Asuka/Tasca Sherman Firefly - a comment

[alextheblue]

I've stuck this thread in the WIP section, although perhaps I should have posted it in the Modelling Chat section as this is more of a comment rather than a detailed build log. There's no glossy picture of the box-art, nor countless images of endless sprues of plastic. No images of the the decals or PE parts, or pages of step-by-step instructions coupled with colour call-outs and paint schemes. There will of course be the obligatory pictures of the build, so in that sense this is a build WiP, but instead I jump straight to the completed model.

To give some background, with a view to shedding some light on my inane ramblings, I've had this model in my meagre stash for a while now, perhaps eight or nine months, and every now and then I peel the lid back with eager anticipation of the moment when I can actually get at it with my sprue-cutters. For those of you who have kindly glanced at any of my other posts ( a big thank you if you have ), you will know that I have a couple of GB's on the go and I have recently finished a couple of trucks for the 6-Wheels or More SiG. I also have a couple of entries into the Vietnam GB, a M48 thats pretty much finished and an Intruder A6-A that unfortunately probably won't be finished in time. I had planned to build a dio for the M48 and the figures are actually painted and finished. I am still going to try and get a dio or vignette of some sort built, but it may not be originally what I had in mind - either way I will have something to put up for as a final reveal. As as result, I found myself early last week staring at the workbench wondering what in tarnation I should crack on with. Get the base started for the M48, finish up the intruder so I could get some primer down, or take some pics for the final reveal shots for the trucks. The latter was a no as this doesn't finish until after Christmas, doing anymore to the intruder just now was a bit futile as it's never going to be finished in time, so the obvious answer was to crack on with the dio base.

So that settles it, crack the lid on the Tasca Firefly - just to have a look of course!









I should also point out at this stage that for the past two weeks now I've had a pretty bad cold thats really knocked me off of my feet. Normally I don't sweat having a cold too much (apologies for the bad pun!), and within two or three days I've seen it off, but not this time - there was even a few days when I didn't even think about knocking a couple of pieces of plastic together! I only mention this as I'm trying to set the scene and give you some insight as to my state of mind when I began this kit.

I was fairly excited as I lifted the instruction sheet from the top of the box and my mind was cast back to review after review waxing lyrical about just how great these Tasca - sorry Asuka, kits are. I also remembered reading recent posts by Paul and Nige amongst others who have built this same kit and I couldn't help thinking that I was in for a real treat with this one.

As I'm sure you will know, the first step with this one is to assemble the lower hull as it is multiple sections rather than a one-piece affair. That all went together without any dramas, but I couldn't help thinking that it wasn't quite the "dream" that I had anticipated. Next up was the bogies and I know from reading other fellas threads that these are little "fiddly" to say the least. I opted to go the 3-pieces-of-foam route rather than the plastic spacers and after the second one I was starting to regret my decision. Still, faint heart and all that, so I plugged on and they definitely got a little easier once you had found a little "rhythm".

The rest of the kit slowly went together and whilst there weren't any real issues, I couldn't help think that it was fighting me a little with every step. So much so at one stage, that I even contemplated binning the thing, packing up my tools and start a search for a whole new hobby. But then it dawned on me, there wasn't actually anything wrong with this kit, but rather my expectations of it. From the moment I had read my first review I had built this thing up in my mind as being the zenith of kit building. The pieces were supposed to fly out my hands and join themselves in perfect harmony with only a whiff of TET to hold them together. The PE would self-bend itself into the perfect shape and literally mould itself to the plastic. Each minute detail would be completely perfect and locate itself flawlessly in position.

