PSC Shermans

I resolved my Firefly dilemma with a couple of boxes of Plastic Soldier Company's excellent Sherman V and Vc boxes.

In each box you get five sprues;

Each sprue builds one tank. You get the pieces to make either a Sherman V or the 17 pdr armed Sherman Vc, called the 'Firefly'.

Finished Sherman V.

I was quite pleased with the detail and ease of assembly. The tracks are a little fiddly and require you to pay attention.

Bottom detail

What I really liked however is the detailing on the bottom of the hull and the way the tracks have been pinned so you cannot put them on the wrong side or in the wrong place (I tried, they won't fit any way but the way they are supposed to go on).

They also went together pretty fast, with minimal clipping and trimming. The Battlefront Sherman Vc I assembled at the same time required as much time for fewer pieces, but more trimming and filing of flash. Plus I had to trim down the locating lugs on the tracks so they would even fit properly which annoyed me greatly.

Size wise they compare well with my Old Glory and Battlefront models.

PSC on left, Battlefront Sherman Vc on right

I had to redo the right hand side track on the BF Sherman to get it to sit straight, and both track pieces required a lot of trimming to make them fit. Not required on the PSC models.

L to R: PSC, Old Glory, Battlefront Sherman Vc

As you can see the Old Glory Firefly turret is rather squashed. Even with switching the turret from the Sherman I hull to the Sherman V hull it's still not a very satisfactory model. This just confirms my resolve to replace the Old Glory Fireflies with BF or PSC models and turn the Old Glory Sherman I hulls into Kangaroos.

L to R: PSC, OG and BF Sherman Vc

Sideview Sherman Vx. L to R: PSC, Old Glory and BF.

Front view Sherman Vx. L to R: PSC, Old Glory and BF

 Sherman Vx. L to R: PSC, Old Glory and BF

PSC Sherman Vc and new BF Sherman Vc.

New troop ready for paint!

I liked the extra track pieces to reinforce the front hull of your Shermans. Which I applied liberally on a few of them.

My only quibbles are minor. One, is they could have maybe added some more stowage. A single jerry can and a single extra road wheel are it. A few packs or bundles would really help the models look more like they rolled off the battlefield. But I still have some metal stowage that I will attach with some epoxy cement before painting. My second quibble is the hole in the turret roof for the .50 cal. AA machine gun. I don't want every tank to have these (they were often removed), so the holes will need to be filled before painting.

Overall though, excellent value for the money and very nice kits to put together. I like them much better than the resin hulls.

You can buy them at my store too!