Dragon Elefant - Completed & Final Photos 3/9/13

[bbd468]

Hello Ben,

Those Dragon instructions!!!!! ........ ;D

Man, you did a sweet job on those springs....well done sir! The whole things really takin' shape nice Ben.

Gary

[Hinksy]

Cheers guys,

I must admit to beng quite pleased with the springs - is the 5 amp wire too thin though or does that look about right? It matches the kit part which is all I had to work from.

These instructions! They are dismal - no errors but they are so unclear. You are asked to fit something and if I'm unsure I'd normally look to the next step to see it in detail but on these the part isn't shown in detail again in any step!

I've also realised that I didn't use the Zimmerit part on the rear that has the tool box mounted on it! I used the non-Zimmed part (my fault entirely) but it can't be seen because of the tool box thank God so I'll hot knife or putty the exposed bit underneath to add the Zim detail.

Cheers fellas!

Ben

[wing_nut]

And chuffed you should be. They're nice.

[Hinksy]

Cheers guys!

Thanks for the comments!

She's coming on well - I'm looking forward to weathering this one!

Ben

[deafpanzer]

Oh yes! I am not very good at reading I admit... fewer words the better for me. LOL I can't read any books without pictures. LOL

Thanks for the answer!

[Hinksy]

Jan 7, 2013 19:30:49 GMT -5 deafpanzer said:

Oh yes! I am not very good at reading I admit... fewer words the better for me. LOL I can't read any books without pictures. LOL

Thanks for the answer!

You know I'm only pulling your chain Andy

I cannot wait to weather this beastie and slap some shoes on her!

Ben

[Hinksy]

Hi guys,

No work done today as due to a damn long report needed for work on Monday and other family stuff I'm restricted to cramming in the final assembly work on the upper hull tomorrow.

I'm not long back from my monthly club meet and the theme for tonight, being the New Year and all, was bring your last completed build and your current wip.

Obviously I took my latest Tiggy as my completed build and my Elefant as the wip - the general concensus was EVERY Elefant model that is ever seen is painted in either tri-tonal squiggles or the green 'web' pattern, both over DY. As I had taken the box everyone could see the paint options and were really up for a whitewash/chipped Elefant - I'll probably be asking Andy for some tips as I'm finding myself more and more interested in a worn-whitewash Elefant?

I need to find some real photos of whitewashed Elefants now!

Proper update tomorrow!

Ben

[deafpanzer]

Hey Ben! I think you will do a fine job since you have been following my builds for a long time. LOL Just remember not to over do or you will be sorry... just do small area at a time just little and repeat until you are satisfied.

[Hinksy]

Cheers Guys,

Andy - I have a few questions on worn whitewashes that need to be asked before I commit to painting my Elefant white. Questions that need to be bounced back and forth so we'll have to arrange a proper chat, either on here or Facebook?

The plan (at present) is to basecoat the build with DY and add some light cammo squiqqles. I'm then going to apply the chipping solutions and a light coating of Tamiya Flat White. I want the basecoat and cammo to be visible and the build to look like it's wearing just the remnants of a whitewash coat. The bulk will be removed leaving small areas and built-up areas of white around running gear and hatches. I think this could work well if done properly.

The other option is a standard DY basecoat with either the green 'web' scheme or thin Rotbraun/Olivgrun freehand squiggly lines.

Either way, it's a long way off right now as it's going to get VERY cold in the UK from today onwards with forecast -7 overnight temperatures and East winds carriying rain/snow and generaly horrible, icy weather. As I have my airbrush setup in our Workshop I had to box it all up last night and bring it inside along with the stuff I keep outside with the airbrush like my Tamiya rattlecan and Vallejo airbrush primers, Vallejo varnishes and airbrush cleaners plus associated hardware. The Workshop may well be double glazed and brisk built and cavity insulated but it has no heating other than portable hating and an oil filled radiator. It heats up perfectly within 40 minutes but boy, it gets darn cold in there overnight! I dread to think of the potential damage this deep cold could do to my hardware and primers/varnishes.

