Mark Nicodemus shares with us a review of the Tamiya Panzer IV Ausf. J.

Read the Review

If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

Interestingly the box art shows the front roadwheels with rubber rims...

That's because they were rubber-rimmed. It is the RETURN ROLLERS that switched to all-steel.

I know a lot of people love Tamiya for their (relative) ease of assembly and general good looks, but the mismatch of components that correspond to different production times is one of the reasons I stopped buying their armor. I know Dragon goes a little overboard by making kits that practically retell the life cycle of German tanks on a monthly basis, but at least you can usually build a late if it says late, mid if it says mid, and so on.

Sorry, you are right. I think I mixed it up with a later version/suggested version which was supposed to be front-heavy, hence the front pair of roadwheels were all-steel. (Or were planned to be.)

It was a long time ago, and I don't have the books with me, so I can't check.

The Jagdpanzer IV V70 had to use steel roadwheels due to being nose heavy. Either the front 2 or 4 were steel depending if built by Vomag or Alkett

These Tamiya kits are dangerous, just looking at the box art makes you want to buy the kit, even if it an old kit.

It's state of the art for 1994 And is still a really good kit capturing most of the differences between the early J and the H (which they redid using this kit as a basis)

I think it took the Gunze (and reissue by the brand new company Dragon) to get Tamiya to revisit the Pzkpfw IV 20 odd years ago. Remember in 1994 there was only the ancient motorized Tamiya H the Academy knock-off and Italeri F,G,H There was no J of any stripe.

You answered my question which was if this was a new kit from Tamiya or a long-of-tooth reissue. A real startling shame that there are no updates on the kit and the absence of Schurtzen is more than an oversight on a kit as pricey as much of the Tamiya line has proven to be. Disappointing as I expect more from one of the premier companies in the modelling world.

Why review their kit of the tank 24 years after we and them have moved on to other representations?

The skirts are no great loss. The later released Ausf H fruhe based on this kit had them and they were thick and had no detail on the inside. Useless. The ancient Italeri Ausf H had better skirts.

Yes, it's not as if it hasn't been reviewed numerous times since it was released. And considering this site still has many unreviewed new kits in its sample pile, it makes even less sense. What's next, a review of Revell's 1/32 Raiden kit?

Any attempt to reproduce schurzen in the same injection plastic as the rest of then kit is doomed to fail as far as I'm concerned.

Because sadly there are those in the world less fortunate than you who will seek to invest in this kit. It may all that's available or all that they can afford, or the only one within their comfort zone.

Forgive me but you're sounding a bit like an elitist, pretentious cretin.

I'm a know-nothing fool with pretentions of mediocrity myself so I tend to be sensitive to such ramblings.

Nothing personal, but some of us in the trenches are stuck with this kit and will happily build it, zimmerit stickers and all and almost be satisfied because as we all know not everyone can get the Dragon kit and all the aftermarket and spend six years building a piece of plastic that once complete, does nothing but figuratively or literally sit and collect dust.

Why review a 24 year old kit?. Simple really. There was no review on this site for the kit. So, as a service to my fellow members, I have provided one.

Besides, I bought this kit last September, not 24 years ago. So, it's a new kit for me. Many others are buying it as well. Instead of having folks searching other forums, they can stay on this one to get their information.

As a rule, if I'm going to build a kit that does not have a review on the site, then I will try to provide one.

Tamiya or anyone else must lower the prices of these old kits...just a sad case..to be charging the prices they do. I like Tamiya kits but it just seems to be a rip off.
PS-Quote-"all they can afford"- lol..these kits are over priced as it is.
IMO

Although we are used to read reviews of recent models, I often need also information on older ones either in my stash (to see what should I improve) or to buy, to ensure it fits my needs.

So I think it is useful to have this review as well.

Thanks for taking the time and work to share it, Mark.

On the one hand yes : why review a 24 year old kit? But as others say; for some, this might be all they can find, or afford. On the VERY rare occasion I meet someone who's thinking of taking up the hobby, it's exactly models like this I recommend for them to begin on. Yes, maybe Dragon (or some of the newer companies) offer a far more accurate model, but with a far higher part count, price and infamous instructions. I want to attract more people to the hobby, not scare them away.
I don't know about prices in other countries, but being in Japan I can pick up this particular model for between 2 and 3,000 yen, so while it might be overpriced for some, it's a relative bargain for others.