Review by Terry Ashley

The 204 x 290mm book with laminated card covers has 80 pages packed with 260 colour photos, 45 B&W period photos plus tech manual illustrations with 1:35 and 1:48 scale plans of the VC. The text is kept to a minimum with just a brief introduction and photo captions to explain the images with most of the space devoted to the excellent detail photos.

There are two restored vehicles featured in the book that provide the many superb close up walkarounds with one being the early direct vision slot type and the other the later cast driver’s hood type for a nice variety of detail.

The first 32 pages has the early direct vision slot version from the Royal Museum of the Army in Brussels, Belgium which has been restored to running condition and finished in the markings of WD T-232568 of 2nd Squadron, 2nd (Armoured) Battalion, Irish Guards, 5th Guards Armoured Brigade, British Guards Armoured Division to commemorate this units participation in the liberation of Brussels in 1944.

The first page has a brief history from the vehicles manufacture to the present day as much as is known including it’s cameo in the Richard Attenborough film “A Bridge too Far” and this is followed by a series of superb close-up detail photos that show every part of the vehicle. Apart from a few overall shots to give perspective the rest are extreme close-up shots to show all those minute details all modellers crave.

Nearly all details have shots from two or more angles to really show the details such as the hull crew hatches that have 13 shots over two pages showing the hatches and fittings from outside, inside and upside down and if that weren’t enough there are 7 different shots of the fuel filler caps both open and closed as well as a couple showing the cap open on the raised radiator bulge which is peculiar to the M4A4.

There are three pages of engine shots through the open top deck hatches as well as with the rear hull hatches open that give very good layout details for anyone wanting the add an engine to their Firefly. The rest of the hull is shown in equally good detail with another 7 shots of the British style smoke generators of the rear plate.

The direct vision slots are covered by the additional armour panels as they were and again these are shown from various angles as are the head lights, tail lights and everything in between. The suspension is also covered in great detail showing the straight arm with raised roller type bogies and solid spoke road wheels with T48 rubber chevron track fitted to this vehicle.

As well as the superb exterior details there are also two pages of interior shots of the driver’s station and associated controls as well as the transmission and forward sponson fittings.

Moving to the turret, this is treated in the same detailed manner with excellent shots of every detail included several of the open pistol port and shots moving around the turret showing the appliqué armour, rear radio box and fittings.

The top hatches are also shown in multiple shots with them open and closed showing the interior and exterior details as well as the latch and hinge details plus other turret fitting such as the vane sights, periscopes and ventilator.

There are also three pages of interior shots showing the gun breech and mountings plus the traverse and gun laying controls plus the crew seats and other details to again keep most happy.

The next 15 pages show the Firefly from Pansarmuseum in Axvall in Sweden that feature the later cast driver’s hood type with the vehicle covered from front to back and top to bottom in the same manner as the first example plus additional interior hull and turret shots that highlight some of the subtle differences between types such as the driver’s instrument panel and some other fittings.

Other detail differences such as the radio box, driver’s hoods and smaller fittings will have you playing ‘spot the differences’ between the two sets of photos and highlight the many differences that make modelling the Sherman so interesting.

There are also six large walkaround images of the multibank A57 engine mounted outside of the vehicle to give excellent details for anyone wanting to add an engine.

Next comes six view 1:35 and 1:48 scale plans of the VC that include the underside and top view with and without the turret to show added detail. There are also ssrap plans on the inside lower floor showing the inner layout and this is followed by seven pages with illustrations from the technical manual showing more superb details that compliment the close-up photos very well.

The final section has 17 pages of WWII action photos in B&W with detailed captions to accompany the photos. Some of these have been seen before but there others I’ve not seen before and they all offer excellent reference not only for the storage but of the crews as well with many excellent diorama ideas.

Conclusion:
From a modelling point of view this book is simply superb with the sheer number of detailed close-up photos just the thing when building your kit. The two different types featured also show the many subtle detail differences with the scale plans and tech manual drawings a real bonus as are the wartime photos to put everything into perspective.

A stunning photo coverage of the Firefly VC that will be a must have for any serious Sherman fan but if you want a detailed technical or historical coverage the Mark Hayward Firefly book would compliment this volume perfectly.

Highly recommended.

Sample pages from the book

Thanks to Wojciech from Model Centrum for the review copy.

Page created November 17, 2005