The Elefant (German for "elephant") was a heavy tank destroyer used by German Wehrmacht Panzerjager during World War II. Ninety-one units were built in 1943 under the name Ferdinand, after its designer Ferdinand Porsche, using VK 45.01 (P) tank hulls produced for the Tiger I tank design abandoned in favor of a Henschel design.

In January to April 1944, Ferdinands received modifications and upgrades. They were renamed Elefant in May 1944. The official German designation was Panzerjager Tiger (P) and the ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz. 184.

Porsche GmbH had manufactured about 100 chassis for their unsuccessful proposal for the Tiger tank, the "Porsche Tiger", in the Nibelungenwerk factory in Sankt Valentin, Austria. Both the successful Henschel proposal and the Porsche design used the same Krupp-designed turret -- the Henschel design had its turret more-or-less centrally located on its hull, while the Porsche design placed the turret much closer to the front of the superstructure. Since the competing Henschel Tiger design was chosen for production, the Porsche chassis were no longer required for the Tiger tank project. It was therefore decided that the Porsche chassis were to be used as the basis of a new heavy panzerjager, Ferdinand, mounting Krupp's newly developed 88 mm (3.5 in) Panzerjagerkanone 43/2 (PaK 43) anti-tank gun. This precise long-range weapon was intended to destroy enemy tanks before they came within their own range of effective fire.

The Ferdinand was intended to supplant previous light panzerjagers, such as the Marder II and Marder III, in the offensive role. A similar gun was used in the lightly armored Hornisse (later known as Nashorn) tank destroyer, built at the same time.

This particular 1:32 scale replica of a German Ferdinand tank destroyer under went testing at the Kummersdorf Proving Ground, in Germany during April 1943. "White 501" is currently on display at the Kubinka War Museum in Russia. Pre-order! Ship Date: Summer 2024.

Dimensions:
Length: 12-1/2-inches
Width: 4-1/2-inches

Release Date: ?

Historical Account: "Kummersrdorf" - Kummersdorf was the location for the analyses, studies and testing of various German-captured Allied tanks and armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs). Many tanks from all combat-fronts, from North Africa to the Eastern Front, were tested there, with American tanks being multiple variant-models of the M4 Sherman tank, the M3 Lee, the M10 tank destroyer, amongst several others, and Soviet tanks consisting of the T-34 (the mainstay of Soviet armoured forces) and the T-28 medium tanks, the SU-series of self-propelled artillery/guns (such as the SU-85) and the IS-2 heavy tank, just to list a few. There were also British tanks there, including a Churchill tank fitted with a Y-shaped exhaust outlet (an early variant-model of the Churchill) for deep-wading and amphibious operations which was used at the Dieppe Raid, along with many Matilda I and Matilda II infantry tanks (with the former being largely seized following the evacuation of Allied troops at Dunkirk and the latter from both Dunkirk as well as in North Africa). There were also many French tanks there as well, such as the Char B1 heavy tank. Also, an Italian Carro Armato P40 heavy tank was present at Kummersdorf.

The Wehrmacht also tested new German tanks there, including the VK 4501 (P) (the losing Porsche-hulled competitor for the Tiger I production contract), the Hetzer tank destroyer, the Panzer V Panther medium tank, the Tiger II heavy tank, possibly the VK 4502 (P), and the 188-tonne Panzerkampfwagen Maus super-heavy tank.

Albert Speer refers to the tanks testing station at Kummersdorf during the 1942 offensive against the Soviet Union. The station showed that the treads or motor of a heavy tank need repairs every 400-500 miles. This was a limiting factor in the offensive as supply lines became stretched and spare parts carried by the tanks were consumed.