Hi all
I am in the process of clearing the bench of unfinished kits. One of those is an M4 Sherman Firefly. I stopped work when I couldnt find the markings I want. Now I am ready to begin the search again. Does anyone know of a kit that has any Irish Guards decals in it? If not where I can get these markings?
Archer carries British Sherman markings: http://www.archertransfers.com/
I didn’t see anything specific to the Irish Guards on the Archer site, but if you have a specific vehicle in mind you might be able to use their generic sets to get the right markings.
I know virtually nil regarding Commonwealth markings, if the ones you are looking for are not available there, Bison makes some British Sherman decals too: http://www.angelfire.com/pro/bison/index.html
Decalmaniacs makes some British WW2 markings too: http://www.decalcomaniacs.net/
Echelon makes British WW2 markings: http://pachome1.pacific.net.sg/~kriegsketten/
Again, I don’t know if any of them make the unit you are looking for.
Not really trying to do a specific vehicle just one from the spearhead of the Armour divisions during Market Garden
You may want to look at Concorde’s book on British Shermans. It has some photo’s in there as well as info about the Brit armor marking system. Also check out the favorite armor pic thread here. I recently posted some pics of Guards Armored Division Shermans there. Each regiment had a different method if unit markings in addition to the divisional required markings. I am working on a Sherman IC Hybrid from the Irish Guards based off photos from a couple Concord books currently and am having to gather markings from different sheets for everything I have found that I need.
Mind if I ask what all different sheets you are using?
Odds and ends from differnt British tank kits. The Guards Armored division shield is coming from the Tamiya Centurion kit. Regimental/AOS formation sign from Tamiya Matilda kit I think. I’m gonna use some of the Dragon kit markings, and I will have to check for the Squadron and Troop insignia. I can get back with you tomorrow with more info. It’s time for work now and away from the hobby room…[:(] Gotta go make a living and collect a paycheck- to buy more models of course.
Yes, the AOS, Squadron, and small numeral inside the Sqdn marking are leftovers from my old Tamiya Matilda. The Dragon kit decal sheet will provide the T-number and an aerial recognition star carried on either the turret roof or engine deck.
Based on photos of Irisuh Guards tanks from the time period, and description of the marking system used by the British Army in NW Europe, here is what most of the markings should be:
Formation badge/Guards Armored Division insignia carried on hull left rear plate corner over tracks and front upper left corner of transmission housing. Divisional Unit Serial Number/Arm Of Service Badge (AOS)- for the Irish Guards a white 53 in a Red Square carried on hull right rear plate corner over track and transmission housing upper right corner. Squadron Insgnia a diamond for HQ, triangle for A Sqdn, square for B Sqdn, and circle for C sqdn were painted in blue on the hull fairly centered below the turret. These were open/outline shapes not solid. Battalion numbers were small white numerals painted inside the Squadron marking, photos only show a 2 on Shermans of the 2nd Btn IG. Tank serial number (T-Number) are on the upper hull sides in white just behind and below the joint of the glacis and top plate. Tank names are carried on the glacis plate directly in front of the drivers hatch (single word name) or bow gunner and drivers hatches for two word names. Irish Guard tanks often affixed a spare road wheel on the upper left corner of the glacis plate outboard of the drivers position. Small allied white stars are seen occasionally on the hull sides behind the midpoint of the hull- not seen in many photos
The Coldstream Guards and Grenadier Guards used different marking systems beyond the division and AOS badge locations.
Hope this info will help on what you need.
COOL Where did you get your info?
British Tanks in Normandy has a color plate of an Irish Guards Firefly Vc.
Modelbuilder- I based my description of photos of Irish Guards tanks in two Concord books, Sherman Tank in British Army Service, and British Tank battles, France and Belguim, as well as some internet phots I have found of them. The first book has the descriptions of the markings themselves in the captions of photos and main body written area. It goes into more detail about the British Army marking system used in WWII on Shermans.
If you have any more questions I will see if I can come up with answers for you.
I found that Accurate Armor makes a sheet of 1/35 decals of British Armored division markings that has most of what is needed for your Firefly.