justaspitcrazy!

Job done chaps! RFI link here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234993491-old-dragon-sherman-firefly-mk1c-hybrid-9037/ Thanks again to everyone who followed along, it's been a long but pleasurable experience. Onto Tamiya's brand new M4A3E8 next! Cheers, Ben.

Hi all. Had fun with this one! The kit certainly had it's issues but still builds into a decent model with some modelling flare. It's been built as a display piece for a veteran sherman radio operator of the east riding yeomanry and is a tribute to him really. WIP link here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234977297-old-dragon-135-sherman-firefly-1c-hybrid-9037-teaching-an-old-dog-new-tricks/ There's a couple of shots below that show the model without the track cleats highlighted in steel but the rest are after i've done it. Just used some of the best photo's i have of her really. Anyway, enjoy Cheers all, hope you like her. Ben.

Must admit the tree was bought off evilbay. Trees are far beyond my skill. However, it's not cheating is it? After all Mozart composed beautiful music but he damn sure never built his own piano! The hedge is my own work though. It's made from rubberised horse hair.

Cheers Stix

Cheers Chris! Couldn't have done it without you selling me the kit mate!

Cheers

Ok! So, calling this one 99.9% done! All she needs is a bit of graphite rubbing onto to raised cleats of the tracks and she's ready to go to Allan. This is my first proper attempt at ground work so go easy lol! I started by filling a deep photo frame with Hombase ready mixed tile grout that was a beige colour. I then sprinkled it with modelling sand and stones and left it to dry. Took almost 5 days to fully set! Anyway I used my finger to carve out a furrow/ditch whilst it was semi set. Once dry I sprayed the base with Tamiya red brown and then flat earth, I then drybrushed the whole thing with Tamiya buff. After that I cut a section off one of MIG productions scenic matts. This one being pine forrest base. These were cut to shape into the corners and infront of the hedge then superglued in place. I can't reccomend these enough, they look great and make the task so much quicker, especially for people with less time such as me, having to juggle 2 young children and shift work. Next up it was out to the garden and I cut a few odds and ends of branches from the privet bushes and stuck them into the groudwork to make the framework of the hedge. This was then sprayed tamiya flat earth and then I shredded up some rubberised horse hair and stuck that over the top and in and out of the hedge framework. Behind this I drilled a hole and mounted the tree so as it hung over the bush slightly but didnt encroach on to the road. Next I sprinkled some laser cut oak leaves under the bush to simulate dry leaf litter and sprinkled some onto the track and into the ditch. These were fiked with AK interactives sand and gravel fixer. After that I used pigments to enhance the groundwork slightly, I used european earth and brick dust, again from MIG. The problem I had though was that where the grass matting met the road it came to too much of an abrupt end and you could see the matt underneath the grass. I solved this by sticking down some green static grass tufts all along the road edges by the ditch and hedge and this blended it all in nicely. Problem was they were a really vibrant green! I solved this with the next step. I heavily airbrushed the grass edges by the road in Flat earth, this blended them in to the road by simulating dirt and dust that you get by the side of any road or track. I then did the same to the rest of the grass and the hedge to tie in all of the colours and take the artificial sheen off the grass. I had planned on adding foliage to the hedge but i quite like the dead, tangled look of it. Any way, thats pretty much it. As i said this is my first shot at groundwork so go easy! When the tank is 100% done i'll move it to RFI. Cheers all. Ben. So there we have it. It's been almost a year since starting the kit and whilst it's had it's problems i've really enjoyed the build. It's actually required some modelling skill for once instead of being a shake and bake it. With that in mind, would i recommend Dragons old sherman firefly? Well yes I would actually. The kit has flaws, some pretty bad, but, I hope i've shown that these can be overcome, creatively and easily with a bit of thought and patience. After all, what would be scale modelling if it was all so simple? Certainly not as fun! Thanks to everyone for chipping in here and there with your kind comments and of course for following along. Ben

Me likey! Desperate to get mine started!

