my elephant WIP **finished**

Aves works the best. Aves.

 That's a good Elephant, Chris.

Lookin' real good... makes me want to build one. Can't wait for the paint job.

Steve 

thanks guys. jester, montana included the link in his post. you'll love this stuff. its really easy to work with and its very forgiving. thanks all for the comments. i'm really starting to fall in love with the elephant. its such a massive beast and beautiful at the same time. if hitler would have used it like its intended to be used, it would have been a very deadly weapon. hopefully i''ll be able to put some paint on it tonight. i'll keep you guys informed

rooster

Great thread Montana Cowboy. I assume some LHS's might carry it? Any craft stores or whatnot?

Chris, The PE looks real cool on that beast. I found it to be a very nice fitting model. Pleasant detail. Except the tracks.......

i haven't researched it that much, but ausfwerks is the only place i know to buy the stuff. plus matt has great prices, probably the best i have seen for MIG pigments, and he has a nice little tool called the bendicator. very user friendly, and somehow remembers your name months after you already placed an order with him. check it out, works wonders. the tracks? eric i don't have the tracks on yet. hehe

thanks for all the zimm comments guys. this was a really big stepping stone for me. deathly afraid of messing up my kits, with the thought of "am i ready for this", and me thinking that i'm still a little green behind the ears. anyway, i think i did a good enough job, and judging from the kingtiger, i made a drastic change with the zimm. i can't believe how easy it is to apply. just need a little bit of patience and time. i'll probably be applying the base coat of dark yellow tonight. for all the info guros, can anyone tell me what camo patterns were available for the elephant during the italian campaign? i believe the unit was the sPzJagAbt 653. i have found two patterns. one was the spider web pattern, and another a blotch pattern, but they edges were squared, not rounded. like this:

http://www.collectableships.com/models/images/Dragon/drr60024.jpg

and

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://static.flickr.com/48/142008517_1430e571d9.jpg&imgrefurl=http://blog.roodo.com/tooth/archives/1564919.html&h=375&w=500&sz=93&hl=en&start=136&sig2=-RcQ5ODGOGIEll3t2NUVRg&tbnid=5pVPZH1fNALjrM:&tbnh=98&tbnw=130&ei=qTBSRvaBI5y4ggSfndScDA&prev=/images%3Fq%3DSdKfz%2B184%26start%3D120%26gbv%3D2%26ndsp%3D20%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN

and any ideas on ID numbers for the sPzJagAbt 653? thanks again guys

ok guys, just finished painting the blotch pattern last night. i went ahead with that pattern because most of the ferdys had the spider web pattern were in kursk until repairs were made in germany, then re designated elephants, and before the 653rd being shipped to italy. the model got a little bangd up in the painting process, so you might see a little front fender missing, and some side skirts out of alignment. all cosmetic, and will be fixed before the future gets applied. also the radio operatios hatch is left open, and i maked with micro mask to show my interior white, well everything just peeled away with the mask, so i'll have to re paint it white. just keep in mind that this is still early in the painting stages, ands some things got banged up in the process. just wanted to give you guys an update.

thanks for checking it out guys

rooster

I'm a guy who has stuck to the olive drab side of painting, but for what it is worth.  I like it so far.  If you are going for a hard edge, it seemed like there was just a couple of blobs near the back that had some soft fuzzyness on the edges.  Otherwise, a really sharp job.  How did you do the blobs?  Mask??

And for what it is worth, I'd leave the fender off.  It makes it look more "lived in."  Besides, as massive as that beast is, the few places minor damage is going to show are the fenders. 

Hey Roo, that's looking pretty swwwwweeeeet!

...wait a minute now....weren't you supposed to be a "noob" just a few weeks ago?!?!

You've "graduated" way past that with your recent work! Looking SOOOPER!

Fantastic looking Elephant. I hope your proud. Cant waut to see it with its tracks on.

...Guy

thanks for all the comments guys. i will try and apply the first coat of future on it tonight. its a little grainy, i don't have a pressure regulator, and my paint is thinned pretty good, so i think i need to save up for that next. i will also be applying the decals on soon, if they match my references, if not, i hope i don't have to go the hand painted route again.  how well does decals form to zimmerit with microsol? will it stick good? i'll keep you guys informed as soon as i make some more progress. thanks again for the kind words everyone.

rooster