Darren Baker takes a look at the 1/35th scale Sturmpanzer IV Early Version (Mid Production) from Hobby Boss, this is a re-release of the Tristar offering.

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If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

Excellent review, Darren. A friend said he had fit problems with their Pz. IV.70 kit.

Even if there are some fit issues this is a fantastic amount of model for the money and the complexity of some aspects does mean that it is aimed at the competant modeller, Having looked at this model I suspect that if Dragon Models had not been the major player it was at that time then the Tristar company would have been a major player.

IIRC most Tristar models are supposed to be very "tightly" engineered, so anyone trying to built the in a "close enough" fashion will have problems.

Hi Darren
Thanks for the review. Looking at the parts I'd say it was a straight boxing of the Tristar original kit, which along with all the other ones reissued by Hobbyboss is great news.

It is sad that Tristar never had the market success it deserved if judged on the quality and accuracy of its kits.

But that is only part of the story when it comes to manufacturing and I guess the company didn't have the expertise on the sales and marketing side to move the brand forward, getting good distribution deals etc.

They also suffered because of the competition at the time these kits first appeared. Both Dragon and Trumpeter (which have links to Hobbyboss anyway) were fighting it out, almost daily it seemed on every new release, with Tristar overshadowed.

On reflection it would appear that although Dragon seemed to score over Trumpeter when it came to accuracy, Trumpeter seems to be the one continuing to have the greater success, with far more releases than Dragon these days.

It's great to know that this excellent range of kits will continue to be available and will greatly benefit from Hobbyboss/Trumpeters large distribution network. Added to which it would seem from retail prices, available at a very competitive price when compared to Dragons current pricing.

Alan

As has been discussed before on other threads, proper clean up is extremely important with Tristar kits. Because of their method of joining large flat parts with bevelled edges, instead of the more common butt-joints found with other companies, very clean and trimmed edges are necessary for a straight and even fit. A small untrimmed bump or lump here or there will throw off the alignment, and make the construction crooked. Apart from that, Tristar kits are just as good as Dragon (was).

I just finished the majority of the build of this kit, and yes, I had substantial fit/gap issues, especially with some of the major components. The finished model looks pretty good, but the problems were enough for me to pass on any additional Hobby Boss/Tristar Panzer IV kits--just too much frustration.