How do steve, to be honest mate it's just MIG pigments, i sprinkle them on then rub them in with an old naff brush. Once they look good to me i just load up the airbrush with MIG pigment thinners and on a very low PSI just mist the model until the pigments are damp then leave to dry. simple!

Hi all, Ok so preliminary work on the lower hull and a bit dustier on top. Don't plan on being any more extreme than it is now so on to streiking and grime! Cheers chaps!

Cheers chaps!

Hi all, quick update! very close to finishing now (with the exception of the base). I will get this finished this year! Just need to weather the running gear and tracks and do some streaking and fuel stains on the upper hull then its done and on to base work which shouldn't take too long. Any way here we are..... That's all for now folks. As ever thanks for following along. C&c always welcome. Ben.

Awesome work so far, Flory washes right? Or is it a home brewed sludge?

Why the hell didn't I think of the coke can trick!!

Having just today picked up this kit from Airfix for the princely sum of £19.99 (finally something good to come of black Friday!) I shall be watching this one with a great deal of interest. Keen to see how you tackle the lighting as it's something I've always fancied doing but it vexes me no end! Good luck and welcome to the forums! Ben.

Hi Badder, If you shoot back a page I posted a picture of what I used. It's a brown coloured bandage that I bought off evilbay. Essentially to fix it I just wrapped it round the barrel and dabbed at it with watered down PVA (approx 50/50 water to glue) and whilst it was setting teased it around a bit with a cocktail stick (tooth pick in the USA). The hessian strips were small strips of Tamiya tape. Let the glue harden a touch then start putting the strips on with tweezers working them in and out of holes in the netting etc to give a more realistic look then let the glue harden completely and paint! Hope this helps. Ben.

Cheers all!

Hi all. Things have been moving forward recently with the firefly so I wanted to wait to post until I'd made recognizable progress. I'd say it's currently sitting at about 90% complete. I must confess I cheated with the tracks and opted for a set of AFV rubber band types. I think they look fine so far and they fit fine. They just need muddying up and having the cleats highlighted. Just need to weather the lower hull and tracks, paint the stowage and tools and finally sort it with a base. I've found new vigor with the project because I have recently been acquainted through a friend with a 92 year old British veteran who served in Shermans with the East Riding Yeomanry. He has a lot of great stories about Shermans and actually survived no less than 5 knockouts and a serious blue on blue courtesy of USAAF P-38 lightening's. Whilst he served in regular Shermans and not fireflys I have still decided to dedicate the model to him and present it to him as a gift and in thanks.It adds a lovely touch to the model knowing that it's going into his hands and not into the display cabinet to gather dust. Spent quite a few nights recently watery eye'd building this with the Band of Brothers soundtrack on in the back ground! Any way, on with the pics. Hope you like what you see. Cheers all! Ben.

That clears that up nicely! Cheers chap!

Well that pretty much answers that really. I was thinking a Normandy Tiger also. The road wheels seem really complex with their staggered nature. Stage 3 in the kit instructions really baffles me. It gives the option of adding an extra road wheel (topping out the number of wheels each side to 16) or capping off every wheel in the middle layer. Is this to do with the travel tracks you were talking about??

I've had a browse of that site but whilst it's useful I can't seem to find what I'm after.... Thanks though

Hi folks. I like to think I'm pretty clued up with armour knowledge but having recently picked up Tamiya's Tiger I mid production kit in 35th I'm stumped on a couple of things. One of which is, which gun did they usually carry? The early or late gun? Would like to know as I'll be buying a turned Alu barrel and there's quite a difference in baffles/muzzle breaks. Also, in the instructions there are 2 options for the road wheels. One has the inner set capped and the other adds an additional outer set of road wheels effectively adding what looks like a third layer of wheels. Which do I use?? Pretty new to German armour so don't want to make a hash of things. Cheers, Ben.

Cheers Chris! It helps when you enjoy what you're doing. Ben.