The heroes of the popular book and film “The meeting place cannot be changed”, the workers of the legendary MUR use a bus nicknamed “Ferdinand” as transport. From the mouth of the driver main character learns that the car is named for the similarity of the silhouette with a German self-propelled gun.

From this short episode, you can find out how self-propelled was known among front-line soldiers. artillery mount by Ferdinand Porsche. Despite not a large number of released cars, these installations sunk into the memory of everyone who had a chance to see them in battle.

History of creation

The self-propelled breakthrough "Ferdinand" owes its birth to another, no less epic example of the German tank genius. The beginning of 1941 was marked by Hitler's personal order to two of Germany's largest design bureaus on May 26 at a meeting in the presence of senior officials of the engineering department related to the armored forces.

In the presence of representatives of the Design Bureau, the battles in France were analyzed, and the shortcomings of German combat vehicles were identified. Ferdinand Porsche and Steyer Hacker, director of Henschel, were officially given special orders. They were supposed to create a heavy tank designed to break through the defense lines of Germany's opponents.

Another reason for the order is the ineffectiveness of most German tanks in the fight against the thick-skinned English Matilda Mk.II. If the planned operation is successful, Sea lion According to various estimates, the Panzerwaffe had to face 5,000 of these vehicles. At the same meeting, models of Porsche and Henschel tanks were presented to the Fuhrer.

The summer of 1941 influenced the development of new tanks in two ways.

On the one hand, the designers were busy finalizing the machines in the series. On the other hand, the Wehrmacht got acquainted with the KV tanks, which made a huge impression on both generals and ordinary tankers. In the autumn of 1941, work on the development of a heavy tank was continued in an accelerated mode.

The weapons department, which oversaw the creation of the machine, was on the side of the Henschel company. At their own request, the development was headed by Erwin Aders, who went down in history as the chief designer of the tank symbol of the Wehrmacht.


Ferdinand Porsche during this period comes into serious conflict with the Armaments Administration due to technical inconsistencies between the designed and ordered by the officials turret of the designed tank. In consequence, this will play a role in the fate of both prototypes.

Dr. Todt dies in a plane crash, Porsche's only ally in promoting his particular model. However, Ferdinand himself was confident in the success of his development. Enjoying unlimited success with Hitler, he placed at his own risk in the Nibelungenwerk company an order for the manufacture of cases for his machines.

During the tests, the enmity between the Fuhrer's pet and the officials of the Office played a role.

Despite the superiority of the Porsche model, recorded during the tests, it was recommended to adopt the Henschel model, to the horror of the technicians. German army. Hitler's proposal to produce two cars was met with a restrained refusal, motivated by the inability to produce in war time two expensive, but equivalent tanks.

Failure turned to Porsche's face after it became clear in March 1942 that the powerful new assault weapons required by Hitler, equipped with an 88-mm gun, could not be created on the basis of the PzKpfw. IV as originally planned.

Here, the 92 chassis units built by the Nibelungenwerk came in handy for the Porsche design that never got into the Tiger series. The creator himself plunged headlong into new project. Carried away by the calculations, he worked out a scheme with the location of the crew in the spacious conning tower located behind.

After agreeing with the Office of Arms and improvements, the Nibelungenwerk plant began assembling the hulls of new self-propelled guns based on the long-suffering chassis. During this period, it is not clear by whom, the course machine gun planted by Porsche was removed. This "refinement" will then play a role in the fate of the self-propelled guns.

The beginning of 1943 was marked by the exit of the first self-propelled guns from the gates and sending them to the front. In February, the Fuhrer's gift to the creator of the self-propelled guns comes - the car is officially given the name "Vater", "Ferdinand". By order of the same "possessed" self-propelled guns without acceptance go to the East. Porsche, much surprised, recalled that he was waiting for complaints from the front about his unfinished cars in a hurry, but did not receive a single one.

Combat use

The baptism of the Ferdinands was the Battle of Kursk. Soviet intelligence, however, already on April 11 had information about new equipment being brought to the front line. An approximate drawing of the machine, quite similar to the original, was attached to the information. A requirement was drawn up for the design of an 85-100-mm gun to fight the armor of self-propelled guns, but before the summer offensive of the Wehrmacht, of course, the troops did not receive these guns.

Already on July 8, a radiogram came to the Main Armored Directorate of the USSR about the Ferdinand stuck in a minefield, which immediately attracted attention with its unique silhouette. The officers who arrived for inspection did not have a chance to see this car, since the Germans moved forward in two days.

The Ferdinands went into battle at the Ponyri station. Take a stand Soviet troops the Germans did not succeed, so on July 9 a powerful assault group was formed, at the head of which were the Ferdinands. In vain they fired shell after shell at self-propelled guns, Soviet artillerymen, as a result, they left their positions near the village of Goreloye.


With this maneuver, they lured the advancing group into minefields, and then, with blows from the flanks, they destroyed a large number of armored vehicles. On July 11, the bulk of the advancing equipment was transferred to another sector of the front, the remaining parts of the Ferdinand battalion tried to organize the evacuation of the damaged equipment.

This was fraught with many difficulties. The main one was the lack of sufficiently powerful tractors capable of dragging self-propelled guns to their own.

A powerful counterattack by the Soviet infantry on July 14 finally upset plans to withdraw this equipment.

Another section of the front, near the village of Teploe, attacked by the Ferdinand battalion, was subjected to no less pressure. Due to the more deliberate actions of the enemy, here the losses of self-propelled guns were much less. But here there was the first case of the capture of a combat vehicle along with the crew. During the attack, having been subjected to massive shelling by heavy artillery, the self-propelled gunners began to maneuver.

As a result, the car hit the sand and "buried" in the ground. At first, the crew tried to dig out the self-propelled guns on their own, but the Soviet infantry who arrived in time quickly convinced the German self-propelled gunners. A fully serviceable machine was pulled out of the trap only in early August with the help of two Stalinets tractors.

After the end of the fighting, a comprehensive analysis was carried out of the use by the Germans of a new self-propelled gun, as well as methods effective fight with her. The lion's share of the vehicles were put out of action due to mine explosions and damage to the undercarriage. Several self-propelled guns were hit by heavy corps artillery and SU-152 fire. One car was destroyed by a bomb, one was burned with bottles of KS by infantrymen.

