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Good morning ladies and gentlemen, a brighter day and something to look forward to. I may need help lifting this Elefant down from the dinning room table. I was never far away....Mick

Awww happy days.have fun.

Nice one Mick, looking forward to the build.
You certainly have a big un there. Take care.

Nice one Mick!

Hi Mick
Welcome back.

Regards Derek

Good morning and thank you for the replies....Guys, relocated to the dinning room, I can keep an eye on the tele. Made a start, last few days spent checking parts, gathering tools, drinking tea, I have gone through, or browsed, the previous Elefant builds on the Forum, lots of information and advice, nice one lads.
Me thinks a slow build, already fitted front armour plates the wrong way around....keeps the grey matter working. A magnifying glass is most useful....look closely at the diagrams, all is revealed.....easy.....Mick

Looking good Mick.

When you come to fit the bogies, make sure the shafts are well polished and greased.

In running mine, I've found the bushes can seize on the shafts, then the rocking motion of the bogie turns the shaft, unscrewing the large nut on the inside. This leads to the bogie moving outwards and eventually pulling the tracks off the idlers. Once cleaned, greased and refitted, it runs really well.

Adrian.

Thank you for your advice Adrian and good morning everyone, nice day with a cold wind....gradually etching forward. Already this is one heavy model. Having taken lumps out of my hands, on previous builds...I decided to follow other modellers and countersink these hull fixings. The sharp bolt ends, are exactly that...sharp....oh, and have a lovely Easter....Mick

Hi Mick,
Nice looking build coming together. Great advice from Adrian and much easier to fix on table than at a show in the field as per Stephen's recent post.
Another detail to look is to make sure that the front plate tabs (circled in the picture) are flush with and don't protrude beyond the side panels. This will ensure that the idler adjuster housings sit squarely against the sides, easier to do now than later. Can't quite tell if it's a problem on yours, but that was one thing we couldn't fix on Adrian's at the show.

Hello David and thank you. My front plate 'tangs' protrude about one mm. I can skim the excess or put a shim the other side to bring the 'tang' level with the side plates? ?. I think I just made up the word 'tang'....Mick

That's about how much mine protruded. Logical, given they were all made on the same machines

I would skim the excess off, as they'll be pretty well hidden by the idler housing and the idlers themselves.

Adrian.

Good morning everyone, and thank you Adrian. Skimmed away the protrusions. Moved the old girl into the garage, mainly because of the weight. Carting the hull backwards and forwards is a bind. The weather here has improved so it's comfortable, I can also paint without moving the hull. The previous Forum Elefant builds are extremely helpful....Mick

Good morning everyone, decided to move back into my original 'build' area. Tight but acceptable, can't stand untidiness....at least the 'parts' are boxed. Busy few days filing and fitting the grill plates...filed until my arms dropped off. It's was either the file or me. so I settled for partially reducing the grills. Anyway, I am satisfied with the result. Looking forward to the bogie assembly build, very interesting, first time with this 'type'. Have a nice 'May Day' guys....Mick

Good morning everyone, just to show I have not been slacking etc, etc,. Took me awhile to notice that the suspension arms are not all facing the same way....Steady progress is being made, a very comfortable build, although heavy.
I am hoping to have a part build ready, along with the Panther to display at the WW2 1940s Weekend Show in Welshpool, end of September. The organiser's have allocated a whole floor area in the Town Hall for WW2 models. It is mainly represented by large scale dioramas, and re-enactors.
I have been setback somewhat having carefully put all my modelling tools in storage, not intending to build another model....there you go...taken an age to find a spanner.
Never mind, all is well.....Mick

Good morning everyone, perishing cold in the garage....what on earth happened to summer. Steady progress with careful reference to previous Forum builds.
A distraction this afternoon guys, while the Women's Cycle Race roars through our village....all those legs....Mick