Sd.Kfz. 184 Elefant | Trumpeter | 1/72

 

Trumpeter produces models that are very suitable for modification, thanks to the softness of the plastic used in the kits. I recently took the Elefant kit, which I've been wanting to build for a long time, and started assembling it on the workbench. Like all the models I've made lately, this kit is in 1/72 scale. I plan to do a two-tone camouflage paint job for the tank.

Firstly, I started assembling the model. The tank has a peculiar setup; the panel with the engine doesn't fit in its place properly. I had to join and putty that part as best as I could.

Since the most distinctive feature of this tank is the sagging of its tracks, I wanted to make this part realistic. The tracks looked quite bad in their original state, so modification was necessary.

I first placed longitudinal plastic rods inside the tank's body. This provided support for the needles I would add later.

In the next step, I passed the needles through the plastic by drilling holes and created a sagging effect on the tracks. I secured the needles to the body and plastic rods with super glue [CA].

As the tank's fixed turret is a single piece, the assembly stage finished as soon as the tracks were done. To reveal any errors made during the tank's construction, I primed it. I waited for the primer to dry.

After the primer dried, I fixed any noticeable errors. Before painting, I added a soot effect to the tank's barrel using black spray paint. I might have exaggerated the effect a bit, but I corrected it during the painting stage.

I applied the base color, yellow, to the tank. I actually thinned the color before painting, but when all the paint was done, the main color seemed a bit too dark for me.

I used a reddish-brown color as the secondary color. Due to overspray from the airbrush I used, the paint spread onto the yellow parts and darkened that color.

To conceal the seams of the tank's vinyl tracks, I hung canvas strips down from the sides. I made these canvases from white tapes used for faucet insulation.

I painted the hanging canvases on the sides with Vallejo Canvas color and then dry-brushed them with khaki brown.

I painted and completed the equipment and tracks on the tank. Since the tank didn't have a lot of equipment, this stage went quickly.

After the main painting, I started dry-brushing. Normally, I do quite a bit of dry-brushing, but due to the dark color of the tank, I overemphasized this application a bit. However, it didn't bother the eyes too much once the tank was completed.

Along with dry-brushing, I also applied light-colored paint to the protruding parts on the tank. This gives a sunlit effect to the protruding parts, adding depth to the tank.

At this stage, I added radio antennas to the tank. Although they didn't look bad to the eye, I noticed they were a bit too long when looking at the pictures.

Once all the painting applications were done, I applied a glossy varnish to the tank. After the varnish, the colors sit well and blend nicely. Once the varnish dried, the paint started to look very good.

After the varnish dried, I placed the decals on the tank. It was challenging to fit the decal on the protruding part at the back, but other than that, the decals settled nicely. Decals from new kits generally don't pose many problems. I think the decals in old kits become difficult to adhere due to aging.

After the decals dried, I applied a layer of glossy varnish once again and waited for it to dry. As mentioned in my previous models, trapping the decal between two layers of glossy varnish prevents it from shining excessively.

After the glossy varnish dried, I started playing with the tank's color using oil paint. First, I filtered the tank using white, yellow, and burnt sienna colors. Filtering not only blends the colors but also fades and brings them closer to reality.

After the filter dried, I applied small dots of different colors of oil paint with a toothpick to the flat surfaces of the tank. I spread these paints with a brush dipped in turpentine using circular motions, creating different tones.

On the vertical surfaces of the tank, I made dots with different colors of paints again. This time, I pulled the paint downward with a flat brush dipped in turpentine, breaking the monotony and creating streak-like patterns.

Once the oil paint stage was finished, I moved on to washing the tank. I washed the tank with a mixture of turpentine and oil paint that I prepared myself. Using a ready-made solution would have been better, but I chose this method once, and I had to stick with it. I had to redo the pin-wash on some areas that didn't satisfy me.

After the wash, when the tank dried, I applied a matte varnish to it. As always, matte varnish creates a textured surface, making weathering processes easier.

After the matte varnish dried, I started weathering. I usually start weathering from the bottom and work my way up. Therefore, I first worked on the tracks. I dry-brushed the entire tracks with metallic paint.

After dry-brushing, I weathered the side surfaces and wheels with different dust solutions. Now, I no longer do heavy weathering; I opt for light dusting. Finally, I filled the spaces between the tracks' surfaces that touch the ground with dust and dirt.

I washed the front and rear surfaces of the tank in a similar way with dust solutions. After the washing process, I added pigments to some hidden areas.

I made rusty streaks downward on the large side surfaces of the tank. In some places, these streaks became dominant. I tried to thin them out, but before causing damage to the white spirit varnish layer, I stopped without going too far.

I added accumulations of dust to the fenders and streaks. Since I thought these areas were heavily worn, I dry-brushed them with metallic paint to create friction marks.

I created friction marks on all the sharp edges of the tank with a lead pencil and graphite pencil. This way, the wear looks very natural. When two different colors of shine appear, the tank achieves a more natural look.

For the grilles on the tank to look natural, I created smoke traces with black pigment, starting from the middle and gradually decreasing towards the sides. Blowing from the middle is the most accurate way to apply this technique. It doesn't look very natural if we make the entire thing pitch black.

I did weathering with a sponge on the parts where crew members could leave marks, making it look natural. It's necessary to be careful when applying this technique in 1/72 scale; otherwise, it can distort the perception of size.

While adding dust, since I erased the effect of the wash, although it's technically incorrect, I had to do pin-wash again. Especially, the wheels had deviated a lot from realism. With this application, they became more pronounced.

I made rusting on the spare tracks at the back and the track parts at the front. The rust on the back didn't turn out well, especially the front ones ended up too distant.

