This topic may have been covered before but I haven't seen it. I wanted to model a late Pz. lV and as I am familiar with Tamiya's very old model, I decided to try DML's. Frankly, I was disapointed with this kit. Either the model is inaccurate or the instructions are, as well as being vague and ambigous. I have photo references to the 'early' J, but none for the late model. Except for the different exhaust system, there surely cannot be as many differences between the two as DML suggests. I found the turret sheurzen ill-fitting, as well as the Thoma shields (by the way, a nice variation) very fiddley, poorley instructioned, and no diagram on what degree to bend the very stiff PE supports. Plastic parts would have been very preferrable. There were no grab handles or rain gutters above the turret side hatches, and the small lifting hooks were simply tiny hook-shaped pieces to be glued directly to the hull or turret side, without the triangular-shaped bolted on fitting. I could go on with my complaints, but anyone who has built this model will know what I'm talking about. I expected better than this from this company (whose latest releases are really excellent). I find it ironic that the most widely produced and used German tank is so poorley represented. Tamiya's ( unless they have completely re-tooled the parts) is very old, and expensive; Academy's seems to be from the same molds as the old Tamiya; and if Italeri ever made a late Pz lV, then it's OOP and impossible to find, not to mention another very old release. Is there any company who makes a credible late Pz lV H or J, in 1/35, in plastic?

Hallo Biggles,
I can´t tell personally but I have read in every forum that Tamiya´s late Panzer IV J is a very good model, though it doesn´t contain hull skirts, only the turret ones. Perhaps a combination of the two models would be the best thing to do?
All the best,
JavierM.

Tamiya retooled the Panzer IV and produced two kits, the Ausf. J and Ausf. H. Both retooled kits bear no lineage to the earlier versions and are completely new tooled.
Ausf. H: http://www.squadron.com/ItemDetails.asp?item=TM35209
Ausf. J: http://www.squadron.com/ItemDetails.asp?item=TM35181

I believe both kits contain side skirts.

Tamiya has 2 Panzer IV kits Panzer IV Ausf H (35209) and Ausf J (35181). Both kits were 1998ish vintage. They are really good kits. Most modlers use the tool sprues that Tamiya sold from these kits as replacement parts on lots of German AFVs.

I hope this helps you.

Dragon's Panzer IVJ is one of their very early models, and really is as bad as you say. It dates from the days when they mucked about with old moulds from Italeri and didn't really do enough research. You forgot to mention how Dragon messed up the bow MG and the postioning of the return rollers too

Dragon's AusfJ does have a few unique features, like the late lift and swing commanders hatch and late exhausts. These aren't enough to save it.

Tamiya's Ausf J is an earlyish one, though it has the thickened turret roof of later Js. it has rails but no hull schuerzen.

I have used the Tamiya Pzr IV Ausf H as the base for the Mig Productions conversion, and can tell you that the Kit (35209) is quite good on it's own whitout the old Tamiya drawbacks such as motorisation holes. The details are crisp, fit is as usual for Tamiya excellent and there are no real accuracy issues. I believe that the Ausf J would be equaly o.k., but have not build that one (yet ). I would not waste money on Academy, as the use the old Tamiya molds, with holes etc, and even at £ 10.00 I would only build them with heavy camouflage.. :-)
Dragon is a bit of a mixed bag, I bought the PPzr I B DAK yesterday, and a quick look in the box reveals a well molded, if somewhat over engineerd kit. The separate vision port covers are a nice touch, but why the are molded in clear plastic escapes me.. and I'm very unimpressed with the indy links, which although well rendered, are attached with 5 (FIVE!!!!!! FIVE) sprue points EACH!! I can feel another order for a set of MB indy links coming up :-) .

This is the Tamiya Pzr IV, after the Mig conversion. There are some work in progress pic's in my Gallery which show more of the kit itself.



Cheers
Henk

Thanks for the answers, guys. OH NO!! I just ordered 2 Academy lV H's from Squadron as they were on sale. Although they won't be a total loss - at less than $10 US each. You guys in Britain must find modelling really expensive as everything is almost double the price of Canada and the US. I guess I'll go with the newer Tamiya offering ( I hope it's not the infamous 'Black Box' series with the useless PE zimmerit - they run at about $80 Can.)
The tools and equipment on the Dragon PZ lV were really horrible and I had to replace almost all of them from Tamiya's PZ lV equipment set . Looks like taking the exhausts and Thoma shields from Dragon and giving them to Tamiya is the way to go. Anybody want to buy 4 Dragon Pz lV H's and G's, unbuilt, still in boxes :-) ?

I think Dragon had moved along the learning curve by the time these came out. So they aren't as horrific as the J

Biggles

You can make something nice out of the Acadamy kits.....I bought the kit without the side skirts some time ago....very cheap and for that price you still have a nice kit....

They're also very usefull for trying out zimmerit, improving your airbrush skills etc.....you can try new things on those kits Who know, you may learn a lot

Very simple explanation - original kit of Pz.1 Ausf.B didn't have clear parts for vision blocks at all and covers were not positionable. DML added clear vision blocks to the DAK kit and at the same time they added positionable covers - to lower the cost they molded all these new parts on one clear parts sprue. It is not a big problem however, is it?...



It was done to avoid ejector pin marks on track links. With less attachment points these tiny and detailed links would have to be pushed away from the molds with ejector pins. I personaly prefer to cut off the (very small) sprue attachment points than fill and sand ejector pin marks, but your mileage may vary. And of course aftermarket tracks will be easier to use (but will cost you extra bucks).

Pawel

Hi Pawel,




No problem at all, I just wondered why they replicated the vision ports aswel. It's only that you end up with a lot of spare Pzr I vision port covers.. :-) But hey, I feel that they might come in handy one day to fill up the back of a maintanance truck.. . It's not a problem, but I just wonder why they add a superstructure without detail and separate structure side and roof sections, to create in effect a double skinned vehicle? That's all. Like I say, I only bought it yesterday, I know little of Pzr I's (yet ) and bought it on the strenght of the added DAK figures and equipment which will create a nice little dio. They even include a lizard.. :-) .




Sorry, but I have to disagree with this one. I don't think the track-links are big enough to warrant 5 sprue attachment points. I am using the Master Box Ltd. indy links at the moment,and I don't have large hands, and this is how they measure on my fingertip.



They have no sink marks, and only two attachment points. With large track-links like Tiger and T-34's I coould see that as a valid reason, but not with these small ones. As for after market prices, Fruil and MK et al micht be pricing themselfs out of the market ( £ 30 +)
but the MB set is just about $ 7, I bought mine from Gunny ( Mark Smith) and I think they are worth every penny.

I'm not knocking the kit, which I think will build up very nicely, just making an observation on a kit in a market where the bar seems to be raised with every new release. Especialy by Dragon themselfs.. Indeed compared with the quality only a few years ago, we are lucky indeed.

Cheers
Henk