Hello everybody, lots of different results on this, wondering if Ferdinand's had zimmerit as Elephant's did??

Also, early Panther D's, did all of them had zimmerit or only rebuilts? Patterns?

Thanks

The Ferdinand and Elefant were literally the same vehicles. Only 90 were built in early 1943, and they were committed to combat with two heavy tank destroyer battalions, the 653rd and 654th, at the Battle of Kursk in July, 1943. Zimmerit was not introduced until September, 1943, so no, the Ferdinands did not receive the coating in their initial configuration.
The renaming occurred about the time they were rebuilt in the winter of 1943-44, after five months of duty on the Eastern Front. The new name was a whim of Hitler's, and had nothing to do with the rebuilding, but it's a convenient way to distinguish the first configuration from the second. The rebuilds had a machine gun ball mount added to the hull front, a Sturmgeschutz vision cupola added for the commander, a set of baffles fitted to the engine grills to keep out shrapnel, and a coat of Zimmerit paste was applied. The surviving 45 Elefants were handed over to the 653rd Battalion, while the 654th transitioned to Jagdpanthers. Eleven guns of the first company plus a recovery Ferdinand were sent to Italy to counter the Anzio invasion, and the second and third companies redeployed to the Eastern Front. In November, 1944, 14 of the surviving 15 Elefants were rebuilt a final time, and organized as an independent company, while the rest of the 653rd battalion transitioned to Jagdtigers. The last four Elefants of the company were destroyed on the approaches to Berlin. The 15th vehicle had been left behind in Italy, where it served with the 508th Heavy Tank Battalion until it was knocked out in April, 1945.
Zimmerit was introduced during the changeover from the Panther Ausf. D to the Ausf. A, and very few D models received the coating (though many had to return to the factory for rebuilding, and some may have received the coating at that time). Photos show very few D versions with Zimmerit, however, even in 1944.

No Ferdinands carried zimmerit, but when the Kursk survivors went back to the factory for refit and became Elefants, they received the cement coating. Dragon's newish Elefant rebox comes with zimmerit and looks pretty good.

Very few Panther Ds got zimmerit, as it was introduced around the time of the changeover to As. Why Dragon released a Panther D with zimmerit and not an A early or late with it is beyond me!