Copyright © 2024, Philip Robinson. All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced, in whole or in part without prior permission of the creator

Thursday 9 January 2014

"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
     

10 comments:

  1. Very nice work. Have to get one myself.

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    1. Thank you. It is a great little model, hope you get around to painting it quicker than I did.

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  2. Impressive ! "Elfiriede" look realy greate, love the skull in the front

    Best regards Michael

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    1. Thank you Michael, every A7V should have one:-)

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  3. That looks really wonderful Phil! It will be a real shame when I have to knock it out in a game... ;~)

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    1. True, but I have not painted anything for you to knock it out with yet >-)

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  4. Lovely work, mine is already painted black so far - lol.
    Only three weeks left until I need mine in an first encounter - on the BA-Day here.
    Your colour choice is very inspiring and very well executed.
    cheers from Austria
    Stefan

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    1. Thank you for the kind comments, trust you will get yours completed in time. Do not expect much of it on the table though :-)

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