Sherman Firefly VC (Fow)

One of the hardest lessons of post-college wargaming is that it is difficult to scrounge up opponents to games without roommates with similar interests. One remedy that I am working on is an attempt for most systems that I will continue to build to include a matched set of forces, so those wary of building an army can still try out the game (making it easier to recruit other players).

For my Flames of War paired army, I decided to go with late war British Armour. I am trying to be good and resist the temptation to take over my small apartment with scads of Russian T-34s (as much as I would love to). British Armored divisions seem like an interesting mainstream Allied choice, and i do like their particular shade of Olive. Another big draw is the Firefly VC tank. I love the way the 17lb anti tank gun looks mounted on the Sherman chassis. This upgunned Sherman was Britain's answer to the heavy panzers they were encountering, and while not being much more armoured than a standard Tommy Cooker, at least they could hope to punch the large cats' armor.

I tried my hand at freehanding some small markings, making this a Canadian tank. The muzzlebreak was drilled out with a pin vise. As a friend from my GW days once said, "If you're going to take the time to paint the figure, you can take the time to drill the barrel."

Though I was saddened when research showed that the cool Mickey Mouse camo pattern was used on support vehicles and not tanks, one nice thing about doing the basic green paintjob is that you can really flourish in the weathering department, which is every modeller's favorite. I don't know how well it comes across with my painting, but I attempted to show the rubber road pads in the middle of each track link.