Tamiya 1/35 Elefant with a few goodies

Post by **Stokesy44** » Fri Jan 06, 2017 9:55 am

It hasn't arrived yet but Tamiya's beautiful Elefant is on its way along with their Zimmerit sheet and a very tasty metal barrel from Aber.

Thought I'd better start the thread in case the nasty Mods took me badge away!

Box and sprues pics on Saturday - come on Mr Postman, you know you love me.....

EDIT - just had the delivery email from Amazon - its coming today - YEAH!

Post by **Stokesy44** » Sun Jan 08, 2017 9:19 am

Here it is

Lovely box art to start with. Spot the hollows in the guidehorns - more on that later

Usual type instructions, nice and clean.

You get a nice glossy colour supplement too for the paint schemes and background info

The plastic - well its Tamiya so the quality is superb. This is a 2012 tooling so its top drawer

The hull - its big, Lordy its big!

Casement is one piece and has beautiful casting texture on it. Its subdued but will show up nicely when the paint goes down.

Building up the hull

Bits and bobs for the gun. I have a beautiful Aber metal barrel ordered complete with muzzle break so I'll only be using the kit's internal bits for the big 88.

There is some good no slip texture on the mud guards / running boards

The link and length tracks are nicely detailed, the one issue is the guidehorns need a hole if you want to be accurate. I couldn't find any info on the net to confirm what I saw on the box art so I raised a question in the chat section. Timplastic kindly served up the goodies and confirmed they are indeed through and through holes. Time to get the old teeny tiny drill bits out. It will be worth it once done as they are very much on show given the nature of the tracks.

Running gear looks nice and crisp. I shall start with this although the instructions start on building up the hull and casement. The reason being I have Tamiya's Zimmerit sheet on order and I don't want to put anything on the upper hull sections before I figure out the Zim.

Post by **AdamLuscombe** » Sun Jan 08, 2017 10:25 am

Good luck with the build

Post by **demarcation** » Sun Jan 08, 2017 12:34 pm

That's a great kit. Looking forward to your build!

Post by **SergioSolo** » Sun Jan 08, 2017 2:09 pm

Awesome choice! I'll be following your work

Post by **privatepete** » Sun Jan 08, 2017 4:03 pm

Hi David looks good, I've just got the Italeri version and they messed the guiddehorns too,no hole plus you have to cut every other guidehorn off if you want some kind of accuracy.
Good luck with the build.

STASH · Post by **Cymru** » Sun Jan 08, 2017 5:05 pm

You might want to check this link out as it contains a number of tips to stop you making the same mistakes:
https://www.scalemates.com/profiles/mat ... lbum=31324

Gotta get me one of these...

Post by **Stokesy44** » Sun Jan 08, 2017 7:00 pm

Thanks for the encouragement guys and thanks to Cymru for the link to the Scalemates stuff - very cool.

Well, we're off to the races. The results of session one look pretty good. Tamiya levels of fitting and plastic so it goes together like the proverbial Swiss watch.

The barrel mechanism is in and the running gear is done.

Working suspension, which I will glue in place, there's no room for play in the suspension with the link and length tracks so its neither here or there.

Its a beast, that's for sure

Dry fit (no further work up top till the Zim arrives)

So, next up depends on Postman Pat, If I get the Zim then its on with the upper hull, otherwise I'll get to work on the link and length tracks.

All good stuff, thanks for looking in.

Post by **privatepete** » Sun Jan 08, 2017 8:17 pm

Have you left of the mud scrapers ?

Post by **Stokesy44** » Sun Jan 08, 2017 8:56 pm

privatepete wrote:Have you left of the mud scrapers ?

Nothing's glued on to the lower hull yet Pete. Even the suspension units are only held on by the tightness of the fit. The way the link and length tracks work, you build them off the vehicle around the drive and idler wheels. Nothing is going to get glued on to the lower hull for quite a while yet.

Post by **Stokesy44** » Tue Jan 10, 2017 9:30 am

Postman Pat is holding on to my Zim so its on to the tracks.

Link and length tracks - Mmm, me like!

The instructions tell you to build them in 4 bits, front and rear, top and bottom. Nice idea Tamiya but if you do that you run the risk of the tracks not meeting properly in the middle of the top and bottom sections due to play in the drive wheels and idlers. On the top, that can lead to the tracks not quite reaching each other or being too close and arching upwards away from the wheels. The tracks meet on top with 2 identical flat pieces and its vital that when they are glued the result is a long FLAT length that sits on the four innermost wheels.

