tasca Sherman Firefly VC (35-009)

First of all this was first (and so far) my only experience with a tasca kit. While not being a bad experience the instructions are somewhat confusing due o the lack of english in the instructions, the bulk being in Japanese. This coupled with at times less than clear drawings of where things go made it very easy to get bogged down and make the occasional mistake. These things combined to make the kit a shelf sitter more than once. Tamiya have recently released this kit under their branding and having located a set of those instructions I must say Tamiya's live up to their usual clarity (I in fact referenced much of the remaining build from the Tamiya instructions.)

For an example of the original tasca instructions go here.

For Tamiya's instructions go here.

The kit built (minus some photo-etch guards around the vision blocks) before painting.

Click for larger image.

Undercoat applied using Humbrol primer.

Decals applied and a gloss coat of future polish prior to any weathering

Photo's of the real vehicle showed its paintwork to be in good condition with a fine coat dust on the running gear and hull. To simulate this I applied a light fading across areas of the tank using the base colour lighted in shade then applied light pin wash. White oil colour was then used to simulate rain streaks on vertical surfaces followed with a dusting across the lower half of the tank.