AntPhillips

I've read (but for the life of me can't remenber where) that in Italy at least, the .30 cal was preferered over the .50 cal as it was deemed both more accurate and also as the bow gun was the same only 1 ammo type was required to be carried.

I'm just building one of these at the moment, the only fit problems I've had are around the drivers hatch area when joining the uppper and lower hull, I ended up using some lengths of sprue to act as "pit-props" inside the hull. I think the problem is the plastic of the upper hull is so thin its easily warped (probably on removal from the mould). On the plus side my kit came without the sprue containing the sandshields, but I'm pleased to say that Bronco's spare parts service is second to none, I fired off an e-mail (together with a request to purchase some etch parts for another kit) and had the parts within a week or so, had to pay a small postage fee but exemplerary service. I love the finish on your build, I was toying with the idea of the Caunter Scheme for mine, but already have plans for an A10 and a Crusader in that scheme so may opt for something else.

The definitive reference bible for the Firefly is Mark Haywards splendid book, now long out of production (and hence the section on available kits is somewhat out of date) but still can be found on Amazon, but at much inflated prices: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sherman-Firefly-Mark-Hayward/dp/0953877728

Looks very effective, and war weary, I'd call that a good save.

Hi Bandit, I was exactly the same, luckily I read it before painting my kit, luckily there is no need to replace the barrel, just cut off the muzzle brake, shorten the barrel at the muzzle end and reattach the muzzle brake, its a 2 minute job. Hope this helps. Ant

Great build and fantastic finish. Never tire of seeing models of the tank that took out Wittman and no criticism of your build whatsoever, but the 17pdr barrel gun in the Dragon kit is approx 4.5mm too long, and once you know it, you can't not see it.

Hi Tony, There's not a huge amount in the set, but it does have a lovely No.19 set, together with some typical British &Commonwealth personal packs and weapons, Sten, Bren and Thompson, and a pair of what I think are Vickers K guns, all crisply moulded, ideal for personalising B & C vehicles .

I'm not sure about AFV Club, but Bronco definitely do a set: https://www.scalemates.com/kits/bronco-ab3509-british-afv-equipment-wwii--224488

The problem with the tracks that M3talpig refers to, is that Tamiya moulded the end connectors fitted to each track pad rather than overlapping and thus linking the track pads, they also did the same thing on their M3 Grant tank

Hi John, IIRC the AFV Club kits (apart from the IDF versions) all have the same basic hull parts, I've just had a gander on Scalemates but they don't have instructions uploaded for the Korean War kit as yet, but there is a review on YouTube https://youtu.be/H-S0m40tkpI there are shots of the instructions in the video and they show the sprue plans and the main sprues seem to be similar to the Aussie kit. Eduard do a set of Bazooka Plates, they are designed for Tamiya kit but I've tried them against the AFV kit parts and they should fit with the minimum of fettling. I've used an Aussie kit to build a late version. In my files, I've got a list of versions, as most of the later Mk.s were ugraded from earlier Mk's. I'll post the details when I can.

Fabulous builds and I also think the A13 has the perfect amount of weathering too. I'm actually just building both of these kits, the A10 was a part built that I got off eBay, the previous owner had built the hull, half the suspension and the basic turret but had obviously become disillusioned with the photo etch parts as the exhaust cover was mangled and I couldn't save it, but I've contacted Bronco and have literally just had an answer and should have a new set of etch parts winging it's way to me soon, best thing about this purchase was though, that it came with a copy of Peter Brown's Camouflage and Markings book on the A9 & A10, which is worth far more than I paid for it and the kit together. The A13 will be all my own work, but I have only just made a start on it whilst I await the replacement etch for the A10 from Bronco.

If it's any where as good as his A9 & A10 Cruiser Tank book then it will be worth purchasing, judging from the photos on PMMS it looks a perfect complement to Mr Haywards Firefly bible

When the first 17 pdrs came on the scene under project Pheasant they were fitted to 25 pdr gun carriages as there were delays with the bespoke ones, was this a case of better in the field on an unsuitable carriage than not in the field at all.

On the full size Chally the track skirts are an intercangeable item, the up-armour blocks aren't normally fitted for peacetime training, but are fitted when the tanks are operated in an area where there are IED or RPG threats. At the present time only the 3 early Trumpeter kits (kit #00308 Challenger II, #00323 Op Telic #00345 KFOR Kosovo) include the zig-zag skirts, Trumpeter modified the tooling for the better in the Enhanced Armour kit (#01522), but didn't include the original sideskirts in the revised tooling. When RFM first showed the sprue layout for their forthcoming kit it included the zig-zag skirts but they then disappeared from subsequent images, I suspect they may be included in a future release.

Pocketbond are the UK importer for Academy