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Academy: New Tooling Panzer IV ausf H
varanusk
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ARMORAMA
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Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain / España
Joined: July 04, 2013
KitMaker: 1,288 posts
Armorama: 942 posts
Posted: Friday, November 17, 2017 - 04:37 AM UTC


Academy is working on a new Panzer IV Ausf. H (mid) to be released next year.

Read the Full News Story

If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!
redcap
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England - East Midlands, United Kingdom
Joined: November 06, 2005
KitMaker: 753 posts
Armorama: 378 posts
Posted: Friday, November 17, 2017 - 05:25 AM UTC
Given the plethora of perfectly acceptable PzIV chassis (everything) already available, why bother? Looking at the pics, this kit is hardly ground breaking and looks like a 1980's Italeri tooled kit in terms of finesse.

Gary
Removed by original poster on 11/18/17 - 03:45:59 (GMT).
Jmarles
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British Columbia, Canada
Joined: November 02, 2008
KitMaker: 1,138 posts
Armorama: 953 posts
Posted: Friday, November 17, 2017 - 08:05 AM UTC
Oh no! Will their old Tamiya knockoff not be available anymore?! ^_^
Wingtsun
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British Columbia, Canada
Joined: July 16, 2006
KitMaker: 295 posts
Armorama: 259 posts
Posted: Friday, November 17, 2017 - 08:16 AM UTC
A week ago I was at the local hobby store and got into a brief chat with the owner. He personally liked Tamiya kits because they are easy to assemble and the results look great out of the box. From his experience, the Dragon kits do not sell well and he believes probably because they are complex. Academy obviously identified a market for this kit, even though there are "better kits out there". I bought the Academy M1A2 Tusk SEP 1 and 2 over the Rye Field Models and the Meng kit because of the price and the ease of assembly. I have several Dragon kits unfinished because I got frustrated with the complexity of the kits.
Removed by original poster on 11/18/17 - 03:45:46 (GMT).
Bravo1102
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New Jersey, United States
Joined: December 08, 2003
KitMaker: 2,864 posts
Armorama: 2,497 posts
Posted: Friday, November 17, 2017 - 02:01 PM UTC
Just what the doctor ordered. We need something a step up from the Tamiya that doesn't require a degree in engineering to build like Dragon. Even includes zimmerit!

Let's review the actual kits available now: Italeri is still nice but really ancient, Tamiya is easy but lacking, Zvezda is a huge disappointment. Dragon is the high end of the market, what is there for a mid range builder? Not everyone has the deep pockets and spare time to tackle the intricate details of a Dragon kit. This looks to be a good alternative, nice details and options but not as involved.

But if course it is Academy so every thing will be wrong. Tamiya gets a pass and Academy gets scrutiny. Even when they do something right it's still not good enough.
hanb7323
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Daejeon, Korea / 대한민국
Joined: October 06, 2014
KitMaker: 408 posts
Armorama: 407 posts
Posted: Friday, November 17, 2017 - 06:26 PM UTC
Nice SS panzer IV
Bravo1102
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New Jersey, United States
Joined: December 08, 2003
KitMaker: 2,864 posts
Armorama: 2,497 posts
Posted: Friday, November 17, 2017 - 07:18 PM UTC
Looking at the sprues there'll be a lot more more coming. The options are there for everything from a G, through all the H varieties to the J. The hull side ridges point towards the self-propelled guns' gun mounts?
james-dean
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New York, United States
Joined: January 18, 2016
KitMaker: 59 posts
Armorama: 60 posts
Posted: Friday, November 17, 2017 - 08:17 PM UTC
i can see even brummbar's spare road wheels holder.
stevieneon
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England - West Midlands, United Kingdom
Joined: January 24, 2009
KitMaker: 144 posts
Armorama: 143 posts
Posted: Friday, November 17, 2017 - 11:19 PM UTC
It looks really good. Im excited. Being Academy, it will be great value. Lots of extra versions on those sprues.....different hull rears, drive wheels, idlers, etc. AND IT COMES WITH DEF MODELS ZIMMERIT. I cannot tell you how fantabulous this stuff is.....precut, dip in water, apply. No messing or cutting about I ve used this stuff on 2 Tigers and a Sturm Tiger and it is amazing.
hanb7323
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Daejeon, Korea / 대한민국
Joined: October 06, 2014
KitMaker: 408 posts
Armorama: 407 posts
Posted: Saturday, November 18, 2017 - 11:25 AM UTC
Is the color of vehicle number correct? Red?
Scarred
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Washington, United States
Joined: March 11, 2016
KitMaker: 1,792 posts
Armorama: 1,186 posts
Posted: Saturday, November 18, 2017 - 01:40 PM UTC

Quoted Text

Is the color of vehicle number correct? Red?



