Canadian Grenadier Guards Sherman Firefly Mk 1c - Operation Totalize, Normandy 1944 - Work in progress photos

My latest project:

A radio-control Sherman Firefly 1c of the Canadian Grenadier Guards
- as it might have appeared during Operation Totalize: one of the preliminary battles which would lead to the encirclement & defeat at Falaise, France of German Army Group West by the combined forces of Canada, the USA & Great Britain in WW2.



Here is a link to a historic photo showing an actual Canadian Grenadier Guards Sherman 1c
(Peter Williams collection - Tapatalk.com ) :


Another link to another Canadian Grenadier Guards tank showing the countershaded barrel & spare track links [used as additional spaced-armor protection against the German anti-tank rocket weapons] which I attempted to recreate on my model.
(Library and Archives Canada photo PA-130911):


Though it's not a "rivet-counter special" by any means, I think my model captures the overall look of a Sherman 1c.

It's not finished yet but I'm planning to do a build video on youtube showcasing the steps I took to convert this model , which started life as an American Sherman M4A3 with a short-barreled 105mm howitzer:



Into this, a Canadian Sherman Firefly 1c variant with the long-barreled 17pounder anti-tank gun and a kitbashed approximation of the British-design All-Round-Vision hatch:



As a teaser, here are a few shots taken during the build, hope you enjoy!