RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

'Afternoon All,

New member, but long-time model builder.

I'm finally in a position where I can seriously contemplate purchasing and converting Tamiya's 16th scale Sherman into a Sherman Firefly Mk Ic Hybrid (in Canadian Army service, in NW Europe) with the starting point being Kit # 56014. I already have Nick Aguilar's resin conversion kit with the cast hull, and Tamiya's 16th scale turned metal 17 Pdr Barrel, and I'm aware of all the other alterations required for the conversion into a Sherman Firefly - so........a number of questions for those more knowing than myself.

I already have Tamiya's excellent Tiger 1, which I purchased shortly after it's original release, and converted it into a mid-production vehicle, so a conversion/kit-bash isn't a problem for me.

1. Is Tamiya's Kit # 56014 the correct choice for a base kit? (I like Tamiya's kits, so I want to stay with them).

2. For the VVSS Suspension, I'm planning on using the MATO set, along with their road-wheels, but not sure about their compatibility with Heng-Long metal tracks, Drive Sprockets, and Idlers, etc. Are they compatible?

3. Are the Drive Sprockets compatible with the Tamiya Gear-Boxes (or should they be replaced as well - the Tamiya Gear-Boxes) , and if the Tamiya gear-boxes require modification - what is required?

4. What is the most common type/pattern of track for a Firefly Mk Ic (Hybrid) in Canadian service (and available from Heng-Long) - T49, T54, or T74?
My personal choice is either the T54 or T74 tracks.

Many Thanks for any advice.

Cheers,

Chris Preston,
Victoria, BC, Canada

hi chris
welcome to the mad house that is tanks

Welcome to the world of RC Tanks.

You'll find lots of helpful tankers here.

Barry

Welcome aboard. You might want to look at the Taigen Sherman lower Hull. You can get just the lower Hull or you can get it with tracks and sprockets and gearboxes and I'm pretty sure Forgebear can hook you up. The Taigen Hull comes with the vvss suspension so it will be correct for the Firefly and if you get the complete lower it will come with tracks and sprockets and idlers and bogeys and everything else. I'm not sure if imex is shipping to Canada again or not. They had some problems a while back and they stopped all shipments to Canada but they may have gotten that cleared up. If they did, you should definitely call Erik at imex because he can hook you up with a really good package. In fact, tell him Gary in Detroit sent you and I'm sure he'll take care of you.

Hhmmm! Imports from the States - Hhmmm!!

Okay - back on track. Many Thanks all, for your replies and words of encouragement. I've been building models since I was six, so almost 60 years now, and have done some RC work before - a Tamiya Tiger I and and RC tug. My current RC project is a Deans Marine kit, and being the rivet counter that I am - that means LOTS of scratch-building and correction. I'm aware of the challenges of using a Tamiya Sherman as a starting point for a Firefly Mk Ic, but feel I can mate the MATO VVSS to the hull, and have since visited their site and found they also do T74 Tracks, Idlers, and Sprockets, so I'll use them. I also gave a Shireline Lathe and Mill, so can handle small machining when necessary. For the track selection, based on the photos I have seen, there were a number of different track patterns used on Firefly Mk Ic's, including both the T49 and T74 patterns.

Is the lower hull of the Tamiya Sherman dimensionally correct for composite hull (Hybrid) Sherman Mk Ic?

On a semi related note, I volunteer at a local accredited military museum here in Victoria and get to maintain and drive an operational Daimler Ferret Mk 2/3, which has been known to follow me home on occasion (my wife loves it !!!!!).

Cheers,

Chris Preston,
Victoria, BC.

Son of a gun-ner wrote:Is Canada allowing American imports?


Just asking

Imex quit shipping to Canada because too many tanks were getting destroyed after being opened by customs and not properly repacked.

Jackalope is doing a Firefly and he says you have to stretch the hull. I've also heard there are Firefly kits that fit the stock HL Sherman without stretching it. Which is correct I have no clue, but if you're a rivetcounter, Chris, it might be something to look into. Good choice with the Firefly, BTW, one of my favorite Sherman variants. I try not to ever miss "A Bridge Too Far", just to see all the Fireflies.

Hi Chris and welcome to the forum, I've added a link to my tamiya converted firefly, it's the tamiya Sherman kit with mato bogies/wheels and tracks, the thread is from a couple of years back and it's changed a little since then but it may give you some ideas

Cheers, Lee.

viewtopic.php?f=33&t=20183

'Afternoon All,

Lee, Mick and Max - Many Thanks for your incite and advice. For the Firefly I'm planning, I understand the Sherman Firefly Mk Vc was based on the longer-hulled M4A4, to accommodate the Chrysler Multi-Bank Engine, while the Sherman Firefly Mk Ic (Hybrid) was based on the shorter (standard?) M4 chassis , with the Hybrid cast hull front and rolled armour plate for the rear portion of the hull.

I've been checking out all the Firefly builds on this site and the RC Tank Regiment site, particularly the ones using the Tamiya kit and MATO VVSS gear and I'm confident I can manage this conversion. The one big thing I like about the Tamiya kit is that it comes complete with all the RC kit, minus the Tx and Rx, and battery, which is not a problem. I was really impressed with the ease their Tiger 1 went together, so that's been an influencing factor. That being said, I'm thinking of purchasing a MATO Sherman Chassis with VVSS, rather than using the Tamiya one, and using that as the starting point, along with MATO T74 track, sprockets, and idlers, and their 3:1 metal gear-box.

More to follow.

Thanks again.

Chris , in Victoria