Was this the reality - of course not, no model kit is ever going to do that. Is it a very good kit - despite all of my remonstrating, actually it is a very, very good kit. Sure it has it downsides, some of which seem to have been overlooked in most of the reviews I have read - Tamiya get slated for the staples in their bags - this kit has staples. Most AFV modellers reel when they see a two-piece barrel - this has a two piece barrel. The plastic, for me at least, was just a little bit too shinny which causes the cement to bond a bit slower that I would like. Tamiya also get a hard time for the figures that they sometime include in a kit and this fella was no better - same amount of scraping and sanding is required to remove those unsightly seams. So, is this a great kit - again yes, definitely. Is the fit the best - it's very good, but I've built better from Meng. Is the detail good - it's very good, but I would argue that some Dragon kits are better (plus I prefer the plastic they use). Is the accuracy good - for this one I can't really comment as my knowledge is very shaky at best, but I have read that Tasca kits are amongst the most accurate and I can see nothing that contradicts this.

So after all of these mad ramblings, exactly what is the point am I trying to make. I think my point is, that sometime we can get caught up in the hype and say-so of a situation when all along the most important thing is our state of mind. Because I wasn't feeling at my best either emotionally or physically when I started this kit, all I could see were the negative aspects. Had I attacked this in my usual frame of mind, I probably would be waxing lyrical about this kit as well, as all I would see are it's positive points.

And I think that's my real point if you want to see modelling as a metaphor for life. It's not always the things that happen to us that define how we behave and how we feel, but it's actually how we react to them. React badly and it'll be bad! React positively and only positive things will happen.

Now repeat after me, "I am the best modeller in the world and my next model will be a masterpiece!"

Thanks for taking the time to read my mad ramblings and here's wishing you and your families the very best Christmas imaginable.!!

[Coen]

A most interesting and honest read Alex. I'm happy to see that I'm not the only one that likes to ramble a bit with the words here on the forum haha.
I loved your approach to your description of your opinion. I agree with just about everything that you said about the kit too, as I've built it as well.
I also agree that your illness may have cast a bit of a shadow over the build and thus the kit.
I totally agree with you about the plastic that Asuka uses. The Tasca plastic was a little better but I doubt by much. Tamiya plastic is better than Tasca when it comes to taking the glue so the reboxings that Tamiya is doing should be superior to all the old Tasca kits and most likely the Asuka kits.
If MENG were ever to kit a Sherman I have no doubt that it would almost immediately out strip any other on the market.

[alextheblue]

A most interesting and honest read Alex. I'm happy to see that I'm not the only one that likes to ramble a bit with the words here on the forum haha.
I loved your approach to your description of your opinion. I agree with just about everything that you said about the kit too, as I've built it as well.
I also agree that your illness may have cast a bit of a shadow over the build and thus the kit.
I totally agree with you about the plastic that Asuka uses. The Tasca plastic was a little better but I doubt by much. Tamiya plastic is better than Tasca when it comes to taking the glue so the reboxings that Tamiya is doing should be superior to all the old Tasca kits and most likely the Asuka kits.
If MENG were ever to kit a Sherman I have no doubt that it would almost immediately out strip any other on the market.

Me ramble - now that's an understatement. It's more a case of, jeez who used up all the fricking words!!

Glad it wasn't just me with this kit, but that said, I would thoroughly recommend it and it is a great kit, especially when it's all built and you see how great it looks.

And I can only dream of Meng making a Sherman, or perhaps a Tiger.......ummmmmmm!!

[alextheblue]

Found myself with a couple of hours to kill so managed to get the base coat down. The colour is Olive Drab (1) from Mr Hobby Aqueous - absolutely love these paints, they always go down so nice. Not sure about anyone else, but I find that I dilute these less than I used to as I found that some of the colours "pool" a little and are a bit unforgiving if you're a tad too heavy with the old AB trigger. I used to mix them 50/50 with Ultimate's thinner, but I now find most of the time it's more like a 2:1 ratio (2 paint to 1 thinner), sometimes slightly less. I find this to be perfect for my H&S Infinity at about 22 psi and you can lay down some really light mist coats to build the colour up slowly. Primer was Vallejo grey with Vallejo black for shadows and pre-shading. I was tempted to spray in the highlights at this stage using a more yellowy colour. I've seen a fair few people use this technique with some great results. I believe the last one I remember ogling at was Chiefs Styker and that looked absolutely stunning! I chickened out a the last minute, opting instead to go the "post shading" route instead.









