Dragon 1/35 Sdkfz 194 Elefant (2006)

[Bill Plunk]

Dragon's 1/35 kit #6126 with AM from Voyager, Cavalier, ModelKasten, Jordi Rubio, and Model Point (not shown).

[Bill Plunk]

I've been accumulating stuff for this build since Oct. 2004 when I got the kit at an IPMS show from a vendor table for $20. The final item arrived this past Friday in the form of a Model Point replacement MG barrel and I started in today. The kit is one of the older string (although recently "enhanced" as a Premium offering) since I didn't want to spring for the new bundle. Today focused on the lower hull and walls to take the zim, next weekend will be the upper hull, PE, and rest of the zim. So far it's going ok, just a couple of surprises to deal with, the biggest being the roadwheels having a larger hole diameter than the suspension arms they mount on. Blue tac has provided a temp solution that may well become part of the permanent one, that remains to be seen.

[Bill Plunk]

I continued with the Elefant this weekend, focusing on the PE needed for the lower hull and fenders. The Voyager set is pretty neat although it's one of their older sets and looks like the parts have been updated but the instructions haven't...there were a couple of mis-numbered parts, parts that were supposed to be combined that were actually now 1 part, etc.

All in all though it wasn't too rough, just some slow going. I also took the opportunity to thin down the front mudguards by sanding and also scribe their missing demarcation lines since DML chose to mold the fenders and mudguards as one piece.

Here's the progress today, all done with the lower hull and ready to start on the upper.





I annealed the heat shields at the back and also dutifully installed the screens for the exhaust...only to realize that post installation you can't see it unless you flip it upside down and/or use a dental mirror. At least I know it's there! Also did the zimmerit on the support sides of the exhaust vent, the Cavalier side included only a sheet for the top surface.



And just to give an idea of how intricate some of the assemblies are, one of the retaining brackets for the tow cables.

[Bill Plunk]

This weekend was extremely productive. All construction on the Elefant is complete and it's now ready to head to the paintshop once I clean up some of the putty work just a little bit more. I've got a 4 day weekend coming up with Labor Day so ought to really be able to sink some time into it soon.

I had a little bit of a struggle with the main hull box fitting since the Cavalier zimmerit panels add just a little bit more to the hull width, but nothing major. Using the engine deck panel and the bevelled sides, it went together well enough but did require some putty work to finish up as you can see in the pics below. I replaced the engine deck handles that were molded in to the side panels (but separate pieces for the middle panel...not sure what the logic was there on DML's part...) with the Voyager set items...just a little bit of surgery to remove and use the brass in their place. Also put the Voyager rain guards in place of the kit parts and dressed up the commander's cupola. Topped that off with a scratchbuilt grabhandle for the gunner's hatch, drilled out the periscope face and voila! the upper box was done.

I decided to only replace one of the armor plugs with the Voyager item instead of all 4...since I would only leave 1 open, seemed kind of redundant to replace them all...plus the Voyager armor plug set is applicable for Panthers, Brummbar's, etc. and I have another Ferdinand kit in the stash that I might want to use them on...so still have 4 in the pack unused for future possibilities!

The MK tracks also went together beautifully...I started them on Monday and worked on them a couple of hours per night while watching TV (it was Ancient Week on the History Channel )...finished both up on Sat. morning, test fit them and they clear the fenders perfectly and can be tensioned up just right with the MK add-on piece on the front sprocket. Don't have enough to do the spare links for the hull front and the rear hull, so will have to decide if I want to use kit tracks for one or the other...probably end up using the extras on the back since they "hang" on just a couple of hooks and the MK's will provide a better look back there I think...but not decided yet.

I had a slight problem with the JR barrel since the kit has a slot/groove arrangement on the kit halves, ended up having to remove the slot tabs inside the mantlet and instead jamming it full of ApoxieSculpt followed with some CA gel on the base of the barrel...worked beautifully with just a little bit of adjustment needed.

Last but not least, I needed to put the cut marks back into the steel plate for the hull front and gunner's bulge, in the course of sanding it down to meet the hull edge, the resin went glass-smooth...took a sharp #11 blade and just scored it repeatedly and sanded lightly to restore it along with rescribing the join plate line on the gunner's plate. Also, after checking several references for the Elefant I'm going to build...the shots of the rear showed a smooth top tool box without zim so I sanded off the X-lines molded in and cleaned that up a bit as well.

Here's the progress pics to date.

[Bill Plunk]

The weather cooperated today and I was able to take full advantage of it. Laid down a primer coat of Flat Black and followed that up with the basecoat of Dunkelgelb. Got in a couple of really good hours in between some other errands/business that had to take care of as a result of last weekend being rained out.



I'm going to let it cure up over the week and see if I can use some of the Prisma Color pencils I've got to sketch in the outlines of the camo pattern and then AB that next weekend hopefully.

[Bill Plunk]

I'm trying something new this time around with the camo pattern. Used Prismacolor pencils to sketch in the camo design and will now see if my AB skills are up to the task in terms of being able to actually replicate it!



So far so good...some of the paint is shiny because of the thinner ratio but should cure out flat over the next day or so.

The dark green is a special mix of MM enamel Russian Armor Green and Panzergray.



The brown is MM enamel Military Brown straight from the bottle. I prefer it's lighter shade because it darkens up just right when weathered IMHO.



There are some points that will require touch-up, as usual, and I think next time I'll use a slightly lighter shade on the prismacolor pencil as some of that still shows through, but that can be easily corrected with some dry brushing later on.

[Bill Plunk]

Made some good headway with the details today, took pics in a hurry, might just reshoot them later this evening, not sure if I'll have time. Anyhow, here's the progress...got both tracks on, did up the spares on the back with extra MK links, the front ones are the kit standards. Mounted the jack, block, and sledgehammer. Also did some drybrushing of the basecoat to blend in the camo a bit. She's all ready now for a coat of Future and then the weathering process can begin!

[Bill Plunk]

Very productive day today (and some yesterday too!). Drybrushed in some MM Leather to deepen the Military Brown a bit, got the Future coat on, applied the kit decals (that was a challenge all by itself...they are well over 2 years old or older and it showed...brittle, yellowed, etc.), and started in with first a pin wash of Burnt Umber and then an overall very light filter wash also of Burnt Umber. Getting closer to the finish line.

Future before wash:



After wash and initial weathering:

[Bill Plunk]

Almost to the finish line with this one. Washes are done and a dull coat applied, only remaining steps are a little bit of drybrushing with the basecoat in a couple of spots and use some Mig powders and weather up the tracks and running gear and this one will go on the shelf.

[Bill Plunk]

The final chapter on this build was written today. Applied some Mig Europe Dust using ordinary water and a large brush to the undersides, tracks, and roadwheels and let that set overnight yesterday. Came back this morning with a square stiff bristled brush and began removing the excess and getting the desired look. I also did one final little installation by drilling out the antennae masts on the front hull and rear fighting compartment and added some brass rod for those. Overall I'm very happy with the result, tried out quite a few new things with this build that will be carried forward to future projects.

Pics of the finish:













Detail shots of various features: