Jagdpanzer IV ......early type

[digger303]

Francis is going to build the Tamiya version of this, but as a later variant.

The front plate was too wide and I didn't notice until I went to add the differentials and found it was maybe 0.25mm to high requiring me to sand it down level.


I worked on parts of the deck adding all the bits and pieces. I'm doubtful I've placed the PE correctly.


All the wheels are sanded and assembled, but not glued together as proper boggies just yet. I'll paint them up before I do that.

[Stokesy44]

Off to a good start.

Re the PE for the spare tracks and not being sure of placement, it might be easier to sort out the spare track section first and position it on the panel, then add the PE at the corners. Having built a couple of IV's that's how I did it.

[digger303]

Off to a good start.

Re the PE for the spare tracks and not being sure of placement, it might be easier to sort out the spare track section first and position it on the panel, then add the PE at the corners. Having built a couple of IV's that's how I did it.

Thanks for the tip it's a good idea.I will do that when I get a few links together.
Doing some research I also found on these that often they just had empty racks there and shifted the spare links to a bar across the back plate. This was done because these machines were so front heavy with the upgraded gun.

[Stokesy44]

Off to a good start.

Re the PE for the spare tracks and not being sure of placement, it might be easier to sort out the spare track section first and position it on the panel, then add the PE at the corners. Having built a couple of IV's that's how I did it.

Thanks for the tip it's a good idea.I will do that when I get a few links together.
Doing some research I also found on these that often they just had empty racks there and shifted the spare links to a bar across the back plate. This was done because these machines were so front heavy with the upgraded gun.

good point. They did tend to sling the tracks all over the place! Bloody untidy of you ask me!

[Garion77]

Of to a good start my friend ! Your kit seems to have good details. As I said to you, mine already started also. Ready for priming now. I'll have to post my progress before I leave for another trip.

[digger303]

Of to a good start my friend ! Your kit seems to have good details. As I said to you, mine already started also. Ready for priming now. I'll have to post my progress before I leave for another trip.

Heck priming, I'd better get a move on.

[Garion77]

Of to a good start my friend ! Your kit seems to have good details. As I said to you, mine already started also. Ready for priming now. I'll have to post my progress before I leave for another trip.

Heck priming, I'd better get a move on.

Yes ! everything is ready for priming ! For the first time in our buddy builds, I'm the one more advance ! but well... there's quite a lot less pieces in my kit...and it's been quite slow at work lately so let's say I spent a few hours during my day job doing that !

[Stokesy44]

Yes ! everything is ready for priming ! For the first time in our buddy builds, I'm the one more advance ! but well... there's quite a lot less pieces in my kit...and it's been quite slow at work lately so let's say I spent a few hours during my day job doing that !

Noted by HR!

[digger303]

Yes ! everything is ready for priming ! For the first time in our buddy builds, I'm the one more advance ! but well... there's quite a lot less pieces in my kit...and it's been quite slow at work lately so let's say I spent a few hours during my day job doing that !

Noted by HR!

[digger303]

I've been beavering away as the missus has chucked a fit and I'm keeping out of her way.
I replaced a couple of helper springs on the hatches and decided to fit the unusual MG cause I like the look.



The main feature is now complete, but not much will be seen once the roof goes on.


This all went together reasonably well.


Still a bit behind Francis, but I'm gaining. The tracks all being Magic single link are going to put the brakes on a bit.

See how I go there is still a few hrs left in the day.

[digger303]

Ooops I forgot to add the lower hull pic



A little bit of PE and I'm not sure what the point of the bit in the centre of the idler tensioner wheel was for as it's going to be hard to notice that.
Now I did have a small fit problem here. The rear plate was too wide and I should have realised that and trimmed it before fitting. Instead I fitted it and of course it protruded out one side, which effected the finial drive fitment. I chose the hardest fix of course and thinned the finial drive housing. So far it looks ok and not noticeable. The front hull deck plate also needed a little trim being too wide.

Cheers

[Stokesy44]

Good progress. The fighting compartment looks nice and boxey, she's certainly not a pretty one!

I take your point about the need for some of that PE. The stuff in the idler wheel interior is a perfect case of Emperor's New Clothes for me. Pointless as you cant see it once the tracks are on.

Whenever I see a PE fret in a kit my first thoughts are how much am I capable of making and how much is actually needed?

[digger303]

Once I figured out how they wanted me to construct this I've now got it about 1/3 done.






I wacked on a priming and base coat and thought I'd use this quickwheels template to speed things up.

I'm not sure whether lacquer thinner is good for these quickwheels products as the flexible blue coating tend to get sticky when I try to clean it.
Has anyone else any experience with this product.

A quick mock up of how it might look.

[Stokesy44]

That is looking really good. Those screens look superb, great effort.

I'm proper jealous of that wheel template too.

[digger303]

That is looking really good. Those screens look superb, great effort.

I'm proper jealous of that wheel template too.

I thought I'd would splurge and buy the template as I've got more than one Dragon panzer iv and I'd get some use out of it rather than buy a template just for one kit.

I've been busy making up the shrubbery camo tie downs and the like today. Fiddley damn things, just as well there are spares provided cause I was using 2 for everyone I completed. A veritable shower of PE you might say, I really am going to treat myself to a expensive set of Swiss watch maker tweezers one day. Even the dspiae ones I have aren't prefect.

As you can see I have some small warping issues....common for this kit I believe.
Tie downs on and I finally got the gun site periscope into place after having removed about 10mm from it's support and moving it back slightly. It won't be seen so no biggie now.


I figure I grabbed from a old Dragon figure kit ( 6375 ), it doesn't fit well when you look closer. I good spread of sprue goo should fix most of it and only half of it will be visible.



I'll have to get back to painting now and cleaning up the figure.

[Garion77]

Going well my friend !

Small warping issue you say.... I would differ and say huge warping issues ! Never saw that much before !

[digger303]

Going well my friend !

Small warping issue you say.... I would differ and say huge warping issues ! Never saw that much before !

Thank you.
I had a Zvedza Tiger 1 with the deck bent upwards at a 90 degree angle just forward of the turret ring and that's my absolute worse case.
So not too fussed about this little problem. I employed Neil's favourite method......clamped the bejezzes out of it

[Stokesy44]

Going well my friend !

Small warping issue you say.... I would differ and say huge warping issues ! Never saw that much before !

Thank you.
I had a Zvedza Tiger 1 with the deck bent upwards at a 90 degree angle just forward of the turret ring and that's my absolute worse case.
So not too fussed about this little problem. I employed Neil's favourite method......clamped the bejezzes out of it

This is probably the worst case of warping that I've seen. Not sure if I will be able to continue with it.

1/35 Jagdtiger, very old moulds.

[Quax]

great build going on Digger with your trademark excellent PE work!

A couple of interesting things about yours and Garions JgdPz IV builds is that the Alkett one is the later build not the Vomag as the A was the interim as it required an unconverted Pz IV J chassis and so was quicker to build. What I also love is that Dragon have added the Vorsachs -J development of the MP44 to shoot around corners which was added to very late A's and V's!

apologies if that was too "rivety"

Paul

[digger303]

great build going on Digger with your trademark excellent PE work!

A couple of interesting things about yours and Garions JgdPz IV builds is that the Alkett one is the later build not the Vomag as the A was the interim as it required an unconverted Pz IV J chassis and so was quicker to build. What I also love is that Dragon have added the Vorsachs -J development of the MP44 to shoot around corners which was added to very late A's and V's!

apologies if that was too "rivety"

Paul

Not rivetty at all, but I'm a little confused.
My book says the ( A) L/70 went into production Aug 44 and had the stand Zim, 4 return rollers and all the road and idler wheels were ruubber lined and in Dec those idlers were reduced to 3 and mounting points were installed for crane lifting purposes. I also thought the MP44 was deleted at the same time. I have nothing about retro fitting old Panzer iv's which I have no doubt they did when knocked out ones were returned to the workshop's.
My ref also says the Vomag started production at the same time in Aug 44 and went through to 45.
So you can see why I'm confused, but look forward to your view on it.

[Quax]

Hi Digger, you raise some interesting points, here's the information I have:
The initial version of the JgdP IV was the Ausf F with the L/48 (or short!) gun and used the chassis of the Pzkfw IV Ausf F and production given to Vogtlandische Maschinen AG (V) as they also produced the Pz chassis - this commenced in December 1943. Trials and initial builds of the JgdPz IV L/70 started in May 1944 and as we know had various issues particularly with it being nose heavy and hard to steer. This was resolved mostly by changing over to the Pzkfw IV Ausf J Chassis which was shortened, had a return roller removed and internally sprung steel wheels as the first two pairs to take the weight. following the Fuhrer Befel that said all Pz IV chassis were to be built as JdgPz to speed things up Alkett were ordered to design a temporary JgdPz to speed up production this they did with the L/70 Zwishchenlosung (or interim) fortunately they decided on A.... This went into production in August 1944 but production in the chaos of the wars climax was worse than the V and its believed only 278 were completed against roughly 1000 V's Production of the A ceased in February and the V in March 1945

As for the StuG44 (rather than MP44)....

