Tamiya Sherman Firefly, Part II

I smoothed out the gritty paint job using some polishing paper -- 1,300 grit, I believe -- and gave the Firefly a coat of Future in preparation for the decals.

The decals were thick. Even after an application of Mr. Mark Softer they stood out from the tank's surface. Me, being me, I just shrugged it off and hoped another coat of Future would blend everything in. It didn't -- and since I didn't bother to check the decals for bubbles, I sealed in some bubbly decals. Aiyaaah!

I know Sifu will be disappointed that I didn't go back and fix it (he's a perfectionist) but life is short and my stack of unbuilt models is large.

So I went ahead and gave the Firefly a wash with brown/black oil paints, which made the whole thing a bit too dark, I think. I need to remember to start with a lighter shade of the base color. It's not too bad, though. Then I did a pin wash with black/brown oils and also added some vertical streaks.

I went too heavy with the pin wash. I guess everything just looked so dark already that I went too far trying to make the shadows stand out. A dry brushing with Tamiya Buff brought out the highlights -- but, again, I was pretty heavy handed. I need to be more patient and work with a lighter touch -- which I tell myself every time I get to this stage.

I don't know why I painted the tracks black. I guess I was just following Tamiya's instructions without thinking, so I went back and did a rust-colored wash on the tracks before breaking out the airbrush and dusting the bottom hull with Tamiya Flat Earth.

Then it was time to get this thing really dirty. I'm getting better with the weathering chalks, I think. Unlike the King Tiger, where I used way too much "dirt" everywhere, this time I only used way too much in the right places -- around the tracks, running gear hull sides and places where dirt would normally accumulate. It's still too much, but I'm getting better.

After burnishing the tracks and some of the hull and turret corners with graphite, I gave the tracks a quick drybrush with silver and black where appropriate and called it done. I picked up Tamiya's 1/48 British Infantry set which includes some tank crew, so I'll add them and some radio antennas when I get around to it.

I loved building this one. It was fun and went together quickly. I'm looking forward to building Tamiya's M26 Pershing -- and I just saw the 1/48 Crusader in the store. Mmm... Even though I'm not much of a WWII modeler, that's next on the "must buy" list, I think. I just love these little kits.

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