Work in Progress

Esci 1/72 Sd.Kfz. 184 Jagdpanzer Elefant

Posted by huib on 06 Nov 2017, 22:23

Opening up some hatches

Further with the Ferdinand conversion:

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Sawn off the commanders cupola. The tape serves to protect the surface detail of the welding seams.

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Drilled around the big hatch in the back. This hatch is not a crew entrance, but could be removed in a workshop for removing or replacing the main gun during overhauls.

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Opened up all the hatches and some of the pistol ports. Also made a new square hatch for the commander.

Hm, you can look inside now......
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huib  Netherlands
 
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Posted by Wiking on 06 Nov 2017, 22:48

Huib wrote:
Hm, you can look inside now......

You make us all to voyeur. :oops:



:mrgreen:
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Wiking  Germany
 
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Posted by huib on 08 Nov 2017, 11:10

Interior

By opening the big round hatch in the back of the Fedinand, you can look inside the vehicle now. Well, then it shouldn´t be totally empty inside. So something of an interior is needed. Not a lot, but something that creates the right suggestion.

Now luckily Esci-Italeri provides some elements of the interior. A gun breech, ammoracks with grenades, a seat for the gunner and a floor. All very simple and not quite correct. But it appeared to be difficult to find good information on the interior of the Ferdinand.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4509/26381931389_d85776b4f5.jpg
A colourful cut trough drawing

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4487/38103244186_0f8f1f66b0_z.jpg
And an image of a 1-35 Verlinden interior set.

So I used these as a source of inspiration for something that suggest a Ferdinand interior when you are peeking through the hatches.

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I used the Esci gun breech and elaborated it with the iron bar protecting the crew from the recoiling breech. In the back left and right you see the two electromotors for the propulsion, made from a cut up ballpoint. Furthermore chairs for the crew and ammunition racks.

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The interior of the front compartment is completely Esci. I only moved the bulkhead forward as it was placed too much backwards (You can still see the position lugs on the floor of the engine compartment.)

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Dark grey as a primer.

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Colours painted.

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And a bit of weathering.

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It was almost impossible to reach the forward compartment with my brush, so painting is not very neat there. The good news is however, that you can see hardly anything of it after closing the hull.

And now some focus on the exterior.....
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huib  Netherlands
 
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Posted by Wiking on 09 Nov 2017, 05:36

Huib wrote:
... you can see hardly anything of it ...

True!
A real problem in 1/72 vehicle modeling.
I build an Sdkfz 222 with a nice resin inside set. There is no top at these turret. I open both doors too.
But finally it is hard to see anything. You have to take the whole Dio and turn it to see inside the vehicle.
The best to get a view inside is to do a destroyed vehicle like I do with and Tank III and till jet not shown T34 turret.

Well done and paint the intestines of these elephant.
Looking forward to your opinion of the L&L track.
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Wiking  Germany
 
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Posted by Beano Boy on 09 Nov 2017, 10:10

Perhaps an impression of the back end could have been made before drilling it out. This could then have been used as a pattern to mould that hatch,back door end,and a casting made of green stuff could`ve been made.
So it could have been hinged open when on display. BB
Beano Boy  England
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Posted by huib on 11 Nov 2017, 15:51

Thank you, Wiking and Beano!

Beano Boy wrote:Perhaps an impression of the back end could have been made before drilling it out.

Thanks for the interesting suggestion Beano. But a simple part like this is easier to reconstruct by scratchbuilding than by casting or impression IMHO. And moreover the Esci hatch is not of very high quality.
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huib  Netherlands
 
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Posted by huib on 11 Nov 2017, 16:08

Detailing the outside

With the interior finished I glued the upper hull parts of the Ferdinand in place, and continued detailing the outside of the vehicle.

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I built an opened toolbox on the outside of the vehicle, with scratchbuilt tools and towing hooks.

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The drivers hatch with its periscopes is a small construction in itsself. Also a deformed mudguard, some tools and sparetrack. Some hinges and bolts & nuts

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On top of the vehicle the commanders hatch with scissor periscopes. Another periscope for the gunner, and a few other details.

