Stef N. Posted January 14, 2021 Share Posted January 14, 2021 Here are a couple of quickish builds I am involved in. Tamiya's Elefant, as mentioned on another thread, and Dragon's Ferdinand. The Elefant I bought to use up some Atak I'd bought ages ago to fix up another one (failed) and the Ferdinand because it has some great paint schemes I would love to try out. So far the Elefant has fallen together. One of the simplest and nicest kits to build in this scale imo. I have added the Atak zimmerit which went on very well, with the odd tweak. The only problem was the box at the back, as it got a bit fiddly and messy, but other than that, no problems. I won't mention the company but I bought some add-on towing cables and they were overscale with only 3 poorly made resin eyes. The cables will come in useful on a big Russian thing at some time. I ended up using some picture framing wire which looks much better I think. As you can see the Elefant can be built very quickly and has no problems. Don't glue the lower hatches until the upper hatches are in place as they easily fall through into the body and are hard to get out again. Ask me how I know.😳😀. Painting stage in the next couple of days. Camouflage for Ferdinand, or something along these lines. Thanks for looking and if there are any glaring errors please let me know. Cheers, Stef👍 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edjbartos Posted January 15, 2021 Share Posted January 15, 2021 Looking good Stef, nice clean build, looking forward to seeing this one progress all the best Ed 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasper dog Posted January 15, 2021 Share Posted January 15, 2021 Oooh Elephant and Ferdinand, don't know why but I do like these things. The atak set has gone on well, good to know, nice clean build Stef. So the Ferdinand is getting the cobweb pattern and the Elephant...an Italian front one? Good luck Darryl 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stef N. Posted January 15, 2021 Author Share Posted January 15, 2021 Yeah, definitely the cobweb for the Ferdinand. Not sure whether I should attempt it freehand or masking. It will be a test of my airbrushing skills. The Elefant looks to be getting green and brown splodges. I have a profile of the last ones left in Berlin which looks interesting. Although the tank needs more of a battering. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Bob Posted January 15, 2021 Share Posted January 15, 2021 That's looking good Stef, glad the Atak zimm fitted ok as I have some for my Dragon Elephant. I always wondered if the Tamiya kit was a re-boot of the Italieri Elephant? like their Crusader was. As for the camo painting, I think I would try some white-tac rolls and see how that comes out. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasper dog Posted January 15, 2021 Share Posted January 15, 2021 1 hour ago, Stef N. said: Yeah, definitely the cobweb for the Ferdinand. Not sure whether I should attempt it freehand or masking. It will be a test of my airbrushing skills. The Elefant looks to be getting green and brown splodges. I have a profile of the last ones left in Berlin which looks interesting. Although the tank needs more of a battering. Blue tac/white tac rolls would work, if you could get a super fine line and a consistent paint flow free hand would probably be best... Quite like the look of the last one or nearly last in red primer with chalk markings on it. Dragon/Cyberhobby did it as a limited release a little while ago, they also did a bergpanzer VI (P) which would be nice too. @Retired Bob as you've probably guessed it was a new kit by Tamiya, nice one too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Bob Posted January 15, 2021 Share Posted January 15, 2021 3 minutes ago, Jasper dog said: @Retired Bob as you've probably guessed it was a new kit by Tamiya, nice one too. As no one mentioned Italieri in any reviews I did wonder but since I had 2 Dragon kits plus their Ferdinand I didn't bother too much. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stef N. Posted January 15, 2021 Author Share Posted January 15, 2021 1 hour ago, Retired Bob said: That's looking good Stef, glad the Atak zimm fitted ok as I have some for my Dragon Elephant. I always wondered if the Tamiya kit was a re-boot of the Italieri Elephant? like their Crusader was. As for the camo painting, I think I would try some white-tac rolls and see how that comes out. I should be a salesman for Atak as I can't praise their stuff high enough. The solid resin parts are produced really well and fit a dream. The other bits need a little bit of tweaking so dry fitting does help. All the best to your lad as well. 👍 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Bob Posted January 15, 2021 Share Posted January 15, 2021 3 hours ago, Stef N. said: I should be a salesman for Atak as I can't praise their stuff high enough. The solid resin parts are produced really well and fit a dream. The other bits need a little bit of tweaking so dry fitting does help. Perhaps they should give you a discount on their products at the very least. Has anyone had the Atak set for the Porsche turreted King Tiger? It looks like there is a complete turret shell supplied, anybody confirm that? 3 hours ago, Stef N. said: All the best to your lad as well. 👍 Thanks for the kind words, all the armour fans have been very supportive. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THEscaleSHOW Posted January 15, 2021 Share Posted January 15, 2021 3 hours ago, Stef N. said: I should be a salesman for Atak as I can't praise their stuff high enough. The solid resin parts are produced really well and fit a dream. The other bits need a little bit of tweaking so dry fitting does help. All the best to your lad as well. 👍 Hello Stef I can only confirm you-Atak is the best Zimmerit-very thin but still stable! Tamiya also has some on offer, which works like a sticker. After research, however, I am of the opinion that is not good to use. What glue did you use? For me, I used slow-drying superglue gel and sealed the edges of the Zimmerit with putty. Will soon also post a few pictures of the construction like this.. I would also like to build a vignette based on this template. I'm sure the crew will need headache pills 😁 Good luck! MD 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stef N. Posted January 15, 2021 Author Share Posted January 15, 2021 Cheers MD. As you say the Tamiya sticker zim is not good at all. Yes it sticks mostly but it has no texture to it. I bought this Atak set to replace the stickers I had used on a previous Elefant but I made such a mess of the model that I threw it away and started again. The glue I used was grab glue from a hardware store, it is slow drying and also acts as as a filler. Thanks for posting the photo. It's given me some tips on how to improve my current model.