1/76 Sherman and 1/76* Sherman Firefly

For those who don't know, the Sherman (designated "M4 Sherman" in the US military code) was an American tank that played a huge role in the second world war. It was a medium-weight, medium-armor tank, similar to that of the German panzer, only it had one major weakness: its gun. The German standard tank, the panzer IV (4, for those who don't know roman numerals), had similar armor, speed, etc. but had a much longer barrel, and could therefor shoot further, more accurately, and have more power.
I bought 2 of these:




Looking 3'o'clock High



The British, lacking a sufficient better tank design, decided to buy a few. By a few, I mean about 2,000. But the British realized that the Shermans' 75mm guns were to wimpy to take on the panzers. So they upgraded it with a 17-pdr cannon, which fires a 17-pound projectile. Although the 17-pdr was 76mm caliber, it had the anti-tank capabilities rivaling the German Tiger I's 88mm gun. Naturally, the British needed to call this upgraded tank something other than what the Americans called it, so they called it the "Firefly". Now this did not help with the Germans' nickname for shermans "Ronsons" (A cigarette lighter company, with the motto "Lights the first time, every time.") due to the flammability of the contents of the tanks.

I only bought 1 of these:

 

 

Looking 9'o'clock High





As you will notice in my model progress bar, I also bought 2 Tiger I's, but that is a completely other story.



Anyways, the Firefly only differed in the following ways:

-Bigger/longer main gun

-No front machinegun (More main ammo)

-Turret stretched backwards (To accomodate kickback)

And some other minor changes, like the mud flaps, which had more to do with American vs British, not Firefly vs Sherman (The Brits used regular Shermans too, just prefered Fireflies).

Now, compare them:









Very different, eh? Well thats what I get for betraying Revell and buying an Airfix model...