Model Centrum Progres Sherman Firefly – Armor PhotoHistory

[Mike]

Sherman Firefly – Armor PhotoHistory

ISBN: 9788360672327

Model Centrum Progres

 

 

The Sherman was one of the most widely used Allied tanks during WWII, named after an American Civil War general when it entered service in the early part of the war. It was the mainstay of Allied armour, and was a reliable and rugged vehicle, but initially suffered from weak points that led to the Germans christening it the "Tommy cooker" because of the thin side armour that allowed a carefully placed shot to penetrate it and set the tank afire. Once identified, appliqué armour was added to the vulnerable spots to improve survivability.

 

It became one of the most produced tanks of WWII, with over 50,000 made, 17,000+ of which were destined for British service. Originally fitted with a 75mm gun, the arrival of the Panther and Tiger tanks in the European Theatre led to tests for improving firepower to penetrate the thicker armour of these new foes. The American tests weren't as successful as the British forays into heavy armament, and it was the installation of the Ordnance QF 17-pounder gun in a standard turret that resulted in the Firefly. It was capable of knocking out a Panther and Tiger at combat ranges from then on, but the US Generals preferred to carry on with their M36 Tank Destroyer as the end results were broadly similar, although the M36 had to have a new turret installed.

 

Although the Firefly concept was initially rejected, it proceeded anyway and the improved Shermans started reaching the front just in time for the work-up before D-Day where it gave a good account of itself. To hide the extra firepower the length of the barrel was sometimes disguised by adding a wavy camouflage to the underside in the hope the enemy would mistake it for the weaker 75mm gun and be less cautious to their peril. By war's end around 2,000 Fireflies had been produced, and had been used effectively as part of the larger Sherman force, evolving new tactics to protect the valuable Fireflies while making good use of their heavy hitting power.

 

The Book

This is a new publication from the Armor PhotoHistory series by Model Centrum Progres, distributed in the UK by Casemate UK.  It’s a soft-backed perfect-bound book with a genuine 88 pages in portfolio format, printed on glossy paper with a black background for the photo portion of the book.  It is broken down into sections that provide tons of photos, plans, drawings and profiles of the up-gunned Sherman that made taking on the dreaded Tigers and Panthers that were fielded by the Nazis.  The book is laid out as follows:

 

History Pages 1-17

A detailed telling of the story that resulted in the more powerful gun and expanded turret.

Photogallery Pages 18-63

Tons of photos with informative captions of the tank in action in Europe after D-Day.

Drawings Pages 64-79

Scale plans and detailed drawings of the Firefly and some of the important components of the vehicle.

Colour Plates Pages 80-88

Eight pages of profiles and scrap drawings of the tank in various regiments.

 

The inner covers are opportunistically printed with adverts for their other products and some of Gecko Models products.

 

 

 

 

The prime focus of the book is of course the photographs, and those are first rate.  Add the captions and the other sections and you have a very useful reference book that gives you tons of information and a bucket-load of diorama inspiration from the candid and even the posed photos.  The drawings at the rear of the book will be invaluable to the detailer as well as those with interior kits to build, especially the smaller parts and the wiring that is found inside your average tank.

 

 

 

 

Conclusion

If you’re the proud owner of a Firefly kit or just an armour buff, this book will be of great interest and will also provide you with quite a bit of interesting reading along the way.  The photos are all B&W because they were taken in the 1940s, and plans are also line drawings, so the first hint of colour is in the colour plates near the back – if you ignore the cover of course!

 

Very highly recommended.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of

 

 

 

[Mick4350]

That will go well with the earlier edition Sherman 1C Firefly, Armor Photogallery #21 that was released in 2009.

[Robert Stuart]

Just received a copy of this, ready for the forthcoming STGB.

Thin (88 pages), but LOTS of photo reference (as Mike showed), enough that I could, probably, spend the rest of my modelling career building nothing but Fireflies.

 

Took a bit of searching to find, 'cause Amazon were out of stock and said they couldn't restock, and ABE Books* didn't list it.  Found it at Casement.

 

 

*ABE Books is a site for second hand booksellers, my go-to place for out of print books.