Hi there,

I have a Stug IV question. Guys, anyone here tried to mate the Dragon kit Pz IV J lower hull with bad and outdated Tamiya Stug IV early 35087 kit upper hull? I have that kit and spare Dragon sprues for the whole Pz IV lower hull& suspension prepared for my upcoming StuG IV early project. The Dragon Stug IV No. 9038 kit is long OOP and I have difficulties finding one, so I’m forced to do this kitbash as a result. I have just made some quick measurements and it shows that Tamiya upper hull is well off the Dragon lower hull, which is narrower in width. I don’t know if there are major differences in hull length too. When I compared the Dragon and Tamiya upper hulls, I found the Tamiya part underdetailed too.
So guys, is my project worth any effort or I should cancel it? Of course I may do the whole Tamiya kit detailed only with PE and metal tracks, but this model will certainly be placed immediately in closet and not shown to others…
Is the Academy copy any improvement over the Tamiya kit?

If anyone here tried to do something similar to my idea, any tip is greatly appreciated.
Unless there is time to hunt for that Dragon 9038 kit…

TIA,
Piotr

In theory it should match, but Tamiya might alter the size of the STug a bit to accomodate moterization. But there is no harm to try it out....

Believe it or not, the old Italeri Stug IV is still a pretty good kit for it's age. The road wheels and drive sprockets need to be replaced but I think you'd have better luck kitbashing the Italeri and DML kits than trying to save that old Tamiya kit. I think the Italeri kit is still available.

Why? If you do a good job on the kit and paint it up well, even if it's not the most accurate representation of the prototype, you should be proud of what you accomplish. The answer to the bolt counting naysayer is that you knew this was not an accurate kit but wanted a representation of it and that you detailed it out, painted and weathered it and are happy with it. If he's not, he can take a nice long walk off the gangplank. (What I'd say is likely a whole lot more colorful but would surely be offensive to most here. )

Hi Panzerman,
Normally with conversions like that , I`ve found the Tamiya lower hull and Dragons upper hull used. I`ve seen the Tamiya`s newer Panzer IV lower hull mated with Dragon`s Jagdpanzer upper hull and Dragons Stug IV early and late useing Tamiya`s running gear.
I have Dragons early and late Stugs kits 9038 and 6043 respectfully, but not Tamyia`s Stug kit. Although I do have Academy`s old Stug IV # 1332 and I assume, like all the rest, its a Tamiya knock-off of their earlier effort.
If I were in your shoes I would simply build Tamiya`s kit useing Dragons running gear (don`t use Tamiy`s misshappen roadwheels) and either Dragons or aftermarket tracks.
Of coarse you`ll have to fill in the motorization holes, replace quit a bit of the "soft" detail and generally infuse some TLC, but isn`t that what modelings all about?
I know this probably wasn`t much help but I hope I offerd just a little encouragement.
Pete