I've done one side so far. It took a bit of figuring out, there's been much viewing of YT and looking at other builds to see what works. In the end I kind of went my own way.

What I did was build the upper section as one piece from the rear drive wheel forward. I glued the two central flats together the built from the rear until I joined them. I then built the front section until it made contact with 2 of the rear teeth on the idler and glued it to the front of the flat section. By only going as far as the first rear two of the idler's teeth I ensured I could pull the entire length of track off the vehicle from the rear.

I then built the bottom which has 4 identical flats plus the curves up to the rear of the drive sprocket and over the front of the idler. I then left everything on the vehicle to set nicely.

The two halves are not glued together, The tracks are nice and tight on the teeth front and rear so they sit nicely in place.

I also drilled out pilot holes in the guide teeth. All I need to do now is find a way to square them out. I missed a few because I got so into building the tracks but its not a problem. I can finish off the holes now the tracks have set.

Nice and dry - good old TET, stayed soft just long enough for the fitting and shaping.

I aim to repeat the exercise today, hopefully with a similar result.

Post by **privatepete** » Tue Jan 10, 2017 4:55 pm

You certainly got a wiggle on there, looks good with the track on, hopefully Pat come's tomorrow,i'm waiting too .

Post by **Stokesy44** » Tue Jan 10, 2017 7:45 pm

privatepete wrote:You certainly got a wiggle on there, looks good with the track on, hopefully Pat come's tomorrow,i'm waiting too .

Just had a call from a very nice man from E-Models in response to my email query chasing my Zim. They're swamped with orders (hence the call at 7.40 in the evening) and while he apologised profusely he assured me it will be on the way tomorrow.

That's what I call customer service.

Post by **Stokesy44** » Tue Jan 10, 2017 8:07 pm

As planned I got stuck into the second set of tracks today. Same method as the first set and a similar result.

For some reason the upper section needed a little 'persuasion' to sit properly but we got there in the end. Brute force and ignorance once again won the day. Huzzah!

She looks good with her boots on.

I then built up the upper hull. Now I know this thing is a weapon of war but darn it, it does look a little on the cool side now the bodywork is going on.

A splendid chap from E-Models called me this evening and assured me my Zim is on its way. I'm pretty much a hostage to fortune until it arrives but I managed to add most of the greeblies that don't sit on surfaces where the Zim will go. I can't put the hatches on yet as I'm undecided on the crew. I suppose I could paint and weather the tracks but that seems sacrilege at this stage.

I've just taken delivery of Revell's Fine Moulds 1/48 X-wing so I may tuck into that till my stuff arrives!

Happy days!

Post by **SergioSolo** » Wed Jan 11, 2017 1:59 am

It's certainly taking shape, a badass shape

I'll be following your X-wing too! I built one of those a couple of years ago

Post by **Stokesy44** » Wed Jan 11, 2017 8:50 am

Sergiotron wrote:It's certainly taking shape, a badass shape
I'll be following your X-wing too! I built one of those a couple of years ago

Thanks mate. I've got high hopes for the X-wing. I built the Fine Moulds Falcon last year and I hope the X-wing is in the same class.

Post by **Bissyboat** » Wed Jan 11, 2017 1:38 pm

Clever approach on assembling the tracks. Much more leverage when it comes to painting the running gear.

Post by **Stokesy44** » Wed Jan 11, 2017 6:18 pm

The Zim's arrived!

Now I need to cut it out. Thank goodness I bought some new blades for the cutting.

Small bits off the vehicle first. It goes down nicely and its quite strong so there's no problem with reapplying it if it doesn't quite sit right.

Then I took the plunge, time to get on to the hull. First piece on

Rear end done

Working forward

That's as far as I got, should finish tomorrow then its on with the rest of the greeblies including the mudguards and running boards then priming.

Post by **Tomcat64** » Fri Jan 13, 2017 4:42 pm

That's coming together really well

Great work on the tracks - you've got that nailed, and the zimmerit is adding a cool finish to the armour.

Post by **Stokesy44** » Fri Jan 13, 2017 8:33 pm

Tomcat64 wrote:That's coming together really well

Great work on the tracks - you've got that nailed, and the zimmerit is adding a cool finish to the armour.

Thanks mate. Its a major fiddle to apply all the zim sheets but the result looks good. I've seen some builds on the net using the Tamiya sheets and they do look good once the paint and weathering goes on. Hopefully I can get some good results come painting time.