And only one car received a hole with a 76-mm projectile, in the T-34-76 defense zone from 76-mm divisional guns, the fire was fired at a distance of only 200-400 meters. Soviet soldiers were greatly impressed by the new German vehicles. The command, assessing the complexity of the fight against the Ferdinand, gave the order to award orders to those who could destroy this car in battle.

Legends about the huge number of these self-propelled guns spread among tankers and artillerymen, since they mistook any German self-propelled gun with a muzzle brake and aft warhead for the Ferdinand.

The Germans made their own, disappointing conclusions. 39 out of 90 available vehicles were lost near Kursk, 4 more vehicles were burned during the retreat in Ukraine in 1943. The remaining self-propelled guns, in full force, except for a few samples, were taken to Porsche for revision. Some parts were replaced, a course machine gun was installed, and the car went to help in the fight against the allies in Italy.

There is a widespread myth that this displacement was due to the heaviness of the system and the greater adaptability of the Italian rocky roads for them. In fact, about 30 vehicles were sent to the Eastern Front, where, during the reflections of the “10 Stalinist strikes” of 1944, the Ferdinands, one by one, went into oblivion.

The last battle with the participation of this machine was the battle for Berlin. No matter how beautiful the gun and armor were, they could not hold back the Red Army in the spring of 1945.

Taken as trophies Soviet Union"Ferdinand" self-propelled guns were used as targets for testing new anti-tank weapons, disassembled to the cog for study, and then were sent for scrap. The only Soviet car that has survived to our time is in the famous Kubinka.

Comparative characteristics with the enemy

Like a strong wild beast, "Ferdinand" did not have many enemies capable of engaging with him in single combat on an equal footing. If we take machines of a similar class, the closest in terms of efficiency will be soviet self-propelled guns SU-152 and ISU-152, nicknamed "St.


You can also consider the specialized tank destroyer SU-100, which was tested on captured Porsche self-propelled guns.

  • booking, the weakest part Soviet self-propelled guns in comparison with the Ferdinand, 200 mm of frontal armor versus 60 ... 75 for Soviet samples;
  • gun, the Germans had an 88-mm gun against the 152-mm ML-20 and 100-mm guns, all three guns effectively coped with suppressing the resistance of almost any vehicles, but the Porsche self-propelled guns did not succumb, their (self-propelled guns) armor penetrated even 152-mm shells with great difficulty;
  • ammunition, 55 shells for the Porsche self-propelled guns, against 21 for the ISU-152 and 33 for the SU-100;
  • cruising range, 150 km for Ferdinand and twice as high for domestic self-propelled guns;
  • the number of models produced: 91 units from the Germans, several hundred SU-152s, 3200 ISU units, slightly less than 5000 SU-100s.

As a result, the German development is still slightly superior to Soviet models in terms of combat qualities. However, problems with the chassis, as well as meager output, did not allow the full potential of these machines to be used.

Besides, Soviet tankmen and self-propelled gunners, having received new powerful 85 and 122-mm guns on T-34 and IS tanks, were able to fight on equal terms with the creations of Porsche, it was worth going in from the flank or rear. As often happens, in the end everything was decided by the determination and ingenuity of the crew.

Device "Ferdinand"

Hitler did not spare any materials for his favorite designer, so Porsche cars got the best. The sailors handed over part of the stocks of cemented armor, designed for huge naval calibers. The mass and thickness made it necessary to connect the armor plates “into a spike”, additionally using dowels for reinforcement. It was impossible to disassemble this structure.


Further welding of the body was carried out, rather, for sealing, and not for articulation. The armor plates of the side and stern were placed at a slight slope, increasing the projectile resistance. There were also loopholes for firing from the crew's weapons. The small size of these holes, however, did not allow aimed shooting, since the front sight was not visible.

Feed felling had an armored hatch. Shells were loaded into it, the gun was changed through it. In case of damage, the crew escaped through the same door. There were 6 people inside, the layout provided for a driver-mechanic and a radio operator in the frontal part, then the engine compartment in the middle, and in the stern the gun commander, gunner and two loaders.

The movement of the car was carried out by 2 Maybach engines that ran on gasoline.

In general, the Ferdinand engines were something fantastic by the standards of tank building in the 1940s. Carburetor 12-cylinder HL 120TRM with 265 hp were located not one after the other, but in parallel. The crankshaft of the internal combustion engine had a flange to which the Typ aGV generator was attached direct current voltage of 385 volts from Siemens-Schuckert.

Electricity from the generators was transmitted to 2 Siemens-Schuckert D149aAC traction motors with a capacity of 230 kW each. The electric motor rotated the reduction planetary gearbox, which, accordingly, its traction sprocket caterpillar.

The low-voltage circuit is made in a single-wire circuit. Some devices (radio station, lighting, fan) were powered by 12V, some (starters, independent excitation windings of electric machines) from 24V. Four batteries were charged from 24-volt generators located on each engine. All electrical work was done by Bosch.


The problem was created by the exhaust system. At the 5th track roller there was an exhaust pipe outlet, everything around was heated, grease evaporated from the bearings, and the rubber bandage quickly failed.

Porsche took the chassis of the self-propelled unit from his own Leopard tank, invented in 1940. A feature in it was the presence of a cart for torsion bars, 3 per side, and not installing them inside the hull. This won Ferdinand love German technicians, graying only at the mention of the chassis of the Henschel "Tiger".

It took Dr. Porsche about 4 hours to change the roller, the same operation on the Tiger took about a day.

The rollers themselves were also successful due to the bandages inside the wheel. This required 4 times less rubber. The principle of shear operation increased the threshold of the bandage service.

The introduction of rollers of a similar design to heavy tanks at the end of the war can be called recognition of the success of the experience. One side took 108-110 tracks 64 centimeters wide.

The armament of the self-propelled unit was an 88-mm gun, with a barrel length of 71 calibers (about 7 meters). The gun was installed in a ball mask, in the frontal part of the cabin.


This design turned out to be unsuccessful, as splinters and splashes of lead from bullets fell into the cracks in a multitude. In the future, to correct this defect, special protective shields were installed. The Ferdinand gun, one of the most powerful developments in german army, was originally anti-aircraft. After fine-tuning, they put him on a self-propelled gun.

