Revell's 1/72 'Elefant' Tank Transporter
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Germany SLT 50-3 " Elefant" & Sattelanhaeger
Since I mainly build mainly modern German Military Vehicles in 1/72
and 1/35 scale I decided to do an inbox of the new Revell of Germany Elefant
Tank Transporter that I recently bought.
 The
tank transporter SLT 50-2 "Elephant" & 52 semitrailer SaAnh
( original designation) with steering on all axles was designed for better
maneuverability and off-road mobility on the battle. It was to replace
the first generation tank transporter that, among other things, had too large a turning circle, which meant that it could only be used on surfaced
roads. In addition the amount of heavy hardware available such as the
Leopard 1&2, Geopard, Marder and Biber rose  substantially,
which necessitated a new transporter. In 1970 therefore the Faun Company
began to develop the tractor at the same time as the Krupp company began
to develop the semitrailer By 1971 a prototype of the complete combination
was ready for intense testing. The tractor was made by Faun, but the trailer
was built under license from Krupp by Kaessbohrer.
The first production vehicle was was officially delivered to the German
Army in April 1976. Between
1976 and 1979 a total of 324 were built and it is worth noting that the
SLT 50-2 was only built in this one series. The advantages of the SLT
50-2 are primarily the all-terrain mobility it derived from its all wheel
drive, its ergonomically shape and its adherence to rail loading dimensions.
In addition the 17-ton winches can be used for salvage operations.
The SLT 50-2 was modified for the first time in 1984, but due to the improvement
in combat capability of the  heavier
versions of the Leopard2, in 1994 a general upgrade program was initiated
for the 324 vehicles. In addition to a new engine (Deutz MWM Diesel TBD
234), fundamental modifications were made from from the driver's cab through
to the 5th-wheel coupling. By the time this modernization was completed
in 2000 all the vehicles had been refitted and under the new designation
SLT 50-3 "Elephant" they can be used by the German Army until
at least the end on 2015. As the  Elephant
is one of the heaviest and longest wheeled vehicles used by the German
Army, it can only be driven by soldiers with long service records who
are specially trained and qualified to drive heavy duty vehicles. It is
customary for the Elefant crews to give their vehicles nicknames such
as " Baby Hoermann", Streetfighter", "Dumbo"
or " Green Devil". In addition to be used in Germany, the Elephant
is used by the German Army Contingents with IFOR, SFOR and KFOR mandate.
In the meantime the Elephant has come into use with the Polish Army. When
discarded Leopard 2 tanks were sold to the Poles, from 2002 onwards, they
also took small numbers of the SLT 50-3.
Technical Data SLT 50-3
Engine/Capacity : Deutz MWM Diesel TBD234 V12/ 734bhp
Drive : 8x8 all-wheel
Max. speed : 65 kmh
Range : 600km
Length/Width : 8.83m/3.07m
Weight :22.8 tons
Technical data 52 ton semitrailer
Length/Width :13.1m/3.15m
Loading Platform :7.8m/3.15m
Weight :16.2 tons
Max. Load Capacity :52 tons
The Kit
The kit comes in a open-end box the size of a 1/35 scale kit. The box-Art
shows an Elefant loaded with a Leopard 2A4. After opening the box there
is only one word " WOW". The plastic bag contains 4 sprues in
dark green styrene with 324 parts. Yes, 324 parts which is more then most
1/35 scale kits have to offer. Well, my kit had actually 325 parts,
because I found an additional loading platform. The assembled length is
more then a foot. The side of the box shows pictures of the assembled
prototype as well as a call-out for Revell paints needed. Included in
the kit is also a clear acetate sheet for the windows and a small decal
sheet with nicely printed details. The instruction booklet has 16 pages
with a total of 97 assembly steps, including painting. The parts detail
is crisp with no flash or visible injector pin marks on the parts. However,
my kit had a couple of small sink marks and the end of the loading platform
that need filling.
Conclusion
This is the 1/72 kit. A must for the 1/72 scale armor modeler. It will
however require experience because of the number of small parts. I give
Revell of Germany a high-five for this kit. Now I just need to get the
guts to build it and maybe put a Leo 2A4 or a Marder on there, or maybe
the Biber that's sitting on my shelf. Now if Revell could issue a kit
of the new Bridgelayer based on the Leo2 or a Gepard in 1/72 scale.
References
The reference below is from a German web site that has hundreds, if
not thousands of picture of the vehicles used by the German Army, including
the SLT 50-3 Elefant and the 56ton Franziska.
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