3 Royal Tank Regiment in 15mm - 'Hybrid' Sherman Firefly

With 5 Skytrex and 5 PSC models, I had a problem - I would have to mix manufacturers within a troop and, though the models match quite well, I thought that would be too much. I decided therefore to modify a spare Skytrex M4 by lengthening the hull a bit, creating new engine deck details and adding the extra armour panels on the turret and hull sides. Fairly quickly I realised that would be a lot of work for questionable results but it occurred to me that every PSC sprue came with two upper hulls and two turret top halves for 75mm and 17pdr variants so I had 5 spares and decided to mate one of them with Skytrex lower hull and running gear components and scratch build the rest of the bits.

This was actually quite straightforward, if a bit time consuming. The only real problem was the join between the bottom of the glacis and the hull front so I hid that behind a lot of stowage, taking inspiration from a picture showing a similar arrangement. The running gear - track components from the M4 are obviously shorter than those of the stretched M4A4 and the track type is the rubber-block version that was apparently less popular with the British but this isn't too noticeable unless you are looking for it and the completed model blends in OK at normal viewing distances.

3 Royal Tank Regiment in 15mm - Skytrex and Plastic Soldier Co.

From what I've read, 4 KSLI most often found themselves partnered with the 3 RTR in 11 Armoured Division so that was the obvious choice as the main armoured element of my 1944 British force. 

When I first started collecting 15mm WW2, I naively thought a Sherman was a Sherman, only later learning that the British Armoured Divisions used the Sherman V - unfortunately I had bought and painted the wrong variants. I later bought five Skytrex models of the Sherman V / M4A4, including a Sherman Vc 'Firefly' but only got round to completing one of them before moving on to other projects. By the time I picked them up again, I had decided I wanted ten or eleven tanks to represent a squadron (3 troops of 3 plus an HQ of 1 or 2). Skytrex prices had increased from £10 for three tanks to £7 each. In the meantime injection moulded plastic had arrived and I couldn't resist a pack of five '15mm WW2 Allied M4A4 and Firefly Sherman Tanks' in the Plastic Soldier Company sale, for only £15. 

This mix of Skytrex and PSC models of course brings a problem of compatibility. The models actually match quite well in overall sizes but there are a few detailed differences and some features that one represents better than the other. It is interesting to compare the advantages and disadvantages of the two materials and moulding technologies. The PSC injection mouldings are crisper, with none of that distortion sometimes seen on larger spun-cast components from rubber moulds. However there can be no undercuts so many more components are needed and draft angles are a big issue, being very noticeable (for example) on the add-on armour patches on the hull sides. Because of the draft angle issue, PSC seem to have just given up with the pistol ports on the turret side and these bear little resemblance to the originals. There are also significant traces in some areas of what I assume must be scanning lines from a rapid prototype original or cutting the mould.

I corrected the hull-side armour patch draft angles on the PSC models by filing but there was only so much I could do with the pistol ports without effectively free-hand carving them from solid.

Both manufacturers give the M4A4 75mm a choice of the early M34 or later M35A gun mantlets. Most (but not all) of the pictures I found of 3RTR in Normandy had the M34A variant so I went with that. Skytrex use a one-piece casting which is much smaller and lighter looking and, to my eye, looks wrong so I took spare PSC Firefly mantlets and modified them to match the PSC M34A mantlet. I made the gun barrels using the same miliput around brass rod technique that I used to make lances for my Italian Wars Gendarmes.

I had bought some packs of Skytrex tank stowage and the PSC models come with lots items like spare tracks, jerry cans and idler wheels so I used a variety of these across both manufacturer's models.

You might have noticed in the photo above I glued the turret hatches on the PSC model the wrong way up. Even without this basic error, they stuck up much higher than they should and more than the very flat ones from Skytrex. I filed them down to match better and added details of the periscope and handle. The turret hatch diameter on the Skytrex model is quite a lot smaller than on the PSC model but there wasn't much I could do about that without major surgery and adding the same periscope details as for the PSC model would have just drawn further attention so I left them as they were.

The representation of the storage bin fixed to the back of the hull was very different - the Skytrex version was much too small and lacking the correct angle so the top points up when glued in place. Luckily the PSC sprues were almost the right cross section so it was easy to make new ones from those and bits of 0.25mm plastic sheet.

The bins on the back of the turret were quite similar and all I did there was make a new lid for the Skytrex models from 0.25mm plastic sheet to make sure it was square and had about the same overhang as for PSC.

One very noticeable defect on the PSC model is a series of trenches on the glacis plate, looking as though it was made up of separate pieces. Somehow I missed this on the first model but for later ones, I filled them in with Milliput, then scraped, filed and sanded to a smooth finish.

Skytrex on the left and PSC on the right.

PSC on the left, Skytrex on the right

With a bit of work I think the models match pretty well - certainly well enough to share a table, though maybe not side by side in the same troop. If I was starting from scratch, I suppose I'd have to choose the PSC version on cost and for having more and sharper detail but, even with weights added to the hull, there just seems something wrong with lightweight plastic tank models compared to the satisfying heft of metal and the PSC model takes longer to assemble and tidy up.

These are the first vehicles I have completed with air brushed panel hi-lighting, filters and washes, rather than my previous dry-brush technique. It was a lot harder and more time consuming than I had expected but I prefer the end result and I'm sure I will get better and quicker with more experience. 

The transfers are all from Skytrex. Although the real ratio is obviously one armoured regiment to one infantry battalion, I am only planning on representing one squadron - B squadron. 3RTR was the second most senior tank regiment in the division so a 52 on the red arm of service marking and yellow for the squadron marking.