Dragon 1/35 Sherman Vc Firefly

[StuartClark]

I haven't touched an armour kit in many years but I always enjoyed doing armor. Most of the kit's back then were 1/72 scale. I have built a 1/72 WW1 Male tank and a M1 Abrams recently and enjoyed both of them.

At our last local model club show I picked up this Dragon 1/35 Sherman Vc Firefly.



I've always like the Sherman with the larger barrel of the 76.2 mm main gun. I'm looking forward to trying a newer kit. (The jury is still out on assembling the tracks!) The main hull pieces look quite good at first glance.



Started construction on the road wheels and put a coat of Vallejo primer on them.





Nest up will be the barrel and suspension.

[EasyEight96]

Nice job so far I've got the newer version of this kit can't wait to build it

[Nige99]

I love my shermans!! Look forward to watching your build.

[Stokesy44]

Looks nice. Good to see a Firefly coming together, helps fight against the general allied inferiority complex which even extends to kits!!

[Coen]

Should be a fun build Stuart. An oldie, but good for sharpening the skills.

[Nige1940]

Great start so far , I have a couple of Tasca/Asuka ones beckoning me in the stash

[StuartClark]

It's been a busy few weeks so I hav'nt had as much time on the bench as I would like.

Making some progress. Got the running gear onto the hull.



Realized afterwords for this sort of running gear, I probably should have left them off so I could properly mask the wheels. Oh well, I'll paint them carefully after the fact. Lesson learned.

Got the upper and lower half of the hull put together and some of the smaller detail bits put on. Tools etc will be left off until paint is done.
There is a few pieces of photoetch for headlight guards etc, All I can say about is that practice makes perfect. I know which 1 of 4 I did first and I get better with each one.



Next up is working on the turret and then on to the tracks.

[StuartClark]

Working on the turret this evening.. The photo-etch I'm being asked to do is leaving me cross eyed. So further nod of respect to the armor guys for the amazing things I see them do.

[StuartClark]

A bit more work resulted in the hull and turret ready for primer and paint.





Next up are the tracks... Based on a 15 minutes getting 3 links together, some further research on tips and techniques are going to be in order to prevent me going mad.....

[OliveDrab]

Very nice work! Welcome to the wonderful world of individual link tracks! You'll need three things for the assembly of the tracks. Build yourself an assembly jig for the tracks. This can be something as simple as a flat board with a second smaller flat board fastened to the first. This should help keep everything straight. I usually build smaller sections of track, then connect these smaller sections together to make full upper and lower sections of track. The second thing you'll need is a bunch of patience. Then the third thing you'll need is a bit more patience

[StuartClark]

Thanks for the tips. I've been reading up and the idea of building in sections between 10 to 20 links seem to be the way to go. I'm sure the 4th thing will be some beer.

[StuartClark]

All ready for priming. I'm using Vallejo Earth Green primer. I've also added a bit of future as some people report that makes the primer a bit tougher.



And the after shot. I did find it easier to put on light coats with the primer this time. I don't know if it was because of the future, but something I will try again. I took the photo seconds after finishing spray the turret, after it dried it was much less glossy.

[d6mst0]

This is the first time I see a primer that wasn't black or grey being used. This will be interesting to see how it affects the base coat.

[StuartClark]

Got the first base coat on today. Used Tamiya XF-51 Khaki Drab. For the lower half of the hull I wanted it to be slightly darker in color so mixed in Tamiya XF1 Flat black at a 7/1 ratio (approx). The result is tough to see in the photos but I like it.





Shot the rest of the hull and turret Khaki Drab.





Once this completely dries I'll add a second coat and fill in one or two small spots that we missed on the first pass.

[lucasner]

I have the exact same kit about half built. Awesome inspiration, buddy! I do so love building these older kits. They've been on my shelf for years and I just can't NOT build them right??
Can't wait to see the finished product...keep it coming!
Dave Lueck

[StuartClark]

(Small rant coming)

You guys were not kidding about having patience assembling tracks. 2+ hours of work with various jigs, putting it on low tack tape etc has yielded 9 links.......



At this pace it will be 2016 before I get these done. I have already had two of the end bits disappear to the floor, so to say I'm frustrated would be an understatement. Right now it's just straight bits, I'm dreading how I'm going to put sections together around the drive wheels. Can anyone point me to some sources to help me with this, everything I've seen does not seem to cover having side bits linking the tracks together.....

[StuartClark]

Did some more searching and found a reference to a track jig in a Osprey book on the Sherman, checked my library and I did have it.



Going to his the local hobby shop tomorrow for some evergreen strips to build this.

I didn't realize the Sherman had tracks that were such a pain in the ass.

[OliveDrab]

Hang in there, the Firefly is looking very NICE

I have only built the Dragon tracks once, and it was many years ago. I don't really remember much about building them since its been so long, but I did find the jig I made to aid in assembly of the tracks.

I glued blocks and strips of plastic to "nest" a group of track blocks. Side 1 was spaced for just the track blocks alone. The end connectors were then glued to the open end of the track blocks. This section was then moved to side 2, and the opposite side end connectors were then glued in place.


Side 2 of the jig: the "nested" area was spaced for the track blocks plus one side of the end connectors.


