Hi everyone.

I have a question yet need to vent first: I'm a perfectionist and I notice that the fenders on my current build of a Panzer IV J are misaligned--the right side fenders just out about 2mm further than its left side companion; subsequently, there is a gap between the third section of fenders on this side with the middle section.

The pictures I have seen of fresh from the factory tanks look so perfect yet I have read that these photos were part of Germany's propaganda machine and that a good portion of the tanks in the field had all kinds of flaws.

Therefore, my question is--is it perfectly reasonable to have misaligned fenders.

Thank you for your time and for my rant.

Be well.

Alex

Just speculating and opinionating, here, but...

German tanks were hardly slipshod products, far as I know. They were built in small numbers and much more like "Rolls" than "Ford-T" - much hand-work and fitting, less mass-production assembly-line stuff. The Germans were a bit "obsessive" and "perfectionist", as well as sometimes a bit overly complex and over-engineered regards the tank.

While they certainly had imperfections, and each tank (like each individual car) had its unique errors and issues, these probably were small-scale errors and not something like poorly-mounted "guess and by-gosh" fenders. The fenders were assemblies and needed to align with attachment fittings on the hull, etc. This not to say that all fenders were equally well-mounted, of course.

What MAY be the case (and I am in no way suggesting that this IS, but...) is that L and R fenders did vary in specific points and were not simply mirror - images of each other. One side MAY have had some cut-out or positioning that differed from the other. Maybe the kit is reflecting this as a historic accuracy? I don't know hardly anything about the Pz IV and its fenders, but that odd and ugly little Pz. II J is quite notable for having a set of 4 completely different fenders - each differed from the others in size and shape and attachment points! No mirror-images there!

Maybe you have checked this out by looking at other's "J builds" or searching Web stuff on the real thing? Do the kit instructions say or show anything that indicates this difference to be the real case and "intentional" for the kit? Have you seen or read any reviews or threads which came up with this question?

Bob

Hi Bob.

I have always felt that German engineering would lead to metiuclous builds. I have read articles to support both claims and wonder if production slipped off towards the latter part of the war as Germany begain losing its most valuable resource: human beings.

The issue with the fenders is this: I'm using Griffon Models photo etch. The frame for the fenders come in one piece and there are three main sections that are mounted to the frame. To get the rear section to fit the frame leaves the gap as I mentioned previously which means it juts out a bit.

Thanks.

Alex

Alex, I'm just grabbing at straws here, but is the side wall of the hull on that side straight?

For this, and any other problems you run into remember, a picture is worth a thousand words. One here would be helpful to those of us viewing.

That's a great question. I always have challenges fitting Dragon hulls to their respective chassis.

As far as photos, I'm a bit gun shy at the moment because I don't take criticism well.

If I did post a photo, what's the best way to do it?

Thanks.

Alex

Hey again Alex, first and foremost, please don't be "gunshy". This site is full of modelers of all levels willing to help (though by the lack of comments at times it's sometimes not obvious -but that's another story). Keep in mind that the whole purpose of constructive criticism is to help you through problems and hone you skills. It's never meant as a pesonal attack. I find it really helpful to get some extra eyes on the situation at times.

For the photos, I'd use Photobucket to host them, instead of the personal gallery section of this site. It's much easier to use, and you have a lot more space allotted to you. One thing to keep in mind is to resize your images to no more than 800 pixels, on the long side. It really helps in the loading time of the pic and will still be seen full sized.

It looks like I will have to figure out how to use Photobucket.

Try imgur instead, no bandwith issues, pretty easy to use.

Kimmo