Construction review of DPM new 1/72 Elephant.

crossracer

Member since
December 2002

Construction review of DPM new 1/72 Elephant.

Posted by crossracer on Saturday, November 15, 2003 9:19 PM

Well i finishe building this guy, and she looks very nice. I really can see a photoetched kit for this little guy not far in the future. Construction was pretty strait forward, with a few gliches. Running gear was no problem, assembling nicely as do the running boards. The rear deck of th echassis is where there is lots of holes, and the instructions are not very clear. Building this again i will just putty this smooth and mount the parts that way. WOuld look a lot better. But since very little of this detail is seen, it is not a huge problem. You could install a piece of micro screen for the rear aircleaner. But again since it is not visable, you could just say why bother. (But what fun is that Big Smile [:D]

) THe travel lock is very nice, but very delicate, be careful here. THe front vertical plate has two notches that need to be filled, do this before you assemble this area. Also there is another hole to be filled on the horizonal front plate in front of the drivers hatch. I also sanded smooth the junction betweent the upper superstructure, and the engine deck. This made for a much better joint. Also i put a piece of scratch plastic sheet under the main engine grill to prevent "see thru".
Aside from that it builds up very nicly, with very high quality casting all the way thru. Flash was almost noexsistent, and so were seams. THis is a great kit and i can't wait to build more of this series.
Bill

Reply

Rob Gronovius

Member since
December 2002
From: Fort Knox

Posted by Rob Gronovius on Sunday, November 16, 2003 8:43 AM

If you're talking about the Dragon 1/72 Elefant, I started mine yesterday. The front piece placement was vague and a little test fitting and swipes of the sanding stick was necessary to get the front slope and bow plate to align properly.

The rest of the vehicle builds up nicely.

Reply

mark956

Member since
February 2003
From: USA

Posted by mark956 on Sunday, November 16, 2003 9:19 AM

Bill are you going to post some pictures of your tank?
mark956

Reply

Duke Maddog

Member since
June 2003
From: Rowland Heights, California

Posted by Duke Maddog on Sunday, November 16, 2003 8:52 PM

Please! I'd love to see what a great job you did! Also, what other 1/72 scale Armor kits does that manufacturer make? is there a link to a website?

Reply

crossracer

Member since
December 2002

Posted by crossracer on Monday, November 17, 2003 7:14 AM

Well i had a little problem with the painting phase. I rushed putting on the acrilic clear coat over top of the enamals. THe resulting chemical reaction destroyed the model. No problem, i just went and got another and have incorperated all the improvements into this one.. It should be finished by later today, painted and weathered by the weekend. THen i can post. Bill

Reply

Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Monday, November 17, 2003 4:07 PM

QUOTE: Originally posted by Duke Maddog

Please! I'd love to see what a great job you did! Also, what other 1/72 scale Armor kits does that manufacturer make? is there a link to a website?

Duke, the Elefant is Dragons first 1/72 scale kit heres a list of what they are putting out in there initial batch of 1/72's.

from Dragons website:
-------

DRA-7202 1/72 SD. KFZ. 184 Ferdinand $8.95 7-Nov
DRA-7205 1/72 Sd.Kfz. 171 Panther G, Early Production $8.95 7-Nov
DRA-7215 1/72 M1A1 Abrams 3rd Infantry Division IRAQ 2003 $8.95 17-Nov
DRA-7216 1/72 M1A2 Abram "4th Infantry" $8.95 17-Nov
DRA-7204 1/72 Sd. Kfz. Sturmtiger $8.95
DRA-7201 1/72 SD. KFZ. 184 ELEFANT $8.95 Arrived

http://www.dragonmodelsusa.com/dmlusa/prodmid.asp?tlcode=DRA

Reply
Edit

wipw

Member since
January 2003
From: Utah - USA

Posted by wipw on Tuesday, November 18, 2003 11:25 AM

QUOTE: Duke, the Elefant is Dragons first 1/72 scale kit heres a list of what they are putting out in there initial batch of 1/72's.

The Ferdinand and Panther G are both showing as being in stock at greatmodels.com. The Panther says it has a diecast chasis??

QUOTE: Aside from that it builds up very nicly, with very high quality casting all the way thru. Flash was almost noexsistent, and so were seams.

On the model I have, I did have what amounts to a little flash and definately had a lot of seams to clean up. Especially on the small, detail parts. The front brace for the travel lock wasn't fully formed. It had a small void at the base of one of the diagonal "struts". I put a little liquid glue on it and let it dry overnight before I cut the part from the sprue. Also, on the rear brace for the travel lock, the instructions aren't very clear on this. Make sure you clip the part off below the square part of the molding. I thought that was part of the sprue and clipped it above it. The square part goes down in the hole on the hull plate.

I also made a major goof. I glued the barrel to the travel lock and the top of the travel lock clamp to the bottom of the clamp before putting the add on armor plate over the barrel. Dead [xx(]

I'm not sure how I'm going to get around this one. I am thinking about splitting the armor part horizontally where the original part halves were and gluing it around the barrel. I'm sure I would destroy the travel lock if I tried to take it back apart and get the barrel out. Angry [:(!]