Its shells effectively hit almost any Soviet or allied armored vehicles from a long distance. Ammunition included armor-piercing and sub-caliber shells, as well as high-explosive fragmentation, separate loading.

The absence of a machine gun on early vehicles noted above can be explained as follows. According to German tactics, assault self-propelled units must move in the second line of attack, behind tanks and infantry, covering them with gun fire. Near Kursk, a high concentration, and, most importantly, the effectiveness of artillery fire forced them to throw self-propelled guns forward, with minimal cover.

The optics was represented by a monocular sight, providing guidance to the gun at a distance of 2 km.

Intercom supported by an intercom external communication answered the radio operator (he is also a shooter in the modernized "Elephant").

Contribution to culture and history

The Porsche car, despite its small circulation, left a bright mark on the history of the Second World War. Along with the "Tiger" and "Messerschmitt", this self-propelled gun is a symbol of the Wehrmacht. Having made the glory of the German self-propelled systems, she was a real horror for the enemy.

Of course, you can learn to fight with any enemy, but in 1943 a real "Ferdinandophobia" began in the troops. Cunning Germans took advantage of this by putting buckets on the barrels of other self-propelled guns, simulating a muzzle brake.


Judging by the memoirs, only Soviet troops destroyed about 600 Ferdinands during the fighting, with a total release of 91 units.

The Germans were not far behind. The more difficult and unsuccessful the war was for them, the greater was the number of destroyed Soviet tanks. Often in their memoirs, tankers and self-propelled gunners cite the numbers of wrecked vehicles that are twice the number of armored vehicles on the front. In both cases, the self-propelled units in question played a huge role.

great attention is given to ACS in the literature. Piece of art“In war as in war”, describing Soviet self-propelled gunners, contains a description of the battlefield after the meeting of a German self-propelled gun with a group of thirty-fours, not in favor of Soviet technology. The fighters themselves speak of him as a worthy and dangerous opponent.

Often found "Ferdinand" and in computer games based on World War II.

Actually, it's easier to name those games in which there are no self-propelled guns. It is worth noting that the characteristics and descriptions in such crafts often do not correspond to reality. For the sake of playability, developers sacrifice the real characteristics of the machine.

You can independently make and put on the shelf a legendary car. Many modeling firms make building kits in different scales. You can name the brands Cyber ​​Hobby, Dragon, Italeri. The Zvezda company produced and launched the ACS series twice. The first issue, number 3563, had many inaccuracies.

The patterns copied from Italeri represented the "Elephant", and had many inaccuracies. The next model, 3653, is the first Ferdinand to be baptized near Kursk.

World War II and Great Patriotic War gave many technical samples that have become legends. Among the self-propelled guns of German production, the Ferdinand, of course, occupies the first place.

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Tank Destroyer Ferdinand: 3653: 1/35: Star: Box with model

BRIEF HISTORICAL SUMMARY

"Ferdinand" (German: Ferdinand) is a German heavy self-propelled artillery installation of the period of World War II of the tank destroyer class. Also called "Elephant" (German Elefant - elephant), 8.8 cm StuK 43 Sfl L / 71 Panzerjäger Tiger (P), Sturmkanone mit 8.8 cm StuK 43 and Sd.Kfz.184.

This combat vehicle, armed with an 88 mm cannon, is one of the most heavily armed and heavily armored representatives of German armored vehicles of that period. Despite its small number, this machine is one of the most well-known representatives class of self-propelled guns, a large number of legends are associated with it.

Self-propelled guns "Ferdinand" was developed in 1942-1943, being in many ways an improvisation based on a chassis not accepted for service heavy tank Tiger (P) designed by Ferdinand Porsche.

The debut of Ferdinand was the Battle of Kursk, where the booking of this self-propelled guns demonstrated its low vulnerability to the fire of the Soviet main anti-tank and tank artillery, but the tank destroyer turned out to be completely defenseless against the Soviet infantry, since Porsche did not equip the self-propelled gun with a machine gun; also had low undercarriage reliability and poor cross-country ability.

In the future, these vehicles participated in the battles on the Eastern Front and in Italy, ending their combat path in the suburbs of Berlin.


The Ferdinands made their debut in July 1943 near Kursk, after which they actively participated in the battles on the Eastern Front and in Italy until the end of the war. The last battle these self-propelled guns took in the suburbs of Berlin in the spring of 1945.

Battle of Kursk
As of July 1943, all Ferdinands were part of the 653rd and 654th heavy anti-tank battalions (sPzJgAbt 653 and sPzJgAbt 654). According to the Citadel operation plan, all self-propelled guns of this type were to be used for attacks against the Soviet troops defending the northern face of the Kursk salient.

Heavy self-propelled guns, invulnerable to the fire of regular anti-tank weapons, were assigned the role of an armored ram, which was supposed to break through a well-prepared Soviet defense in depth.

The massive use of Ferdinands by the Germans began on July 9 in the area of ​​Ponyri station. To storm the powerful Soviet defense in this direction, the German command created a strike group consisting of the 654th Ferdinand battalion, the 505th Tiger battalion, the 216th Brumber assault gun battalion and some other tank and self-propelled gun units.

On July 9, the strike group broke through the May 1 state farm, but suffered losses on minefields and from fire anti-tank artillery. July 10 was the day of the most fierce attacks near Ponyry, the German self-propelled guns managed to reach the outskirts of the station.

Massed artillery fire of all calibers, including 203-mm B-4 howitzers, was fired at German armored vehicles, as a result of which many self-propelled guns, trying to maneuver, went beyond the cleared passages and were blown up by mines and land mines. On July 11, the strike group was greatly weakened by the redeployment of the 505th battalion of the Tigers and other units, the intensity of the attacks of the Ferdinands decreased significantly.

The Germans abandoned attempts to break through the Soviet defenses, on July 12 and 13, engaging in attempts to evacuate wrecked armored vehicles. But the Germans failed to evacuate the wrecked Ferdinands, due to their large mass and the lack of sufficiently powerful repair and evacuation means.