The plan is to get the workshop heating turned on an hour before I go to spray in there and during that hour I can prepare my paints etc.

I'm about to do the final assembly work on the Elefant this afternoon and I'll be ready to turn my attention to the running gear and my Friuls. That way I'll be able to keep airbrush sessions to a minumum. I'll be using AK's Blemishing Fluid on the Friuls and the wheels will be sprayed DY on the sidewalls with brush painted Gunze Metalcolour (buffable) to be used on the steel tread - obviously no rubber on this monster!

The Jack & Block with PE mountings will be fixed on after painting of the DY basecoat and I'll try to make it look like whitewash residue was applied OVER the tools by leaving a little bit showing on the handles.

So, I'm off to get the bulk of the rest of the assembly done. I'll be keeping it in three sub-assemblies until I'm ready to paint just incase I need further access to the inner Casemate plus it will make test fitting the Friuls and roadwheels a lot easier with the lower hull on it's own!

So, what do you guys think to the 'Worn Whitewash' Polish Elefant idea?

Proper update later!

Cheers guys,

Ben

[bbd468]

Ben, i think you should GO FOR IT!!!!! I would love to see it.

Gary

[Hinksy]

Hi fellas,

Thanks for the kind comments, bbd! Really appreciated!

A very quick update to bring the blog up-to-speed!

It has been left in three sub assemblies - the Casemate, the Hull and the front deck with hatches. The Muzzle Brake has just been assembled (the barrel isn't permanently fixed) and looks very good. I'll keep applying a touch of Tamiya Extra Thin so it gradually 'blends' together.

I've taken notes of what is left to do pre-basecoat painting:
◦Assemble the Friuls and wheels (I will be doing that next weekend and will then assemble the sub-assemblies)
◦assemble the travel-lock (I want it stowed but the instructions don't show that option. I've seen a few of the builds where it has been done that way so it must be easy enough. I can't get that in position until the front deck is fitted as the hull and deck have locating holes all meant for the travel lock.
◦Fit the one pistol-port and chain that I'm leaving exposed

Stuff to be fitted on top of the basecoat but before Whitewash application:
◦Jack and Jack Block and Sledgehammer (all painted in their proper colours)
◦Tow cable and mounting brackets (a tow cable will be shown on the left hand side only)

The Whitewash will be heavily worn to show a Springtime Elefant that is just carrying a bit of leftover white - I want to remove the bulk of the whitewash from the tools and tow-cable to show a bit of colour variation.

None of this is set in stone definate yet but I'm really liking this whole whitewash idea. I'm not planning on going mad on the battle damage but would like to show a good, grimy finish with mud build-up.

I've not been able to get much done this weekend but I have the next two weekends clear plus the 23rd/24th Jan on holiday! Serious build time!

Here is how she looks - remember these sub assemblies are not fixed:







I hope you like her folks - she's coming on really well now! I'm loving this build!

I'm impressed at just how big this thing is - it dwarfs the Tiger! It's going to weigh a bit when the Friuls are on!

I'd really appreciate any comments, helpful photos and the like

Have a good week guys,

Ben

[Mence]

Clean build Ben, looks great.

[hasenpfeffer]

Hey Ben, coming along really well.

From what I hear, white elefants are extremely rare, or a way to get rid of some crap that's been laying around your house during Christmas... LOL

I don't know a whole heck of a lot on Elefant history/operations. I don't recall coming across and photos of a WW one. There really aren't a heck of a lot of pics out there though. If they were on the Eastern Front in late '44, you can be sure that they probably had a white coat.

[deafpanzer]

LOL! Hasen, that was good one... don't we all love white elephants gifts!

Ben, it was nice chatting... just have faith in yourself and do one thing at a time. You will love this AK chipping fluid!

[Hinksy]

Cheers Hasen and Andy,

I was going to make the whole 'White Elefant' joke but wasn't sure if it was a term you Americans would use! LOL!

