On Sunday the "East" Bonus round was carried out. Originally I was going to do some "East Africa" WW1 figures. But as we all know they did not arrive in time (my fault I should have ordered them earlier). So I had a rummage and painted a "Ferdinand" .For those few who do not know the Fedinand was the version of the "Elephant" used at the battle of Kursk. It did have a few drawbacks and those that survived the battle were fitted with an mg 34, Zimmermit paste and improved vision as well as a copla with another mg for the commander to use as well as upgraded armour.
2 were captured during the war, One by the Russians at the battle of Kursk and one (an Elephant) by the Americans at Anzio. Both are now restored and on display. Only 98 were ever made so this beast will almost never see action on the table top. It is just too rare to make many appearances and still count as credible. While MOST were only used in the East some were used in Italy. As the Zvezda model kit only cost me £2.75 though having this as a 15mm option is still acceptable to me. Needless to say if I was to pay more the result would be I would need to justify it more and put it on the table for games more.
The camouflage is simple 3 colour camouflage and should (I hope) break up the contours of the machine when on the table. But only time will tell. Clearly I have not slavishly copied the camo from the video but the colours should at least be close even if the pattern is not!
The Video just shows the American Elephant arriving at Bovington. (on Loan). There are plenty of other videos so feel free to either watch or skip this as you see fit.
Thanks for looking and more again in a few days time. Until then take care have fun and do some painting if you can.
The beast turned out well!
ReplyDeleteThank you Fran. It never has been my favourite tank of the war.
DeleteLove the sheer scale of the Ferdinand, and your paint-job has served it well, Clint. Great camo and nicely thought-out entry for the East themed AHPC bonus round.
ReplyDeleteThank you Simon. I agree it is a colossal machine weighing in at 70 tons after the modifications. Thank goodness the model did not weigh anywhere near that much.
DeleteWhat a beast! You wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of that one. Lovely job Clint.
ReplyDeleteThank you Michael. Some of the soviet tank Destroyers were known as Beast Hunters because the Germans used animal names for their tank classes.
DeleteVery nice mate. I'd never heard of these tanks until i'd seen them in the CoD Expansion where there were tank battles. I'd seen the Marder which was a smaller and similar in appearance. Nice camo scheme I am contemplating what vehicles to get for my Bolt Action force will have to bear this in mind for my force.
ReplyDeleteTHanks Simon. I am perhaps a geek when it comes to tanks. Personally I would not get one unless you either really like it or can get it cheap. It was not a very good tank in real life. Too heavy too hard to build too much fuel consumption etc. There were much better ww2 German tanks.
DeleteGreat looking camo, though it's not one I particularly like (if that makes sense) and a vehicle I've always liked, mainly for it's sheer size and impracticability!
ReplyDeleteThanks Joe I understood without difficulty. It is massive and impractical and I could get on board with that as well but as they are also rare I find it hard to justify in a wargame.
DeleteLove the camo Clint.
ReplyDeleteThank you Ray. It is a very simple scheme but seems to work.
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