On July 14, unable to withstand the attack of the Soviet troops, the Germans withdrew, having lost 21 Ferdinands, blowing up part of the equipment that was not subject to evacuation. Another formation of heavy self-propelled guns (653rd battalion) operated in the area of ​​​​the village of Tyoploe on July 9-12. The fighting here was less intense, the losses of German troops amounted to 8 Ferdinands.

Later, during the retreat of the German troops in July - August 1943, battles of small groups of Ferdinands with Soviet troops periodically took place. The last of them took place on the outskirts of Orel, where the Soviet troops got several damaged Ferdinands prepared for evacuation as trophies.

In mid-August, the Germans transferred the remaining combat-ready self-propelled guns to the regions of Zhytomyr and Dnepropetrovsk, where some of them stood up for current repairs - the replacement of guns, sights, redecorating armor plates.


Tank destroyer "Ferdinand": 3653: 1/35: Star: Prototype

Fights near Nikopol and Dnepropetrovsk
Due to heavy losses, the 654th battalion handed over the remaining self-propelled guns to the 653rd battalion and left for reorganization in Germany. The remaining Ferdinands took part in fierce battles on the Nikopol bridgehead. At the same time, 4 more self-propelled guns were lost, and the combat score of the Ferdinands reached by November 5, according to German data, 582 Soviet tanks, 133 guns, 3 self-propelled guns, 3 aircraft and 103 anti-tank guns, and the crews of two self-propelled guns knocked out 54 Soviet tanks.

Italy
In January 1944, the first company of the 653rd battalion, consisting of 11 "Elephants" (modernized "Ferdinands"), one repair and recovery vehicle also based on the chassis of the Tiger (P) tank and two ammunition transporters was transferred to Italy to counter the offensive of the British American troops. Heavy self-propelled guns participated in the battles near Nettuno, Anzio, Rome.

Despite the dominance of Allied aviation and the difficult terrain, the company has proven itself from the very better side, so, according to German data, only on March 30-31 on the outskirts of Rome, two self-propelled guns destroyed up to 50 American tanks, armored personnel carriers and cars and were blown up by the crews after the fuel and ammunition were used up. On June 26, 1944, the company, in which two combat-ready Elefants remained, was withdrawn from the front and transferred first to Austria, and then to Poland to join the 653rd battalion.

Ukraine
The two remaining self-propelled gun companies in April 1944 were transferred to the Eastern Front, in the Ternopil region. In addition to 31 Elephanta, the companies included two repair and recovery vehicles based on the chassis of the Tiger (P) tank and one based on the Panther tank, as well as three ammunition transporters.

In heavy battles at the end of April, the companies suffered losses - 14 vehicles were disabled; however, 11 of them were quickly restored, and the number of combat-ready vehicles even increased due to the arrival of repaired vehicles of the 1st company from the factories. In addition, by June, the composition of the companies was replenished with two unique samples of armored vehicles - Tiger tank(P) with frontal armor reinforced to 200 mm and a Panther tank with a turret tank PzKpfw IV, which were used as command vehicles. In July, a large-scale offensive by the Soviet troops began, and both companies of the "Elephants" were embroiled in heavy fighting.

On July 18, they were thrown without reconnaissance and training to help the SS division "Hohenstaufen" and suffered heavy losses from the fire of Soviet anti-tank and self-propelled artillery. The battalion lost more than half of the vehicles, and a significant part of them were to be restored, however, since the battlefield was left behind by the Soviet troops, the damaged self-propelled guns were destroyed by their own crews. On August 3, the remnants of the battalion (12 vehicles) were transferred to Krakow.

Germany
The 653rd battalion, which suffered heavy losses from the Soviet troops, began to receive new Jagdtigr self-propelled guns from October 1944, and the remaining Elefants were reduced to a separate 614th heavy self-propelled anti-tank company (sPzJgKp 614). Until February 1945, this company, which consisted of 13 self-propelled guns, was in reserve.

On February 25, 1945, the company was transferred to Wünsdorf to strengthen the anti-tank defense German units. Recent fights"Elephants" were held in Wünsdorf, Zossen and Berlin.


Tank destroyer "Ferdinand": 3653: 1/35: Star: Prototype

The fate of captured self-propelled guns in the USSR
In the Soviet Union in different time there were at least eight captured complete Ferdinands. One car was shot down near Ponyry in July - August 1943 when testing its armor; another one was shot in the fall of 1944 while testing new types of weapons.

At the end of 1945, various organizations had six self-propelled guns at their disposal. They were used for various tests, some of the machines were eventually dismantled in order to study the design. As a result, all of them, except for one, were scrapped, like all cars captured in a badly damaged condition.

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ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS








Tank destroyer "Ferdinand": 3653: 1/35: Star: Assembly instructions

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CONTENTS OF THE BOX










Tank destroyer Ferdinand: 3653: 1/35: Star: Box contents

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CLOSE-UP DETAILS



Ferdinand Tank Destroyer: 3653: 1/35: Star: Close-up details

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Add-ons from the store Armata-models.ru

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CONCLUSIONS:

The first thing I would like to start with is plastic.

It seems that the type of plastic from which this model is cast affects the success of a particular model of this manufacturer. If the plastic is gray or orange like here, then all the details will be well shed, clearly visible. And the assembly will be really pleasant and comfortable.

If the model is cast from green or black (like the Boreas) plastic, then hemorrhoids await us.

This time I was led to such thoughts by the assembly of the Zvezdovsky Iskander-M. Not only that, as always, there are errors in the instructions and some of the parts do not fit into place, but there is also a feeling of poor-quality casting.

And it seems that all the details are as it should be constructively. And you can see a slight blurring, turning into a feeling of poor quality work.

Here, on the Ferdinand, there are simply no such problems.

All details are perfectly molded. Clear edges for each structural element.

This set does not cause any rejection.

So, a huge request, guys - use quality plastic when creating models.

Everything else raises no objections. On first inspection.

Perhaps there are flaws in the instructions, something is mixed up somewhere - but now it will not be possible to identify this. Need a test build.

In general, this model should not cause problems with the assembly.

Caterpillars, like on most BTT Zvezda models, are of a semi-composite type. Cast quite well. Assembly does not require special show off.

What really arouses interest is the bleeding kit from the Armata-models.ru online store.