Thanks for the very brief SBS last night Andy - very helpful

Ben

[Hinksy]

Good evening folks,

As usual it's the Saturday evening update!

Righto, there were a few things that I wanted to sort out before hitting the running gear today - namely getting the PE tow cable clamps in place on both sides of the lower hull. The easy option would have been to use the plastic options BUT I went with the PE option as I want to use PE on more of my builds and I'll only get better by choosing the PE option! Each side requires two simple bent pieces of small Brass, one as a tow-cable support and the other for the eyelet to hang from. The other are two pieces that are basically a 'square' holder that on the real thing would trap the cable in place and would need to be unlatched to release the cable - I don't think I did too bad? There's only going to be a Tow cable on the left side so for now, I've had to leave the right side open to allow me to pop the cable in before I add the final pice to close the holder - I'll sort it out! I've got a PE Jack and Jack block holder to go on yet along with a single tool clamp and holders for the Sledgehammer at the back.

As I'm going to do a whitewash build I want a cold country Elefant so I have looked at the instructions and have chosen a nicely decaled 'green web cammo' over DY. I'll build it up and paint it as normal, treating it like a 'normal' build but then lightly whitewashing it. I want the highly worn whitewash to reveal something attractive underneath splashes of colour and and cammo scheme. I'm sure they would have whitewashed the odd Polish Elefant in winter!

The wheels all built up without hassle and cleaned up nicely. It was a good idea to leave the suspension arms unglued as they needed some shaving to ensure the wheels sat flat all round.

The Friuls arrived midweek and look really good when assembled - they build up pretty easy too. I was a bit dissapointed to find there were no Friulmodel drive sprockets with mine (that part of the writing on the box had been blacked out) so I thought I'd assemble a string of 10 to make a 'tester run' to wrap around the front and rear sprockets to make sure the teeth were a good fit and they are perfect

Tomorrow, I'll get the Friuls sorted and move onto the paint stages next weekend I've also got two days off later in the week as holiday so I'll do a chunk then too. I'd like to be thinking about making a start on paint next weekend (basecoat & cammo, fit tools and tow cable and then the whitewash). I also need to add the torch cut effects to the Casemate assembly.

One question - I want to model this build as 'in action' so the travel lock will need to be modelled as stowed away which the instructions do not show. Can I model this lock as stowed or will I need to make some 'modifications' to allow it to lay flat? I can't fit the travel lock yet as half of the four fitting points need to go on the lower hull - the rest go on the front deck so I need to get this beast properly assembled before I can try fitting the travel lock in a stowed position. I've seen it done so it's obviously possible?

Photos:



The PE tow-cable clamp holders:





Friuls - the test track fitted to a drive sprocket:







Thanks for looking guys - now I have my Friuls I can start getting this build really going! I'm in no rush - I want it to be perfect for the big show my club are at on the 18th March. I want this finished and on our table. The show is on Sunday 18th March so I have what's left of this month, next month and up to (and including) 17th March remember I can only model at weekends but Friuls I can assemble anywhere!

Finally, my thanks to Andy for helping with my AK Chipping Questions and if anyone can help with my Travel lock question I'd be super grateful!

Thanks guys - please feel free to comment and make suggestions!

Take care and happy modelling

Ben

[danb.]

This is really shaping up to be a sweet build Ben the blingy bits and tracks really set the kit off

Dan B

[Hinksy]

Cheers Dan,

She's getting there and like I say, I've got plenty of time and have no need to rush. I want this to be my best yet for the big table our club have at the show!

I don't want to be 'flapping around' at the last minute!

Now all I need to is pull of a convincing heavily worn whitewash showing aa Tank moving from winter to Spring and only remnants of the whitewash remaining.

Take care matey,

Ben

[bbd468]

Sweet Ben...ya started on the Fruil trackage! Nice clean build this is Ben. Lookin' forward to the paint!

