Saturday, August 15, 2015

Schwerer Panzerjäger Sd Kfz 184 ELEFANT (Ferdinand)

I bought 3 "Elefants" from Game Models about 6 months ago in the hopes of using them in a large Battlegroup: Kursk game.  Recently I decided on playing a very large Kursk game centered on the northern fighting for Ponyri village and the area around it.

Schwere Abteilung 653, part of Panzer Jager Regiment 656 was outfitted with 45 of the special Elefants for the battle of Kursk.  While they were used to great effect, they were not without their shortcomings.  You can read all about this epic HUGE tank destroyer and its fatal flaws here.

Anyways, this is the first vehicle for the 653rd.  My OOB, at 1:4 strength ratio, will have 3 of these monsters for the battle.

 Somewhat different technique this time - I used Model Master's "Panzer Dunkelgelb" for the color and hand painted it.  I'm actually quite pleased with the color, and am thinking of painting more German Panzers in this interesting color.

You may or may not know the problem I have painting resin models.  This came already painted in a desert yellow and I simply painted over it.  Unfortunately in many cases the paint bubbles up and flakes off the resin.  Problem!  Luckily these babies are only 5 bucks!!!


 So after painting, I detail, camouflage, light black wash, dry brush, decal, seal, done!


These vehicles will be insanely useful, regardless of the capacity I use them in.











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6 comments:

  1. Paul O'GAugust 15, 2015 at 4:14 PM

    VERY nice Steve! The new colour scheme looks great! Might have to get some of that dunkelgelb myself.

    I've yet to add the Elephant to my OOB but this is very tempting indeed! May yours fare better on the tabletop than the real ones on the battlefield :-)

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    1. Disgruntled FusilierAugust 15, 2015 at 4:38 PM

      Thanks Paul! I really, really liked the dunkelgelb. I'm just not sure if I should put it on all my eastern front and western front panzers...It's much darker than the mustard or sandgelb color that you often see.

      I figured this would be a good vehicle to have for more rare scenarios. There is a great scenario from the Osprey "Kursk: The Northern Battles" book regarding the charge of the 653d Abteilung against Soviet ZIS guns and infantry with massive amounts of Soviet artillery in support and no German infantry accompanying the Ferdinands (artillery had chased them all away) - I thought it would make for a fascinating Battlegroup game. The ZIS guns were so low that the tall grass concealed them. Some of the Ferdinands strayed out of the cleared lanes and became disabled. They were so heavy and there was so much Artillery falling everywhere that they were abandoned.

      Anyways thanks for commenting :) BTW these game model resin vehicles are only 5 bucks each. Not too bad for the price. I'm praying they start doing modern vehicles!

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    2. Paul O'GAugust 16, 2015 at 7:30 AM

      That DOES sound like an interesting scenario- you could apply the BG Orbats with only a few changes.

      Think I'm going to have to send that guy some money before I go home. I'm thinking a company of Italian tankettes would be fun to throw around in the desert and thats about the only way it would be affordable!

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    3. Disgruntled FusilierAugust 16, 2015 at 7:45 AM

      Paul,
      For that price you can't go wrong IMHO. I have a few vehicles and guns from him. He is friendly and courteous. The WWPD website link has some great reviews and shows what is possible with the GM vehicles.

      It sure beats: 1. FOW prices and 2. waiting a lifetime for PSC to do them!

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  2. Paul FosterAugust 16, 2015 at 6:37 AM

    Excellent painting Steven. Really nice work. A light sand with a fine grit paper over the larger areas helps to retard bubbling I have found.

    Did I say nice work?

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    1. Disgruntled FusilierAugust 16, 2015 at 7:48 AM

      Thanks Paul! I didn't even think about sanding the models before painting. I had similar bad luck with a Khurasan T-55 model. After priming, and gluing all the "stuff" on it, it started falling off and all the paint bubbled up...

      I thought the resin gods just hated me.

      I have a bunch more models coming soon. I will try lightly sanding the Brumbars.

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