It includes a metal barrel, a muzzle brake and a cover for it. As well as the painting scheme and decal for the captured "Ferdinand", captured in the battles near the village of Podmaslovo on July 15-18, 1943.

These additions will help enhance the visual effect of the finished model, bringing it closer to the historical prototype.

RATING: 4

In general, this set turned out to be quite sane. And for connoisseurs of BTT of this time period, it will be a good replacement for the old whales from Italeri.

Even if there are inaccuracies in the layout of parts and instructions, they will not become a stumbling block that will force you to transfer the assembly to an uncertain, foggy future.

I present to your attention a review of the novelty of the Zvezda company, released at the end of last year - the German tank destroyer Ferdinand. Probably, the novelty is not so hot anymore, but so much the better, because we had time to carefully consider and collect it!
Ferdinand became common name for almost everyone German self-propelled guns. His fame and dissemination (and even hackneyedness) can only be compared with the Tiger or Panther. Surprisingly, until recently, only one company made the Ferdinand model in 35th scale - this is the good old Dragon. And this is with a colossal number of Tigers and Panthers, which only the lazy one does not let out! At the same time, Elephants are much more popular with manufacturers. They are released by the same Dragon, Italeri and Tamiya. But let's be fair, it's still a different fighting vehicle and you can't assemble Elefant with reference to the Battle of Kursk. Apparently, this is the unpopularity of Ferdinand. Western modellers and Western model firms are interested in prototypes that were used by the Germans on the Western Front, and the Ferdinands did not light up there. Thus, Zvezda quite logically released "our" domestic Ferdinand, who managed to fight only on the Eastern Front before being upgraded to Elefant.

At the beginning of the review, I want to draw your attention to the fact that this model has nothing to do with the old Ferdinand model from Zvezda (art. 3563). That model was a repackaging of the ancient Elephanta from Italeri and was not Ferdinand in any way, even despite the inscription on the box))). Let's send it to the dustbin of history!))

WHAT IS INSIDE

So what do we have? The first impression is a very nice box art, a handy booklet instruction, photo assembled model on the back of the box. No matter what anyone says, but these are quite important factors. It is much more pleasant to start work with a model that is beautifully and efficiently designed, although this is of course subjective factors. The objective is the strong reliable packaging, which guarantees the safety of the contents when traveling by the merciless Russian Post. And this is a huge plus for most star novelties.

I propose to turn to the most important thing - to the sprues! I would like to point out excellent quality casting. I did not notice sinking, flashing or any other defects. In my opinion, this model is another confirmation that Zvezda has seriously reached a qualitatively new level and is confidently competing with the leaders of the model market. Don't worry about casting! In its appearance and texture, the plastic itself is a bit like Tamiya, and for most colleagues this is the standard of quality ( we are talking about the plastic itself). All bolts, nuts, casting numbers, welds are just perfect.

CONTENT OF THE SET:

Sprue L

Sprue E

Sprue F

Sprue K x 3pcs

Sprue D x 2pcs

Sprue C х2pcs

Enclosure bath

Sprue A with transparent details and mesh.

LET'S LOOK AT THE DETAILS:

The simulation of welds is very convincing.

The same can be said about the seams on the felling parts. Please note that the cutting surface is perfectly smooth like glass. there is also no cutting texture at the ends of the armor plates.

The sides and stern of the felling are assembled into a spike. Please note that the loophole plugs are cast in separate parts, although they do not have reverse side with a spacer and a chain, so without etching they still cannot be made open.

Cabin feed and engine deck. Very well poured holes in the gratings. Once upon a time, only Tamiya was capable of such a thing.

Frontal armor plate. Bulletproof bolt heads and welds are very coolly molded.

Cabin roof. Welded seams are also very pleased. The rain visor of the periscope is molded as a separate piece.

Roof engine compartment and hatches for the driver and radio operator.

The barrel is molded in one piece, which is great! You don’t have to adjust the halves and painfully grind them with an abrasive, reducing the diameter or getting an oval in cross section. Just a light readout of the seam from the joint of the molds with fine emery and that's it!

The muzzle is cast in the best traditions recent years- a single piece, and not from two halves, as before.

The armored shield of the gun mask pleased with beautiful welds.

The front mudguard mount looks pretty tolerable. A little wash and the knot will look great even without replacing it with etched hinges and wire.

The corrugated texture of the fenders looks very good. But the back cut is noticeably thick. I recommend sharpening it with a needle file or a sharp cutter. Then the entire fender will look more delicate. There is one more nuance - corrugation should also be on the side flanging of the shelf.

The headlight covers worked great. Look at the six microscopic bolts around the perimeter!

The welds on the access hatches were simply gorgeous. They really are real!

The same can be said about the seams on the hatches of the rear periscopes. This is not a seam, but a work of art!

But I didn't like the ropes. Thin, and the braid of the thimbles looks unreliable. But, in any case, the cables, in my opinion, need to be changed. In plastic, they always look very conditional. regardless of manufacturer.

The SPTA box is given in two variations (smooth and with stampings). Well molded clasps. The jack fastener is visible. A bit thick, but if you slightly remove the thickness with a needle file or cutter, it will be quite convincing.

The star is molded very well. Looks like herself. The only thing is that you need to drill through the holes, which are given only by recesses.

Towing eyelets with metal inserts welded into them are perfectly detailed. Type and armor plug of the pistol port. It lacks a lot of depth, so you can't make it open. Especially. that you also need a fastener-spacer with a chain, which can be reliably made only in etching.

The rear sprockets also have excellent casting and authenticity.

The elegantly molded hex nuts are clearly visible. They will hardly be visible on the finished model, but it warms the soul, you see!))

Rollers pleased with excellent casting and detailing. Please note that there are washers under the bolts.

In addition, molding numbers are imitated on the rinks. Even Dragon couldn't do that.

Details of bogies. They can be made to swing.

Trucks were especially impressive. Basically, they are cast in segments. Only those tracks that go around the sprockets are cast piece by piece.

The close-up is impressive. Lightweight holes, molding numbers and characteristic rounds are well molded. The relief of the outer part of the tracks. It would be a pity to spoil such beauty!

WITH inside the tapes are cast with the same quality and meticulously. The flanging of the edges on the tracks, which is without a comb, was very successful.

