Dragon Armor Elefant Tank Hunter/Destroyer vs. Red Army Anti-Tank Rifleman - "David & Goliath" 

No. 610221, Vintage year - 2005, Scale - 1:35

Unit - unidentified but could be 2./s. Pz. Abt. 653 - the unit was the result of Sturmgeschutz Abteilung 197 being redesignated - to Abteilung 653 at Bruck on the Leitha in Austria. They received their Ferdinands/Elefants in May. They were sent to the Eastern Front to fight in the northern section of the Kursk salient where 653 lost 13 Elefants in combat out of a total of 44. In August they were moved to Karatchev and then Briansk areas to the west of Orel on the northern front of the Kursk salient. 

Campaign - Poland 1944 - After Dec. 1943, the Soviets strove to drive a wedge between Army Groups South and Center. By March 1944, they had surrounded the road junction of Tarnapol in efforts to secure the rail line from Odessa to Lemberg. The first Kompanie of 653 was sent to Italy (with the 1st Maintenance Platoon) and the remainder awaited completion of their overhaul (with Ferdinands/Elefants) and assignment which was finished in the end of March 1944. They were sent back to the Eastern Front on 2 April arriving in Brzezany on 6 April, attached to the 9.SS-Panzerdivision in an effort to relieve Tarnopol. This was one of two battalions to receive the Elefants (including ones with modified rear hatch to better facilitate the installation and removal of the main armament) and they also received the Tiger VK 4501 and converted Bergepanthers. In July, Army Group North Ukraine was attacked by the 1st and 4th Ukrainian Fronts and the 1st Panzer Army was split from the 4th Panzer Army. The 653rd came under attack at Pomeryany and Rohatyn in Aug. 1944 and was forced to fight incessant rearguard action through Lemberg, Kurowice, and Yeziezanka. Breakdowns due to mechanical failure proved harder on the Elefants than direct enemy action and other issues such as their heavy weight (on bridges) and fuel restrictions plagued any successful withdrawal of these ponderous vehicles. The few remaining vehicles remained with the 17th Army and were concentrated in the 2nd Kompanie (later renamed the 614th Schwere Panzerjagerkompanie). The Kompanie later joined the XXXXVIII Panzerkorps under 4th Army command on the Eastern Front. The rest of 653 returned to Germany to be refitted with new Jagdtiger tank hunters. The Elefants left on the Eastern Front fought against the Soviet Vistula-Oder Offensive in January 1945. 

Markings - dark brown and dark green camouflage on mustard base with No. 232 and cross on hull. Zimmerit on hull and lower turret. Kit comes with steppe diorama and Red Army anti-tank rifleman. 

Model - the Panzerjager Tiger (P) Elefant (Sd.Kfz.184) was a tank hunter of the German Wehrmacht. They were originally named Ferdinands after their designer, Ferdinand Porsche. The chassis was created from the Tiger I Porsche models and suspension consisted of six twin bogies with longitudinal torsion bars. The vehicle had an 88 mm Pak 43/2 L/71 gun which had a longer muzzle and higher muzzle velocity than the L/56 Flak 18 and 36 guns. But the gun had limitations regarding traverse and elevation. Another weakness involved suspension/powertrain in addition to the lack of a turret machine gun and thus vulnerability to infantry anti-tank attack (by would be 'Davids' such as this rifleman). The zimmerit would help with anti-tank mines but these vehicles had limited sight and machine gun defense so the best attack was the individual soldier who would rush in to get the perfect shot with an anti-tank weapon. Thus these tank destroyers were much better behind the lines in defense mode or supporting an offensive behind the front line of attack where they would be more susceptible to anti-tank defense. 

Condition - New - with some shelf wear on box. Vehicle and diorama still wrapped inside box. See photos. 

Thank you for your interest.