Firefly conversion kit.

[Kyle_T]

Evening all,

I've been trawling through the forums, Q&A's as well as the internet to find information on conversion kits for my Sherman, whilst no composite hulls seem to exist, I did find a conversion kit for a late war Sherman VC here:

https://www.forgebeartanks.com/store/p5 ... _Tank.html

Does anybody have experience with the seller or this kit in particular? One thing I am hesitant about is wether or not the gun mount will support the BB system and metal barrel, otherwise it means paying a fair chunk of chance for a kit and just needing the hull and transmission cover.

Any input would be appreciated.

Cheers.

[rochesb]

Dave (forgebear) is a highly recommended supplier used by many members of this forum (myself included). I would have no hesitation in buying from him again as I am sure many others would agree.

[Maccrage]

I have the kit. I haven't built it yet, and do IR, not airsoft, so I don't know about installing one.

If you want a Composite hull, try finding a Mato M4A1 upper hull. Cut the front part off. You'll basically making it the way they really did, mating a cast front to a welded mid and rear hull.

[Kyle_T]

Cheers guys, I noticed in the description that he says it is intended for the "extended" M4A3 and it won't fit on a standard Heng Long chassis? If that is the case I'll have to email him to see if it can be clarified a little more as I can't find any "extended" chassis.

Out of interest I measured mine and it came in around 370mm or so...no idea of that makes any difference.

[Maccrage]

You have to extend the hull yourself.

[Lert]

Cheers guys, I noticed in the description that he says it is intended for the "extended" M4A3 and it won't fit on a standard Heng Long chassis?

The Firefly was built on a chassis with a Chrysler A-57 multibank engine that didn't quite fit in the normal, existing chassis so the chassis got extended a bit to fit it. You can tell it's an extended hull Sherman because the bogies have a few inches more space between them. More information here:

Pt 1:

phpBB [video]

Pt 2:

phpBB [video]

No idea where you can get an 1/16 scale extended chassis though.

[Kyle_T]

You have to extend the hull yourself.

Yes, you need 100mm centre to centre of bogies.

Not sure if it's the all metal mato chassis that is the only one that's longer!?

That is a shame, I haven't modelled anything for many years and I'm reluctant to start chopping up something I've only just bought with no recent skill set or practice.

For the time being it will just have to remain as it is and I'll start with some smaller bits that need working on like the smoker pipes, battery and other bits.

Thanks for the info though guys.

[Maccrage]

You have to extend the hull yourself.

Yes, you need 100mm centre to centre of bogies.

Not sure if it's the all metal mato chassis that is the only one that's longer!?

That is a shame, I haven't modelled anything for many years and I'm reluctant to start chopping up something I've only just bought with no recent skill set or practice.

For the time being it will just have to remain as it is and I'll start with some smaller bits that need working on like the smoker pipes, battery and other bits.

Thanks for the info though guys.

I've been out of modeling for a few years too. Bit I jumped right back in. The first project I started was to take a Dremel to a brand new Tamiya kit. I was a bit nervous, but only for a second.

[43rdRecceReg]

I presume we're referring to Dean's kit here. I have that kit, and have found that there's no discernible difference between the length of kit's upper hull, and the Taigen M4A3. unless, that is, Dean, revised it in a later offering. Whilst it's a fact that the Firefly based on the M4A4 (Firefly Vc) chassis was actually around 10in to 1Ft longer than previous versions to accommodate the bulkier power plant, I think that Ic versions based on the Hybrid and Composite M4 Shermans were probably no longer than non-Firefly models.
http://the.shadock.free.fr//sherman_min ... index.html
If you had the M4 'composite' hull, for example (cast front/ welded rear), you would not need to extend the hull anyway. The Vc Firefly was the version most frequently converted by the British, and should be longer than standard;
but if the kit's upper hull has not been extended, then it would look slightly odd sitting atop an extended M4A3, or M4A1 hull...., although it has been done here several times. Dean's kit upper hull has a swallower slope on the glacis plate than Taigen /HL M4A3 versions, as one obvious difference. Some Sherman tanks..without going into this in depth..had a 60 deg glacis plate, while others had 47deg. His had nearer 47 deg.

Sherman glacis plate angles..

Sherman Glacis shapes.jpg (42.65 KiB) Viewed 2453 times

[Maccrage]

He may have lengthened the hull. I have one I purchased about a month ago. The hull is noticeably longer than the Taigen M4A3. Placing them side by side, with the differential cover as the common point, it's about 1cm longer. Thats using my uncalibrated Mk 1 Eyeball.