We all have been reading and hearing about the superiority of Panthers, Tigers I and Tigers II over allied vehicles. There are many articles, books and documentaries about them.

But take a step back and think for a while.

Which panzer was the in the active duty 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

I had a pz IV kit 6363 lying quietly in my stash since.... I don't even remember.



What I always liked the most in the panzer IV family were the vehicles with schürzen on them. Some say this G shouldn't have the additional armor. That it came later etc, etc. Well, we'll see for it.
Not willing to go too deep in the budget I wanted to make a Pz IV G with turret schürzen only even without brackets for the big (and expensive) lateral screens. But of course this kit, doesn't include them...well there's always someone willing to help you for few of these $$$ .



But what about an early G in this configuration? I'm not an expert in this matter so I asked few local folks what they thought of all that. So, if you find a vehicle with a lateral (right side) antenna, two parts commanders hatch, ideally no lateral brackets for the schürzen you should be fine. Let's see what we can find.





WOW so here we go for the war. A lot of battle damage, plenty of extra armor (I think I'll need two sets of magic tracks LOL), scratches, mud, dirt... everything to make an average modeller happy is there.

Now, first of all I'll try to put all those parts together and I must tell you that building up a Tiger II is peanuts comparing to this Pz IV...

spit

Good point, Pawel. In comparison, the Tiger II is a curiosity. It's why I wanted to struggle with the Hetzer kit I'm building.


I actually put aside this kit because the PE is so complex, especially things like the track tension mechanism: ABER leaves out so many pieces it expects you to scratch-build.

Nice choice Pawel im along for the ride i love the pz IV family

Ought to be a neat project Pawel! The DML IV Smart Kits build up very nicely and the addition of the turret schurzen and the draped tracks all over the place will make for a very visually interesting subject I'm sure. Looking forward to seeing this one get your usual treatment.

And, yes, the Pz IVs are the unsung workhorses for sure...and to think they started out as an infantry-support vehicle and were never intended to become an MBT!

I look forward to seeing your finished model

Great choice Pawel, the Pz IV was the backbone of the German armored divisions, and the workhorse. The Pz IV is my favorite of all the German tanks so I will be following your build closely.
Looking forward to the first pics.

Rob

Thank you all for your responses. The part of my house I can use my airbrush in is covered with dust due to some home works. The hybrid Tiger II is waiting it's turn in a box. That's why I started work on this build. I decided to start with the turret as the PE screens seemed to be a difficult thing to do. Well, sadly I must say I wasn't mistaken about this.

The schürzen are fixed just for pictures. I still have two parts to glue (closings on the inside) and fittings of the side doors must also be changed. They'll require some more work to fit the way the ought to. It's really not easy to find good positions to fix the supports (I did use for reference a nice picture of a pz IVH from above Bill posted somewhere else) but still the fit is not good... It was a hell for me. If you ask me again if I choose to go with PE or plastic ones the answers would be ... plastic. It's not looking very good but I just couldn't squeeze more from them now. Here's the result.







A bit of advice please. Would you fix the screens before painting and paint them separately (question of easier access to the turret ) or not?

thanks
spit

Great job on the turret skirts Spit..
I attempted to build Aber's a while ago and give up in frustration and ended up scratch building them from styrene sheet.
About your question; I painted the skirts fitted, if it's any help.

Pawel,

Looking good my friend.

I agree with vanhall, but have a concern that you may not be able to get the coverage on the underside of the rear stowage bin with the skirts being on vs. being off.

Just a thought.

Hey Spit I like what you have done with the turret so far, looks great to me. I can't wait to see how this workhorse turns out.

Rob

Great start Pawel -looking good. I commend you on attempting that photo-etch, you've made it look easy.

Thanks for sharing your project idea and progress to date. Looking forward to seeing some more as you progress!

Cheers -

Tim

Great start on a great kit. The Pz IV is fast becoming my favorite AFV. The schurzen looks like a nice set. I painted my H when it was all done without any problems. What vehicle are you planning on doing? 135 would look cool with all the extra track on there.

thank you for your comments, I'm glad you like it especially that I'm not 100% happy with the PE work.

