far as gear storage and weathering so we'll see.

[belugawhaleman]

looks good so far. And so quick! I didn't know about this model brand before,

it looks like a very nice kit.

[BlrwestSiR]

@belugawhaleman, Rye Field Models hasn't been around too long. They're a fairly new company. Their first release was a Panther G with a full interior. There's something like 1700 parts in that kit. So far, I'm impressed with the kit and the way it's going together.

[BlrwestSiR]

I continued adding more of the detail bits to the hull.

Much of the PE has their location marked on the hull which is great. 

I then continued on with the paint job. 

With it being just a single colour, SCC15, I decided to try and add some modulation to it. 

I think it worked out. 

[Kaireckstadt]

58 minutes ago, BlrwestSiR said:

I continued adding more of the detail bits to the hull.

Much of the PE has their location marked on the hull which is great. 

I then continued on with the paint job. 

With it being just a single colour, SCC15, I decided to try and add some modulation to it. 

I think it worked out. 

This absolutely worked out! Looks really convincing! 
You are also using AK Real Colors? Me too, they are simply beautiful!

[Bomber_County]

2 hours ago, BlrwestSiR said:

I continued adding more of the detail bits to the hull.

Looking great Carl, the modulation certainly did work. How do you find the AK, being lacquer are they very pungent?

[GazzaS]

That looks great, Carl!  Love the way the forward light guards came out. Pieces like that always give me trouble.

[Kaireckstadt]

1 hour ago, GazzaS said:

That looks great, Carl!  Love the way the forward light guards came out. Pieces like that always give me trouble.

Didn’t realize these lights and their protection frame. Nice details (and well done!).

I have a question, Carl:

What do these markings on the body mean? Is it production data? 
Nice detail! Haven’t seen this before! 

[BlrwestSiR]

8 hours ago, Kaireckstadt said:

This absolutely worked out! Looks really convincing! 
You are also using AK Real Colors? Me too, they are simply beautiful!

Thanks Kai! I like the AK paints very much as they spray wonderfully.

6 hours ago, Bomber_County said:

Looking great Carl, the modulation certainly did work. How do you find the AK, being lacquer are they very pungent?

Thanks! The AK paints are a bit more pungent than Mr Color but not as strong as the new Tamiya lacquer paint. They can react to Tamiya X20A thinner a bit if you let sit too long on the surface.

[BlrwestSiR]

10 hours ago, GazzaS said:

That looks great, Carl!  Love the way the forward light guards came out. Pieces like that always give me trouble.

Thanks Gaz! Rye Field gives you a template to form thr light guards around. It's similar to the one Asuka include in their kits but theyve given it a more positive fit for the PE to sit in whike you form it.

 

8 hours ago, Kaireckstadt said:

Didn’t realize these lights and their protection frame. Nice details (and well done!).

I have a question, Carl:

What do these markings on the body mean? Is it production data? 
Nice detail! Haven’t seen this before! 

Those are foundry marks on the actual tank. Thjs way they know which factory cast those parts.

10 hours ago, GazzaS said:

 

 

[BlrwestSiR]

Working on all the tracks used as armour. These are from a Dragon Firefly VC kit. 

Making different length runs and fitting them to the front of the hull. 

In one photo I found of a Sherman V belonging to the same division, they had some of the end links on backwards for some reason. I've decided to do the same here for some variety. 

[Peterpools]

Carl

Beautiful work on the Sherman - looking mighty good. Oh, those tracks, just know if I could eer muster up the discipline to build the tracks!

I've always wanted to try my hand at armor and might just give it a go later this year.

Keep 'em comin

Peter

[BlrwestSiR]

Thanks @Peterpools! 

Give an armour kit a try. Some come with link and length tracks so aren't as hard to put together. 

I'd suggest maybe one of the Takom Blitz series of kits to get your feet wet.

Carl

[Peterpools]

Carl

I've been thinking about it for a long time and have my eye and have a short lists of which one I want to try. Just might give it a go  after I finish the Sufa, I'll give it a go.

Peter

 

[BlrwestSiR]

Okay, I spent more time working on the track armour. I got all the different lengths of track all glued together. While it was partly set, I put it into position and bent it accordingly.

It's effectively a full run of tracks attached to the hull and turret. 

Once dry, I gave them a coat of paint. 

Once dry, they were glued into place on the hull. 

 

[Axeman]

This looks great!  What color of green did you use?  I see a light green bottle. 

[BlrwestSiR]

18 minutes ago, Axeman said:

This looks great!  What color of green did you use?  I see a light green bottle. 

Thanks! I used AK Real Color SCC15 olive drab. 

[Kaireckstadt]

3 hours ago, BlrwestSiR said:

Okay, I spent more time working on the track armour. I got all the different lengths of track all glued together. While it was partly set, I put it into position and bent it accordingly.

It's effectively a full run of tracks attached to the hull and turret. 

Once dry, I gave them a coat of paint. 

Once dry, they were glued into place on the hull. 

 

Great work on the tracks! 
These AK-Colors are really beautiful.
 

How did they fix the tracks on the real thing (no superglue available in 1945 )?

[DocRob]

Wow Carl, you build faster, than I can respond to your great build . The hull looks very good with the added PE details and modulated colour. All these extra tracks must have been a burden for the undercarriage, but they sure add some drama.

Cheers Rob

[BlrwestSiR]

8 hours ago, Kaireckstadt said:

How did they fix the tracks on the real thing (no superglue available in 1945 )?

Thanks! The tracks were welded onto the hull. There are pics where you can see the weld marks after the tracks were removed. 

[BlrwestSiR]

4 hours ago, DocRob said:

Wow Carl, you build faster, than I can respond to your great build . The hull looks very good with the added PE details and modulated colour. All these extra tracks must have been a burden for the undercarriage, but they sure add some drama.

Cheers Rob

Thanks Rob! The weight from the extra  track made the duckbill extenders pretty much mandatory.

Going through my reference book on the Firefly, I've noticed one that is built on an Easy Eight chassis! The photo is captioned as showing a group of Fireflies built for the US Army but didn't mention the types of Firefly (Ic, Ic hybrid, VC) I always thought the HVSS Firefly was mythical. Guess I need to get another one...

[Peterpools]

Carl

Nice progress and building the tracks - yikes, what a job.

Keep 'em comin

Peter

[BlrwestSiR]

Thanks @Peterpools! The extra tracks aren't too bad to assemble. Just a bunch of cleanup mostly.

 

 

[BlrwestSiR]

The duckbills arrived yesterday. 

As expected, they're made to fit Bronco tracks only so fortunately I had the foresight to grab a set of those at the same time. 

The Bronco tracks are more pieces than the Rye Field ones with 5 parts per track- front and back pads, one pivot, two end links. 

The duckbill set replaces one end link and they're keyed to fit the ends of the pivots. 

I ended up assembling the pads and pivots first so everything stays flat and then adding the end links on after. 

So far after 4 hours, I've got one side almost done. 

[Peterpools]

Carl

... can't believe you're doing a set set of tracks with individual links -talk about dedication to a build.

Looking fantastic

Keep 'em comin

Peter