Tasca Models

1/35 British Sherman VC Firefly with Cast cheek-armour Turret

Kit Number: 35011

Reviewed by  Mark Aldrich, IPMS# 39295

MSRP: $83.95 Kit Supplied by Dragon Models USA: www.dragonmodelsusa.com May 14, 1948 … Israel declares its' independence and is immediately pounced on by three neighboring countries. Losses were high on all sides but Israel managed to hold its ground and actually expand its borders. The unstable truce of 1949 made all sides see that they needed more arms and armor for their countries. Due to regulations and embargoes, military purchases were not always easy. Britain helped Egypt initially by re-equipping it with three battalions of Sherman Mk3s, 200 Archer anti tank guns and one battalion of assorted Fireflies. Later in 1955 Egypt purchased 41 Centurions from Britain and some Shermans with FL10 turrets from France to help bolster its armored force. Nasser would then switch to being supplied by the Warsaw Pact states. The Firefly is the only Sherman variant that could initially stand up to the Panthers and Tigers of WWII. I have always thought the Firefly was neat looking. This is probably due to the fact that it has a striking resemblance to the French made M-50 Sherman of the Israeli Defense Force. The above is a factual account except for the Fireflies. I wanted to set the stage for the pictures you were about to review. To my knowledge, the Lebanese forces were the only ones to receive the Firefly. I wanted to build this vehicle keeping with my love for the Middle East Wars. This seemed like a good way to do it. I still can't believe some of the countries mixed and matched armor formations during this time period. It strikes me as odd as being in a motor pool and having a T-34/85 sitting right next to a French purchased Panzer IV. Now, on to the kit. The box this kit comes in can only be described as cute. The box art reminds me of the old Tamiya kit instructions (with the caricatures) telling you what to do and Dr. Sane from the cartoon series Starblazers. Three of the figures on the box art have no noses or very SMALL ones. Of course, for most of us, it's never about the outside of the box but what is on the inside that counts. This is basically the same kit as Tasca's first Firefly (#35009). The newer or different parts are the turret, decals, optional radio compartments and some smaller items. The box contains 394 parts in green styrene, 14 clear parts (two sprues repeated), clear polycaps, four sections of rubberized track, brass sheet containing 55 different items, a decal sheet, and an instruction booklet with a errata booklet for the newer items. The errata booklet needs to be watched. It follows the instruction booklet by building sequence telling you when you need to add different parts. If you plan on building one of the decaled vehicles, you need to pay particular close attention as the adding of parts is based on which vehicle you are building. Everything looks great. The parts have no flash and the pieces look gorgeous. The only pre-build issue I see is that the hull tub is composed of eight parts. If these are not assembled and glued true, the rest of the build could be a disaster. The build was going great. Keeping with my way of building, as many of the major parts as possibly were assembled first. I did not drill any of the holes in the hull as I did not want to make them too large. This has always been a concern of mine. Nothing I hate more than trying to fill a too large hole after a part has been glued inside. The first slow down came with the three piece transmission cover. The only vehicle I have built with this cover has been the Tamiya Lee. If memory serves me, it was a one piece affair. In this kit, you have to attach the left and right side sprocket drive housings to the one piece cover. This left a noticeable gap. My question was, were these cast as a unit, or were they welded on? The two Fort Lewis Shermans are both one piece cast noses so I could not go and look at them. After posing this question on IPMS/USA Forum, I got an answer. Thanks to Tim Darrah for his help in showing me these were cast. The gaps were filled and then covered with Mr. Surfacer 500 for a textured look. The four pieces of track were glued together with super glue and allowed to dry. These were greatly detailed and designed. You cannot tell where the pieces were glued together. While the lower hull pieces were drying I tackled the bogie units next. The road wheels were initially cleaned up and the middle seam was minimal. The units require you to cut three pieces of foam rubber per unit to allow the spring effect. They provide a template with the instructions and you get to cut all 18 pieces. The stamped road wheels require you to shave off 12 little nipples per wheel and attach them. DO NOT LOSE ANY! They only give you enough to do the outside road wheels. I had already decided to use a mix of the open spoke and stamped road wheels to visually "change things up". I actually lost four while adding them. During the assembly of the driver and co-driver (on a regular Sherman) hatches I ran into the "Why I dislike photo-etched" issue. As I have stated before, model manufacturers should not replace rolled bar parts with photo-etched parts. If it's a round item on the real thing, make it round on the kit. All of the kit's periscope guards are made of photo-etched brass. I used parts from the spares box (mostly Dragon items). Also, the hatches need a grab handle each and the instruction picture shows you making one but none are included. As I was making an Egyptian vehicle, I was not too worried about what different accessories were included. If you are building one of the vehicles included in the kit, pay particular attention to both the instructions and the addendum sheets. This affects placement of the large stowage box, the hull machine gun cover, rear radio bin and extra stowage bin. All the other parts went on without a hitch. I used the photo-etched light covers and Tasca provides a jig to assist in this endeavor. They look really great. Mine are a little bent but that adds the "used" look.

