Hey Ray,

Sorry mate, I thought it was you but wasn't 100% certain.

I notice you've got a RLI poster for your avatar. You a former Rhodesian?

Rudi

No my friend, but I do have friends I was in the Marine Corps with who were. They taught me alot about bush craft. It came in handy too. Wont say where or when, but just that it came in very handy. I was in from 82-93.

Hey rudi by the way the Chris is from the Cape area IPMS chapter. He's a great guy. I have kits coming from him every month, and will continue to do so. he is very consistant, and trust worthy.

Hey Ray,

I know Chris, and I agree with you and don't dispute the fact.

Rudi

I am back, and it has been a black, black day. My daughter, got into the hobby room.(the three year old) And decided that it would be fun to play in there. I come home from the doctor, and find her, and my wife's new puppy "playing" with the Olifant. Needless to say, next month, I will have to order a new Conversion kit and a new modelcraft centurion. It was very close to paint. Daughter is doing fine, no harm was done to her. Puppy is now mounted above Fire place.(just kidding) All I could do was smile scold a little , and continue to march. I wonder what chewed resin tastes like? The pup sure liked it. There is also now a dead bolt lock on the door! All other stuff was scattered about, but nothing else was really hurt beyond repair. I wish she would have gotten a hold of one of my m1's I have 4 of those and two more on the way! Damn Dog anyway!!! Will get over it. Now on to the Ratel 20 until I can re-order an olifant. Later guy's dont feel so well tonight. Might go try and relax, haven't been sleeping well lately.

Okay sleeping was a bust. I am back now, for a while I guess. Been worried as of late, and got more bad news at the doctors, but will not go into it. Any how I got to looking at the remains of yhe Olifant, and think that i might be able to salvage it after all. The turret sides were chewed up pretty bad, so those are a loss. But the resin was sanded, and got the marks off. The engine deck is fine, but one of the stowage boxes are trash so I can sratch it. Two road wheels are shot, so I can recast those in resin. Over all I think I can salvage it. Will let you know more later on today. It is 0452, and I am going to go and read. To all my friends good night.

How was the conversion going before the "mishap" happened. I have two of these conversions on order from Chris. By the way are you using the AFV kit or Tamiya or Academy? Also, have you build the Casspir?
Scott Staudt

The AFV kits will not work you have to use the Tamiya/Academy/Modelcraft kits. I have not built the Casspir yet, but have one on order. Also have a Ratel, and Buffel. Not built yet. Kit was going along fine. Lots of cutting of the hull, but nothing to drastic that you shouldn't be able to handle.

okay here is something alittle off subject, then I will get back to the Olifant. I am going to start a new post about this also. Rumour has it, and I do mean rumour. That the SANDF is looking for a new MBT. The Candidates are France's Leclerc, Britains Challenger 2, and of course Russia's T-80. What has anyone heard?

Hey Ray,

As I mentioned in another post the Olifant, in either the 1B or 2 version, will be around for a few more years. The main contender for its replacement is the German Leopard. I am almost sure I heard Botswana were ordering Leopards as well...

Rudi

Rudi, the best bet for a quick conversion is IDF troops – Galil + small conversion =R4 and Dragon supplies a nice MAG. Although even WW2 American troops convert quite easily, webbing is the obvious problem.

One of the main distinctions for the standard troopie is actually SADF=Browns SANDF=Camos, although the early SANDF trooper was also in Browns. And SADF=NO body Armour, whilst SANDF use Body Armour.

The Pattern-83 webbing was used in the later SADF operations Modular etc. IIRC SANDF Spec units now use the Bateleur 90 webbing.

Looks like this thread is losing momentum. Great posts everyone. I was just wondering ... at the beginning, there was talk of a mk 2 Olifant, can this kit still be built of tamiya cent, or is it so vey different from the mk 1 and 1b?
I saw a few pictures of one somewhere here. Is there a conversion or is this another scratch project?

Sadly I don't know of any conversion kits out there. It woumd be a great subject though. I'd buy one or two. Thanks for yhre posts Gent's. I will be back with more later. Keep up the info.

Cromwell Models has announced an Olifant Mk.1A conversion for the AFV Club Centurion:

http://www.network54.com/Forum/47209/message/1189958248/Re-+New+Cromwell+kits

Going to try and revive this post. Will get some pic's om here this week of olifant kit from Baxmod.

Well Chaps I am surprised to see a Baxmods Olifant but I must admit never again, I would rather rebuild my two AFV club Centurions to Olifants Mk1as. Plus I have a KTM 4 mine roller kit sourced from a Academy IDF M60 I am going to use.

Wil get round to the Olifante as soon as my Leopards are done.

As we said above, it's not a Baxmod product, nor is it the one we discussed last year. I think you know who I'm speaking about. This is actually produced by a Bloem based modeller who is close to the Armour school. I think Chris was just marketing or fascilitating the deal.

Charlie? I know him quite well. If it is him he isn't just close to Armor School he is on their door step so to speak being at 1 Tank Regt. Can't see the Colonel, Zieg or Charl stepping away from their ships.

Anyhoo my bad. Still got a truck load of Chirs's 1/72s to build. Planning to donate them to the local old boys club who has graciously invited me to hang about for a beer on pub nights.

Yup, I believe it is a model by Charlie Deal (can never remember his name). I meant close as in relationship wize, not distance

Yep it's Charlie. Chris is helping with the distribution side of things. I recieved some pretty cool extras from Charlie, and a very nice little letter too. Two great guy's they are! Wouldn't want to do business with anyone else, concerning the SADF/SANDF kits I buy.

Ja wel. I will ring Charlie up and have a chat with him about his conversion. I still have my Olifant DVD with about 600 photos on it and as always I am willing to share.

<img src="http://photos.kitmaker.net/data/500/2053401816_96bf002eb5.jpg" />



Here are some pic's of the kits from Charlie. One is used on the Modelcraft Cent Mk III, the other on the AFV Clud Aussie Cent. I put in the Olifant/Ratel just for size comparison. The hardly started kit is a Semil based on the AFV Kit. I do hope I am correct in this. I have no Referances to the semil. Let me know what you think. Be gentle. Ray

I got the Cromwell olifant in the mail Friday. Wow! It is seriously detailed.