Please note that the sag is already set. I was pleased with the small number of rounds from the pushers of the mold. It is also important that they are easily accessible for processing.

DECAL
As for the decal, it upset me. First, she offers only two prototypes from the 653rd Battalion and completely ignores the existence of the 654th Battalion with much more spectacular and interesting markings, by the way. And secondly, the very style of writing side numbers does not at all correspond to how it was done on real Ferdinands. However, this is not at all a reason to be upset, because this joint is easily solved using the wonderful Colibri decals. Two sets are issued for the 653rd and 654th battalions, which allow you to make any of the 90 Ferdinands who made their debut near Kursk. I will prepare a review of these decals in the near future.

Decal. Alas, but this weakness models. The writing style of the numbers does not match the originals.

INSTRUCTIONS

The manual is in the form of a book, which makes it easier to work. The book takes up much less space on the table than the classic instruction sheet or folding bed. Yes, and with the search for the order of stages of construction, there will definitely be no problems. As for clarity, I liked the instructions. Everything is illustrated very clearly and intelligibly. Will not cause difficulties for beginners.

In my opinion, coloring schemes should be printed on colored paper. This will make the model noticeably more attractive in the eyes of inexperienced and novice modellers. In addition, not all people have the same well-developed fantasy. And on the colored sidewalls, you can immediately see exactly how the model will look like with a particular color scheme. In the end, it is the bright sidewall that can become the decisive argument in favor of the purchase!

ADVANTAGES
+ Particularly impressive were the tracks, which have a very openwork detailing with through holes and molding numbers, as expected. They are made segmentally, and the upper segments have a sag. I would like to emphasize that there are not many marks from the mold pushers on the tracks (and on all parts of the model) and, most importantly, they are easily accessible for processing. This will save a lot of time and nerves for modellers!
+ Rollers and undercarriage bogies are coolly cast, molding numbers and hex heads of bolts with washers are even imitated on the rollers. If desired, carts can be made working. If you suddenly want to change plastic tapes to metal ones from Friul or MasterClub, this will be quite appropriate.
+Impressive and welds, which are made almost everywhere where they should be and are very similar to the original. Many firms ignore them on their models, and this is a very important component. appearance any model.
+ I will dwell separately on the jack, which is divided into several parts and detailed in the best traditions.
+ Pleased with the presence of a sprue with transparent details of periscopes.
+It is interesting that the cutting armor plates are assembled into a spike, just like on the real Ferdinand. This avoids unnecessary butt joints that will have to be puttied. By the way, before that, I met such an approach only at Tristar on Brummber.
+ U-shaped handles on the engine plate are cast in separate parts. Before the Star, no one did this. At Ferdinand from Dragon they are made in the form of rectangles cast integrally with the surface. True, they are somewhat thick, but this is easy to fix by simply turning them with a knife or emery.
+ The advantages of the set include the partial presence of the cabin interior. In particular, the gun breech will be visible through the open hatches, which will make the model much more visually interesting. If the modeler builds a model with closed hatches, then the details of the breech can simply not be assembled.

FLAWS
As you know, ideal models do not exist. Several shortcomings were also found in Ferdinand. I am glad that all of them are easily fixable.
-Firstly, the model completely lacks the texture of rolled armor. All armor plates are smooth as glass, which does not look very convincing. However, this can be easily treated by applying Mr.Surfacer 500 or 1000, or model putty with a stiff brush.
-There are also no characteristic cutting marks on the ends of the armor plates. They are also perfectly smooth. However, this is not a problem either. The texture is imitated with a sharp cutter in a matter of minutes.
-I didn't really like the towing ropes. They are thin, have a strange imitation of braid and are molded together with fasteners. Accordingly, when replacing a cable with a wire one, you will have to come up with something with fasteners. Although, when using photo-etching, this issue will disappear by itself.
-The mesh that comes with the kit is rough and not to scale, but this is not such a problem, given that it can only be seen by turning the model over and looking at a certain angle. Well, a meticulous modeler, in any case, will put etching. He doesn't need this thread at all.
-Churbak under the jack is absolutely smooth and has no wood texture. But it can be easily imitated with the tip of a sharp cutter.

I am very pleased that all the shortcomings are easily corrected and are not associated with serious alterations. I think that out-of-the-box modellers will most likely not even notice these shortcomings, having received maximum pleasure from the assembly. And orthodox-minded modellers can easily fix them.

ASSEMBLY EXPERIENCE
The model left an excellent impression during the construction! Everything is processed and joined almost perfectly. I also liked the plastic. It interacts well with super-liquid glue. What surprised me was the excellent fit of the track elements. Everything just clicked into place. And this despite the fact that the tracks are usually the most problematic node in any model. I recommend taking your time and more thoughtfully collecting cutting elements. It is important to observe the correct angles so that the cabin fits well on the hull. Well, especially meticulously treat the assembly of the bow of the model, where it is important to correctly set the angles and distances between the details of the “muzzle” and the fenders. Otherwise, unwanted gaps may appear.

The cabin is assembled. Please note that the cutting texture is simulated at the ends of the armor plates. It only took a few minutes.

Lower body assembly.

View from the underside. Carts and rollers installed.

The photo clearly demonstrates that the tracks and the sprocket fit together perfectly.

It is most convenient to assemble the caterpillar track into a single piece and paint and tint it in this way. This will require increased accuracy, but it will save a lot of time.

Photos of the assembled model:

CONCLUSIONS
I want to note that against the background of Ferdinand from Dragon, the star model looks just fine and surpasses the competitor in all respects! Considering the much more humane price, the set is definitely the best Ferdinand in 35th scale.
I highly recommend it to both beginners and experienced modellers.

PS The most attentive modelers who have read the review to the end will be rewarded! When buying Ferdinand in our store in Novosibirsk on Krasny Prospekt 17 or on our website, say or indicate in the comments to the order the password "I read Ferdinand's review to the last line" and get a 10% discount!