👍 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longbow Posted January 15, 2021 Share Posted January 15, 2021 Looking excellent so far !! Lovely detail !! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernst Posted January 16, 2021 Share Posted January 16, 2021 Interesting to see them side by side, that atak zimm looks great. Cheers, Ernst. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stef N. Posted January 16, 2021 Author Share Posted January 16, 2021 59 minutes ago, Ernst said: Interesting to see them side by side, that atak zimm looks great. Cheers, Ernst. When I first started this project I thought there were major differences between them but it seems that they only tweaked it a bit. Lights gone, tools moved, more close protection and zim. I could have backdated the Tamiya kit reasonably easily by the looks of it. But I am lazy and found a cheap Dragon kit.😀 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernst Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 23 hours ago, Stef N. said: When I first started this project I thought there were major differences between them but it seems that they only tweaked it a bit. Lights gone, tools moved, more close protection and zim. I could have backdated the Tamiya kit reasonably easily by the looks of it. But I am lazy and found a cheap Dragon kit.😀 But this way your collection is telling a story of afv development which is always interesting. I often have to restrain my hoarding tendencies when I buy for instance a panzer I. In the back of my mind I'd think: how about a II and a III and a IV (ausf A,B,C....)? Years ago I've build the Italeri Elefant which was pretty good except for the tracks. Since I didn't have a compressor at the time I connected my airbrush to a bicycle pump. The end result would have made Jackson Pollock blush so I bought a compressor a few months after that. I like the odd shape of the vehicle, it's quite a massive beast. Cheers, Ernst. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stef N. Posted January 17, 2021 Author Share Posted January 17, 2021 12 hours ago, Ernst said: But this way your collection is telling a story of afv development which is always interesting. I often have to restrain my hoarding tendencies when I buy for instance a panzer I. In the back of my mind I'd think: how about a II and a III and a IV (ausf A,B,C....)? Years ago I've build the Italeri Elefant which was pretty good except for the tracks. Since I didn't have a compressor at the time I connected my airbrush to a bicycle pump. The end result would have made Jackson Pollock blush so I bought a compressor a few months after that. I like the odd shape of the vehicle, it's quite a massive beast. Cheers, Ernst. I measured it against others on my shelf and it is a big beast.It is just a bit smaller than a King Tiger and it makes an Opel Blitz, which is a normal sized truck,tiny. It does highlight how big Panthers and Nashorns were though. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy J Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 Nice work so far Stef and when the time comes I'll be trying out the Atak zimmerit it looks like a great product 👍🙂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stef N. Posted January 17, 2021 Author Share Posted January 17, 2021 Here's an update of painting this weekend. Base colour XF72 + X18 Second colour XF88 Highlights XF88 + XF57 + X2 Camouflage XF10 and XF58. Mixed very thin and sprayed at a low pressure. Got a bit too close on occasion but happy with the result as it will end up getting faded more. Thanks for looking.👍 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stef N. Posted January 17, 2021 Author Share Posted January 17, 2021 10 minutes ago, Andy J said: Nice work so far Stef and when the time comes I'll be trying out the Atak zimmerit it looks like a great product 👍🙂 It is nice but struggling to get hold of it at the moment. Hopefully they will start to fix the post from Europe soon, but won't be holding my breath. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy J Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 That's an excellent paint job Stef looks really good mate...superb work 🙂👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy J Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 1 minute ago, Stef N. said: It is nice but struggling to get hold of it at the moment. Hopefully they will start to fix the post from Europe soon, but won't be holding my breath. Yes I've just checked out the website and there not posting to the UK for the time being 😔 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy J Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 Seeing your great paintwork has got me thinking 🤔....no.....no...I must resist 🙄👍 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasper dog Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 10 hours ago, Stef N. said: Here's an update of painting this weekend. Base colour XF72 + X18 Second colour XF88 Highlights XF88 + XF57 + X2 Camouflage XF10 and XF58. Mixed very thin and sprayed at a low pressure. Got a bit too close on occasion but happy with the result as it will end up getting faded more. Thanks for looking.👍 Superb paintwork Stef, the camo looks tremendous. Entirely with you re' ordering stuff from abroad, EU and Worldwide, until the whole VAT thing has got itself organised, fingers crossed it does.... Great work. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M3talpig Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 15 hours ago, Stef N. said: Camouflage XF10 and XF58. Mixed very thin and sprayed at a low pressure. Got a bit too close on occasion but happy with the result as it will end up getting faded more. The camo looks great Stef.....in fact the whole thing is looking very nice indeed ..... think i might try and get one of these as it's an imposing beast from any angle.....will follow the rest of this build as so far you have wetted my appetite for a Elefant/Ferdinand 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stef N. Posted January 18, 2021 Author Share Posted January 18, 2021 (edited) Cheers guys. This is an ideal kit if you need a break from the more complex ones. Straight out of the box it looks great but there's still room if you want to add some super detailing. Hopefully the Dragon one goes together as easy. Quick question. What is a good glue for tamiya link and length tracks? Extra thin didn't work that well on the last lot I did. Cheers for any help. Edited January 18, 2021 by Stef N. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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