It Begins! My M4A1 based Sherman Firefly Build.

[PainlessWolf]

Good Morning.
A Masterwork. That's all you can really say to accurately sum it up. I don't know as I'd actually run it or just spend hours looking at it to take in all the detail.
warm regards,
Painless Black Wolf

[X82d Pathfinder]

I have taken much longer than I should have to complete this build being I have been inundated with a few health issues, and I am in the middle of a restoration on my '67 Shelby that is keeping me busy as well. I have done a lot more than I show here. However I have been taking on the more complicated processes in segments, then It'll be down to assembly and paint. In all honesty, German armor has so many advantages. The aftermarket has catered to them for the most part, which makes doing almost any allied armor a lengthy process because we must fabricate so much of it. Anyway, thank you for the compliments. I hope to have this finished by the end of August.

-Dan

[X82d Pathfinder]

Hi Great build ,Just gone through all the posts ,first thing that strikes me is what have you used of the orginal kit,you have changed the MF unit to have recoil ,as far as I can see the only bits are the turret gearboxes and lower hull plus a few bits around the lights.Dosnt seem worth buying a full kit to use so few parts.

regards pete

P.S.all British Fireflys had 30cal M.G. on the turret not a 50 cal

Pete:
I have an original 56001 kit, however by the time I bought the five motors, DMD and MF units the kit paid for itself. I bought the 56014 kit rather cheap. I got 135.00 on Ebay for the Sherman MF unit and bought the Pershing for 114.00. You're right, I have almost a whole kit in spares, which I will use for another build. I plan to build a 75MM gunned sherman with the Calliope next. As for the .30 browning, you're right that the vast majority of Brit armor generally used it. As usual, there are exceptions to said rule. I am building a low bustle for a friend here as well for his Crab. It was .50 equipped in war photos, as well as on display at Bovington. If you look at late war photos you start seeing .50's in many Brit armor photos. I wonder what prompted the changes? Perhaps standardization.
-Dan

[X82d Pathfinder]

Well, I have been rather busy putting a clutch in my wife's Saab, so much for working on the armor.

I did get the oil bath air cleaners detailed however. I noted that Shumo was offering the wing nuts that are supplied with their tow cable kits. They're about 4.00 for a sprue of 6. Bob at ETO once again provided outstanding service. Anyway, here are the completed units.

[X82d Pathfinder]

I needed to make a custom speaker box because I wanted a proportional smoker unit. I picked up a thread on modifying the Heng Long proportional unit. I used 2MM plastic sheet and .250 solid square rod to reinforce the unit. I laid out the box mounting location and tapped the solid bottom of the box for 2/56 threaded cap screws. I used the factory Tamiya speaker and the 3MM screws with Nylock 3MM nuts to retain the speaker in the box. I then painted matt black. Being the M4A1 has the air intake open on the hull the speaker now lines up about 50% with the opening as well as clearing the smoker fan by about .080.
I'm good to go!

[X82d Pathfinder]

I completed the bogie modification and detailing. I drilled the hull holes for the bogies at 5MM. I had little choice being I had originally set up the hull to use the plastic Mato bogies. When I ordered the metal bogies from Forgebear I wasn't aware that the back mounts were hollow. This created an issue once the rear mount was cut so it would align with the back of the metal mounting plates. I used a product called Lab Metal It's a product that is made with aluminum powder. When the product hardens it's like solid aluminum. You can drill it, tap it, mill it.. You do NOT have to use the manufacturer thinner to make the product flow better, you can use regular acetone. I drilled the back side of the bogies and tapped them for a 10-24 round head screw. I mounted the metal bogie plates by drilling them and then counter sinking the .080 mounting screws. I used nuts on the inside to hold them in place. It's solid as a rock and no space is wasted on the inside at all with the allen screws that hold the bogies in place. I had decided to use the Tamiya Volute plastic spring covers. I drilled, then tapped the pivot plates and screwed the Tamiya plastic volute spring covers to the spring perch with 2/56 screws and washers. The Tamiya springs are far too soft to use like Septon did, so I cut one ring off of the Mato springs. I also elected not to use the Tamiya supplied spring tubes. They aren't needed and have a tendency to cock sidways and bind up. You also can't see them in the bogie. It's just not worth the effort.
I then used my jewelers files and cleaned up the casting flash and seams from the bogies, then drilled out the four holes that are on the bogies so the return roller arm could be mounted to the other side of the bogie so it could be used on either side of the tank. The return rollers also had no grease holes in them, so I drilled them. They will be more evident when they are painted and weathered. Another noted item missing was the rivets on the outer rim of the wheels. There are 12 per road wheel.I added these as well. That's 144 rivets!
Anyway, here are the pictures of the modification and the completed product.

[DRAGONWAGON]

Very nice bogies Dan, too bad it says MATO in the small print in the middle. How will it sit when the tank is resting on them?

Keep up the good work!, John.

[X82d Pathfinder]

John:
I noted that as well and am debating if I want to go to the trouble to file them off. As for the bogies; The Mato springs in these are actually too stiff. When you compress with the Tamiya volute spring cup they are far too stiff. I cut one loop off the Mato spring and the tank sits exactly where it should. The spring cups being screwed onto the pivot plate also allow them to function without binding through the entire range of motion. I'll post a picture of the lower hull as soon as I finish the "welds" on the rear panel and get the entire lower in primer. -Dan

[sassgrunt]

I love the holes in the bogie for the trailing arm mounting bolts. Never seen anyone do that before, and when I see yours, I really wonder why. Your spring modifications look to be right on the money as well - I would suspect that you will have fewer operating problems than anybody esle's modified bogies. -Mike

[X82d Pathfinder]

Mike:
Fixing the cups to the pivot plate seems to make the springs stay centered in the housing and I didn't hear them making clicking sounds at more extreme ranges of motion. They seem to remain smooth at all ranges.The rivets in the wheels and the holes that exist on all VVSS bogies can be seen, so it was really necessary to add them. Now that the MATO letting was caught in the picture, I know someone esle will notice it as well. So I guess I'm going to file them off. Ha ha. Here, I think I'm done and I have to fix something else.

-Dan