Red with white outline, and that is what is in the picture, is correct along with several other designs.
hanb7323
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Daejeon, Korea / 대한민국
Joined: October 06, 2014
KitMaker: 408 posts
Armorama: 407 posts
Posted: Saturday, November 18, 2017 - 01:47 PM UTC
Then the Star decal set is completely incorrect. They are black
hanb7323
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Daejeon, Korea / 대한민국
Joined: October 06, 2014
KitMaker: 408 posts
Armorama: 407 posts
Posted: Saturday, November 18, 2017 - 01:52 PM UTC
FYI. http://www.hobbyeasy.com/en/data/k3ir0aldxrtvprlroj.html
GazzaS
#424
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Queensland, Australia
Joined: April 23, 2015
KitMaker: 4,648 posts
Armorama: 2,248 posts
Posted: Saturday, November 18, 2017 - 01:59 PM UTC
I built an Academy Tiger a couple years ago. Except for the tracks, I thought it was splendid.

GAz
hanb7323
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Daejeon, Korea / 대한민국
Joined: October 06, 2014
KitMaker: 408 posts
Armorama: 407 posts
Posted: Saturday, November 18, 2017 - 02:15 PM UTC
Look at the instruction of Dragon #6611. The color of turret numbers are all black HJ's Panzer iv. H in Normandy. So the Dragon decal is wrong too.
Taeuss
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Manitoba, Canada
Joined: January 03, 2016
KitMaker: 3,791 posts
Armorama: 3,778 posts
Posted: Sunday, November 19, 2017 - 09:58 AM UTC
I'm just wondering about the Zimmerit decals and how effective they're going to be depicting something 3D on a 2D medium...
Bravo1102
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New Jersey, United States
Joined: December 08, 2003
KitMaker: 2,864 posts
Armorama: 2,497 posts
Posted: Sunday, November 19, 2017 - 01:36 PM UTC

Quoted Text

I'm just wondering about the Zimmerit decals and how effective they're going to be depicting something 3D on a 2D medium...


They're not 2 dimensional. Like the Archer textured decals they are quite 3-D.
Scarred
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Washington, United States
Joined: March 11, 2016
KitMaker: 1,792 posts
Armorama: 1,186 posts
Posted: Sunday, November 19, 2017 - 02:12 PM UTC

Quoted Text

Look at the instruction of Dragon #6611. The color of turret numbers are all black HJ's Panzer iv. H in Normandy. So the Dragon decal is wrong too.



They used both black and red outlined in white, sometimes just the white outline or even yellow outlines. The infill color could be almost any color. Black and red the most common but yellow and blue have been seen.
hanb7323
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Daejeon, Korea / 대한민국
Joined: October 06, 2014
KitMaker: 408 posts
Armorama: 407 posts
Posted: Monday, November 20, 2017 - 06:59 AM UTC
I didn't ask about general color of German tank turret number but the color of 615, 616 and 618 panzer iv in Battle of Normandy.
Scarred
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Washington, United States
Joined: March 11, 2016
KitMaker: 1,792 posts
Armorama: 1,186 posts
Posted: Monday, November 20, 2017 - 10:28 AM UTC

Quoted Text

I didn't ask about general color of German tank turret number but the color of 615, 616 and 618 panzer iv in Battle of Normandy.



Well you never asked about specific vehicles but if the decals have black numbers for those tanks than I'd go with those. Model companies do some research on their subjects but how accurate they are is debatable for some manufacturese. And unless you can find color photos of 12th SS Div your guess is as good as anyones. The photos of 615 and 616 show that the numbers are about the same shade as the balkenkreuz which we know is black so I'd go with black.
Cantstopbuyingkits
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European Union
Joined: January 28, 2015
KitMaker: 2,099 posts
Armorama: 1,920 posts
Posted: Tuesday, November 21, 2017 - 04:12 AM UTC

Quoted Text

I'm just wondering about the Zimmerit decals and how effective they're going to be depicting something 3D on a 2D medium...



These are resin decals. Fully 3-dimensional.
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