There’s Merkavas and Pumas and Magachs, oh my.

I have been a fan of the Israeli military for many years but have concentrated my interest on the 1967 and 1973 wars. Their ingenuity regarding their armor and aircraft make them more interesting than German Panzers, in my opinion.

This is the first book in a new series by Wizard Publications (Israel) on IDF Armor. Wizard has done many books on the Israel Air Force and it is nice to see them take up the armor side.

This softcover book is full of full color pictures of the modern Israeli armored fighting vehicles starting in the late 80’s on up through 2011. This time frame covers a change in tactics from the wide open killing grounds of the Sinai to the towns of Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. To meet these challenges, the IDF converted its tanks and APCs to more heavily armored vehicles designed for close-in fighting.

Over the years, I have discovered there are four ways to apply the required markings to my military models: first, and most obviously, the water slide decals that come in almost every commercially available model kit; second, one can, of course, hand paint one’s own markings, provided you have the high degree of skill this requires; third, there are various forms of masks – photo etched versions or various forms of tape masks; and finally, there are dry rub transfers, the subject of this review.

The Churchill tank had one of the largest production runs of any British WWII tank and was built in more variants than any vehicle except perhaps the Sherman. However, until very recently, it has been woefully under-serviced by the modeling manufacturers. The first kit was the old Airfix one from the 50's, which had many limitations. Then came the Aurora 1/48 one in the 60's which was almost toy-like. In the 70's came the 1/72/76 scale kits; the Hasagawa Mk I/II, ESCI Mk. III, Matchbox Mk IV bridge layer, and finally the 1/35 Tamiya Mk VII Crocodile. Since then, nothing has been released. However, Dragon has now released several small-scale models of this historic vehicle. The subject of this review is their kit of the Mk III version with the welded turret and 6 pdr. main gun.

History

The Elefant came into being from improvements made to the tank destroyer Ferdinand. After the battle of Kursk, surviving Ferdinands from sPz.Jg.Abt.654 were consolidated into sPz.Jg.Abt.653. The unit withdrew to St. Polten in December 1943 for overhauls and modifications, which included the addition of a machine gun at the radio operator's position, a commander's cupola, new tracks, rain gutters on the front of the superstructure, and new armored engine grilles. A Zimmerit coating was also applied. These modifications coincided with Hitler's order to have the vehicles redesignated with the name Elefant. Elefants served on the Russia front, in Italy, and in the defense of Berlin.

Overview

Zimmerit coating was applied by the Germany army during WWII from 1943 on tanks as a way to defeat infantry personnel from being able to attach magnetic mines. Zimmerit was developed by the German company Zimmer AG. It was made up of polyvinyl acetate, sawdust, barium sulphate, ochre pigment, and zinc sulphide. Zimmerit was applied during production prior to the painting process since it did not adhere well to painted surfaces. The coating also featured ridge patterns to reduce the surface area that a magnet could attach to. Zimmerit was applied to Elefants when they were modified at the factory. Simulating Zimmerit on military models using putty requires advanced skills and is time-consuming.