The Elefant kit is the old Italeri/Testors kit build OOB. Nothing fancy at all and I was very pleased with the basic kit. I added the commanders periscopes from square evergreen stock, replaced the tow cables with wire and scrap box ends, gave it a fire extinguisher on the fender, and added a better shovel. I also removed the left front fender to add some slight damage to the vehicle, but not too much as the customer did not want it to be too beaten.
Finally, this was supposed to be a ACTION! scene, so I had to finally break down and build a real diorama. I added two Tamiya German Infantry, part of the Italeri park gate, and scratchbuild the foundation of a destroyed second section to give it that "city under fire" look. Groundwork was sanded mortar mixed with white glue. I added static grass, some plants tips from outside my house, and finally some spent shell casings to finish it off. The figures were "pinned" so they could be removed from the dio for shipment but still placed on it solid.
Overall I am pleased with the dio, and so was the customer. I am now working on a dio of a Ferdinand (DML) just before Kursk...should be very interesting.