I also managed to get the tracks primed, but black vinyl tracks sprayed with black primer doesn't really make for an interesting photographic viewing experience!

Thanks for taking a look and have a great Christmas!!

[Nev]

Nice read Alex! Sometimes expectations of builds can be different. It is refreshing to read that we are not alone and things do not always go to plan. What I have found with my limited knowledge that sometimes less is more. Little often. Working through the difficulties a bit at a time. leave it then come back when you can. Before you know it the thing is done and you look back thinking what a pig! But I did it

Have a great Christmas and New year mate! May your builds be both challenging & Fun for 2015

[Gb64c]

Tasca or Tamyia Firefly question.

I read on ISM (fb)few weeks back about these two kits, both are Tasca kits, but thought I read something about the tracks in the kits being different. If I recall I thought someone said the Tamyia kit had Tamiya vinyl tracks and not the Tasca vinyl tracks.

Is this correct? Why would Tamyia not just include the Tasca tracks?

I would like to order one of these kits and feel from the other Tasca kits I have, the tracks are great.
But with that said the new Tamyia tracks for the new Nashorn are good too.

Thanks

[alextheblue]

Nice read Alex! Sometimes expectations of builds can be different. It is refreshing to read that we are not alone and things do not always go to plan. What I have found with my limited knowledge that sometimes less is more. Little often. Working through the difficulties a bit at a time. leave it then come back when you can. Before you know it the thing is done and you look back thinking what a pig! But I did it

Have a great Christmas and New year mate! May your builds be both challenging & Fun for 2015

Thanks Nev, appreciate that!

And you are so right when you say little and often. Too many times when things aren't quite going to plan, I've stayed at the workbench beavering away in the hope of fixing the problem, when probably the best thing to do is to put it down and come back to it fresh.

[alextheblue]

Tasca or Tamyia Firefly question.

I read on ISM (fb)few weeks back about these two kits, both are Tasca kits, but thought I read something about the tracks in the kits being different. If I recall I thought someone said the Tamyia kit had Tamiya vinyl tracks and not the Tasca vinyl tracks.

Is this correct? Why would Tamyia not just include the Tasca tracks?

I would like to order one of these kits and feel from the other Tasca kits I have, the tracks are great.
But with that said the new Tamyia tracks for the new Nashorn are good too.

Thanks

I'm not too sure is the honest answer. As far as I'm aware, Tamiya use the same moulds as the Tasca kit, but not necessarily the same plastic and that could be why the tracks are different as they may chuck in some of their own.

I've been following Gav's (one of the moderators on the site) build of the Tamiya Firefly (aka Tasca), so he might be better placed for a more accurate answer.

[alextheblue]

Some more progress with the Firefly and the strangest thing happened. With the base coat down and most of the details painted I set to with the decals. They laid down very nicely with some Micro Set, my decal solution of choice and even without any Micro Sol they seemed very good. It was when I applied the Micro Sol was when the trouble began.



I've used Micro Sel/Sol for a while now and have never had any problems, so I was quite puzzled to say the least. After much head scratching I realised that the brush that I used to apply the solution wasn't my usual one. I have a brush that I only use for Micro Sol and somehow I had picked out the wrong one and I can only guess that I had previously used it for something like white spirit. After a rummage through my brushes I found the right one and it worked perfectly. Phew, order is once again restored to the universe. Now to the job of fixing that paintwork.






Not a perfect match with the paint, but just as well it's only on the turret and not somewhere really noticeable!!

Still, once it's all weathered it shouldn't be too noticeable, I hope! Anyhow, must rush, I've got a base I need to make so I can't my Final Reveal pics for the Vietnam GB!

Thanks for taking a look!

[Coen]

That is what stowage is for Alex my friend
I used to use microsol ages ago but I burned too many decals with it so I switched to walthers solvaset and I never went back. I've never had an issue with it... Yet.
Using a brush with a solvent on it to place decals is usually a bad idea too haha.
Still. A musset bag or a rolled trap hanging there would cover that nicely.