I got the zim finished today and then went to work on the rest of the greeblies and the running boards / mudguards. Before gluing the running boards and guards on I checked to make sure I could still slide on the tracks from the rear. Its tight but they go on with a bit of fussing.

The front guards are only held on by tension, the lower part of the tracks goes up and over the drive wheel so the guards are in the way. They'll go on once the tracks are glued on.

The zim sheets have gone down really well, they're superbly accurate to the kit so the main issue was making sure they were cut accurately.

The rear end is looking nice and busy now

Without the front guards

Looks pretty good up close. Can't wait to get some paint on to it.

I've got a Mini Art winter tank crew set so I need to see how they look with the kit then I can set the hatches. My Aber barrel and muzzle break is in the post so hopefully painting will be soon.

Thanks for looking in

Post by **SimonV** » Fri Jan 13, 2017 9:53 pm

Looking great. I love the look of the Tamiya zimmerit sheets. Its just so thin (in a good way)!

Can't wait to see it with some paint on.

Post by **Stokesy44** » Mon Jan 16, 2017 9:31 am

SimonV wrote:Looking great. I love the look of the Tamiya zimmerit sheets. Its just so thin (in a good way)!

Can't wait to see it with some paint on.

Thanks Simon

I was impressed with the zim sheets too. As you say, really nice and thin, but they were also very strong and stood up to my hacking away at them with the scissors and scalpel.

Before painting I need to sort out what to do with the hatches. The kit comes with 3 figures but they are in summer uniforms so they didn't fit with the winter idea. I ditched them in favour of a MiniArt winter tank crew. Then I played around with who goes where.

This is the first version

The problem with this set up is the hatch for the driver. I think it only opens to the vertical and with its periscopes it doesn't leave enough room to have a crewman stand in the hatch. Also, the crewman as posed in the hatch is in the way of the gun travel lock (not yet fitted) So I moved him over to the other hatch.

I like the look of the drivers hatch with its 3 periscopes but I don't want it open if there isn't someone in the hatch. You can see right into the tank and there's nothing there! I also thought the rear of the vehicle was too busy with figures so I moved the guy sitting on the hull forward to perch over the hatch facing forward. He's obscuring the view through the hatch and I think he and the other guy will look good together either side of the big-ass 88mm barrel.

This is what I settled on. His left leg will rest nicely on the front fender once its on.

Now I can set the hatches and get on with painting. Also, I'm hopeful the barrel will arrive soon. I'm thinking of painting it in the red oxide colour and not the camo colours to add some 'character'. Then I need to think about whether to mount it on a base or not. I have no diorama experience but I reckon I could do something with a base like this from Amazon.

I've got some barrels and jerry cans so I could add them and some snow. Some sort of stopping for supplies scenario.

Post by **Tomcat64** » Mon Jan 16, 2017 9:52 am

I've got the miniart winter crew lined up for my build as well - they're going to be busy

ScaleMates · Post by **papatika** » Mon Jan 16, 2017 10:16 am

Great stuff!

I like the zimmerit very much, It looks easy to create damaged zimmerit.
Also I'm curious how you'll try to make the holes on the guidehorns.
And I like the crew aswell. I'm looking for something similar for my sturmtiger. Maybe I'll adopt the idea...

Post by **Timplastic** » Mon Jan 16, 2017 11:12 am

This is one of my favourite armoured ww2 vehicles and you are doing to proud.
Super work
Tracks look really good, I would have been tempted to replace them for fruils but tamiya have done a great job on them and so have you building them
Stick on zim, winner winner chicken dinner
The crew sweet as

Post by **Stokesy44** » Mon Jan 16, 2017 1:41 pm

papatika wrote:Great stuff!

I like the zimmerit very much, It looks easy to create damaged zimmerit.
Also I'm curious how you'll try to make the holes on the guidehorns.
And I like the crew aswell. I'm looking for something similar for my sturmtiger. Maybe I'll adopt the idea...

Thanks mate

I've already drilled out the holes in the guidehorns. Problem is the real holes are rectangular and I don't have a tool small enough to square off the holes I've made. I'm still racking my brains as to whether I can square them off but as they look now, its better than nothing.

Post by **Stokesy44** » Mon Jan 16, 2017 1:50 pm

Timplastic wrote:This is one of my favourite armoured ww2 vehicles and you are doing to proud.
Super work
Tracks look really good, I would have been tempted to replace them for fruils but tamiya have done a great job on them and so have you building them
Stick on zim, winner winner chicken dinner
The crew sweet as

Thanks Tim.