Gary

[Hinksy]

Hi fellas,

Cheers for stopping by Gary

Sorry but I had to pop out to do some work stuff after my last post so I've got the last few bits done prior to painting and am now just making up the last of the first Friul run.

Like I said yesterday I'm trying to reach a half decent level of PE workmanship so again I opted out of the easy choice and used PE to make up the Jack Block mounting straps and Sledgehammer head holder. The Sledgehammer things were simple but the Jack Blog fittings were fiddly as hell but they'll look ok when painted. I've also assembled the Jack - that has PE brackets too so I'm going to assemble the main sections of the Jack brackets that attach to the tank and paint them in place then I'll paint up the Jack and fit the final locking part of the Jack Clamp after paint - like I'll do with the tow cable.

There are four pistol-ports; one on each side at the rear of the sidewalls and two on the back end either side of the large round entry hatch. 3 will remain closed up but one of the two at the rear is going to be left open and dangling by chain. The kit chain is stupidly overscale so I've used some of my own pre-blackened chain which is a bit smaller but I still might go the whole-hog and use some 46 LPI chain which looks much better. At present the chain is just glued inside the inner wall of the Casemate to hold it in place.

Finally, I've been messing with the Friuls. All the 4 sprockets are in place - the two at the rear are glued in place but the two up front are left loose as they are a tight fit without glue and I might need to do some altering yet. The DS Tracks fitted fine but Friuls are needed to really make this Elefant look the business!

I've also test fitted the two hooks at the rear where you can hang a few spare track links. In the photo I've shown a run of 12 as that's how I'm assembling them but there will only be 5-6 links when I do them for real. The kit supplies Elefant Magic Tracks for the rear and front spare tracks but I'm hoping that Friul will give me an extra dozen so I can use Friul Track links for these spares insted of the kit issue Magic Tracks.

I hope you like the following final build photos: hopefully the bext ones of the build will have a basecoat on them - at least!

PE Stuff - the Sledgehammer will have the moulded-on bracket removed when I manage to assemble a decent PE Tool Clamp! Should be easy enough!



Rear spare track hanger in use (I'll be using half as many links when I do it properly) and the Pistol-Port with chain can be seen here too:



All I have to do now is get the Friuls done during the week and I can fit the three main sub-assemblies together and sort the Travel Lock before getting the painting done



Cheers for lookng guys! Please comment away and drop any hints and tips too

This week - running gear get's sorted during my days off on holiday

Next weekend - Start of Priming and painting

Have a good week folks!

Ben

[richardcraig-Email Not Valid]

Hi Ben ...Everything is looking great ..As for the clamps for the tools ,I find the Dragon PE very flimsy and hard to get together ..I cheated and just added the handles to the plastic part that was molded in place .. As for the Barrel travel lock ..I thought of doing that as well but there aren't too many pictures showing this part .. What I could figure is there is a pin on the trailing arm that could be removed and the whole thing would fold down sticking out over the front . There is a mistake in the Dragon instructions (Go figure!!) and I almost got caught too. The two view ports on on either side of the hull for the driver and R/O were welded over and covered with zimmerit ...The pieces are in the box but they don't give you the right number..If it is too late to remove them you might just fill in the holes and a little putty zimmerit will do the trick. Keep up the good work and I really think your white Elephant is going to look great .. I chickened out on that camo option.. Have fun with the weathering !

Rick

[Hinksy]

Hi Rich,

Would you believe it! I initially used them round parts WITHOUT view ports by accident! I then noticed the box art which showed ports with slots and thought I'd used the wrong bits so popped them off and used the ones with slots!

Aaah well, I might still have the in the bottom of the box - if so I'll change them back over. The build is still in sub assemblies so I'll be able to pop the wrong ones off and change them if I have them. If not I have some gaps to fill so it won't be a problem - thanks for pointing that out. It wouldn't be a Dragon kit without at least one error! LOL!

