I am planning to model a Sherman V (M4A4) in 1/72 scale, as used by the British Indian Army in Burma. Dragon have such a kit listed in their range, but I am unable to find one available at present. What I do have is their Sherman Ic Firefly, and wonder how easily I could convert this to depict the Sherman V. Presumably, I would have to replace the turret with one that does not have the loader’s hatch. I would also need to replace the 17-pdr barrel with a 75mm version. I also note that the transmission housing is one-piece, so this would have to be replaced by a three-piece bolted version. Conveniently, I have several Sherman kits (again from the Dragon range), so these modifications would appear to be straightforward.
Or am I missing something?
Regarding my earlier question, I obviously missed an important point … the Firefly was based on the M4 hull, so would be totally unsuitable for conversion to a Sherman V.
Firefly was built on M4A4 hull or Sherman V in U.K speak.Then it became V.C firefly.I have the Dragon M4A4 kit which is ok but wrong decals for it.You could crosskit by getting the Heller 1.72nd Sherman kit which is nice.That would give you the turret and mantlet and has lots of spares.Some use the Airfix V.C firefly and swap turrets and transmission cover.Hope that helps a bit.I found the holy grail of kits last year at Telford Scale modelworld.I got the Dragon VC Firefly in 1.72nd.Jim 99 on here informed us that Dragon wore out the moulds for these so no reissues ever.
Remove the radio compartment on the back of the turret
Replace the gun barrel and its shield by a regular 75 mm one (if you don’t have a spare shield, you could modify the 17-pounder one: raise the lower edge on the right only and add the protectors alongside the barrel)
Remove the cover over the bow machine gun and reinstate that
Remove the gun crutch on the engine deck
If the model has Houseboat fittings, delete those
I think that’s it, off the top of my head. It’s not a difficult conversion, certainly not if you have a spare gun and shield, and should be easier in 1:72 or 1:76 than in 1:35:
This is RFM’s VC kit backdated to a regular V (with deep-wading gear and some modifications specific to a particular, real tank) which I did some years ago because Asuka’s Sherman V kit was impossible to get and RFM hadn’t released their basic Mk. V kit yet.
The 17-pounder Sherman was built on three versions: first the Sherman V, then also on the I and I Hybrid. All got the letter C added after the mark number once converted, so VC, IC and IC Hybrid. “Regular” ICs appear to have been the rarest, though.
Richard & Jakko, I have come to realise that the Sherman is a complicated subject … so many sub-variants! So I gather that I could modify the Firefly without too much difficulty. I have a selection of Dragon Shermans, so I will explore that possibility.
