Sherman V with British ARV cupola - case report

Gentlemen...

   I'll make this quick project. My goal is to build a Sherman 75mm with British commander cupola (ARV: all round vision), rather than the American original hatch. Something like this:

British ARV cupola in Sherman

      The biggest problem was finding references of Shermans 75mm with this cupola, because the more common photos are from Fireflies with this device.

       This photo I found with the citation of the tank being a Firefly:

Canadian Shermans

      But the shadow of the vehicle (and the gun...) suggest be a standard 75mm.

Sherman V (M4A4) Canadian

      The adaptation was warranted for the protection of the tank commander, as the British hatch (used in Churchills and Cromwells) allowed a 360 ° vision through their periscopes ...    

      But here are some photos of 75mm Shermans with this device. There are references to its used by the Polish (Fireflies) and Canadians (75mm).

Sherman 75mm with ARV cupola (background...)

Sherman V(M4A4) with ARV cupola

      For this project, I bought a semi-built kit of a colleague, from the Dragon.

        She arrived in this condition, at home

M4A4 Dragon, semi-built

       There is (or was ...) a conversion kit from Formations of this cupola. But as it is very rare, I will make one at home...

 Formations kit of British ARV cupola

        I'm going to do with parts left over from my Churchill AVRE and a little scratch:

Adapting the cupola ARV from Churchill AVRE (scrap) to the turret Dragon

The hull almost ready...

Adding the British rack (by Panzerserra) at the nape of the turret

Beer-can-etched...

Well...It´s painting time !!!!!

Primer, to equalize the Sherman´s surface...

primer in the tank

    First layer of color: Olive-drab, with ups and downs variations... The "gloss" aspect is Future, to prevent silvering ...

Tank in green...left side

Tank in green...right side side

      I researched and did the markings of my Sherman:

Sherman V with ARV cupola - color profile

        Decal...The best step !!

applying decals...

Canadian rules!!!

Making the "LUCIFER" decal with Sirap paper plus Laserjet. Piece of cake !!!

The name LUCIFER using Sirap Decal Paper for Laser prints

close-up of the decal made-in-home

Building the tracks. The DS tracks are so long. I cut 2 links to fix that...

notice the 02 links cut from DS tracks

Using superglue and...

Next step, weathering !!!!!

Making some baggage and cargo in the rear deck, using styrofoam and tracing-paper

styrofoam and tracing paper

The white glue diluted in water help in shaping the volume ...

the cargo drying...

And the girl ready for action:

Sherman V with ARV cupola

Sherman V with ARV cupola - left side

Sherman V with ARV cupola - right side

Sherman V with ARV cupola - Lucifer

Well, Gents...there this ...

Thanks for follow !!!