For the sprockets and idlers, the jig was used to assemble smaller sections, and with the cement still wet, the sections were formed around them. (I used Testors liquid cement, it seems to dry slower than Tamiya extra thin, giving a little more time to fit the tracks over the sprockets and idlers.) To fit the tracks to the tank, I probably had 2 or 3 sections of track runs per side. It will take some planning on where you want to place the connecting points for the different track sections.
Oh, and If I remember right, I had to widen the sprocket a bit for the tracks to fit correctly.


Here are the Dragon tracks on the Italeri M4A1, they look much better than the tracks that came with the kit.

[StuartClark]

Thanks for the tips, I'll look into trying your jig as well. Probably won't be back at it until the weekend.

[StuartClark]

Finally got some time to get back to this. Thanks to the lads in the hangout and OliveDrab here in the forum for the ideas of using a jig to help with construction of the tracks.

Put this together tonight and got 2 sets of 14 tracks started (one side of connectors in about 45 min. Quite a improvement.



2 square pieces of pvc strip, just wide enough to fit the tracks vertically. I then glued a piece of styrene strip on the end to close it off. I use a small jeweler's file to keep the tracks together and from falling over sideways.

After about an hour was starting to go cross eyed, but the second end connector will go on by pushing the tracks horizontally and then gluing the connector in. I'll take more pics when I start that.

[StuartClark]

Work continues slowly. Put a second coat of Tamiya XF-51 Khaki Drab which really evens things out in preparation for weathering. But before I can weather, tracks must be assembled..... *sigh*

Took the time to get all the bits off the sprue at once to speed things up later. Apologies for lack of focus on this one.



Also completed and did a quick test of the second jig (at the bottom of the picture)





This jig is used to put the second set of side connectors on. You put the tracks with the first side of connectors in the jig, put the end cap on and it keeps everything in place.

I've gotten two lengths of 14 links done and I'm impressed with it, next challenge will be doing the sections that curve around the drive sprockets.

[felisbarcinonensis]

It's looking great mate!

[StuartClark]

I haven't had much time for model building, but did do a bit more tack assembly tonight. My work also gave me a new phone so had some fun with the time lapse feature.

[youtube]8c150Pk462E[/youtube]

About 15 min of work here. The jig does simplify the job.

[StuartClark]

Slowly but surely.....

Got the decals on tonight and completed another 12 links, tried to bend them around the front drive wheel with resonable success, the challenge I see will be the final connection after I test fit, paint and get them back on.

[Coen]

Th trick Stuart, is to assemble the tracks and glue them together, leaving one end open. Then you install them on the tank while the glue is still drying. You form them around the wheels and sprocket while they're malible, then let the glue set.
Once it's hardened you remove the tracks carefully and paint them separately,
It's a time sensitive thing but it's pretty much how individual link tracks are done.

[StuartClark]

Thanks for the tip, I'll keep that in mind. One of the things I think I should have done is not glue the front drive wheel to aid in getting the tracks off. Something for next time. Hopefully I'll be at that stage later this week.

Cheers.

[StuartClark]

I can't believe it's been a year since I have updated this build. A house move and a new job kept me away from it as well as issues with the tracks. In the end to keep my sanity I bought some tracks by AFV club.

However, after double checking, I did get the wrong ones which were slightly short. Grr... A solution was found by putting the missing section at the bottom of the tank, and then using some of the original dragon tracks to fill in the gap. I'm planning to put the Firefly in a diorama going through muddy terrain, so the mud will hide that section of track.

I have started the weathering process, first by a light mist coat of Tamiya buff on the lower section and then using a combination of Ultimate and Mig washes, and Doc O'Brien's weathering powders.

Here are some pics of the work in progress.









I'm hoping to start work on the base this weekend.

[chalkyw]

Nice to see this one back on the bench Stuart ......psst, don't tell anyone but I binned the tracks as well and swapped them for some Dragon DS ones, which are probably wrong as well but it saved my sanity!!!

[digger303]

Yes it's been while on the shelf of the forgotten. Not that I can talk.
yes I was looking at it and the contributors and saw Coens name and I perked up thinking beauty he's back. Then looked at the date again....damn that was a year ago....

[Davethepitch]

I did one once and the links to ages and you have done a great job.

[arkbuilder2012]

Very nice!!! Have a couple of Fireflys in the stash, inspired to do one now.

[StuartClark]

The build is just about done. I have done quite a bit of work since the last update.

A base has been prepared and celluclay applied following Coen's excellent instructions in this video. Some small stones and grit were added at this stage as well.

[youtube]CcbNqyjTFvI[/youtube]

I then put a coat of craft paint brown and some green thinned with Windex onto the base. It sprayed very well at about 40/60 paint thinner. After that dried some Vallejo Earth Green primer was airbrushed on some areas.

I continued the weathering using Tamiya Panel Line accent colors and then Vallejo's Acrylic splash mud weathering effect. This was the first time I had used the Vallejo product and I'm very impressed.

Waiting a day or so for things to dry and then I'll add the last details and then a seal coat on it. Really pleased on how this has turned out for my first 1/35 kit.

[StuartClark]

Final video of the build.

[youtube]s9VJ3J1_m78[/youtube]