M4A4 Sherman VC Firefly, Halinski 1:25

snake7

Well-Known Member
Assembled radio set. This one is called British Wireless Set Number 19 or WS19.
They've been installed in commonwealth and lend lease Shermans and were different from US versions.

BjLWNx.jpg


dXbGfp.jpg


pnDlnb.jpg


First off all boxes.
I adapted a method with square boxes - draw along fold line very lightly with knife. It gives good 90 angle fold and white edges painted later.

d9Lm8u.jpg


Because of tiny parts i decided to cut/paint/glue each part separately.
Radio set is ready.

U5XJwD.jpg


YDw9vA.jpg


MOt9nf.jpg


And the real thing :)

VC-WirelessBustle-2.jpg
 

snake7

Well-Known Member
Thanks Micha
.
Continued with armored radio box.
A lot of lamination.

KGmGsI.jpg


HqN7Tb.jpg


xWx3bf.jpg


Box is ready and attached to turret

ACzggn.jpg


YQbxyC.jpg


1e3khp.jpg


N7z9f4.jpg


BV2o4V.jpg


wkMbWh.jpg


Fun fact: in early versions of Sherman, radio set was located inside the turret. When Sherman was modified with bigger 17 pdr anti tack gun, it was so big that breach block inside interfered with radio set. So the rear of the turret had a rectangular hole cut into it and radio was put into armored box as an extension.
 

micahrogers

Moderator "Where am I, and how did I get here?"
Staff member
Moderator
Ohh the way they had to shoehorn things into tanks back then. Great work as always.
 

lyter1958

Esteemed Member
Fantastic work. i have this in my "to build" pile and seeing on how you have built yours has given me lots of how to's when and if i start mine..
 

zathros

*****SENIOR ADMINISTRATOR*****
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
It's amazing that they would put a tube radio in the turret!! I have a collection old vintage tube amplifiers, (these suckers are quite valuable, and sound incredible), it's amazing that the sockets could take the pounding. The U.S.Army radios were built quite robust back then, but geez, I thought they would be mounted on something that would absorb the vibration. Looks fantastic though. :)

The insides of these were pretty much the same, some didn't have the side battery pack you model shows. You can see how each tube is covered with a metal cover, the sockets probably float each and that takes all the shock. Modern radios have to be mounted quite differently, they are more delicate. The dial with the flat plates is a variable capacitor, that's how you would try and find the signal. Lots of "know how" needed to use one of these properly :

Missing Battery of left hand side

MK19 inside.jpg
 

zathros

*****SENIOR ADMINISTRATOR*****
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Tube amps are awesome. Audio Tube amps have around a 1% THD (Total Harmonic Distortion), which, compared to modern electronics which are at around .001% seems ridiculous, but they have far less total "non harmonic distortion" than modern electronics, which is why quality tube amps just sound better than transistor audio systems. New algorithms had to be designed to measure the non harmonic distortion, thus the return of Tube Amplifiers to the audio scene, and at exorbitant Audiophile prices.

Just before transistors came into being, a new type of tube had been developed, they were around 1" tall and a half in wide. They were rendered obsolete by transistors. These tubes would have been immune to electro-magnetic pulse (EMP) that would leave modern devices dead. However, you would have to wear a pacemaker for your heart on your back in a back pack. ;)
 

snake7

Well-Known Member
Tube amps are awesome. Audio Tube amps have around a 1% THD (Total Harmonic Distortion), which, compared to modern electronics which are at around .001% seems ridiculous, but they have far less total "non harmonic distortion" than modern electronics, which is why quality tube amps just sound better than transistor audio systems. New algorithms had to be designed to measure the non harmonic distortion, thus the return of Tube Amplifiers to the audio scene, and at exorbitant Audiophile prices.

Just before transistors came into being, a new type of tube had been developed, they were around 1" tall and a half in wide. They were rendered obsolete by transistors. These tubes would have been immune to electro-magnetic pulse (EMP) that would leave modern devices dead. However, you would have to wear a pacemaker for your heart on your back in a back pack. ;)

Yeh, I know that tube amps are the best. My another hobby is music (drummer ) ;)
 

snake7

Well-Known Member
Next step was commanders hatch. A tough nut...
Curved ring consisted only of petals, that later need to be cut into, for hinge axes.
Managed to assemble it somehow.

PKMxYM.jpg


6Q1dT0.jpg


Pay attention to the order of four rings stripes. Two inner and two outer. Glued one on another with bottom base line.

MSpWcI.jpg


Ring was curved and glued before putting it on power frame.
After i did it, then only i cut out openings for hinge axes and finally removed
white stripe.

b0g1aH.jpg


bnAC0e.jpg


Interesting solution with machine gun holder. For stiffness it has rolled paper inside. Such a awesome consideration in design.

EH4OAQ.jpg


Then i assembled doors and visors, added hatch lock and head cushions and put all parts together.
Ring with doors is moveable inside the hatch.

wztT7t.jpg


d7EESo.jpg


NUmUIV.jpg


g2964B.jpg
 

snake7

Well-Known Member
Thank you all!

Next part is pistol port.
Interesting solution with handle.
It was manual handle and not a cylinder :) and locked in close or open position.
Sorry, I accidently erased picture with parts.

I want to point some mistake here - parts 334a and 334b must be glued on
1 mm cardboard (**) and not as marked on 0.5 mm (*).
I noticed it only when i tried to put skin on those.
Luckily, it was easy to correct the error.
Handle was glued only after i glued port door.

Uvqxof.jpg


rj8vPa.jpg


2lESZd.jpg


BDuSQz.jpg


nJbeOa.jpg


s9BOHS.jpg


ThJSHt.jpg
 

micahrogers

Moderator "Where am I, and how did I get here?"
Staff member
Moderator
I always thought that little door was for throwing the spent cases out of... but yea, pistol port makes sense too.
 
Top