It took a while, but I’m done. Not too bad for 5 months work. It’s the DML Firefly Vc. This is the 3rd kit I’ve finished since starting up again last Christmas, although 1 of them was for MTD. First time with PE, resin tracks, adding AM stuff, and making my own weld seams. There are a couple of small goofs with the build, especially a seam along the gun barrel.
The tracks come from Accurate Armour. They were very easy to mold with a hair dryer, but a pain to cut in order to get the right length. The stowage on the back deck is from the Verlinden British military vehicle set. The extra track lengths on the glacis come from the kit.
I pre-shaded in Model Master flat black. The base coat is Tamiya Japanese Army Green washed in artist’s waters. I also washed with some pastels in some places. I dry-brushed with lightened J.A. green. I put on some pastels for dust, but the raw sienna is but too orange. I’m pretty happy with the painting, but I think I could have done more with the dry-brushing.
I got lots of help on this. Many thanks to Shermanfreak, Build22, Wipw and Dwight, among others. Constructive criticism is always welcome
Looks great! What did you use to tie down the stowage?
Buff It looks great. cant wait to get started on mine.
Nice tank and a great job, Buff. I will try something like this asap. [^]
Now that’s really a mean looking Sherman! Good to see that you got through the tracks. The stowage is a very nice addition, too.
Great job overall.
Very nice job Shermanfreak, Build22, Wipw, and Dwight. You picked an exceptional contractor for this build, and the quality of the build shows. Maybe this is the way for me to become a better modeller? You know! kind of have a group tech input build. That way I can get the best from each of you. All kidding aside, you did a first class job “Buff”, my compliments. semper fi, mike
I used dark green sewing thread. I filled one of the little “pots” in my palette with Tamiya red-brown, ran the thread through the paint, and rubbed the paint in with my fingers (I wore latex gloves). Then I hung it up to dry. I thought it would look too thin to be in scale, but I think it turned out ok.
There is a massive amount of info on these forums. All we have to do is ask, and somebody will either answer or tell us where to find the answer. So why not ask? The kit would never have turned out as well as it did without the input, and I certainly would not have had as much fun building it.[:D]
Buff you done a fine job a very fine job.Digger
looks great!
[tup] Great work buff, keep up the good work and thanks for sharing.
Looks great Buff, I really like the use of JA green. [tup]
Next time try “burnt sienna” instead of “raw sienna” and it will be more brown and less orange.
Great job on the Firefly. Just might have to go get that kit now.
Great job, Buff [tup]
Excellent ! I like the way the green came out. Great job on the stowage
Nice model !
Outstanding work on the Tiger killer!
Buff,
nice work!
congrats on moving it from the bench to the shelf!
what’s next?
Got it! Thanks for the tip.
Tamiya’s Churchill mark VII. It has some extras that would look good in a diorama, so I’ll try that next. I’ve never built dioramas before, and I’d like to give it a try.
Thanks to all for the compliments.
Buff: Burnt Sienna will still be rather reddish (great for Viet Nam) so you may want to look at “Raw Umber” and “Burnt Umber” as well, both are more brown than their Sienna counterparts.
Derek, thanks for the tip.
Nice build!!!
Nice finished build buff, the time and effort really paid off! The others have given you good suggestions with the washes, I prefer to stick with the umbers vs. the siennas for the same orange vs. brown reasons.
Only suggestion I’ve got for your fantastic build is to explore using steel or gunmetal on your spare track links (either drybrushed or thinned/washed depending on your preference) and equipped tracks to give them more of a rubber look on the blocks and a metallic look on the connector links.
Excellent work on the stowage and details, especially for a first time effort with some of the AM stuff! [tup]