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On the back of the vehicle some handrails and other details. I also removed a toolbox here and filled the gap with plastic card and filler.

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Some lose items: The scratchbuilt round hatch from the back of the hull, the lid of the opened toolbox, and the bare axle of a blown off road wheel for under the fender front left.

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Overview.

And now for some paint.....
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huib  Netherlands
 
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Posted by Peter on 15 Nov 2017, 22:27

As long as you stay in your garden I don't have a problem with your productions Huib! :mrgreen:

May I say that I loved the first build of this tank and that I'm looking forward to second one! :thumbup:
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Peter  Belgium

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Posted by huib on 16 Nov 2017, 13:50

Thank you, Peter!

Painting

The Ferdinand received its paintjob.

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Humbrol 94 for Dunkelgelb. The sand coloured plastic significantly improves the opacity of the paint, compared to the dark green of the first kit.

And then a camouflage scheme. What will it become?

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Well, something like this.

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And in this coloursetting.

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First I made a test with three red-brownish colours. And I chose the middle one: Humbrol 160

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The camouflage pattern applied.

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From another perspective

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And I painted all details: tools, periscopes, spare track links, etc. On pictures of Ferdinands at Kursk it can be seen that the shield protecting he main gun ball-mount is painted in a single dark colour. I chose for red oxide primer.

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On this pic for example.

And now for some decals....
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huib  Netherlands
 
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Posted by Wiking on 16 Nov 2017, 16:50

Huib wrote:
... it can be seen that the shield protecting he main gun ball-mount is painted in a single dark colour. I chose for red oxide primer.

Good idea. Sound possible to me. :thumbup:
As you write in a past post that these shields arrive shortly to the start of the battle.
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Wiking  Germany
 
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Posted by huib on 18 Nov 2017, 12:42

Thanks Wiking!

Roadwheels and Decals

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Road wheels are painted.....

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....and glued to the hull.

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After two layers of gloss varnisch some decals: crosses and vehicle numbers.

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On the backside.

And now for weathering....
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huib  Netherlands
 
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Posted by huib on 22 Nov 2017, 11:21

Weathering

In my experience weathering is, together with scratchbuilding, the most fun part of AFV modelling. If it works out you can change the appearance of your model from a shiny plastic toy into something looking quite realistically.

So, let's go!

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The starting point: hard colours and a gloss finish.

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First a filter of sand coloured oil paint was applied to tone down the contrast between the sand and the brown. A new layer of gloss was applied to protect the filter.

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Then some diluted dark brown oil paint sloshed over the model as a point wash.

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Here the excess oil paint is wiped away, so it only remains in corners, nooks and crannies, in recessed detail and around raised detail. Visually this point wash creates shadow and thus brings depth to the model.

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After the point wash a drybrush with a very light sand colour and white. This creates highlights on raised detail, increasing the suggestion depth. The grilles of the engine ventilation were filled with a wash of very matte black gouache.

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Some chipping with a very soft graphite pencil.

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Then mud was added around the wheels with different shades of brown and khaki enamel paint.

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And some mine explosion damage around the blown off left front roadwheel. Chips and soot.

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Everything protected with two layers of matt varnish.

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Some details on top of the vehicle.

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Some details on the front.

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And a comparison before and after. Nice to see what difference it makes.

And now to continue with the tracks....
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huib  Netherlands
 
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Posted by Peter on 22 Nov 2017, 11:24

A lot of work Huib, but with a fantastic result! :thumbup:
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Peter  Belgium

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Posted by huib on 26 Nov 2017, 15:11

Thank you Peter!

Tracks

Contrary to the old Esci kit, this Italeri reboxing is equpped with link & length tracks. Although they miss detail on the inside, they look much better than the vinyl tracks. But L&L tracks are also difficult to place, and I do not have much experience with them. So this is a challenge for me.

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I painted and weathered the tracks on the sprue. I doubted about that, as they might be more difficult to glue together after painting. On the other side it would be impossible to reach the tracks for painting and weathering when they are on the model.

