"Elfriede"

When they first came out I purchased a Great War Miniatures A7V and a Mk. IV tank, when was that? 4 or 5 years ago or longer? Either way I decided it was high time to get them assembled and painted, first up is the A7V, which I decided to Christen "Elfriede" after my daughters doberman puppy.

 When I dug out my book on the A7V it turns out there was an actual "Elfriede", it was tank number 542 and served with the second abteilung. On the 24th April 1918, 542 tipped up in a sand pit, its commander Leutnant Stein was killed defending the tank, it remained in no-man's-land until 15th May 1918 when it was reached by soldiers of the 37th (Moroccan) Division and recovered with help of A Company of the British 1st Tank battalion, after being towed behind the lines it was made mobile again and went through various tests, after which it was put on display in the Place de la Concorde in Paris, it was scrapped in 1919.

 My "Elfiriede" was sprayed with Halfords grey primer, I then over sprayed it with Vallejo Mahogany brown and Green Ochre blotches, then I gave it a wash of Games Workshop Agrax Earthshade. I then gave it a matt varnish and applied crosses to the sides and rear and added a skull and crossbones to the front, these were left overs from air plane kits, the actual "Elfriede" had a cross on the front, but you have to have a skull n an A7V don't you? The transfers were then coated with matt varnish before I applied a MIG filter, when this was dry the vehicle was drybrushed with lighter shades of the original colours, paint chips added using Vallejo German Grey applied with teared up sponge and various dirt and rust streaks added with GW Nuln Oil and a mixed red brown rust colour using various Vallejo shades. The tracks were painted a very dark brown and drybrushed German grey and the lower areas drybrushed with GW Graveyard Earth (now Steal Legion Drab) to match my figure bases, the name is painted freehand, I then gave it a finally coat of matt varnish.

 Painting of my Mark IV is underway and will appear in due course, in the meantime here are some shots of "Elfriede"

TTFN