@Mead93 that’s interesting, the Kursk steppe makes sense for a two tone camo job. I wonder if that pic is placed at the wrong place or if maybe they were about to add brown to the color scheme.
There are a ton of examples of that scheme on many Elefant/Ferdinand. As far as I know the Schwere Panzerjager 653 didn’t spend much time in Russia after the elefants got upgraded from the Ferdinand
Note the one I posted appears to be a Ferdinand as there is no bow MG so I think the photo must be from Russia
When I build mine from tamiya I’m gonna do it in something similar to the schemes tamiya recommends.
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Yup! I ordered the Def models zimmerit decals. I have done it by hand in the past but the Elefant has a lot of tight corners around bolts and such that makes it a pain.
@Mead93 yeah i had only a few tight bolts on the king tiger and realize i shoulda took a little more time on it but in my opinion it still looks pretty good.
I think your effort looks fantastic 
I have a Tiger and KT in the stash I’ll probably do hand zimmerit on and I hope I can make it half as good as yours!
The Elefant just looked a little too daunting and the decals were $8
The really nice bonus of hand made zimmerit is it will have imperfections and poor spots which in this case makes it authentic! No two zimmerit jobs were exactly the same, and if you get decals you get a factory made cookie cutter zimmerit that every other guy gets. With the hand rolled zim you get a nice authentic look you can also chip
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@Mead93 thank you for the compliment, and yes i think your spot on with the decals and having imperfections. That is a nicety of doing zimmerit. Are the decals going to be paper or like a photoetch? Also if you can I’d recommend getting a think piece of styrene and cutting small pieces off so you have spots for your vehicles tools to go.
The decals by DEF models are actually a resin on decal film that you apply like a decal but they have some thickness to them
This thread shows their use
I believe that this picture is from the aftermath of Kursk. At the end of 1943, all the “Ferdinand’s” were withdrawn back to Germany and refitted as “Elephants” with the major upgrades being a ball mounted MG in the hull, a commanders cupola, and zimmerit applied.
So they would have been repainted at the factory, after the zimmerit was applied. The first batch finished were sent to Italy, and the remainder sent to the eastern front, with the last survivors fighting in the Battle of Berlin.
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Here’s a quick update from tonight, first coat of dunkagelb applied to the whole kit, wheels and zimmerit may need more work I’m going to give it a night to dry and see how much red oxide is showing through. Worse case scenario i repaint all zimmerit with the ammo 114 as a base then reapply the dunkagelb after. I think it’ll be fine and i can pin wash the zimmerit and do touch ups with the zimmerit ochre color to give it the chipping effect i was speaking of earlier.
So far here’s where I’m at:
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Yes, that is a Ferdinand in the photo. What Floridabucco said about the disposition of the Ferdinands after Kursk is correct.
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Yeah I agree my mistake. I didn’t study the photo long enough. Definitely agree it’s a Ferdinand
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Had today off from work so i was able to move ahead with some more painting. I applied the olivegrun to the King Tiger and did it all freehand. Not gonna lie I’m really proud of how it came out, next up will be highlights and shadows but nothing to crazy. I’m thinking a moderate shadow on the lower hull and then highlights to the top of the turret and parts of the engine deck. Then I’ll apply decals and paint the tracks, exhaust all the tanks BII, following that I’ll do some brush/ sponge chipping on parts of the zimmerit.
Here’s what i have so far:
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Lookin good.
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Gregory, the camo came out great! 
Looks about ready for markings now.
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@Stikpusher markings probably on the weekend i want to get the highlights and shadows finished. I always have a fear that I’ll spray the decals and ruin it.
I’m digging the camo too!!
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