I know what you mean about the tracks. I love Tamiya's link and length stuff. I used it on their Jagdtiger and the tracks looked great on that vehicle too. I left the side skirts off just so they could be seen. As for Fruils, they look awesome but it would have doubled the cost of the kit. I go all short arms / deep pockets whenever I consider buying them.

There's a company called Kaizen who do workable plastic tracks, they're less than half the cost of Fruils but still look great. Their range isn't as broad as Fruils but I've used them for a Tiger and a Jagdpanzer IV. I've also got a set of Panzer IV tracks for My Nashorn. The tracks need to be longer but the spares from the set I used for the JP IV should be enough for it.

ScaleMates · Post by **papatika** » Mon Jan 16, 2017 2:24 pm

Stokesy44 wrote:
papatika wrote:Great stuff!

I like the zimmerit very much, It looks easy to create damaged zimmerit.
Also I'm curious how you'll try to make the holes on the guidehorns.
And I like the crew aswell. I'm looking for something similar for my sturmtiger. Maybe I'll adopt the idea...
Thanks mate

I've already drilled out the holes in the guidehorns. Problem is the real holes are rectangular and I don't have a tool small enough to square off the holes I've made. I'm still racking my brains as to whether I can square them off but as they look now, its better than nothing.

My idea is to stack coping saw blades. I hope 2 or three of them remain thin enough and provide an angular cutting face. Today I plan to visit a hobby store to check their offer.

Post by **Bissyboat** » Thu Jan 19, 2017 10:37 pm

The crew mens´poses really suit the tank.

Post by **SergioSolo** » Fri Jan 20, 2017 1:54 am

Totally agree. That crew looks very natural on it

Post by **Stokesy44** » Fri Jan 20, 2017 9:38 am

Sergiotron wrote:Totally agree. That crew looks very natural on it

Bissyboat wrote:The crew mens´poses really suit the tank.

Thanks Guys. Took me a little while to figure out how best to pose them but I like the end result. The gun arrived yesterday and I had a look at it with the travel lock on and the forward hatches open. Looked really good, cant wait to get on with it now.

Post by **Stokesy44** » Fri Jan 20, 2017 10:42 am

Only a small update today.

The Aber barrel and muzzle break arrived yesterday and it looks a beauty.

The gun travel lock was a bit of a faff but I plan to use it in the up position so it needed to be made up and the fit tested. Both the front hatches will be open and I reckon the front end is going to look really good with the 2 crewman once they are in position.

Post by **Bissyboat** » Fri Jan 20, 2017 1:41 pm

Post by **Stokesy44** » Tue Jan 24, 2017 10:21 pm

Primed with Ultimate primer

Painted with Tamiya XF60 for the base coat.

I've decided to have the barrel in its unpainted state to add a bit of character. My reasoning being maybe the original barrel got damaged and with the lack of supplies suffered by the Germans as the war progressed, or damage at the factory, there was no paint available at the time (winter early 1945).

Camo is up next then its the tracks, then the weathering and winter wash etc.

Post by **privatepete** » Tue Jan 24, 2017 10:41 pm

Hi David, taking shape nicely, like the idea of that you decided to leave the barrel unpainted it's different

Post by **DC87** » Sun Jan 29, 2017 9:31 am

Coming along handsomely.

Post by **SergioSolo** » Sun Jan 29, 2017 12:16 pm

I love the idea of the unpainted barrel

The colors are looking spot on!

Post by **AdamLuscombe** » Sun Jan 29, 2017 2:50 pm

Great Work!

Post by **Stokesy44** » Mon Jan 30, 2017 9:45 am

AdamLuscombe wrote:Great Work!

Sergiotron wrote:I love the idea of the unpainted barrel The colors are looking spot on!

DC87 wrote:Coming along handsomely.

privatepete wrote:Hi David, taking shape nicely, like the idea of that you decided to leave the barrel unpainted it's different

Thanks guys.

I'm especially pleased with the base yellow coat. Its come out nice and light which is a good place to start from.

I've been working a bit on the diorama base. Bought a Fields of Glory base with moulded rubble piles. I've supplemented that with some balsa wood and have just bought some aquarium gravel which I will be using for additional rubble/scatter. Will post pictures soon. Next up on the kit itself is the camo then decals before chipping and then the winter wash. I need to paint the crew too.

Much to do!

