Bodmin

Cheers Neil. Seemed a shame not to do it properly once I located the part

My dabble at small scale armour continues with Airfix's rendition of the Sherman Firefly. Straight out of the box, simple enough build that assembles to look just about the part. "Standby Jerry!"

Well I'll call it done. Not a bad little build on the whole. Cheers for the pointers given throughout the build.

Yeah I couldn't let it go. My first thought was 'oh to hell with it', but it bugged me and I'm glad I changed my mind.

Great choice

Exactly that. I noticed when I taking the stowage off the sprue. Part D2 is never called up for. The instructions mention alternative parts but don't tell you what the other part is. I took it as meaning "fit the tracks if you want to"! It does show the armour plate fitted later on, but I missed that. But like you said if it doesn't mention the part how are you supposed to notice. Anyway I've removed the machine gun and fitted the plate now, so all is well.

Well most painting done now. Just a little weathering and the stowage on the front then I should be done.

Indeed, they were rarely installed. Unfortunately this tank came with one pre-installed so the crew will just have to make do

Have to say I'm enjoying building and painting this. For the scale there is more than enough detail to pick out during the painting as you see fit. Turret next, followed by decals and a little weathering before final assembly.

Thanx, I've always had a soft spot for the smaller scales. Did loads of Matchbox back in the day. Now looking to have a small selection in 1/72 for true comparisons.

Cheers Peter, they are a pretty decent kit. Almost like a shrunk down 1/35 for detail. Suppose we'll have to wait and see if they come up with any more.

So I put the turret together and test fitted the 3 pieces together only to find out I'd glued the grill too high up on the chassis and the hull pieces wouldn't fit together. Proof that even he simple kits can catch you out if you rush and don't pay close enough attention. Anyway, I managed to remove it with minimal damage and fit it correctly. Here we are assembled, with only a few minor parts missing until after painting.

It's looking really good with all the extras you're adding. Also impressed with the collection of 1/72. Looking to get hold of a few of them myself.

Given that there are not many parts to this kit I decided on assembling the running gear and tracks rather than opting for the simple single moulded pieces. The tracks themselves are in a few pieces but I like the way they go together, particularly when laying over the drive sprocket and idler.

Appears simple enough, after all it is a starter set of sorts. Not a lot to show admittedly, but I'll call it enough for one night.