Japanese Jumbo

Something new for my growing Bolt Action IJA force, a pack elephant! 

I've been finishing up a whole pile of miniatures this past few weeks, both Napoleonics and WW2.  This one was done as part of a group build project on one of the forums I belong to.

Remarkably for those who know my track record on such things, I managed to complete it before the actual deadline- will wonders never cease.

 

This is the resin model elephant from Company B.  Couldn't resist it when I saw it on the Brigade Games website, so I ordered it along with some pack mules and an 47mm A/T gun, which I've still to do.

More holes to be filled than in the fleshpots of Rangoon.

It was a bit of a bugger to work with, as the resin was brittle and the model not all that well cast.  The tail in the kit was pretty poorly done, so I replaced it with one fashioned from epoxy putty around a wire armature.  

It won't take too much handling, so when basing it I strategically placed some bamboo trees, which while giving the base a "jungly" look, will also protect the tail from clumsy fingers (mainly mine!).

 

I filled holes, added stowage from epoxy putty, wood blocks and plastic scrap, and for the rider I decided at the last minute to do a head-swap using one of my spare Warlord Games heads. The figure provided by Company B was very ordinary; a little wooden and rather uninspiring. The head swap improved it considerably.

To be honest, it would have been cheaper- and just as much work- to have picked up a plastic elephant from the local toy shop and started from there.  But as I will only ever need one, this will serve.

On Googling elephants in Asia, I saw that they tended to be a lot more brown than grey, with patches of brownish-pink, and I think I've achieved a pretty convincing result.  

The whole thing was based on a Flames of War plastic base.  I built the base up with acrylic wall filler and sand, then painted it with artists acrylics.  Once everything had dried thoroughly I drilled holes for the trees and shrubs, and these were glued in with PVA.

After the glue had set, I then covered the base with static grass.  

The tall bamboo trees were obtained through E-bay, and the smaller plants courtesy of the aquarium accessories section of our local pet shop.

More to come. I've more Japanese that are coming along quite nicely.  in time I want to post a picture of a whole squad with its support weapons and some terrain I've been working on.  It won't be long, as there are only a few more to finish.