Anyway, a quick update on the Elefant for you:

I've done one side of Friuls which are fitted and look great and I've about 20 links to go on the other side. This thing will weigh a fair bit when complete! I love the extra weight that Friuls give

I've had a PITA time getting the length correct. I used 111 links on the completed side and they look about right.

Ideally it needs 110.5 links ! 110 make the links just a fraction too short as where I want the tracks to make contact on top of the 3 centre wheels it is just hovering by about 1mm over them. 111 are a fraction too long but ok as it's only a fraction. Obviously I have to go with 111!

I've made up a 5 spare tracklink run which hangs over the back hooks. They look cool so I'm going with them. I've also managed to change over the chain for that one exposed pistol port from that big chain to my smallest 46 links per Inch pre blackened Tank Workshop chain. It looks so much better now.

I really need to get this thing moving now as I only have until the 17th March (remember I can only really build on weekends only due to work but I might book a couple of Mondays off before the show). I've been able to get the Friuls done as I've been on holiday yesterday and today.

This weekend I'll test fit the other Friuls then they can come off along with the wheels. I'll fix the build sub assemblies together, sort the travel lock and a couple of other parts that are left and then prime and paint basecoat and cammo on followed by tools and then a light whitewash which will be heavily worn. Once that's out of the way progress should be quick.

I'll post a proper update at the weekend when I have something interesting to post - I think we all know what Friuls look like! LOL!

Cheers guys,

Ben

[Leon]

Ben your doing a fine job there fella.Can't wait to see her in paint.

[deafpanzer]

Great PE work! Trust me it will become easier when your experience grows. Keep it coming!

[armorguy]

Nice work Ben, nothing wrong with it, on the contrary !

[Hinksy]

Hi guys,

Thanks for the kind comments

I've just taken a couple of photos. These are the easiest Friuls I've worked with so far. Excellent!

Photos:

1) Left side view - I'd like them a tad tighter but as my last post says, remove a link and then they float too high off the wheels. The photos I've seen seem to vary but there's definate contact between the middle three wheels at the top and the underside of the top track run (it's difficult to remove one link anyway as every other link has a guide horn - had I decided to lose a link I was going to hide that area behind a sprocket:



2) Front view - looks good (that gap needs filling yet - that front area was a pig to assemble properly).



3) Rear view - a 5 link spare track run is in place and I've changed the pistol-port plug chain over to the smallest chain I have (46 links per Inch iirc):



I hope you like her guys - the other run will be in place tomorrow and the sub assemblies will be fixed together then she'll be primed. The wheels will be put on sticks for spraying and the tracks put aside for Blemishing with AK's stuff later on.

Do you think the sag looks about right for an Elefant? Remember it won't go any tighter!

Cheers fellas,

Ben

[bullardino]

I must admit this is one of the tanks I like less, but your build is very nice and filled with details

[Hinksy]

Jan 25, 2013 7:15:16 GMT -5 bullardino said:

I must admit this is one of the tanks I like less, but your build is very nice and filled with details

Thanks Bull!

That's really appreciated

Ben

[wing_nut]

Have not checked in here in a while. Glad I did cuz she's a real hottie that one. And I would really like to see it in white. Can't say I've ever seen one on WW before.

[Hinksy]

Jan 25, 2013 17:26:03 GMT -5 wing_nut said:

Have not checked in here in a while. Glad I did cuz she's a real hottie that one. And I would really like to see it in white. Can't say I've ever seen one on WW before.

Thanks Wingy!

I've just got to get the other link sorted, get that front wheel sorted so it sits down properly and then I might actually brave the cold and start some painting!

She's coming on really well. I'm not 100% happy with how that track is sitting yet. I know it looks like there's plenty of slack but remove one link and the track hovers above all the wheels. I'll get the other side on and square it all up and I reckon she'll be fine

I'm looking forward to the WW too. Every Elefant model I've seen has been painted using the standard colours which is cool but I want something that will stand out from the crowd for the show!

Update tomorrow,

Ben