Project Firefly. (Or "Why We Can't Have Nice Stuff")

[Rob1970]

Well, started on the proces of turning the Heng Long Sherman M4A3 105mm into... a Firefly? Actually, that is kinda fluid. Still waiting for some stuff to come in, and the plan might change. But there's a lot I can do before that anyway. Already gathered a lot of stuff that will let me start with some of the work -I- think needs doing.

What I've gathered thusfar in parts and stuff is;

Spare plastic hull (with the leds for the front and rear lights already installed)
Complete spare turret (V6.0 with all the electronics and BB stuff, alltho no 360 conversion)
Metal engine deck grill (Mato)
Metal horn and cover (Mato)
Metal .50cal for the turret (Mato)
Brass barrel and etch details for the .50cal (Aber)
Metal .30cal for the turret (Mato)

I've already made a cable from the battery compartment to the rear of the hull for a Voltage Alarm to keep an eye on the battery. Those voltage alarms are cheap (about a dollar) and they are great for the health of your LiIons.

Now, the "Plan" for now is;

• Remove plastic engine grills from the top of the hull and replace with metal grills and hinges. This for easy access to the innards, like the smoker for refueling and the Voltage alarm for settings and turning it off.
• Remodel the spare turret to look like a Firefly turret. I know this involves another barrel as well, and I have ordered one from Toucan's store on AliExpress. They are shipping it along with the Panzer IV I may or may not have bought... The barrel I bought willl still let me shoot BBs.
• Ordering (or scratchbuilding) the british style commander's hatch. Loader's hatch is going to be scratchbuild.
• Remodel the (spare) hull to resemble a VC Firefly hull. This means a different type of driver hatch and eliminating the front .30cal. Which means I have a MG firing led going spare. Which I might move to the top .50cal. Because... why not?
• Remodeling the gear box covering to resemble an early type. Or buy the excellent resin one Forgebear sells. Not sure on that one yet. There's an awful lot of variants around anyway.
• Change IR stuff to LegoDEI's system. As soon as I figure out how to get the purchase not get killed by the new stupid tarif laws in the EU.

And that's just for starters. Going to do all the major remodelling on the spare hull and turret, except for the metal grills. Those will go on the "working" hull, since I want to be able to access the voltage alarm and an easier way to "refuel" the smoker.


All the stuff (sofar...)


Started with coding all the wires. Saves me a lot of hassle later. Back right the new wires I strung from the battery compartment for the Voltage Alarm. The new metal grills will let me switch it off when it goes off (and ya kinda need to... it's rrrreally annoying). You can also see the repair I had to do on the wires for the rear lights. They got pinched when the hull was closed up in the Heng Long factory, and the insulation was damaged. The copper itself was fine, so it was just a matter of popping the metal bits from the connector and sliding on some heatshrink.

Speaking of bare wires...



...not all that impressed with the soldering on the various LEDs. I think I will do a neater job on the spare hull. I've got plenty of wire and heatshrink and some Dupont connectors coming in. Already have a set of those little white connector (forgot the name) and the crimping tool to use them.

Meanwhile I am cooking up some ABS glue, slurry and putty with some Lego blocks and some MEK. MEK itself is fine for glueing ABS that makes good contact, but it is nice to have a thicker version. And the putty makes great stuff for adding weld lines and casting texture.

To Be Continued...

TTFN,
Rob

[Rob1970]

First job sorted, wiring up the lights on (what might become...) the Firefly hull. Wonders what a little time, some solder and heatshrink and some hotglue (the bane -and- blessing of everybody who has ever tinkered with hobby electronics...) can get done. And it might all be for naught, because I saw some very nice full metal front and rear light with the nice thin metal cages online... Oh well, it keeps me out of SWMBO's hair...



To Be Continued...