The kit does not call out for usage of the additional armor plate on the driver and co-driver stations. I however, wanted to include this feature and did. I used half moon styrene textured with an X-acto knife for the weld effect. Also, following the Egyptian FL10 Sherman tank idea, I added three styrene armor plates to the hull sides. It probably wasn't needed but it does look neat and different. These were cut out using the plates included as a guide. The weld seams here were made with Squadron green putty. These appear much nicer than on the M113A3 I recently finished. After the basic build was done, I added some frontal stowage to mine. The instructions call out for both spare track brackets to be mounted low on the frontal hull. Since I added the additional armor to the driver and co-driver stations, both would not fit. I added one and moved the other to the left front slope. I also added one of the cast wheels and secured it with a homemade bolt and nut. The Firefly was painted Model Master Radome Tan. This is an excellent color and covers quite nicely. I ended up putting two coats on the whole vehicle. The only issue I had painting was that it appeared that the finish had a fine grainy texture to it. I painted all the BII and gave the whole assembly a coat of Future in preparation of decal placement and washing. Special thanks to Tom Wharton for supplying me with some really neat decals. I found him on EBAY while looking for some Red Crosses. He makes his own decals and they are really nice. I asked if he could make me some Egyptian roundels and crescents and he said he could. His decals look great and add that special touch. Following known Egyptian armored vehicle markings (which aren't much); I used geometric shapes and barrel stripes. There a few shots of Egyptian T-34/85's that have red triangles and large red stripes on the barrel. I have no idea what unit this might designate. I did the same here but with blue and squares. I painted a large blue band on the barrel and used decals and placed three blue squares on the tank. One was placed on each side of the turret and one on the lower left front hull. While the decals were drying, I went and did up the track. It was painted with browned down rust and then washed with black and tan. It was finished off with dry brushing of steel and chrome silver. While shooting the photographs for this, I noticed a terrible error. The right side roundel is facing the wrong way. I will attempt to pull it off but I don't think it will work.

I assembled a Tasca .50 caliber machine gun to put in the Commanders hatch. This is not included in the kit either but I had one lying around and thought it would add another motley touch. Any .50 caliber or .30 caliber would probably work and be acceptable. I used the commander figure provided in the kit and I have to thank Mike Reiff of the Tacoma Green Dragons for lending his teaching skills in helping me paint the face. The vehicle was then lightly dry brushed with shades of green. This is to represent paint fading and being weathered. The headlights were painted chrome silver and the clear lenses glued in. I used Varathane as the sealant. I also used it to paint the clear parts of the periscopes. Paint chips and spills were added with various diluted blacks and browns and other greens. The gear will slowly be added as I always do. The commander figure is not resent in the photographs because it is still drying. I didn't like the face and the new one isn't much better but we'll see. If I don't get it finished in the next week, you all will see an open commanders hatch on the reviewer table. I know, it's a cardinal sin to have an open hatch with nothing to see inside or a figure to fill it. Special thanks to Tasca for making a SUPER FIREFLY KIT!!! Though they may be expensive and have some minor flaws, this is THE standard. Also, thanks to IPMSUSA for a place to build and review it and add another great vehicle to my finally growing Middle East collection. This kit can be purchased at all the better stocked websites on the internet.

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