RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

Thinking my new tank adventure would be British.

Is the British Firefly basically an American Sherman with a larger or longer bore cannon?

So I buy a Sherman and retrofit the Barrel?

Is this correct? Am I over simplifying?

You are oversimplifying.

But you're in the right place to get good guidance,

I am the furthest thing from a Sherman guy so I won't feebly attempt any explanation. The experts will chime in soon enough.

Im certainly no expert but NO !
Thats waaaayyyy oversimplifying it .
A firefly is a very niche piece of kit and has slender nuances that make them what they were.

If you want to make a "proper" Firefly, there's a lot more to building one than just slapping on a 17 pounder.

First of all, there were three versions of the Firefly:
Sherman Ic - based on the M4 hull
Sherman Ic Hybrid - based on the M4 Composite Sherman
Sherman Vc - based on the M4A4 Sherman (extended hull)

The Heng Long and Torro Shermans have the late M4A3 hull with large hatches that don't fit any Firefly versions. You will need to build from scratch or use a resin kit.

As for the turret - the Fireflies had a different mantlet and a different loader's hatch. They all had the "low bustle" turret. They often had the British commander's cupola. They had an additional "box" for the radio.

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

I'm glad I posted. Thx guys.

To get a good idea of the process and areas to modify/rebuild/change out, check out this site:
https://dgsselkirk.wixsite.com/dgsmilit ... ersion-kit
Currently sold-out but maybe another run at some point?
The maker posts here occasionally and is a good Canadian rc tank guy...but then we all are!

Mike.

My Firefly conversion kit is still for sale and I'm in the US. viewtopic.php?t=36555

If you do the m4a4 version like I have you will need to extend by cutting in 3 behind the front 2 bogies and add about 10mm I don’t recall the exact measurements but it looks 10 mm to the eye. You will also need small hatches a low bustle turret the mato mantlet unless you get a kit and to alter the angle of the glacias plate so it’s not as steep, this step will also add length to the top so it fits the bottom. The doors of the hull will need filing off and a double door making up and some air filters and a defuser would help you at the back, I can print some of the parts but postage maybe a killer

By front 2 I mean cut in middle of bogie 1 and 2 same again for 2 and 3. I would use 3mm styrene to extend then overlap with another wider piece. This would extend battery bay aswell so the bigger 5000 lipo will easily go in

Exhibitedbrute wrote: ↑Mon Jan 13, 2025 5:46 pm I don’t recall the exact measurements but it looks 10 mm to the eye.

I did 5/16" closer to 8mm.

Exhibitedbrute wrote: ↑Mon Jan 13, 2025 5:46 pm You will also need small hatches a low bustle turret the mato mantlet unless you get a kit and to alter the angle of the glacias plate so it’s not as steep,

The Mato low bustle is excellent, but modifying a HL 105 isn't too difficult either. The early narrow hatch glacis was laid back 10 degrees further than the HL wide hatch M4A3 (or more accurately, the later hull was increased to 47 degrees from vertical from 57 of the narrow hatch).

Here is a terrific link to the Firefly mods (Sherman Minutia) http://the.shadock.free.fr//sherman_min ... index.html