Hi everyone
Trying to change from being an inactive user to an active one can only be done by getting, eh, active... Right?

I'm coming of a really long modelling hiatus (+10 years) and this will be my second project since (finished a small 1/76 Mark 1 tank for the WW1 Campaign).

So this will become a build log of Dragons Panzer Iv Ausf.F1. Also on the table is some PE from Griffin and the odd tarp roll i have laying around! My hope is that I will get lot's and lot's of good feedback that will help me improve and also, a chance to share and discuss tips, tricks and ideas.

Starting things of really slow with the obligatory road wheels shot



And the "tub"



Next up is the upper hull and after that i will try some of that PE...

So far, it looks great. I love Dragon Pz.IIIs and IVs.

Hi Johan ... First welcome back to the model world .. Second..great start . I've been working on a few Pz.IVs lately and they are great kits. One thing I don't think they mention in the F1 instructions is you need to remove those six tabs on the top of the hull .. They will only be in your way very soon.. lol
I'll be watching !

Rick

Thanks Matt! Yea, there's definitly something about the Panzers

Richard: Haha! It was funny, i spent about 5 minutes pondering whether they had a purpose or not before removing them. Should have just come here instead and gotten the answer right away

Got some more work done:
Here is a dry fit of the upper hull parts



And a rear shot


I had some issues with the engine compartment hatches and couldnt quite figure out which ones where right for a 41-42 era F1. Actually realized that i might have gotten it wrong AFTER I glued them in place...

I notice that you applied putty, where the front hulls mate. I believe that there should be a thin line, there representing where the plates meet.

It's actually worse than it looks, i kind of messed up that area so needed to do something so i filled it with tamyia liquid surface primer. So the line is still there but the weld is a bit messed up... need to sort that somehow

More work!
Got the upper hull all in place. Please feedback if you guys see something that sticks out!




I kind of regret gluing both hatches in down position... Might have to revisit that decision later





I slipped with the knife and made a big ass cut in the uhm, "front plate" and thought "aha, opportunity" (after some cussing...) and made some kind of battle damage. Will see how that works out in the end.

I'm liking the bends on those fenders. Did you thin them first?

Nice battle/knife damage. We've all done that mate

I'll be following this as I am thinking about getting a PIV kit myself.


Looks great so far!





Jeff

Hey Jeff, thanks. Can't say much about the kit other than it being really, really good. Great fit, no weld seams etc.
(Then again, the last 1/35 kit i built was Tamyias 88 )

Andy: Did not thin the fenders. Just gave them a good work over with a pair of pliers

Looking good Johan
With the wheels done it's kinda down hill from there, hate cleaning up wheels myself, panzer IV's being one of the worst. Sorry about the frontplate, it's kind of a tender spot, I'm not sure how easy it'll be to recreate a good looking gap at the interface. I know it's annoying when you have all these great intentions with the model and then it's complicated by a moment of inattentiveness, but it might not be that bad once paint is on.
The impact damage effects are looking really good, I'll try to replicate that on one or 2 vehicles I have f***** up.

Keep up the good work
Erik

Thanks Erik! The technique i used for the battle damage was pretty straight forward: I drilled a hole with a microdrill, then used an Xacto and sliced outwards to build up the damage around the hole. I then used Tamiya extra thin cement to soften the plastic and finally roughed it up with a toothbrush

Got some more work done and finally got my hands dirty with the PE. I am ridiculously slow with this stuff... Thank god i at least got me one of those hold n folds together with the tank



I realize looking at the picture that those hatch locks aren't exactly straight haha! I dented and bent the hatches a bit on purpose though (what are they called exactly?). Not sure how accurate that is but i do like my models bent and broken.



Fiddly stuff! The hinges are even workable

So, this was like 8 hours of work... Does it get faster?

Dragon kits are a test of patience. I notice that you have not attached the securing nuts for the engine vents, yet. I would recommend that you do those last, as they are easily broken off.

It's like deja vu all over again. So far so good.

Kimmo

Hehe Kimmo what, you mean there have been other PZ IV builds before this one?!




So Matt, what exactly is a securing nut?

Good progress Johan
Yes PE is a Real time consumer. Sometimes gluing the stuff on is the hardest part. Does this kit come with magis tracks btw?

/Erik

Erik: Yes it does! Feels a bit daunting as i never worked with those kinds of track before So many pieces. ..

Heya

Got some solid benchtime in and pretty much finished the lower hull. In retrospect i think I might have moved too fast as some of the PE and fittings came out a bit skewed and crooked... (Hopefully lesson learned for next step of build)


(Opening the images in a new window shows them in full size)



Tried to reprise my battle damage on the side of the tank but it didn't really come out the way I wanted it... Either way i want to showcase the model with broken clasps for the jack and eventually mount it in the front together with some other bits and bob.

The axe is planned to be showcased in the hands of one of the crewmen for a small diorama idea I'm playing around with so the open clasps there are intentional.

I'm sure there is plenty wrong with the way it all came together so please feedback away!

Looks good from where I'm sat

Thanks Andy

got started on the turret!

Johan, nice PE work. I really like your "hit" to the front plate near drivers visor slit.

thanks Dave!
I got one of these with the kit:
http://thesmallshop.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=17

I saw your thread on PE tips and tricks and just with my limited experience I would say this one is a lifesaver!! (together with bucket loads of patience )

Great work Johan, you're really keeping the pace here, it's coming together nicely, the PE is looking crisp.
Regarding the magic tracks I don't you should be as concerned about the assembly as of the cleaning up, if any marks are present on them.
Did you redo the fire extinguisher (white rod?). Do you have any plans for the color scheme?

Erik

Thanks Erik!
I re-did the fire extinguisher as i couldn't clean the original from all little plastic straps etc. Was easier to just scratch one and attach the PE instead. Unfortunately i lost the PE of the handles so those are missing (ofcourse i magically found the piece after everything was glued in place... )

For paint i will probably go for simple panzer grey type scheme as i want to depict a pretty early variant (Russia 41-42). I'm not a huge accuracy fan so i will probably try a pretty heavy modulated look. My hope is to give the model lot's of volume with a single color.

Question to all you knowledgeable people

Whats this thing i just build and placed right there under the left door?