Vladimir Yashin
Novosibirsk 2018
www.site
www.genscher-shop.ru
vk.com/genschershop

Ferdinand of non-commissioned officer Fritz Walkenhorst, mid-October 43rd, in the vicinity of Dnepropetrovsk.
This is the last Sd Kfz 184 that left the assembly line with serial number 150100, which received tail number 234 (i.e., the fourth vehicle of the 4th platoon of the 2nd company of the 653rd battalion of the 656th regiment of heavy tank destroyers, which is part of the XXXXI tank corps Army Group "Center").

Suffered unfinished construction - almost 2 years (with interruptions, of course). Lot's been shoveled e-books including "The History of the 653rd Battalion" (KarlHeinz Munich's book "The Combat History of German Heavy Anti-Tank Unit 653 in World War II"). Therefore, I can write a lot, both about the construction, and about the "Uncle Fedya" itself - it somehow boiled. But I'll try to squeeze it in.

First for those who have never been interested in the Ferdinands.
Before they turned into elephants (I'm talking about the latter =)), field modernization took place.
The appearance of the Ferdinands on the battlefield always caused a concentration of fire from all types of Russian guns (a downed Ferdinand threatened him with an order). Starting from August the crews became:
* hide equipment (BOX, sledgehammer, JACK, BEAM) from damage to the stern;
* report to the authorities about the acute shortage of melee weapons, because they are tired of firing machine-gun fire through the muzzle of an 88-mm cannon;
* cut off the lower handrails at the stern of the cabin to prevent unauthorized penetration of enemy infantry;
* unfold the shield on the tool mask for ease of installation;
* weld corners on the frontal part of the cabin to drain rainwater from the engine compartment.

The choice fell on "234" quite by accident: purely visually, I liked the more or less intelligible camouflage in combination with the red identification rectangle on the stern ... Only later it turned out that this was the last 150100 drawn in chalk in the Nibelungenwerk.
The main alterations (I still don’t remember already):
* the two-chamber muzzle brake did not have a partition between, in fact, the cameras;
* mudguards made of thick aluminum foil;
* fiddled with the sight for a long time - drilled out the plastic and inserted the lens from the DVD-ROM;
* I inserted prisms from CD into the optics of the driver;
* fastening of cables, jack, bar, sledgehammer made of blisters (rather pliable material - it is easily glued with the end and keeps its shape well);
* wire loops for fastening the tarpaulin inserted into pre-drilled holes;
* cables and thimbles are self-made, as well as all inventory with trophies (I will never weave a basket again!);

Initially, Ferdinand was planned for a diorama, so he made the running gear as “alive” as possible. Stacked plastic tracks were drilled and connected with wire fingers (EACH of 230 pieces). In order to make a complete impression of realism on the person who picked up the model, Ferdinand's weight was brought up to a scale of 1.5 kg with copper and lead (the engine of his grandfather's electric razor and shot). Later, this weight played its fatal role, when the work was completed by 98%, he fell off the table. As a result, many months of depression ... and not so "live" chassis, but (!) metal tracks from Friul Models. =)
Let them call me a psycho, but for the effect of realism, I first assembled the classic Ferdinand (before Kursk) in sand color, in June the paint “burned out” and slightly “drained” with rain, applied camouflage, again “rain” - July! And only after that he applied the aforementioned front-line modernization along with the rest of the aging. Traces of a box, a sledgehammer, jack fasteners and a bar are visible. The crews painted over the replaced barrel, the deployed shield and the gaping rectangle with an impromptu brush - a rag on a branch.
And, of course, the creation of the mustache antenna of the same cat Max is crowned !! God bless him and his owner.

After many years of modeling, we can draw conclusions about some specific features of our work. One of them is this: you want to build a certain modification of a tank or self-propelled gun.

But instead of buying the right one, you take some model as a basis and remake it yourself into the desired version. But there is already a separate set desired model. So no! And it's not that you feel sorry for the money (or none). On the contrary, there is money and the model is available, but you still build it yourself. I suppose this is a consequence of a kind of "choking" models. And this is the transition to new level creativity: so what if there is no time (and it is always not enough) - you take it and do it! In general, I have a strong feeling that the older you get, the faster time flows. Remember, in childhood it was not that much, but generally INFINITELY MUCH! And this doesn’t make you bored (you still don’t know how to really be bored), it’s not fun, but you can’t say that it’s boring either!

And now family-work-work-home-friends-science-work-family-drinking-hobby-work-family.....
And the days fly by, as if they have not 24 hours, but 6-8.
Just think: "What kind of manner is it - to invite you to a birthday party six months in advance!" AND WE HAVE TO GO TOMORROW!
And the most hopeless thing in our work is to look at previously bought boxes with models!
There are so many models built, there are so many in the boxes that you start asking yourself a question (rather rhetorical than practical):
“How much has not been done!? And there is so much more to be done!”

And the boxes look at you with a mute reproach: “Tell me, why do you need us? Are you planning two lives for yourself? Are you really planning to bring us all together? Even if you really want this, you still won’t succeed - because models are bought much faster than they are assembled!”

It is clear that considering myself a completely sane person, I do not enter into a dialogue with the boxes, but begin to talk with myself. But again, the dialogue does not work!
You say to yourself: “Look how much has been collected in 20 years!” And the number of built models is pronounced even aloud (probably to convince ... yourself!) And he (well, that is, me) in response to you:
"Yes? And what is in the boxes, in what century do you plan to finish? Before retirement??? (Further quote from the joke) ... And you are a brave pale-faced warrior! How many are you planning to buy? FT-17 from Meng? Do you also want their own T-90s? Has the "Tiger" of the same company already traded? And why do you need him? Why do you need four Elephantas? And why did you plan the federal American cavalry from Masterbox? And already bought! And do you want Hungarian tanks too? "Nimrod" will be?
AND SO TO INFINITELY!
What can end the conversation itself is well known!
What's the way out? URGENT TO THE DESK AND BUILD THE NEXT MODEL! Very handy is the Muse!

I don’t know why I undertook to build Ferdinand from Zvezda’s Elephant! After all, there is a normal dragon Ferdinand in the box! Probably, a person who has everything sometimes wants a simple pickle, but it is from a smelly barrel!