TTFN,
Rob

[Rob1970]

Welp... the tinkering bug got me today, so I did some more work. This time on the engine deck. Starting with strengthening the pillars, since a part of them rests on the engine grills. I used some square 8mm ABS tube. Took a piece long enough for both struts, and drilled a 6mm hole in the middle. Cut it in two pieces right down the hole and fettled them until the fit nice and snug (one a bit too much, but some 0.5mm sheet fixed that...). Glued in place with MEK on the hull side, and with ABS/MEK slurry on the pillars. Once that gone off, it should be solid ABS all the way through.



I love when Nature adds to the narrative. I was sitting at the workbench, saw in hand and took a deep breath. Thought to myself; "I must be mad, this is a new bit of kit, not even 10 days since I got it and I am planning to cut a chunk out of it... Oh well, here goes..."

...and then the thunder rolled...

All I needed was a bit of maniacal laughter.



Commited? Yeah, I think we're commited...



Holey Engine Deck, Batman!! Yeah, no turning back now. Just need to find my micro-chisels so I can shave off those hinges. Next is strengthening the edges with some ABS strip underneath and shaving the edge of the hole to get rid off the edge of the old grills. Or not. I'll just see how it looks.

To Be Continued...

TTFN,
Rob

[SoCalBobS]

Rob, great thread.

Regarding the "early" front transmission cover, I'm presuming you mean the three-piece bolted type. Just be prepared to do a little metal surgery on the gearboxes, you may need to shave some off their frames to get the cover to fit. I encountered that when I converted my Sherman to a Lee.

[Rob1970]

Rob, great thread.

Regarding the "early" front transmission cover, I'm presuming you mean the three-piece bolted type. Just be prepared to do a little metal surgery on the gearboxes, you may need to shave some off their frames to get the cover to fit. I encountered that when I converted my Sherman to a Lee.

Yeah, I noticed that Bob. Not too bad tho, all metal that is just in the way and not structural per say. Still in two minds about going for the "early" or "late" cover. Firefly versions are all over the place. ;-)

When I go for the early version, there is the question of scratchbuilding or buying a complete resin piece. Both have their merits (mostly me liking the challenge of scratchbuilding...)
Another thing I've been pondering; Making the top hull and front transmission "one piece", and having the option of (reasonably) quickly swapping tops so I can drive a M4A3 105 or a Firefly...

TTFN,
Rob

[SoCalBobS]

Rob, there is a member of the RC Universe tank sub forum, Rich Johnson. He's here too, but not as much. He specializes in Sherman variants, and will talk your ear off about them if you meet him in person! Very nice guy. Anyway, he can probably answer any question you have about scratchbuilding Sherman stuff. An invaluable resource. For instance, he's been working on a Sherman Recovery Vehicle for a couple of years now with both scratch parts and resin components, both stock and modified.

[Rob1970]

Rob, there is a member of the RC Universe tank sub forum, Rich Johnson. He's here too, but not as much. He specializes in Sherman variants, and will talk your ear off about them if you meet him in person! Very nice guy. Anyway, he can probably answer any question you have about scratchbuilding Sherman stuff. An invaluable resource. For instance, he's been working on a Sherman Recovery Vehicle for a couple of years now with both scratch parts and resin components, both stock and modified.

I have subscribed to RC Universe now, and will have to pump Mister Johnson for more information... wait... that sounded wrong... Anyway, hoping he spots this thread too, and maybe wants to impart some wisdom here as well. Could you point me to his thread on RCU? I've been thinking about building a BARV as well... if I find a cheap Sherman.

TTFN,
Rob

[SoCalBobS]

I'm not on RCU, just search membership for his name.

[Rubicon99]

I have subscribed to RC Universe now, and will have to pump Mister Johnson for more information... wait... that sounded wrong... Anyway, hoping he spots this thread too, and maybe wants to impart some wisdom here as well. Could you point me to his thread on RCU? I've been thinking about building a BARV as well... if I find a cheap Sherman.

TTFN,
Rob

You can also find Rich on Instagram. I will ask him to stop by this thread when I talk with him later.

