Dragon

1/35 Sd.Kfz.184 Elefant Premium Edition

Kit Number: 6311

Reviewed by  Mark A Dice, IPMS# 31326

MSRP: $47.95 Kit Supplied by Dragon Models USA (www.dragonmodelsusa.com) Background: The Sd. Kfz. 184 Elephant was produced in October 1943- March 1944, when the 50 surviving Ferdinands from the Kursk offensive were sent back to the factory in Austria for needed repairs and modernization. The modernization consisted of installation of a hull mounted MG34, armor improvements, installation of wider tracks, and installation of a commander's cupola. They were officially renamed Elephants in May 1944. First seeing combat in March of 1944 in Italy around Anzio and Rome, all surviving Elephants were eventually transferred back to the eastern front in the autumn of 1944. 13-14 Elephants saw service on the eastern front as late as early 1945. The final 4 Elephants saw service with Kamfgruppe "Ritter" in April 1945 during the defense of Berlin. On the defense, they were formidable opponents. Armed with an 88mm PaK 43/2 L/71 gun, they were able to engage and destroy enemy tanks at ranges far exceeding the range of the enemy's guns. Only two examples exist today, a Ferdinand captured at Kursk (in Kubinka, Russia) and an Elephant captured at Anzio (on display at Aberdeen Proving Grounds in the USA). The Kit: This kit has a lot of parts!! 14 trees of medium gray plastic parts, 1 tree of clear plastic, 2 small bags of "Magic Tracks" track pieces, 2 photoetch sheets (4"x4" approx), metal parts, metal cable, and an aluminum turned gun barrel. Everything is bagged and protected and the smaller bags are taped to a cardboard sheet to keep them safely in place. Closer inspection shows excellent detail overall with very little in the way of mold seams or ejector pin marks. The instruction sheet is a 7 ˝ x 14 fold out sheet with 22 steps and painting and marking guide for 5 vehicles, 3 in Italy and 2 in Poland. Color callouts are for Gunze Sangyo Mr. Color & Aqueous Hobby Color and Model Master Color. Construction: Construction starts with the lower hull, road wheels, and suspension. Fit is very good with only a little cleanup sanding needed. I left my road wheels and drive sprockets off for painting ease. You are also supposed to build up the tracks at this point but I chose to wait until last for that. It's harder to install the tracks at the end but easier to paint… your choice… Buildup of the front and rear lower hull is next. Many of the photo etch parts are optional for use here. I began using them and they look great when you do but after spending the better part of two modeling evenings on my knees looking for photoetch in the carpet I chose to use more plastic parts to speed up the process. I began modeling the zimmerit anti mine paste here too, using Tamiya Polyester Putty. This was the most tedious part of the entire build. I would smear on the putty and stab each and every little wrinkle into the putty with a piece of the photo etch tree. It took three full modeling sessions to do the lower hull and one to do the upper hull. This was my first stab at this and I see a tool or aftermarket resin purchase for my next tank with zimmerit… The upper hull and engine deck area is next with many more options of plastic or photoetch parts. Fit again is excellent in most every case and I elected to stay with the plastic parts for the most of the rest of construction. My only negative note at this point is the very limited elevation and traverse of the main gun. You are almost forced to build the gun in the travel locked position, especially if you use the aluminum barrel. Many hatches can be posed open but there is a lack of interior detail that'll need to be corrected if you choose this option. The tracks were the last thing built and fitted to the tank after it was painted. They assembled easily and fit the drive sprockets very well! There were more than enough pieces of track for both sides and I had several left over at the end. I built each track run in the four sections per the instructions and while the glue was still setting up formed them to fit where they were supposed too. I then carefully removed them after they had set up, painted and then reinstalled them. Painting: Of the 5 painting options, I chose a winter camouflage scheme. The other 4 are the typical dunkel gelb with green and/or brown patterns. I wanted to try a little something different. The entire model was first coated in Tamiya flat black. Followed by a slow buildup of Tamiya dunkel gelb to keep it dark and dirty looking. Followed by a slow build up of a Tamiya flat white disruptive pattern. Pastels will be used to further highlight wear and tear to the overall vehicle and tracks. The tracks were painted Model Master Rust. Decals: There's a nice little decal sheet with 3 sets of white numbers, 3 sets of black on white numbers, 2 pairs of black on white crosses, and 3 three digit number combos ( for three of the paint schemes). My chosen scheme only had the crosses. Conclusion: This was a great kit to build and really a lot of fun. Fit was excellent!! Detail was overall very good! You are given photo etch and metal parts in the kit, so if you are a beginner at those things, like myself, you get a chance to try them without having to go to all the extra expense. If you find you don't like them, the kit parts still look great. The Magic Tracks assembled really easily and fit very well around the drive sprocket teeth. I highly recommend this kit! It was fun to build. It was fun to paint. And it looks pretty darn big when set next to some 1/35th scale brethren… It's bigger than a KV-1 and it dwarfs my Marder IIIM. Thanks to Dragon Models USA for the review kit!!

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