so, my abrams is nearly done, and i want to build something fun to keep me sane in all the PE madness that is my merk IV build, so i'm starting this nice model. i'm building it for the 'axis of armor' campaign. not going to add any AM stuff, just keep it simple and OOB. as always, all comments are welcomed. enjoy!
building the road wheels arms was fun: 9 parts


note the knock-out marks. those will need filling:

I'll be watching this one Matan, I've had my eye on that kit for a while so I'll be interested in how you get on.

I have this kit in my stash and it looks like anything but simple, even OOB. I too will keep looking into this thread to see how it goes. Enjoy the build.

well, to comfort myself from mistakes i've made in the chains n' balls of my merk IV more work was done on this tank turns out some of the chains are shorter then others. oh well.
anyway, in step 2, note that the "shackles" are the other way around: left is right, and right is left

9 pieces!?! Thats !@#$%^&*()_+ crazy! Well anyway nice work, although you might want to trim down the excess plastic on the suspension units.

Calvin all the higher end DML Panzer IV's have this very complex suspension. This kit however gives you both the high end 3 in 1 kit suspension parts plus the Smart Kit ones so you can pick and choose. This kit is a real gem I have two of them. I am building one on and off myself using the Smart kit parts to simplify construction.


Nice work Matan. Keep going.

Thanks for the info Jim, seems like theres alot of parts but the detail seems excellent!

Matan this is from someone who knows very little about the Panzer IV, but are you sure they are knock out marks on the suspension units? I ask as I would have thought DML would have corrected an issue that leaves marks that deep.

well, I don't know about this tank much, so I have no idea

when building this kit, pay extreme care to the instructions. when you build the exhaust you will note that the instructions omit to note that parts D17 and D16 are also needed as they are the "ends" of the exhausts and the bit that connects the exhaust to the tank itself



as the fenders sits really close to the track, I thought it would be easier to build the running gear and the tracks before continuing with the rest of the vehicle:
using quick-wheel pz-iv mask


primer applied, and mr. masking sol neo on the connecting areas for the fenders and such:


end result:

Matan-- what brand and color did you apply after the prime?
Looks good
Thank
DJ

mr. hobby aqueous color H403 dark yellow

Very nice
Thanks
DJ

Nice work, I like it.

Regards, Alvaro

done with the tracks. dragon's magic tracks are magical - 10 min. and i had a full run (in 2 pieces) ready with sag and all! couple of hour later (to give the glue enough time to cure), painted them with DOA track brown

Looks good so far.

I used Magic Track for the first time and they went together very well but I had problems when I had to handle them for painting and installation. They broke appart in several places. Do you have any hints to help make them stronger? I thought that the model cement would almost weld them together and make it like one piece of plastic.

well, what I did is just apply some glue (the welding type. i use revell's if it's any difference) on the inside of one track link and then attach the other. continue until you have enough to form a half (or other size as comfortable for you) of the tracks. to my opinion it is easier to build the track on the drive sprocket, and when the "roundness" is achieved, add until you get to the 3rd pair of road wheels (on the pz IV anyway) and then continue with the idler and upper return rollers bit. apply a bit of pressure with fingers to create sag. it is better to build one half first, wait until the glue has fully cured and then move on. the glue usually takes an hour to cure, and then you can move on to the other half, but let the halves couple of hours to cure fully before painting and final assembly.

have began work on the turret (finally!) building the upper hull was annoying (made of 5 parts) and i wish dragon would replace those with a single upper hull piece). i'll take pictures of it later.

when you build the gun, the instructions call for pat B41 (marked in red)

but don't waste your time searching for it, it does NOT exist. yep, there is no part B41. instead, the part can be found on dragon's "goodies card":

Thank you for the suggestions on the Magic Track. I think I may have needed more cement or something. On my next one I am going to build the lower hull with the track like you did. It will make it much easier then having the fenders in the way. Please keep posting on this thread so we all can learn. .

following your build with interest-fxing to start on mine-looking good

If there's one thing i don't like about this kit is that it contains lots of sprues from other kit, making the build hectic with all the sprue-switching. Heck, there is a sprue from the brimmbar kit that you use only 2 parts from! Not to mention 2-3 A and B sprues. And now i can't find sprue H for the turret added armor

moving along with the paint job. I'm, trying to follow Glenn Bartolotti's painting and finishing guide (volume 3).

i've tried to do pre-shading, but i'm not sure with the end results. what do you think (and don't mind the paint splashes, these will be dealt with)?

HI! Part B41 had me stumped. I ended up emailing SCALE HOBBYIST, a really good dealer with great prices about it. I thought DML had a run where they left it out of the kit or something. Thanks for posting that. It will save someone some bother. RONNY.