Tag: Elephants

The Elephant with a Broom: Cleaning Up During the Blitz

With all available resources dedicated to the war effort, there was a relative dearth of heavy equipment for cleanup during the Blitz. Always at their best in the face of adversity, the enterprising British enrolled the services of an unlikely ally — the circus elephant — to help them dig out of the rubble, harnessing the immense strength of these beasts in lieu of cranes or tow trucks. The photo below perfectly illustrates the point.CIRCUS ELEPHANTS USED IN WWII FOR HAULING AFTER BOMBING RAIDS

Here’s the recreation.

1/72, 3D, A Line, Blitz, Classix, Dapol, Dragon, Elephants, Imex, Italeri, Matchbox, PaleoSculpt, Pegasus, Verlinden

Here is a photo in full color.

1/72, 3D, A Line, Blitz, Classix, Dapol, Dragon, Elephants, Imex, Italeri, Matchbox, PaleoSculpt, Pegasus, Verlinden

Here’s a close-up photo with lots of light to show more detail, including the burnt tree and the jagged edge glass on the window.

1/72, 3D, A Line, Blitz, Classix, Dapol, Dragon, Elephants, Imex, Italeri, Matchbox, PaleoSculpt, Pegasus, Verlinden

Here’s a bird’s eye view of the whole scene.1/72, 3D, A Line, Blitz, Classix, Dapol, Dragon, Elephants, Imex, Italeri, Matchbox, PaleoSculpt, Pegasus, VerlindenFor those interested, here’s the source of each piece:

  • Elephant: PaleoSculpt Realistic 3D Models, printed in 1/72 scale with a 3D printer;
  • Elephant Harness: Made from scratch with thin aluminum and staples;
  • Chain: A-Line 29217 Brass Chain, HO scale (27 links per inch);
  • Vehicle: Classix EM76622 Ford E83W Thames Van;
  • Figure: Dapol C002 Railway Workmen;
  • Building (Left): Matchbox PK85 Sd.Kfz 232 Armoured Radio Car with Diorama Battle Display;
  • Building (Center): Dragon 60347 Ferdinand with Diorama Buildings;
  • Building (Right): Italeri 6087 Walls and Ruins;
  • Cobblestone: Verlinden 2066 Cobblestone Street (made mold and cast pieces w/ hydrocal plaster);
  • Tree: IMEX 533 Southwestern Alamo Accessories;
  • Debris: Pegasus Hobbies Bricks 5199 (Red) and 5196 (Gray) crushed with a hammer;
  • Other Debris: Broken matchsticks and dirt from my backyard sifted with my wife’s kitchen sieve. Very Happy

Here’s the original notional photo.  Note the 3D printer horizontal lines on the elephant, which had to be sanded.

1/72, 3D, A Line, Blitz, Classix, Dapol, Dragon, Elephants, Imex, Italeri, Matchbox, PaleoSculpt, Pegasus, Verlinden

“By Joining the Tail to the Trunk, You Get the Whole Elephant” (Indian Proverb): The Elephant in 1/72 Scale

Nope, this is not a post about the Panzerjager Tiger Sd.Kfz. 187 Elephant. This is about Elephas Indicus, the Asian elephant, which can be domesticated, unlike its African cousin, Loxodonta Africana.

I have had my sights for some time on recreating several WWII photos that feature Asian elephants enlisted in the war effort, so I set out to find the perfect elephant in 1/72 scale. As always, my primary resource was the Plastic Soldier Review (PSR) website, where I instantly learned that there were seven 1/72 scale elephants. The photo below is a graphic summary. 

1/72, animals, elephants, Airfix, Coates and Shine, Hat, Lucky Toys, LW, Zvezda
Photo used with permission from Plastic Soldier Review.

I immediately dismissed the Airfix African Elephant (#2) since it’s the wrong species and the LW (#6), which PSR described as a “real mess” with characteristics from both Asian and African elephants. I also discounted the Zvezda (#7), as it has armor molded onto the body of the elephant. It’s impossible to determine the relative size of the remaining four from the picture so I bit the bullet and ordered all four, hoping one would fit the bill. Here they are, shoulder to shoulder, from largest to smallest.

1/72, animals, elephants, Airfix, Coates and Shine, Hat, Lucky Toys

I was unconvinced, as they didn’t look particularly realistic and, in addition, were out of scale. The typical Asian elephant is about 9 feet tall at the shoulder. As the photo above graphically demonstrates, the Lucky Toys figure (far left) is way overscaled (about 10 feet 6 inches), easily towering over its brothers from another mother, while the Airfix figure (far right) is significantly underscaled (about 5 feet 10 inches) — a pygmy elephant, if there were such a thing. The two others just don’t look the part. The Coates & Shine figure (second from left) looks rather cartoonish, while the legs on the Hat elephant (second from right) appear to me too long and wooden. So the search continued.

Enter PaleoSculpt Realistic 3D Models, a company I found on the internet that sculpts anatomically accurate models for museums. As it turns out, the company can print their models in any scale on a 3D printer. To my delight, the cost of a 3D-printed elephant in 1/72 scale was actually less than the price of any of the various figure sets I had previously bought to pilfer the elephant. I ordered it and when the figure finally arrived it exceeded my expectations. Scaling out at 8 feet 10 inches, not only is it virtually the perfect height, but it very much looks like an elephant from trunk to tail. 

1/72, animals, elephants, Paleosculpt

Here he is — painted and sanded to get rid of the 3D horizontal print lines — with his brothers. What a difference! You’ll be seeing this baby in a photo recreation soon.

1/72, animals, elephants, Airfix, Coates and Shine, Hat, Lucky Toys, Paleosculpt