Matchbox 1:76 Sherman Firefly 2-Color Kit

I woke up to a beautiful morning and after a good breakfast and a brisk walk around the house, I decided to work on my scale models. Now, I recently fubbed some paintjobs and I had left the models on my main workbench unfinished. With my airbrush still needing a new needle, painting was out of the question. The 1/35 Jagdtiger and SU-122 would have to wait. I had some 1/35 figures still on the workbench but i didn't feel like brush painting either. What I needed ws a simple, fast, uncomplicated out-of-the-box build. And a good cup of coffee.

I eventually headed to my bodega and decided to crack open an old kit that had languished in my bodega for years. Browsing thru my collection of unassembled kits, I decided on the old Matchbox Sherman Firefly in 1/76 scale.

I had bought this kit way back in the 70's I believe, part of my early collection of 1/72 and 1/76 tanks. Even though the Matchbox tanks were smaller than the ESCI ones, I liked them because of the mini dioramas that were usually included in the kits. For some reason though, the Firefly never got built and thus didn't suffer the fate of my assembled collection. When my parents had our house renovated back in the 80's, a lot of the models were packed away and forgotten. Some were lost and a few (one or two boxes) survived but most of the models had been damaged. Maybe one day, I'll get around to fixing them.

The kit is advertised as being a 2 color kit. Airfix, then Matchbox's biggest competitor in 1/76 military models, was the industry leader then. As a marketing strategy, Matchbox came up with their 2 color kits, advertising these models as "no painting needed." Sprues were produced in 2 or 3 colors and came with diroama bases. Sadly, the marketing didn't work and soon Matchbox threw in the towel leaving only a few models in their 1/76 line. 

Anyway, back to the Firefly. The plastic's still crisp but the decals and the instructions had yellowed. I'm not sure if the decals are still useable but since I'm planning something altogether different for the Firefly, I set them aside. The rubber tracks were in very bad shape. They had gotten all twisted and had remained in that position for roughly 3 decades and seemed all bent wrong. I'll address that problem later and started with the hull and wheels. Assembly was straightforward and the plastic was still crisp. The kit was simple really. The only fiddly stuff were the bogey wheels. A major downside for me was that most of the hatches were molded on the hull and even the tools were already on the plastic.  Maybe I'll cover these up with stowage. I'm not really a fan of molded on details.

I started with the bridge section that came with the kit as a mini-diorama base. The base is the section that slopes up from the bridge's edge and abruptly terminates into rubble. Why the heck was the tank driving here? Maybe an enemy shell had damaged the bridge just as the Firefly was about to cross. Hmmm, could be a diorama idea there...

Matchbox was known for providing these little diorama bases in their 1/76 line, something I really like. 

 
 The kits engineering shows its age with very minimal alignment pegs to help in assembly. I had some difficulty in assembling the bogeys but eventually got the job done. Whether it was due to the engineering or my failing eyesight, I won't tell:P

 

Man, the hull had the year "1974" on it as well as the LESNEY MATCHBOX name. Memories:) I was four when this kit came out...

I cut the tracks from the sprue carriers and stretched them tight on  piece of board, securing and bending the parts into shape with masking tape.

I then placed them under a pile of books. I'm sure the books were heavy because they were books about tanks. Maybe I'll leave them there until the weekend:)))

And in around 40 minutes, my Firefly was ready to pose on the bridge!

I left off some parts, maybe until I get some reference material and check up on the details. She's noticeably smaller than my other Shermans, obviously because of her smaller scale. I still have the Dragon 1/72 Firefly and might build that too just so I can have a family of Fireflies. I know I have some 15mm and 10mm Fireflies stashed around here somewhere... She could be mommy Firefly...

All in all, a nice, uncomplicated and relaxing diversion. This baby'll be in line for painting soon.