[Rob1970]

Added a little bit more meat to the edges of the hole, so I can thin out the top and get rid of the last remnants of the old grills. And yes, cleaned up the wiring. I can only look at messy wiring for so long...



With everything strengthened I could remove the offending ABS leftovers on the top. It's slow going, don't want to remove too much (or remove a finger. I like my fingers... all eleven of them) and I would rather sand a little more than putty a lot. And with one side done, I'm calling it quits for tonight. Time for the couch and possible figuring out a method to align the tiny, tiny hinges right.



To Be Continued...

TTFN,
Rob

[SoCalBobS]

messy wiring is my middle name..😁

[Rob1970]

messy wiring is my middle name..😁

I'm an electrical engineer by trade... messy wiring gives me the heebies, jeebies and possibly the greeblies...

But hey, onwards!! Time to fit those (quite awesome) grills. They come with hinges that have a post that goes into the hull, and nuts to secure them. Ofcourse the posts have no threads. So first order of business was cutting threads, very slowly and with a touch of cutting oils using the provided nuts. And that wasn't nerve-wracking at all...


A bit of measuring, measuring and measuring again made sure the holes were in the right place...

...and they even opened quite smoothly! (...after I added a little 0.5mm shim under each hinge... *cough cough*)



The inside looks nice and tidy and the nuts will let me take them off when it's painting time.



Handles on with some CA glue and kicker. Those aren't moving any time soon...



I will probably do something clever with a couple of magnets to keep them closed if needed, but it looks good sofar. Just some detail to restore between the hinges. Now where did I leave that PE bolthead thingy...

To Be Continued...

TTFN,
Rob

[RichJohnson]

I wandered through this morning and found people speaking my name in context (Sherman building context). Good afternoon gents.

Ok nice work so far, on the grill, I’ve used them a few times myself.
Now, the Brits did have a few m4a3 fireflies but quite few and more toward the end of the war. The US got priority on the A3s.
just an FYI, this tank never had the 3 piece differential housing (nose) on it. It only came with the late sharp nose variant and so it would not have the 3 piece. Save yourself the effort there.
Dean at DGS hobbies makes a great kit for an m4a4 based firefly. An early small hatch hull with the proper modified turret and gun etc and it fits right onto a henglong with its 3 piece differential, I used this hull to build my m4a4 based IDF M50 as they got many of them.
But, to be correct the M4a4 was the stretched hull so you would need to go crazy and hack the henglong bottom up to lengthen it between each bogie. Or you could just install the top on and go with it as most people have.

Another option if you want to challenge your modeling skills is to buy the M4a4 firefly kit and then cut the engine deck out and install an m4a2 or m4 radial engine deck from shapeways and then sand the corners off the front driver compartments and build an m4a2 or m4 firefly, few do that.

I would recommend against moving hull tops back and forth but if that is what you want to do then plan ahead for it.

if you want to stick with the A3 hull you may want to just buy the turret from DGS. Save a lot of work.

Any further help I can offer just let me know. Just be aware I will direct you to what is correct and proper for the tank type in question, if you so choose to change it to personal appearance that’s up to you.

[Rob1970]

I wandered through this morning and found people speaking my name in context (Sherman building context). Good afternoon gents...

Hi Rich,

Only good things were said, t(h)anks for stopping by and your insights into this venture. I don't mind saving some money on not having to get the 3-piece. Means I can spend money on other things. I have seen the DGS kit, and it's awesome. A little out of my price range at the moment tho... Maybe in the future. (if the missus ain't looking...)

From my own research I've come to the conclusion a "true" Firefly is not an easy thing to build with the Heng Long M4A3 as a base. I will settle for semi-accurate, a fun build and awesome looking instead. No place in my life for rivet counters anyway. I want more details and dirt, not looking to win any competitions. Mind you, I've done in the past...

So the plan as it stands now is; Turn turret #2 into something "Firefly-esque". For now that means adding the radio box, a 17-pdr barrel and mantlet, and changing the hatches. Upper hull #2 will get a remodel to a Firefly with (possibly) a new scratchbuild engine deck, smaller hatches, armour patches and associated Firefly doodads. I think I will shy away from cutting the lower hull into pieces to stretch it if you don't mind...

