6311, Sd.Kfz.184 Elefant Premimum Edition. 1/35th-scale injection molded styrene/multimedia kit. Contains: 337 styrene parts (plus 12 clear), two bags of individual-link "Magic Tracks", eight metal parts, one turned aluminum gun tube, two steel wire parts, one length of brass chain, two photo-etched brass frets, one piece of braided metal wire, five decal marking schemes and eight pages of instructions in 22 steps.

Some years ago when DML released their Ferdinand and Elefant kits, I considered them to be the "ones that put DML on top". Although there were a couple of nagging issues with the original releases, the molding and details on these kits was really first-class. DML has now taken these fine kits and "modernized" them with their own dedicated etched-brass parts, a turned aluminum gun tube, individual-link tracks, clear parts and a host of other nifty add-ons. Hence, the name "Premium Edition".

There are some improved parts and assemblies provided in this iteration of the kit. These include: new tow cables made from braided wire, styrene ends and etched-brass mounting brackets; new metal "U"-shaped tow clevises with turned metal pins; separate styrene MP-Stopfen (machine-pistol port plugs) with chains that can be depicted hanging in the open position; new commander's cupola consisting of styrene, etched brass and clear styrene periscope parts; new clear styrene periscope heads for the driver's hatch lid (which also gets etched-brass covers) as well as the casemate roof; new turned aluminum 8.8cm gun tube with slide-molded styrene muzzle brake; new tools without brackets as well as an etched-brass tool box that can be shown opened; a complete set of etched-brass fenders, brackets and mud flaps with working hinges and steel pins for the front end; new individual-link "Magic Tracks" of the correct pattern, new MG34 and mount for the radio operator's position, new etched-brass jack block mount, new etched brass screens for the rear end, and new water-slide decals. All of these improvements are "real", not simply "bells and whistles"; therefore they are most welcome by this reviewer.

The basic kit is, as I mentioned, rather well-done to begin with. Some items of note are the weld beads and interlocking armor plate detail; they are suitably rough where they should be. Likewise the patterns of the various armored, cone-shaped bolt heads are also very well done. The suspension will articulate to a certain degree after assembly and the idler sprocket can be adjusted, which will help when installing the individual-link tracks; this means that the modeler won't come up with too many or too few links at the last moment. There is a basic gun breech and mount for the interior, but that's all. All crew hatch lids are separate parts as is the large round removable plate on the rear face of the casemate; it has a separate shell-ejection hatch lid. The two flaps that cover the periscope heads on the rear corners of the casemate roof are separate and can be shown open, with clear styrene periscopes heads installed.

Fit of the main parts is quite good overall, just take care when aligning the left and right side superstructure extensions, parts B6 and B7, along with the rear plate, part B5. It is not as if there's problem here, it's simply that you will want these straight and true so that the casemate will fit properly. The same goes for the front end; there are several parts that fit over one another, so be careful and go slow. Molding is very crisp and there is virtually no flash; seams are minimal and will respond quite quickly to a swipe with a hobby knife or fine sanding media. Knock-out pins are minimal; this is an older kit so they are present on the inner surfaces of all hatch lids. They are extremely faint and easily removed with a light sanding; no details will be harmed.

The Magic Tracks have four faint pin marks on each link; my advice is to ignore them or get a set from Friulmodel. Masochists can clean them up, which since they are quite faint, should be easy; it'll just take quite a bit of time to get 'em all! The tracks also require glue as they will not stay together using friction, even to get them in place. Also remember that there are two bags and that the links in each are not the same. One has a guide tooth and the other is flat; they should be fitted together in an alternated pattern, somewhat like a Soviet T-34's tracks.

Hilary Doyle's drawings in "Panzer Tracts #9" is the reference I used to check the kit's parts for accuracy. The casemate roof matches Doyle except for the shape of the sliding sight cover; it is too long on the side nearest the commander's cupola. I seem to recall some internet comments to the effect that the hinges on the sight were not correctly depicted on the initial issue of this kit; again it matches Doyle's drawing quite well. The large vent grille on the center of the engine deck is shorter and wider than seen in Doyle's drawing. Other main components match within more than acceptable tolerances. For the sticklers among you, it must be remembered that the early, pre-CAD Panzer Tracts books had their plans drawn in 1/24th-scale and reduced 69% to approximately 1/35th-scale. This should be kept in mind when using them as references. A disappointment is also that for some reason the modified hatch lid configuration seen on the rear of the casemate on 4 Elefant (the large circular "lift-out" lid had massive hinges added) and shown on the CAD box art (as well as the DML web site) is not included as an option. To be fair, however, none of the type on the site or on the box says the option is included, so no-one is trying to mislead anyone. It would have been nice to see this included, however.

The instructions are in the usually busy, drawn style associated with DML. They show where Zimmerit is to be added (yes, references show that the Elefant had it) and also show where there are choices in parts usage. The color schemes are keyed to Gunze and Testors paints and describe five different vehicles. Three are from 1. Kompanie, s.Pz.Jag.Abt.653 as seen in Italy during 1944. A fourth is from the 2. Kompanie of that battalion, seen in Poland in 1944. The fifth is from "s.Pz.Abt.614" in Poland during 1945. I am not aware of such a unit using these vehicles, but K. Munch's "Combat History of s.Pz.Jag.Abt.653" states that excess 2. Kompanie Elefant from '653 were formed into s.Pz.Jag.Kp.614 (company, not battalion) in December of 1944. Furthermore, DML calls these units "s.Pz.Abt.", which they were certainly not. Regardless, the four Elefant from '653 check out against information in Munch's book, as does the 614 Kp. vehicle. The decals themselves are crisply printed by Cartograf and are in perfect registration. Extra sets of numbers are provided in solid white or black with a white outline, so the modeler can mark any other vehicles for which there are references.

Overall, this kit is a fine improvement of what was a good kit to begin with. If you missed it the first time around, or if you have never built an Elefant and it interests you, now's the time.

Highly recommended.

Frank V. De Sisto

Reviewer's note: Since May of 2005, I have been working on books for Concord Publications, a sister company to DML. The reader may wish to take this into consideration. For my part, I will attempt to maintain an objective viewpoint when writing these reviews.

DML kits are available from retail and mail order shops. For details see their web site at: www.dragonmodelsltd.com.

- Frank De Sisto