Elefant

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January 10, 2015
First day's work...
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January 10, 2015
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January 12, 2015
Zimmerit applied. Needed test fitting and a little filing in places, but seemed to work well, overall.
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January 14, 2015
Barrel preparation. I use lots of glue and sqeeze the parts together until melted plastic oozes out along the seam lines. This ensures a smoother end-product, later.
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January 14, 2015
I allow plastic barrels to "set" for two or three days before shaving and sanding smooth.
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January 14, 2015
"Mr. Surfacer" is great for filling the pits and seam-lines that appear.
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January 14, 2015
Should look okay when painted...
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January 14, 2015
Need to finish the fenders and add a few details before working on the tracks and starting to paint!
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January 16, 2015
With all the metal parts, I decided to use primer (tamiya white surface primer)
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January 16, 2015
Base color is now applied.
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January 19, 2015
Other base colors added.
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January 19, 2015
Wash of burnt umber artist oil paint applied.
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January 24, 2015
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January 24, 2015
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January 24, 2015
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January 24, 2015
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January 24, 2015
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January 24, 2015
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January 24, 2015
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January 24, 2015
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January 24, 2015
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January 24, 2015
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January 24, 2015
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January 24, 2015

George Bacon
Holger, the zim worked okay, but a little filing was needed on some parts to make them fit well. I also heated the parts to take the temper out of the metal and make it more pliable (I think paint sticks better too, but you have to be careful not to melt the metal 🙁 ). I was mostly worried about how the zimmerit would look, because the photo-etch is so "perfect" in smoothness (I don't think real zimmerit was so uniform), but it's looking ok. Also, I think having super-thin cyanoacrylate glue makes things easier.

20 January 2015, 12:48

Kim Branders
I'n in.

20 January 2015, 13:09

Holger Kranich
Thanks for the info, George! I used the self sticking Tamiya Zim for my Elefant. It is way not so "uniform" like the pe´s but its not really crisp. It looks more "washed out"...

I like your result, its absolute convincing!🙂

20 January 2015, 13:13

Murad ÖZER
look how well the wash brought the details out! 👍

20 January 2015, 14:24

George Bacon
Holger, how did the self-stick zimmerit work? Any trouble with it sticking?

20 January 2015, 15:53

Holger Kranich
It sticks very good. It was just fiddely to make all the holes for the bolts when you only have a scalpell. I recommend a "punsh and die" set, if you have one. You have to work very accurate or it happens like it happened to me. The Zim peels off on some edges, i have to reglue it. I hope my info helps you, George!😢

Cheers!

20 January 2015, 16:01

Mike Kryza
👍 - I'm in...

20 January 2015, 16:11

H K
Looks great 👍

24 January 2015, 18:10

Christian Bruer
Very nice finish George. The paint work looks excellent.

24 January 2015, 18:14

Mike Kryza
Very well done - indeed. 👍

24 January 2015, 18:36

Fabian D.
Really nice George 👍
The Zimmerit looks fantastic, better than I thought PE could ever look.

24 January 2015, 19:01

George Bacon
Thanks Mates 🙂 Now I have to decide what to do next...

24 January 2015, 23:02

H K
After looking trough your stash, the Italeri Crusader gets my vote 🙂

24 January 2015, 23:06

George Bacon
H K, great minds think alike. I was thinking about the Mark III, but just can't quite get excited enough... 🙁

25 January 2015, 15:09

Aghis Barberopoulos
Very nice looking Elefant - for a freshly painted vehicle - but with gunnery practice evident in the muzzle...

25 January 2015, 15:30

George Bacon
Thanks Aghis. 🙂

25 January 2015, 16:03

Christian Meyerhoff
Very nice Elefant!

25 January 2015, 20:18

Martyn Fox
What a beast,like the camouflage.🙂

25 January 2015, 20:54

George Bacon
Thanks Christian and Martyn! 🙂

25 January 2015, 22:18

Ulf Petersen
Absolutely beautiful!👍 I wonder how you do such a smooth washing!

26 January 2015, 06:23

Brian Geiger
You're building at such a great pace George and your quality gets better & better. Superb looking Elefant

29 January 2015, 13:11

George Bacon
Thanks Brian! 🙂. I was really surprised how quickly this came together, even with all the photo-etch stuff.

29 January 2015, 13:15

Es-haq Khosravi
Great job!

29 January 2015, 14:58

George Bacon
Thanks Es-haq! 🙂

30 January 2015, 00:49

In the trenches
Very very nice, clear pictures too

30 January 2015, 04:50

Hunter Cummins
Hey george, will you ever try to do color modulation?? And wheres the metal effects on the tracks??😉

4 April 2015, 21:36

George Bacon
Thanks Michael! 🙂

5 April 2015, 12:32

George Bacon
Hunter, I have to perfect the basics before adding new stuff.😉. I think I might add "chipping" someday😠 After trying color modulation, I didn't think I got much "bang for my buck." It's definitely better on lighter colored models. My metal effects are always dulled by dust, but they're there! 🙂

5 April 2015, 12:41

Hunter Cummins
Well color modulation is supposed to be very light because filters, washes, dust, different effects with oild, and oil and gas effects as well as mud will really tone it down lol
but I think you have mastered the basics 🙂😉

5 April 2015, 15:16