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The Workhorse

INTRODUCTION

We have all been reading and hearing about the superiority of Panthers, Tiger I’s and Tiger II’s over allied vehicles. There are many articles, books and documentaries about it. But take a step back and think for a while. Which panzer was in active service from the very beginning to the very end of the war? Which panzer was the most vastly produced? Which panzer became the backbone, the workhorse of the Panzerwaffe? The correct answer is of course the sdkfz 161 Panzerkampfwagen IV or just Panzer IV if you prefer. Its production begun in October 1937 and lasted till April 1945, with Over 7000 Panzer IV’s of all types from A to J being built.

I had the Dragon Panzer IV G kit 6363 lying quietly in my stash since.... I can’t even remember for how long. Finally I decided to dig it out! What I have always liked the most about the panzer IV family are the vehicles that had schürzen fitted to them. Not willing to go too far with the budget I wanted to make a Panzer IV G with turret schürzen only, even without brackets for the big lateral screens. The kit doesn't include any schürzen so I was forced to use an after market set. I chose the Griffon turret schürzen set for the early Panzer IV G version (n°L35A011). Great value for money I must say.

I wanted to base my project on a vehicle that actually existed and I could find a picture or two of. I'm not a Panzer IV expert so I asked for some help and advice here and there. All in all I finished up having few pictures of an early Panzer IV G vehicle with a lateral (right side) antenna, two part commanders hatch and no lateral brackets for the schürzen. After some reflections I had chosen to recreate the Panzer IV n°135 from the 4th Panzer Division in winter camouflage. The particularity of this Panzer IV and what I liked most was the considerable number of track links used as additional armour. The only drawback of this was the fact that the kit's tracks were not going to be enough and I had to pick some from another kit. The interesting thing is that on one of the pictures the tactical number seems to be missing. Where it is visible it is painted over the white camouflage and not on the dunkelgelb colour base. The decals for this vehicle are available from Echelon Decals, a big set for 4th Panzer Div.