BTW,
My interest in the Firefly was piqued by listening to the audio book of ‘Tank Action’ by Captain David Render, who commanded Sherman’s for the Sherwood Rangers. It’s a very interesting book, and he details how they would keep the Fireflys slightly back from the action until they’d flushed the Panzers from cover. I have a subscription to Audible and it’s available there, alongside the superb two volumes of ‘German Aces Speak’, and many other WWII titles.
cheers
Darren.
I can comment on the Dragon Firefly Vc #6128 kit. The tracks are QUITE a challenge but do look great once assembled. The rest of the kit is very well made with clear casting numbers on the parts. The turret has some really bad seams that require sanding and filling but once addressed the turret looks very good. I’m doing this Firefly in the British Army GB so here are a couple of pictures:
Ugly turret seam
Some stretched sprue as a filler and sanding takes care of the gaps along with Mr. Surfacer 500 for texture enhancement
Most of the track assembled. The decals are also very good.
And remember the Firefly was not US OD but SCC. 15 British OD.
I have heard excellent things about Asuka and have a M4A1 in the stash and looks really good. I also have a Dragon Firefly 1C Welded Hull in the stash that hopefully does not have the nasty turret seams as in the Vc. The DS tracks on the 1c are falling apart so I will be getting aftermarket ones for it.
Darren, before you decide which Firefly manufacture to purchase, please take a look at these two video reviews on the Asuka kit. I think it will be worth your time and help you make a sound decision:
For myself, I will stay with Asuka rather than Rye Field, not because I think Asuka is better, but it’s what I know and feel confident in building. At some point I would like to build a Rye Field model, but not this time around.
Harold
I really appreciate the input from everyone. I will have time this weekend to check out all the suggestions. I hope I can find whichever kit I choose here in Australia and not have to ship from overseas, as Covid has made that quite expensive and slow.
Asuka, Firefly in Sydney, Australia:
https://www.creativemodels.com.au/shopmastery.php?cat1=ASUKA+MODEL&cat2=1%2F35TH&cat3=KITS
Asuka, Firefly Metal Barrel in Melbourne, Australia:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/303417194326
Rye Field, Firefly in Melbourne, Australia:
Cheers Mate!
thanks Sergeant
the one in Sydney is out of stock, but I’ve emailed them
looks like a great build