Elefant resurrection

[tomhugill]

Hey folks,

As some of you may have seen my elefant had been up for sale. It was eventually purchased by a chap in Germany on eBay.

The tank was duly boxed up and sent on via the eBay gsp. Box reached their warehouse fine and was duly sent on as is their way. The parcel was taking its sweet time to arrive in Germany but got there eventually. My phone starts pinging, lots of messages from the buyer. S#£t.

Turns out the box has been absolutely hammered in transit, to the point the air bags I use for cushioning were almost all burst. The box was ripped open at one end and was very obviously crushed on its end.




Some trails and tribulations ensue. However things are eventually sorted to everyone's satisfaction and the elefant has now been returned to me.

It's quite a state, the lower hull which was a Ludwig flat pack affair was broken into its component parts, there are multiple destroyed bogies, the upper part of the lower hull has completely come away from the tub. Lots of details of be torn away.

However I'm hoping to salvage it! Wish me luck folks.

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[Kaczor]

That sucks. But it will be interesting restoration project. From my experience Ludwig's hull is very fragile (unless aluminum welding is used). In my case, despite the purchase, I gave it up in favor of Asiatam lower hull. But my Elefant has been sitting in pieces on the "shelf of shame" for years.

[SCHWEREPANZER]

Ooch! I know it hurts you more than me, but I'm cringing just looking at it. I know no words of mine will be of any consolation. But, this is where that stiff British upper lip comes into play, eh?

Good luck, Tom

Ralph

[Herr Dr. Professor]

Tom, I hope the buyer in Germany didn't ding you for the damage caused in shipping. These things happen. A friend of mine who sold commemorative 1/18 Mopar muscle cars used to calculate to cover a 15% loss to replacements for damage in shipping.

[tomhugill]

Finally mustered to motivation to get on this. First order of business was to strip off the running gear and get the lower hull back together. All joining surfaces cleaned up and keyed for the epoxy. Then jbweld applied fairly liberally and the hull clamped together.

Once this is fully dry I'll clean it up and start reattaching the upper part of the hull.

In the meantime there's a few other bits I can do, most importantly rebuilding the bogies which were destroyed in the post!

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[tomhugill]

Been a while since I've worked on the elefant. It had taken a beating at the hands of DHL on the way to an eBay buyer. Worked out in the end but I wound up back with her. I've rebuilt the tub using jbweld this time so it's absolutely solid. I've had to rebuild most of the suspension too. Luckily I managed to get the last two arms asiatam had. I've replaced the taigen gears that were in it with some mato V2 (or 3?!). Paired with the tk40 and there's masses of power and the low speed control is spot on. Next up I'll be sorting the upper hull out. Not much to do here but a new travel lock is needed. Once done she'll be up for sale so anyone after an elefant give me a shout.

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[Herr Dr. Professor]

"low speed control is spot on." It sure is! That's the kind of low speed I really like. For example, if one watches the videos of the folks at Bovington backing out their Tiger, and one can see how slowly the tank should roll and turn. Well done.

[HERMAN BIX]

Jeez Mr Hugill, If I pulled that stunt in my kitchen, My Mrs would crack my skull like the post did to your elephant!!

[tomhugill]

Jeez Mr Hugill, If I pulled that stunt in my kitchen, My Mrs would crack my skull like the post did to your elephant!!

As long as I keep off the newly wrapped work tops I'm safe!

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[Meter rat]

Looking a lot better than when it arrived back to you. Speed control is superb.