Enzo the Magnificent Posted December 29, 2018 Share Posted December 29, 2018 Imposter syndrome is the fear of being exposed as a fraud. I can usually get through an aircraft build thread without feeling any of it. Armour models are somewhat different for me. However, over the past few years I have managed to complete a number of 1/72 AFVs and about half a dozen 1/48 ones. This, on the other hand, is a completely different kettle of . I haven't built a 1/35 AFV for forty-four years. Then it was the old Tamiya Panther - a kit which was far less sophisticated and intimidating than what I will be attempting to build in this GB. I'm feeling quite a bit of imposter syndrome, so to get rid of it I wish to state that I do not have a clue what I am doing! I'm really making this one up as I go along. So here we go with the Hobby Boss (ex-Tristar) Panzer IV Ausf C. There are no crew figures in the kit, so I've chucked in a Mini Art crew set. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exdraken Posted December 29, 2018 Share Posted December 29, 2018 I am in... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Bob Posted December 29, 2018 Share Posted December 29, 2018 Wellcome, the only thing you need to know about Panzer IV's, lots of wheels. As for those 1940 tankie berets, they would have kept your feet dry in the rain. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob G Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 You'll be fine Enzo, it's just a plastic kit of a tank. Nothing to stress about at all. My biggest worry though is that people will see this kit and say "WOW!! HobbyBoss kits are GREAT!", and go out to buy others from HB, when we all know that mostly they're inaccurate pieces of poop. Such a travesty that the Tristar moulds should end up with HB logos on them. Enjoy (although the 204 track parts may try(star) your patience - at least you won't have to glue them al la Dragon Magic Track, as they're clip together.) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted December 30, 2018 Author Share Posted December 30, 2018 Let's look at the sprues. There are about thirty of them, although they are not all different. There can be up to four examples of some of the smaller ones. This kit must make working in the Hobby Boss packing department an utter nightmare! I've learned a few things about working with such a complex kit. One is that you must check and double check the number of a part. Just because it looks right doesn't mean that it's suitable for the variant you are building. More instance, this kit has two front panels for the turret and two seperate engine decking assemblies. There are two fidderent types of return rollers and even different lubrication points for the suspension. Be carefull! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted December 30, 2018 Author Share Posted December 30, 2018 Here we go. Hold on tight, rider! The first thing to do was build the lower hull. In many kits this would be a single moulding to which things are added. In this kit there are eight parts. Then you add the suspension mountings - thankfully a single part each. There are also bumbers to prevent the suspension moving to far. They could have been a single part, but no. The rubber stop is a seperate part. It's about 2mm across and is really easy to lose... I've added the front decking as well. When I offered up the man decking component, there was a large gap, so I've added a plastic card strip, both to close the gap and also provide some structural integrity to the assembly. As I said in the first post of this thread, I don't really know what I'm doing when building armour. I usually build models on numerous components, paint them and then assemble the components. I've seen videos on youtube where people assemble a whole tank kit and then paint it, so I'm going to give that technique a try. We'll see how we go. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted December 30, 2018 Author Share Posted December 30, 2018 Next step was to build the upper hull decking. I definitely think this kit is over-engineered as the parts breakdown sometimes seems done simply to increase the part count. This means that the main component of the upper decking is really flimsy. As you add the front and side panels it can flex. I ended up with gaps along all the joint lines. I ended up filling them from inside the assembly. But is starts to look good once the upper and lower hulls are joined (not permanently at the moment though) Okay, let's take a look at the suspension. Again, there are a lot of parts for each assembly - five for each one, one of which is optional depending on the style of lubrication reservoir. Some of these parts are tiny and there are no spares, so be very carefull indeed not to feed the carpet monster! But it all looks good when assembled. And if you build carefully, the suspension actually works, which is perfect for diorama builders. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted December 30, 2018 Author Share Posted December 30, 2018 I've started adding the hatches and engine decking. As I mentioned earlier, it is important to double check the parts you use as there are two sets of engines decking parts included. All the hatches are seperate because they can be built open. They even have detail on the inner faces. There is no internal detail in the hull, but that sort of thing could be added from aftermarket resin sets, which would make for a spectacular model. There is, however, quite a lot of detail in the turret interior. As @Retired Bob mentioned, there are lots of wheels... ... each of which is made from six parts!!! The drive housings have six parts each, two of which are seperate bolt heads! The drive sprockets and idlers have been attached with blutak so that they can rotate when I add the tracks. That's going to be fun! As you can see, I've added some reinforcement inside the hull assembly. And this is how the model stands at present. It may seem to have moved quickly, but that's an illusion. I started the model on the first day of the GB and have been working slowly but steadily. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzy Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 Nice progress Enzo, the workable suspension is a nice touch. I wish dragon would have added that on some of the panzer kits I've built. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 Hi Enzo. Great to see you taking part in this GB - especially as it's you first 1/35 AFV for 44 years! And you look to be making excellent progress! Kind regards, Stix 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Bob Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 Hi Enzo Dragon did a Panzer IV Ausf C, and they also went OTT on the parts count, even down to including sprocket rims and separate bolts? But it’s better than the old Tamiya ausf D/E, it has much fewer parts count but the sprockets and track are too wide, in fact the track is the late type with solid horns and ice cleats. I know I have one and I bought the Miniart early Panzer IV tracks to improve its appearance, 5 sprue attachments to each track link, 101 links per side all held together with plastic pins! After all that you then have to find some early sprockets of the correct width! I really should take up something more relaxing like brain surgery. Anyhow you look as though you have the little blighter under control, the fun part will come soon, so I have been told. Bob 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scargsy Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 Hi Enzo, Looks very similar to the HobbyBoss Ausf B kit I'm building (no surprises there), I hope you have better luck with the tracks than I did. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted January 3, 2019 Author Share Posted January 3, 2019 4 hours ago, Scargsy said: I hope you have better luck with the tracks than I did. That sounds ominous!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Lloyd Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 (edited) When models have this many parts, I can't help but wonder whether I'd be better off doing a nut-and-bolt restoration of some derelict collectible car. These suspension units would have spent 90% of their lives covered in a layer of mud anyway. But I'm missing the point of modelling, aren't I? Mods, please don't ban me for my heresy! Edited January 4, 2019 by Peter Lloyd 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 Hi Enzo. I know you are a busy person but I'm just checking if you have had chance to do any more work on your Pz.IV? Kind regards, Stix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted January 23, 2019 Author Share Posted January 23, 2019 Those tracks are really, reeeely slow going... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted February 18, 2019 Author Share Posted February 18, 2019 Way past time for an update on this thread... The tracks were driving me bonkers! I finally got 'em finished, but they're not the tidiest tracks you've ever seen. But at least maybe I can make some headway now. Such as priming... ... and painting... My intention was to use the three Lifecolor Panzergrau paints (deep, base and flashed). But when I sprayed on Lifecolor UA-253 Panzergrau base shade, it looked far too dark. Therefore the Lifecolor is used for the shadowed areas, with Tamiya XF-63 German Grey for the base color. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 Hi Enzo. Great to see there's been some progress and it's looking superb in it's coat of pant. I'm looking forward to seeing more. Kind regards , Stix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted March 4, 2019 Author Share Posted March 4, 2019 The tyres on the wheels and return rollers were painted with Lifecolor UA733 Tyre Black and the tracks were painted with Panzer Aces track primer The turret interior has some rudimentary detail, which I'm sure someone with better skills than I could really do justice. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted March 6, 2019 Share Posted March 6, 2019 Excellent progress on this project too Enzo! Kind regards, Stix 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted March 17, 2019 Share Posted March 17, 2019 Hi Enzo. Great to see this in the gallery. It really looks superb! Very well done. Kind regards, Stix 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted March 17, 2019 Author Share Posted March 17, 2019 Thanks Stix, as I've said elsewhere, this has taken me out of my comfort zone. Although I've built numerous tanks before, they have all been in smaller scales. This is the first 1/35 tank that I've built in over forty years! I'm hoping you'll all ignore the tracks... They were a complete nightmare! I also need some more practice painting figures. Oh... and the division symbol is upside down. I followed the kit instructions... Having built this one, I now want to build some more 1/35 tanks. There will be a Nashorn in the Specialists GB and I'll be joinging in with the Patton STGB in a couple of weeks. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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