I finished the tank by creating a metallic polishing effect on the sides of the hammer at the back. Trumpeter is already a brand I like, and the construction of this tank was very enjoyable. Another 1/72 scale is up next.

After completely finishing the tank and taking pictures, I put it in the showcase and took another kit to the workbench. If you're interested, I recommend this kit I just built.

Panzer Kampfwagen II Ausf. C I S-Model I 1/72

I had previously shared the Panzer 1 model from the S-Model company that I made. Along with the Panzer 1 model, I started working on another model that came from Erhan Atalay. Initially, I intended to build both kits together. However, I had to repaint the Panzer 2 model once, which extended the completion time.

Similar to the Panzer 1 I made before, this kit was quite detailed for its size and included many etched details. The assembly process went smoothly, except for a mistake I made at the front by not aligning two plates end to end, which became noticeable when I painted the model.

The details on the tank were raised from the surface, so they didn't get lost during the painting process. In some kits, these details are embedded into the surface and disappear during the primer stage. I wish both barrels were made of metal; it would have looked much better.

The assembly of the tank was completed quickly, and along with its sibling, the Panzer 1, I moved on to the priming stage. Initially, I had planned to paint both tanks in panzer gray. However, later on, I decided to paint this model in desert yellow to avoid them looking too similar.

It's easy to correct mistakes that emerge during the priming stage, making priming essential. I usually prefer gray primer because tanks tend to darken during the painting process. Therefore, I don't like black primer. Some modelers use black primer and then highlight with white to create shading. It's an application that can be tried if you are experienced.

It's interesting that I didn't notice the mismatch at the front during the priming stage as well. I guess I thought the assembly of that part was correct while building the model, and it became impossible to fix later.

Once the primer completely dried, I applied panzer gray paint, similar to what I did with the Panzer 1. However, this color is too dark, so proper modulation is necessary; otherwise, the tank becomes both monotonous and dark.

After painting the tank with panzer gray, I started lightening the color using blue-gray paint. Dark panzer gray was applied to recessed areas, and light blue-gray was used on flat surfaces. This helped break the monotony.

I performed dry brushing by lightening the protruding parts of the tank with white. Dry brushing truly adds dimension to the model. I consider dry brushing and washing to be the two most important stages in modeling. This way, the tank's boundaries become clear, and the tank gains volume.

After finishing the body painting, I started working on the details. I rusted the exhaust located at the rear, painted the tools on the sides in appropriate colors, and finally painted the tank's main gun and machine guns in anthracite color.

At this point, when it was time to paint the tracks, I decided that making two tanks of the same color would be boring. So, I erased the paint I applied. Actually, I regret doing this now. Since these tanks are generally panzer gray, and the Germans didn't bother with camouflage during that period, leaving them in this state would have been more accurate.

After completely erasing the paint, I decided to create a desert camouflage for the tank. I started by painting the tank entirely with the yellow color called dunkelgelb. Then, I went over it with white to lighten the color. In the end, I performed dry brushing using white mixed with African brown to open up the color.

All details, weapons, and tracks were repainted. I struggled a lot while painting the wheels, and there were spills. However, since the wheels are the most weathered parts of the tank, I didn't put much effort into fixing it, thinking I would take care of it later.

Once the painting stage was completed, I applied the classic glossy varnish. Afterward, I waited for the varnish to dry and placed the decals. I used my own decals instead of the ones that came with the kit. I thought a blue decal would look better on a yellow background. Then I applied glossy varnish again.

After finishing the decal stage, I turned to oil paint to further modulate the tank's color. However, the application I did at this stage darkened the tank rather than modulating its color. I tried to modulate the color with green and blue, and finally, I tried to lighten it with white.

Once the oil paint stage was completed, I started washing the tank. This time, I washed the tank with mixtures prepared from oil paint rather than ready-made solutions. However, the oil paint was too strong. I tried to wipe it off afterward, but I couldn't do it very well.

After finishing the washing stage, I applied matte varnish to the tank. After varnishing, the colors and processes settle, blending well with each other. Therefore, using varnish is an important part of modeling.

For weathering, I started with the wheels. I did weathering with a sponge to hide the faulty areas and made them look worn. If you're making a military land vehicle, being able to hide mistakes with weathering is your biggest advantage. Don't tell this to those who make civilian or aircraft models; they would get mad.

After weathering with a sponge, I lightly washed the entire tank with a desert dust solution. I wanted the tank to have a dusty appearance overall. If you wash too much, it fills in the gaps and makes the dark areas shine. So, it's necessary to wash very lightly.

For the side surface where the tracks are located, I filled it with desert sand first. Then, I fixed it using pigment fixer. Finally, I washed it again with a desert dust solution. The particles in that area turned out a bit large compared to the scale. However, it doesn't attract much attention.

I created rust on the tank's tracks and exhaust using the rust solutions I had. Making these parts rusty adds realism and creates a nice contrast. I filled the gaps between the tracks with dust again.

I created shine and wear on all edges of the tank by rubbing them with a pencil and graphite pencil. This application adds a metallic appearance to the tank and enhances realism. If you don't do this, getting rid of the plastic look is also challenging.

I made some small adjustments on the tank and completed the model. S-Model has truly made a beautiful model. I recommend buying it if you can find it from this brand. I shared the finished model and put it in the display case. Next up is another 1/72 scale tank.

In the front of the tank, where I made a mistake, black oil paint accumulated, making it look like a gap. Of course, this also received criticism. But there's no gap there; it's paint accumulation. This was a lesson for me not to make this kind of mistake again in the future.