I started thinking about markings for that tank I would put. I was wondering if some of you had some other pictures of Pz IV G with shurzen on the turret. After some research I have few possibilities .

I'm not sure If I want to go for a winter camo on this one but there are:

n°135 from the picture above
n° 121(I don't have a picture of that tank)


the decals are available from Echelon Decals, I would love to find someone to trade a part of the set




n°306 from Italy (I don't have any picture of this tank so don't really know any details as the commander's hatch one or two pieces), decals available from Bison Decals



n° 222 from the pictures in the first message but I don't have anything on this tank


If anyone of you had some pictures, data or ideas about a Panzer IVG in the configuration I do (shurzen on the turret) I would be grateful for sharing it.

spit

here we go slowly forward

the lower hull


[


and... some decals have arrived from a far away continent they are really great, a lot of possibilities to choose the vehicle (I'll have to finally make up my mind!!), some generic markings... just great... beside the price.




spit

Pawel

I only just saw your post from feb showing the decals you wanted to use. Since I have that sheet (minus 1 set of markings ) I was going to offer some to you. But I see you have the whole sheet. There are some really nice vehicles on there. I did #10 and want to do 8 and 9 next.

Good start so far Pawel can't wait to see how this beauty turns out knowing how much work you put into your Tiger's this PIV will be just as intricate

p.s. i too love what you've done with the turret Schurzen

nice build so far Pawel, i love the PZ IV family of tanks there's just something about it which makes it look nicer than all the other german tanks, currently i'm updating tamiya's old PZ IV Ausf D with tristar wheels and spares from dragon, and italeri. plus tamiya's old brummbar kit which again i'm updating with eduard zimm, spares from dragon, and tamiya's on vehicle equipment set. keep us updated on this one if your king tigers are anything to go by we're in for a treat. Ant

Off to a fast start on this one. Very nice progress on the build so far. Keep going.

This is a strange Tiger B variant you are building Pawel, I havn't seen one with schurzen and no mighty 88 before!

Seriously, this is looking good so far, your issues with the PE schurzen have just put my panzerjagerwagen back another year as that is what is stopping me from opening the box!

I like the look of the whitewashed variants with all the spare track links, have that great 'workhorse' look about them, and should really suuit your style of weathering. I look forward to seeing this one progress.

Good luck, and have fun!

James

P.S. If you havn't already, i'd attcah the turret schurzen now, as long as you are careful you should be ok, and it will prevent messing up a paint job if you have issues fitting them later on.

Thank you all for your kind comments. I find it really difficult to keep up two projects at the same time. The idea was one is drying up the other is getting glued... I will try to do better.

I also like the all extra spare tracks so he will definitely get them. What I haven't really thought about was the winter camo. Does any of you can confirm if the "141" vehicle is a real pz IV G? I ask as in fact I saw pictures of the "200" and it's an H not a G. Or another idea. What about 135 without the winter camo (so before or after the picture was taken???

thank you all

spit

Nice work on the lower hull Spit, the rear plate turned out looking good. Like the use of the photo-etch to keep the spare track in place, nice detail. Thanks for updating your progress.

Cheers! Tim

some progress here.... it's really difficult to find enough time to do everything.... it should go faster now.. I hope

few pictures










spit

Pawel, . You are diong an Awesone job on this workhorse. Going to follow this closely as i am looking to build one of these as soon as I can find one. I will need all the help that I can get.. Also, if you find another oneof these (#6363) lying around quietly since forever, send it to me........ Been lookin to trade or buy one since forever. Anyway, I am really likeing this build.. Keep On Modelin, milvehfan

Hello Pawel. Another beauty in progress. have this kit as well to do ... someday.


Personally, I would fix the screens before painting .... its no problem to paint if you have an airbrush. Im more worried about getting a good joining, and it allows for more strength ... to glue directly to the plastic instead of the paint.
Are your tracks still loose? There seems to be some gaps around the idlers in particular.

Thank you Franck, nice to see you around. Thank you for your comments. Yes I 'll glue the schürzen before painting the model. It's not easy to attach them now so I don't even think anymore about putting them after. It could work with plastics one. No problem for the tracks they were just put for the pictures. Once glued it should be ok. Hope to see your JT back soon

spit