Canadian FireFly HL M4A3 Conversion

[Wildboar44]

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Another site is this one , pretty much a Gold standard in Sherman information

http://the.shadock.free.fr/sherman_minutia/index.html.


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[cannedheat]

nice job old ,wot wot wish I had the skill and patience I am into the Sherman at moment but not good with the modelling lark just add ons a spray job ,wot wot

[ronhow]

Hi folks,

I'm new to this forum today as recommended by forgebears. And, I'm new to 1/16 RC builds although, I've owned a HL Pershing for some years. I usually do 1/35 paint jobs ... 3D art. My mate likes the German stuff and I like British armour.

I've just picked up a new HL M4A3 Sherman and want to up gun it to a 17 pounder. I've got the metal barrel and a radio box. The barrel is the Mato BB version (and the BBs fire through it fine by the way). What I can't do is find a way to fit the barrel firmly. The barrel is threaded but it just won't bite enough on the stock plastic mantlet. I see there's a metal mantlet. Would that be the way forward or will there be further fitment problems? I thought I saw a mantlet threaded for the Mato barrel but can’t find where now. Would I lose the BB setup? I would like to avoid just sticking it in with epoxy but if you guys say that's the way to do it then fine ... I am a grumpy 60 year old though!

I'm trying to build an M4A3 Hybrid Firefly ... I've seen one in a photo from South Africa and I'm sure there was many a Hybrid. It'll be formation signed as Royal Scots Greys in Normandy; I'm not overly fussed with accuracy as the RSG used Sherman IIs and IIIs ... I just want a British Sherman and I’m good at squinting!

Here's a piccy of a 1/16 Tiger paint job I recently did for my friend. 2./ sPzAbt 503 - 211 in Normandy



Regards,

Ron.

[jarndice]

Ron when people first join the Forum we like them to introduce themselves to us through the "Introduce yourself" page,
As to the problem with the barrel have you thought of running the relevent threads through a Tap and Die ?
By the way the Main gun mantlet is the wrong way round and needs turning through 180 degrees.
And the Cupola needs moving to a position where the Hatch Hinge is at the "20 to 8" position.
Shaun.

[ronhow]

Well, Thank you for your reply.

The Sherman barrel is a little loose so to speak so threading would'n't help thanks anyway.

Mmmmm, yeah, the mantlet and cupola your talking about is on the Tiger paint job I did for a friend and which I added as an example of what I do ... paint. That is a problem with the early HL Tiger 1's and cannot be changed because the workings are handed. Easier to buy a new HL Tiger. I'm not a 1/16 modder.

Sorry, my interest here lies with the HL Sherman mantlet and 17 pounder Mato barrel and, I've searched all the threads.

Also, I'm sorry you didn't see my introduction. I posted one. However, I suspect that the time out meant that when I hit post, it didn't get through. I keep having to log in. Never mind.

This is what I'm on about:



Regards,

Ron.