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the victory of our troops in Battle of Kursk- in connection with which, in the summer, a thematic exhibition is being planned. If almost all of our equipment is represented in my collection, then the German Ferdinand and Brumber (early) are missing from the Battle of Kursk. Well, I’ll find Brumber, but here’s what happened to Ferdinand: the owner of our model store and my good friend Oleg brought me the Tamievsky Elephant - I ordered it because I wanted to assemble the Tamievsky Elephant - the Muse remained indifferent to the Dragon one, that is, indifferent. There was an idea to remake Tamiya's Elephant into Ferdinand, but friends dissuaded.
And the Zvezdinsko-Italerivsky miracle lay with me for a year since 2004 - that is, the period of "curing" of the model is comparable to the period of aging of good cognac.

But something kept from assembly!
I understood why I didn’t collect the Zvezdinka-Italerian opus for so long - Zvezda presents Italian plastic as Ferdinand, and the Italians released Elephant and there are differences between them. I was outraged by the unceremonious forgery of the Star - because of commercial gain, to pass off one model for another. I think that’s why I didn’t want to assemble the model, but I don’t remember why I bought it!

The muse wanted Ferdinand precisely from the "Star" and it began ...
There is a lot of information on Ferdinand Elefantam. I used the drawings of Ferdinand War Machines No. 81 (No. 82 is dedicated to Elefant).
The main alterations are the replacement of the commander's cupola with a double hatch and the removal of the course machine gun. The plastic of the first castings is soft (I don’t know which one now). As I said, the Italians made a modernized self-propelled gun. What I decided not to redo on the model - I will not grind off an additional armor plate on the bottom under the places of the driver and gunner-radio operator. It's troublesome and not very visible!

In the stocks was found a long time ago bought a metal barrel of the company Eduard for Elefant-Ferdinand. It was bought ... but I remembered, in 2005, in the Life Company, in Moscow. I am not a fan of turned barrels, but, I remember, they sold it to me very cheaply and for change (someone gave it to the store for a cheap commission). Well, I think it's good not to disappear. It is irrelevant to put it on the Tamievsky Elephant, there is already a beautiful trunk, but on the Star it will do!

First of all, I cut off the base of the commander's cupola. I glued a round hatch into the hole, from which I ground off all the fasteners and hinges. From below fixed with sheet polystyrene. The gap was spilled with glue and polystyrene shavings. I use putty in such cases extremely rarely - it shrinks.

From the front fenders, you need to cut off the flanging, which the Italians made for some reason. They made their model with an eye to Elephant at the Aberdeen Proving Ground, but it is not there. From the additional frontal armor plate, I carefully cut off all the mounting bolts and removed the machine gun armor.

The model repackaged by Zvezda was released by the Italians earlier than 1979 - it already exists in the Italeri catalog for 1980 and is not presented as a novelty - so it is a kind of rarity, the level of model production of the 70s of the last century!

The Italians provided for a movable chassis and I decided to make it like that. It seems to me more convenient to assemble the mounts of the track roller carts not as in the instructions and as in the photo. I melted the fixing washers of the axes of the support, guide and drive rollers with a burner - faster, stronger and cannot be filled with glue!

Mounted undercarriage and put on the tracks (just for clarity). All tracks are made with guide ridges. In fact, they alternated with smooth ones through one. Naturally, I cut off half of the ridges. Why the Italians completed all the tracks with ridges I don’t know. On all machines of the Ferdinand family (prototypes, serial, tow trucks, and even on the only Porsche Tiger that fought, the tracks were with alternating smooth and ridge tracks). Over time, I will replace the rubber tracks with Fruil's metal or epoxy masterklub's or some others.

The hole for the course machine gun was sealed with an insert of millimeter polystyrene, spilled with glue with polystyrene shavings. and after drying, he returned the bolts to their place - six in the top row, five in the bottom.
After installing the fenders, I reinforced them with five bolts on each side, placed them in accordance with the drawing.

The commander's hatch was made according to the drawing (dimensions on a scale of 1:35 - 17 by 17 mm). I cut out two blanks 17X17 and 16X16 mm from millimetric polystyrene, glued them into a trapezoid one on top of the other, grinded the edges at an angle of 45 degrees and glued strips of 0.3 mm polystyrene on the edges, after drying I leveled the corners with sandpaper, made the hatch hinges from polystyrene and the drawn sprue, handrails made from staples for a stapler, fused them into the hatch, heating with a burner.


From the aft cutting sheet, you need to cut off the mounts for the sledgehammer (these are two cubes on the right side). I mounted three handrails-brackets on the aft slab of the felling. I took them from the Miniart model of Valentine (on Valentine, these are staples on an additional fuel tank). They were just the right size and shape. The upper small handrail is also taken from Valentine, only shortened.

On the main armor plate of the frontal part, you need to close up a groove with an insert of millimeter polystyrene, which was not on the prototypes - for some reason the Italians made it on the model.

The headlight mounts made on the model were cut off and replaced with homemade polystyrene ones. By the way, so that the polystyrene does not break at the fold when bent at an angle, I advise you to lower the cut strip into liquid Tamiya or Akan glue (you can also use a solvent), remove it and wait for the glue or solvent to dry (about a minute) after which the polystyrene does not break when bent.

I took the headlights from spare parts for T-3 models. I just found two pieces and mounted them on the model according to the drawing.
It remains to complete the covers of the cooling system, the gun stopper in the stowed position, insert the periscopes made of transparent plastic into the driver's hatch cover, place the cables and the entrenching tool (found it in spare parts). The covers of the engine cooling system, after the glue had dried, were covered with a liquid Tamiya primer to simulate a cast surface.

Italian cables are made folded into a pig tail. On the Ferdinands, they were attached to the front thimbles and laid along the sides of the hull.

He laid the stopper of the gun in a combat way. I found wire in the bins and laid cables on the sides.
I wired the headlights. The car is almost ready for painting, then I will insert periscopes made of transparent plastic into the driver's mechanic's hatch!
Over time, I will replace the caterpillars with metal or epoxy ones, but for now I will leave the rubber ones from the kit.
The final stage - painting, toning!





The model reproduces the self-propelled gun of Lieutenant Heyen of the 1st platoon of the 2nd company of the 654th Ferdinand battalion. The crew of the self-propelled gun fought throughout Operation Citadel. In August, the self-propelled gun was transferred to the 653 battalion.

I ask for your feedback and ratings, colleagues!