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All track parts separated from the sprue and cleaned up where necessary. This was quite a meditative task. ;-)

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I started with the individual track links around the sprocket wheels. That's why I left the sprocket wheels off until now. In this way I can better reach the wheels and I can turn them slightly to position them in the best way. Nevertheless it is quite difficult to line the track links up neatly and flat around the sprocket wheels. I doubted if I should have removed the tooth, but in the end I didn't, because the tooth are protruding nicely through the tracks now.

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Right side ready. Track sag worked out very good, but the links around the sprocket wheels are not perfect.

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On its legs.

But on the left side I want to do something else. Mine damage. Inspired by this picture:
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The track is broken left front below and is sort of wrinkled up over the road wheels. That's a nice aspect of L&L tracks. They enable you to simulate this kind of things, which is impossible with vinyl tracks.

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This is how it looks on my model.

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And now standing on both tracks (or what's left of it.)

Only some last details to add now.
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huib  Netherlands
 
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Posted by Wiking on 26 Nov 2017, 21:02

Looking good. :thumbup:

Ah, no.!
Left track have loose a lot of air pressure.
You need urgent a service team.
Ask mickey mouse for the German bunker troop.
They are unchallenged.
They can be transferred with the sailing ship in "Opfer für Neptun" Dio.
:mrgreen:
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Wiking  Germany
 
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Posted by Peter on 28 Nov 2017, 20:55

Looks fantastic! :thumbup:

The explanation here is: "He just messed up the tracks but don't want to tell us!". :mrgreen:
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Posted by huib on 29 Nov 2017, 17:09

Thank you, Wiking and Peter!

The last details

And now a few last details to finish this kit.

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Towing cables from thin copper wire.

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Towing cables painted.

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Radio antenna from copper wire.

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Lost roadwheel, rear hatch, and lid of the toolbox.

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Toolbox lid fastened, antenna placed and towing cable fixed.

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Detached towing cable on the other side.

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The opened pistol port hatches. In reality hey are fixed with a chain, but the size is so tiny that I changed that for a cable.

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Pistol port and towing cable

The Ferdinand is finished. Only some circumstantial stuff to make....
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huib  Netherlands
 
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Posted by Wiking on 29 Nov 2017, 18:58

Never leave an toolbox unlocked !
The next day you get the double amount of tools in it.
:mrgreen:

Your work is :yeah: .
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Wiking  Germany
 
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Posted by huib on 30 Nov 2017, 17:29

Wiking wrote:Left track have loose a lot of air pressure.
You need urgent a service team.


Too late, the Russians are coming!

My unlucky Ferdinand first ran into a mine, which broke its track, then demolished by its crew, and shortly after captured by the Russians. Here they are:

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An infantry man and a cossack by Esci.

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Some paint and weathering.

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From behind.

And now a small base.....
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huib  Netherlands
 
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Posted by huib on 01 Dec 2017, 16:40

Base

I decided to make a base for this vehicle too, in order to give an explanation for the broken track. For this base I will use another approach than for the earlier one.

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A cheap photoframe as a starting point. You can see the size.

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Sealed with PVA glue

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While the PVA glue was curing I made two small test-dio's in jar lids. With the first one I tried to be smart to dilute the plaster with dark brown water paint. But first because the plaster was so white it didn't become dark brown, but strawberry yoghurt pink. And second, the plaster wouldn't cure because of the paint. So this method doesn't work. Then I made a second attempt using normal water. When the plaster was half cured I made tracks and a crater, and roughened the surface with some tools. This works, so now let's try that for real.

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I poured the liquid plaster very carefully in the photoframe, until it started to bulge over the edges.

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Then when the plaster was half cured, I pressed in the Ferdinand, made tracks marks and a crater, and roughened the surface.

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Some sand and gravel added for a rougher surface.

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Black paint as a primer.

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Then some drybrushing and sloshing around with different colours.

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Some lost parts of the Ferdinand added and some grass.

Ready for final pictures!
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huib  Netherlands
 
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