The 105 turret and upper hull with get detailed, and still kinda planning making the two swappable. I've got a couple of Phoenix connectors that would be great for the job. Four screws, disconnect the Phoenix, connect the one from the other hull and put four screws back. I -am- going to add M3 bushes to the posts of the top hulls and just use normal M3 screws tho.

So yeah, no "true" Firefly, but something that looks like one by my own modelling rule; "If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck... and in the grand scheme of the Universe; everything is either a duck or not a duck... now what was I on about?"

TTFN,
Rob

P.S. And I type all the above, switch tabs on my browser to youtube and have this in my recommendations... Even if it means spending money on a 3-piece. Maybe make a MK.III... this one is quite awesome too!!!

[RichJohnson]

Here is something that can be build fairly easily. This is an m4 but I used a urethane M4a3 early hull to make it. Now they cost some money, kinda like DGS kit.
This is an Alco Locomotive works M4 that rolled off the line in March 1943. Yes its that specific but that is what I wanted.

The same hull could be modified into an m4a2 just as well by changing the engine deck as I did by putting an m4 deck in place and shortening it a little. Lots of ways to go to make a different tank. One of these days I want to make one into a direct vision m4 like in your video there. That will be fun. but for now I have to finish my twin IDF M51s Im engrossed in...

[Rob1970]

Nice one, Rich. Also one to consider.

Did not get to do much on the Sherman today, instead took a trip to the National Military Museum in Soesterberg for some inspiration. They have -one- Sherman on display.



Well... sorta. More like one-and-a-halve...



Both ofcourse not the type I'm working one, but still got some nice detail shots of the lights and light cages. The holey one came from a shooting range in the Netherlands.

Tonight I decided to do some Magic With Magnets!!! (Wasn't that an episode of Bill Nye, the Science Guy?")



A little notch cut out off the middle strut, superglued some magnets to the hatches and a small strip of metal into the notch...



Closes like a dream...


...and they stay closed when my Sherman hits a rough bump...

To Be Continued...

TTFN,
Rob

[Rob1970]

Well, research has been done, and choices (probably dubious ones) have been made. For the Run-of-the-mill Sherman M4A3 105mm I am going to detail-up the upper hull with some goodies, work on the weld lines and whatnot, replace the lights for something more detailed and have a lot of fun doing that. In the meantime the Gang has arrived...



And luckily they arrived without being hit by the new import tariff laws... I think the Dutch Customs are so swamped at the moment they are kinda waving a lot through in the first week(s) the new law is in effect. This will be the first time for me painting large scale figures. I hope I can do them justice, because the kit is very nice...

Now for the Firefly... I am going for the Sherman IC version. No pesky 3-piece to deal with for starters (altho I still might do that for a third(?) version...) and the rest is pretty doable. Remodelling the engine deck is not too bad a job, and it will challenge some of my more rusty skills. It will let me get out the old vacu-former for some of the bits as well. My sources for a lot of things are going to be... War Thunder...


...Okay... settle down ya'll... I know it's just a game... geez.... and the Tamiya kit...


Now... I can already hear the groaning from the peanut gallery... But trust me, it's gonna be fine. At least for me... and that's what counts.
Biggest(?) challenges are going to be changing the angle of the front glaciss, altho maybe not even that. Making the bulges and removing the large hatches could be a pain since the posts that hold the top to the bottom are right there. But nothing insurmountable. All in all it looks like a fun project sofar.

About my decision to make the hulls swappable; I am still going to do it, but I am going to make some changes to the wiring to make it easier. For starters I am going to replace the four 1x2 DuPont plugs of the various LEDS to a single 2x4 one. That will make that whole set one plug to put in (or take out). All the spare pins on the board with get a couple of deadheads that just block them, but are not connected to anything. That will stop me from blowing up stuff (he said, full of hope...). All the other connectors between top and bottom hull will get one Phoenix Connector for easy plug-n-play.

