Category: workbench

Flames of War Sherman Firefly

Reading the army lists I realised I needed a Sherman Firefly either to accompany my Shermans or my Cromwell IVs.

Sherman Firefly

The Sherman Firefly was a World War II British variant of the American Sherman tank, fitted with the powerful British 17 pounder anti-tank gun as its main weapon. Originally conceived as a stopgap until future British tank designs came into service, the Sherman Firefly became the most common vehicle with the 17 pounder in World War II.

Though the British expected to have their own new tank models developed soon (and were loath to consider using American tanks), British Major George Brighty championed the already-rejected idea of mounting the 17 pounder in the existing Sherman. With the help of Lieutenant Colonel Witheridge and despite official disapproval, he managed to get the concept accepted. This proved fortuitous, as both the Challenger and Cromwell tank designs experienced difficulties and delays.

After the problem of getting the gun to fit in the Sherman’s turret was solved, the Firefly was put into production in early 1944, in time to equip Field Marshal Montgomery’s forces for the Normandy landings. It soon became highly valued as the only British tank capable of defeating the Panther and Tiger tanks it faced in Normandy at standard combat ranges. In recognition of this, German tank and anti-tank gun crews were instructed to attack Fireflies first.

Flames of War Sherman Firefly

Within the blister, as with a lot of FoW models, you get a resin hull and turret and metal tracks and accessories.

See the workbench feature on my Flames of War Sherman Firefly VC.

British DUKW Section

Decided to convert a US DUKW section for use by my British forces.

The DUKW (colloquially known as duck) is a six-wheel-drive amphibious truck that was designed by a partnership under military auspicies of Sparkman & Stephens and General Motors Corporation during World War II for transporting goods and troops over land and water and for use approaching and crossing beaches in amphibious attacks.

It’s a boxed set of two models.

These are very nice models.

Flames of War TOG2 Mid-War Monster

The Tank, Heavy, TOG 2 was a prototype British super-heavy tank design produced in the early part of the Second World War in case the battlefields of northern France turned into a morass of mud, trenches and craters as had happened during the First World War.

In the end it never went into production, but as part of the Flames of War Mid-War Monsters range you can buy it and use it in alternate history games. I liked the concept and the model on the Flames of War website is quite inspiring.

Flames of War TOG2 Mid-War Monster

The Flames of War boxed set contains three of these monsters.

Flames of War TOG2 Mid-War Monster

I do hope that we see future “monsters” for Flames of War, there are some nice concepts and ideas out there for both Early-War and Late-War, though I have a hunch that these did not sell as well as expected.

See the workbench feature on these huge tanks.

Grot Tank IV

The lunatic product of the deranged imaginations of grot riggers and scavs that have spent far too long basking in the insane genius of the Big Meks, Grots Tanks are diminutive armoured vehicles made to imitate the far larger Ork Wagons and Tanks.

The set contains four different variant chassis, tracks, exhausts and turrets as well as four fantastic Grot Tank Kommandaz and 5 different, incredibly shooty, weapon options.

I picked up a set of Grot Tanks on a recent visit to Warhammer World. After washing the resin, I then looked at the four main bodies and tracks deciding which was going to go with which.

This combination, especially the turret had a very German Tiger tank or Panzer IV look to it. I decided to arm it with a Big Shoota and a Rokkit Launcha (as it has a secondary weapon bay in the hull. I do like the tracks that I’ve used for this model.

The workbench feature on the Grot Tanks is broken down into four separate features, one for each of the Grot Tanks.

Grot Tank I
Grot Tank II
Grot Tank III
Grot Tank IV

Constructing the Flames of War Cromwell ARV

These are the resin and metal pieces of the Cromwell ARV.

I stuck the wading gear and hull MG to the hull and the front and rear trackguards to the tracks.

The tracks were then glued to the hull.

The model went together very easily and I am impressed with the detail on the model. Next stage will be the white undercoat.

See the workbench feature on the Cromwell ARV.

Grot Tank III

The lunatic product of the deranged imaginations of grot riggers and scavs that have spent far too long basking in the insane genius of the Big Meks, Grots Tanks are diminutive armoured vehicles made to imitate the far larger Ork Wagons and Tanks.

The set contains four different variant chassis, tracks, exhausts and turrets as well as four fantastic Grot Tank Kommandaz and 5 different, incredibly shooty, weapon options.

I picked up a set of Grot Tanks on a recent visit to Warhammer World. After washing the resin, I then looked at the four main bodies and tracks deciding which was going to go with which.

This combination, probably combine my least favourite pieces of the entire set and as a result I put them altogether in one tank. If I was to get a second set, I would probably use this for conversion using parts from the Ork plastic kits. The hull for me is too “tall” whilst the tracks aren’t that bad, they are my least favourite fo the four as they look rather lightweight. I really don’t like the turret which is too Dalek like for me.

One of the problems you can have with Forge World models is that the resin is more brittle than plastic. The sprue lugs are also much “bigger” so as a result is possible to damage the model. As you can see from this close-up of the track, I did manage to snarl up the track.

I don’t think it will show too much, but shows you do need to be careful.

The workbench feature on the Grot Tanks is broken down into four separate features, one for each of the Grot Tanks.

Grot Tank I
Grot Tank II
Grot Tank III
Grot Tank IV

Grot Tank II

The lunatic product of the deranged imaginations of grot riggers and scavs that have spent far too long basking in the insane genius of the Big Meks, Grots Tanks are diminutive armoured vehicles made to imitate the far larger Ork Wagons and Tanks.

The set contains four different variant chassis, tracks, exhausts and turrets as well as four fantastic Grot Tank Kommandaz and 5 different, incredibly shooty, weapon options.

I picked up a set of Grot Tanks on a recent visit to Warhammer World. After washing the resin, I then looked at the four main bodies and tracks deciding which was going to go with which.

This combination, especially the turret had a very Sherman look to it. I decided to arm it with a Grotzooka.


The workbench feature on the Grot Tanks is broken down into four separate features, one for each of the Grot Tanks.

Grot Tank I
Grot Tank II
Grot Tank III
Grot Tank IV