Im afraid I had to photo your photo, this is the "shoot around corners" local defence weapon which was added to both V and A' s late in the war as there was a 200m dead zone around the vehicle and this cut it to 15m. apparently the Allies were very interested in the concept but probably decided that an atomic bomb negated the corners let alone a need to shoot round them!



if this is all wrong its somebody else's fault.....

cheers

Paul

[digger303]

Hi Digger, you raise some interesting points, here's the information I have:
The initial version of the JgdP IV was the Ausf F with the L/48 (or short!) gun and used the chassis of the Pzkfw IV Ausf F and production given to Vogtlandische Maschinen AG (V) as they also produced the Pz chassis - this commenced in December 1943. Trials and initial builds of the JgdPz IV L/70 started in May 1944 and as we know had various issues particularly with it being nose heavy and hard to steer. This was resolved mostly by changing over to the Pzkfw IV Ausf J Chassis which was shortened, had a return roller removed and internally sprung steel wheels as the first two pairs to take the weight. following the Fuhrer Befel that said all Pz IV chassis were to be built as JdgPz to speed things up Alkett were ordered to design a temporary JgdPz to speed up production this they did with the L/70 Zwishchenlosung (or interim) fortunately they decided on A.... This went into production in August 1944 but production in the chaos of the wars climax was worse than the V and its believed only 278 were completed against roughly 1000 V's Production of the A ceased in February and the V in March 1945

As for the StuG44 (rather than MP44)....

Im afraid I had to photo your photo, this is the "shoot around corners" local defence weapon which was added to both V and A' s late in the war as there was a 200m dead zone around the vehicle and this cut it to 15m. apparently the Allies were very interested in the concept but probably decided that an atomic bomb negated the corners let alone a need to shoot round them!



if this is all wrong its somebody else's fault.....

cheers

Paul

Yeah I knew this wasn't really right to include it in this kit, but it was so interesting I just had to put it in.

[digger303]

Moving along







Neils patented method of problem solving employed to the fullest

[Stokesy44]

Good progress. The track sag looks superb.

[digger303]

Good progress. The track sag looks superb.

Thank you.



Got the track brackets wrong so remove, reattach and patch


just working on the tools atm.

[Stokesy44]

That is looking nice in the old tri-color scheme.

[Quax]

I agree the sag in the tracks looks terrific as do the wheels, I have the same template so will try my usual Mr Color thinners with it and see what happens What silver did you use on the return rollers as it looks very nice?

cheers

Paul

[digger303]

That is looking nice in the old tri-color scheme.

Thank you, I tried to not make the colours too solid.

I agree the sag in the tracks looks terrific as do the wheels, I have the same template so will try my usual Mr Color thinners with it and see what happens What silver did you use on the return rollers as it looks very nice?
cheers
Paul

Thanks
I think it was AK Natural steel, hard for me to remember now.

[digger303]

Started work on a figure.



Damn just noticed a paint repair to do.



One track isn't tracking.



Still more to do.

[Stokesy44]

Might have to get the old elbow grease out to 'encourage' that track to sort itself.

[digger303]

Might have to get the old elbow grease out to 'encourage' that track to sort itself.

It's really weird I checked it this morning and it is a fraction off , but nothing like in the pic and all the track sag is correct.

[digger303]

Splashed on some wash, pigment and added the decals.




Cheers

[Quax]

definitely coming to life now, glad you're happy with sorting out the couple of issues!

Paul

[Stokesy44]

Even with so few decals, its amazing how much is added to the model's character when they are applied.

Looking good.

[digger303]

Thanks guys.
It's been a while ( 2 weeks since the last update) , but I did think it was much longer than that.
It's all done now.











I could possibly have added some chipping and wear around the hull and jerry cans it make this more believable , but I'm happy just to do it like this.
Still I hope you like it.

[Stokesy44]

Great finish. I really like the addition of the foliage. You can see it in so many photos from the war, especially from the Normandy campaign

[digger303]

Great finish. I really like the addition of the foliage. You can see it in so many photos from the war, especially from the Normandy campaign

Thanks Stokesy

[Quax]

great build Digger, as usual very subtly weathered. I love the exhausts too and agree with Stokesy the foliage looks the part, whose is it?

Paul

[digger303]

great build Digger, as usual very subtly weathered. I love the exhausts too and agree with Stokesy the foliage looks the part, whose is it?

Paul

Thanks Paul.
It's called boutique bushwoods......doraalan.taobao.com
I got it through Aliexpress.com

[Garion77]

Great job my friend ! it looks really as it is ! Nice smooth paint job. Love the figure and the tracks.

[digger303]

Great job my friend ! it looks really as it is ! Nice smooth paint job. Love the figure and the tracks.

Thank you friend.

[Tomcat64]

Just caught up on the whole thread - that's awesome work, I can only echo what the lads have already said about the track sag, camo, weathering & foliage.

I love those mesh schurtzen too.

Cracking result mate - love it

[digger303]

Just caught up on the whole thread - that's awesome work, I can only echo what the lads have already said about the track sag, camo, weathering & foliage.

I love those mesh schurtzen too.

Cracking result mate - love it

Thanks Neil.

[DRUMS01]

Wonderful modeling. Great job at fixing the fit issues. As what the others said, great track sag, nice details, and I really like the light camouflage technique.

[digger303]

Wonderful modelling. Great job at fixing the fit issues. As what the others said, great track sag, nice details, and I really like the light camouflage technique.

Thanks for the kind words.