For the Firefly turret I am going to use the spare turret I got from Forgebear. Altho this one is not set up for 360 turning, it should be fine. Might convert it to 360, if I can find a 12 (or 18) wire slipring that will not cost me an arm and a leg... One thing I I am also considering is moving the hull MG LED to the turret, either to the coax MG or to the .50cal. Not sure which yet.

Another thing I will do is replace the screw that attach the hull to M3 screws and matching M3 bushes in the posts of the top hull. Was considering magnets, but I've seen mixed reviews of those.

To Be Continued...

TTFN,
Rob

[Rob1970]

Another day, another chance for mistakes...

Remember that tidy job I did on the wiring on the lights? In the Firefly hull? Yeah, me too... was pretty proud of that... 'sall gone now. But at least I have a bunch of (slightly broken) spares now...



The Firefly hull needs to have the glacis put at 57 degrees instead of the 47 degrees it is on now. Not a big problem. But I also want to make my top hulls swappable, and that kinda makes it a problem. It means that for neatness sake I need to have the bolts for the gearbox cover attached to the actual cover. Like they are supposed to be. So that means a minor (tho not less nervewracking) remodel. Oh well... nobody said it was easy...

What's that song again? "The First Cut Is The Deepest"? Good thing I have a good knife for that. Love my P-cutter.



Yeah, we're commited folks. No way back(ish)... All the way through, altho just the top, not the sides. Those stay attached for a while...



First a lip of 5mm wide 1.5mm thick ABS strip glued to the inside as a lip. Some washi tape on the other side of the gap stops me from making it all one piece again. glued with MEK, which is great for welding ABS for a solid bond.



Once the MEK dried and the ABS was hard again, the ends are cut....



Glued to the gearbox cover, and more welding with Goop. (ABS/MEK slurry paste) and after that went off I added some CA and baking soda for rigidity. For those who don't know; Backing soda works as an accelerator for CA glue, with the added bonus of giving it mass and gap-filling abilities. Came in handy here at the corners to fill the space between the lip and the brackets.



Gearbox cover fitted back in place, and now you see I have to attack the Sherman hull... 'cause that ain't gonna fit no more!


I definitely voided the warranty on this one now...



...but some fettling, filing and soft cursing makes it all good again. Still need to do some filling and sanding on the seam between the lip and the gearbox, but when that is done and I've added some casting texture it should look great.



Next operation for the Firefly Hull; changing the angle of the glacis, which means some cutting, strengthening of the hull posts, and removing various bumps and lumps.
Next up for the Sherman hull; replacing the front and rear lights, the hull MG some other bits. Which are all stuck at Customs... *grmbl*

To Be Continued...

TTFN,
Rob

[Rob1970]

Oookay... someone offered me the top of another Sherman (Brand unknown, it says HobbyElectronics on the really basic remote, but the dimensions seem to match the Heng Long version. Soooo... Oddball version with build-in MP3 player and bad opera?

[Rob1970]

Did some minor work on the Firefly hull. I rrrreally want to get the Sherman 105 hull back in shape first, but the stuff I ordered from Forgebear have been stuck at Customs for over a week now... >:<
So, Firefly it is...


Filling the voids under the large hatches in preparation for the glacis surgery. Need to flatten the deck so those spaces need filling. ABS sheet and ABS goop it is. Just need to layer it slowly and let it cure after each layer.


Braced the corners so the fenders aren't flapping about when I cut out the old glacis. Again, MEK and ABS goop are your friend.


A "scouting" cut at the new angle of the glacis. Still have a day or two of goop-application to go, but now at least I know what I'm in for.

For the new glacis I will use ABS sheet, and for the small hatches and the bulges that come with them I am looking at Warren Hudson's Shapeways stuff, same for the new engine deck. Sent him a message on Shapeways to ask him if they will work with the new glacis.
To Be Continued...

TTFN,
Rob