Firefly Turret

Manufacturer: AL.BY Miniatures (Kit #773)

This is a fantastic piece. Using the ESCI 75mm turret as a basis for the conversion, Al.By suitably modified it to represent the 17 pdr-armed Firefly turret. The gunner's hatch is molded closed, but the commander's hatch is open, and requires the modeler to provide the hatch pieces from the ESCI Sherman kit which this turret is supposed to compliment. The gun is molded very clean, smooth and straight, and the muzzle brake is hollow.

The big question is: which kit are we supposed to use this turret on? The two Fireflies I am aware of are the Sherman Ic Hybrid, and the Sherman Vc. The Sherman Ic Hybrid used an M4 Composite hull, and the Sherman Vc used the M4A4 hull. Neither of these hulls are readily available. The only M4A4 hulls I am aware of, is the recently-released complete kit by Mr. Modellbau, but I have not yet seen this kit. The only Composite hulls available are also resin: a very nice complete kit by Fine Scale Factory (which also markets a complete Sherman Ic), and an out-of-production conversion from VVV Models. So as of now, this very well-made turret is only marginally useful.