Post by **Tomcat64** » Mon Jan 30, 2017 2:48 pm

That's coming along really nicely mate - like the idea of the primer barrel to give it something a little different.

There's just something about that shape that makes it look "heavy" - great job

Post by **Bissyboat** » Wed Feb 01, 2017 8:32 pm

The rusty colour on the barrel suits the look of your Elephant.

Post by **Stokesy44** » Fri Feb 03, 2017 5:15 pm

Finally got back to the bench today and it was on with the camo.

While I know I'm going to apply a winter wash I wanted the camo to look good as a lot of it is going to show through. I plan to distress the winter wash to a fairly heavy degree so the camo underneath needs to be up to scratch.

Anyway, had a giggle when I went to change the needle on my H&S. Planned to use my 0.2 as the camo is pretty tight. Lo and behold when I went to change the needle from the 0.4 I thought was in there I saw the 0.2 was there already!

Then it came back to me, I had wondered a little at the coverage I was getting when I sprayed the primer and base coat but my tiny brain dismissed what me eyes were seeing and I carried on blasting away regardless

So, here we are. First up was the dark green. I cut it with just a little white for subtlety (hark at me, subtlety?), added plenty of thinner and got a nice thin mix for building up the camo.

Once I got into the swing of it, the paint went down really nicely.

After that it was on with the red-brown. Same basis as the green except I didn't add any white this time. I figured I could get the colour I wanted as long as I didn't lay it on too thick.

I'm very pleased with the result. Its such an impressive looking vehicle, the hull and the gun casement create such interesting shapes. I cant wait to get stuck into the rest of the painting.

Next up is glossing and decals. I've base coated the tracks in dark iron but I'll leave them off for now. I think I'll do the white wash with the tracks off as I don't plan to paint it below the hull mudguards. I can weather the wash to my heart's content without getting muck on the tracks - well, the wrong kind of muck anyway. There will be muck but I don't want it from the white wash.

Post by **spock1701** » Fri Feb 03, 2017 5:56 pm

Very nice job in the camo. Looks fantastic. The dark iron on the barrel looks great against the tri-tone

Post by **Bissyboat** » Fri Feb 03, 2017 7:18 pm

Good job on the mottling. Fantastic camo!

Post by **Stokesy44** » Sat Feb 04, 2017 12:04 pm

Bissyboat wrote: Fri Feb 03, 2017 7:18 pm Good job on the mottling. Fantastic camo!

spock1701 wrote: Fri Feb 03, 2017 5:56 pm

Very nice job in the camo. Looks fantastic. The dark iron on the barrel looks great against the tri-tone

Thanks Guys. It was certainly a good session outcome wise. Now the fun starts with all the stuff that comes next!

Post by **pourquoi61** » Sat Feb 04, 2017 1:33 pm

Lovely job, looking forward to the next stage.

Post by **Tiger213** » Sat Feb 04, 2017 1:40 pm

WOW, the camo is amazing.

Very well done!

Post by **Stokesy44** » Sun Feb 05, 2017 2:03 pm

Tiger213 wrote: Sat Feb 04, 2017 1:40 pm WOW, the camo is amazing. Very well done!

pourquoi61 wrote: Sat Feb 04, 2017 1:33 pm Lovely job, looking forward to the next stage.

Thanks Guys.

I've had to have a rethink over the next step. I realised I need to put the tracks on before I start weathering. The reason being the front mudguards cant go on until the tracks are on. I don't want to weather them separately so the tracks need to go on next.

The tracks were already painted with Vallejo Metal Colour Dark iron so next up was a rust highlight and a dry brushing prior to putting them on.

This is just the dark iron

I used AK medium rust to settle into the track recesses. Once on I wiped off any residue that was sitting on the external parts of the tracks.

Then I dry brushed using Vallejo's Dark Aluminium.

Happy with the result. There's now some nice depth in the surface texture and enough shine in the exposed areas to show through as bare metal once all the weathering's done.

Post by **Stokesy44** » Sun Feb 05, 2017 6:34 pm

After a break to watch the rugby, on went the tracks.

No drama, although I did have to superglue the upper track on both sides to the middle 2 wheels to get the sag right.

I also weathered and mounted the spare track links, front and rear.

Plenty of track on view at the rear. I'm really looking forward to the weathering stage and getting some mud and snow onto those babies!!

Glossing and decals next, then its time for the white wash.

Post by **demarcation** » Sun Feb 05, 2017 7:53 pm

That is very very nice!! Stunning painting skills!