Home  |  What's New  |  Features  |  Gallery  |  Reviews  |  Reference  |  Forum  |  Search

Sherman Firefly Vc

DML/Dragon 1/35 '39-'45 Series

Reviewed by Cookie Sewell

I remember eagerly awaiting the first version of this kit when it came out, and after struggling through the track assembly, wondering if I would ever want to do it again. Well, having done their M4A1 Early and two sets of T48 tracks for two other M4A1 kits, that remains a moot point, but this kit is a bit of a surprise. DML has reworked some parts of the older kit and added some new items to the box, so it is a partially new kit.

The main changes are in the suspension components, where the old Italeri bogies have been replaced by ones which come in the M4A1 Early kit. These are more accurate and better detailed than the 25-year old Italeri ones, and a major improvement by themselves. They also do not need the adapter plates that were included with several early DML Sherman kits to get the parts to
fit on their "omnibus" hull for both VVSS and HVSS suspensions.

Most of the other parts have been seen before – one sprue from the M26A1/T26E3 kit for the .50 caliber turret gun, two from the Sherman V Coldstream Guards version with 60 lb rockets, the M4A4 hull sprue, the previous Firefly turret sprue, two Italeri cloned parts sprues for the running
gear, the three sprues for the British pattern steel cleat track, and one detail sprue for the bow of the M4A4 hull, plus two more sprues with solid wheels and the three-piece nose. The previous etched metal light guards and grouser bin vents are included as well.

The decals and paint options remain unchanged – one Polish, one Canadian, and "Velykie Luki", Sgt. Kite's Northhamptonshire Yeomanry tank credited with killing Michael Wittmann.

Still, this was not a bad kit when it came out, and the improvements make it better. It does also come with a ton of extra parts (always a good item for Shermaholics like me) so if released at close to the listed price, is good value for the money. If you didn't grab one first time around, this is a better and more accurate version, and can be recommended to the experienced modeler with no qualms.

Thanks to Freddie Leung of DML for the review sample.

Cookie Sewell
AMPS

Review Copyright © 1999 by Cookie Sewell
Page Created 11 March, 1999
Last updated 22 July, 2003

Back to HyperScale Main Page

Back to Reviews Page