This is a project of firsts. First 48th scale kit, first Panzer IV, first late war tank, first one with sooooo much PE, first tank with zimmerit and first attempt at soldering for anything other than Model Railroading.
It is the Tamiya IV J kit, along with the Eduard "BIG ED" PE set. I opted for the BIG ED, because as it is my first zimm coated tank, I was looking for an easy option. I know many modelers don't like PE zimm, but I didn't want to attempt scratchbuilt zimm for my first time. The PE set comes with the Zimm, Hull Schurzen, the IV J detail set (that has the turret Schurzen) and express wheel masks. I haven't counted the parts, but there is a TON of them.
Last night I attempted soldering for the first time on the towing brackets (is that the proper term?) and it worked great! Very tedious in this scale, but relatively straight forward. I know the plate that this one is mounted on is a little crooked.. (I ain't perfect) but I am impressed with how strong the bond is. 100 times stronger than using CA, and a cleaner joint. (I tried CA at first)
Sorry for the poor picture quality...
