Die Waffenkammer GB002 Sherman Firefly Vc

Sherman Firefly Vc

Very fine resin WW II military vehicle kit, in 1/56 scale (28mm). Needs to be assembled and painted. Crew figure and stowage included.

Master by Mike Broadbent and Jeff Trnka.

The Sherman Firefly was a tank used by the United Kingdom and some Commonwealth and Allied armoured formations in the Second World War. It was based on the US M4 Sherman, but fitted with the powerful 3-inch (76.2 mm) calibre British 17-pounder anti-tank gun as its main weapon. Originally conceived as a stopgap until future British tank designs came into service, the Sherman Firefly became the most common vehicle mounting the 17-pounder in the war.

The main armament of the Sherman Firefly was the Ordnance Quick-Firing 17-pounder. Designed as the successor to the British QF 6-pounder, the 17-pounder was the most powerful British tank gun of the war, and one of the most powerful of any nationality, being able to penetrate more armour than the 8.8 cm KwK 36 fitted to the German Tiger I or the Panther tank's 7.5 cm KwK 42. The Firefly 17-pounder was able to penetrate some 163 mm of armour at 500 m (550 yd) and 150 mm at 1,000 m (1,100 yd) using standard armour piercing, capped, ballistic capped (APCBC) ammunition. armour piercing, discarding sabot (APDS) ammunition (shown here) could penetrate some 256 mm of armour at 500 m and 233 mm at 1,000 m, which on paper could defeat the armour of almost every German armoured fighting vehicle at any likely range. However, war production APDS rounds lacked accuracy, and the 50 mm penetrator was less destructive after it had penetrated enemy tank armour than the 76.2 mm APCBC shell. In any case, APDS ammunition was rare until the post-war period.

The Firefly's secondary armament was the standard .30 inch (7.62 mm) coaxial machine gun in the turret; the hull-mounted machine gun was removed to increase ammunition storage for the main gun. A top-mounted .50-inch (12.7 mm) machine gun was also attached, though many crews removed it due to its awkward mounting and position near the commander, which limited a full 360-degree view when unbuttoned in battle.

In 1945, some British Shermans were fitted with a rail on either side of the turret for two ''60 lb'' (27 kg) high-explosive 3-inch rockets. These were used at the Rhine Crossing by the tanks of the 1st Coldstream Guards. These tanks, called ''Sherman Tulips'', were conventional Shermans and Fireflies. The rockets, accurate when fired from aircraft, were less accurate when fired from a stationary platform, such as a tank, as they had little initial slipstream over the fins. The RP-3 was effective when its 60-pound warhead hit the target.

The Sherman VC variant is easily distinguished by its lower hulls; the VC having a riveted lower hull with a curved shape.