Revell Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.H Panzer IV (03333) 1:35

[Mike]

Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.H Panzer IV (03333)

1:35 Revell

 

 

Germany between WWI and WWII began rearming at an alarming rate in secret then in plain view, building reserves to enable them to attack and subdue the majority of Europe, including a large chunk of Easten Europe and the Soviet Union.  During the annexation of the Eastern parts of Europe and France, the Panzer I and II were adequate for the task, bolstered by the heavier Panzer III and the Panzer IV, the latter going on to partake in the remainder of WWII thanks to successive upgrades to the armour and armament.  By the time the Ausf.H reached the field, the armour had more than doubled all around, and with the use of a longer 75mm KwK 40 L/48 main gun, it was a capable tank.  It saw battle in all the major European theatres, and although it was intended to be replaced by the newer Panther, which was Germany’s answer to the dreaded Russian T-34, the fact that the Panther couldn’t be manufactured in sufficient quantities led to the continued use of the Panzer IV until the end of the conflict.  The Ausf.J superseded it with some minor changes, plus the lack of Zimmerit paste that was used to defeat magnetic mines applied by Soviet troops, a danger that had previously been exaggerated by top brass.

 

 

The Kit

This is a reboxing of a fairly old Academy kit of the type, but for its age (it’s a child of the 80s) it looks to be one of their better kits, and while it isn’t cutting edge, the main giveaway that it is of an older vintage is the space for an electric motor and batteries in the hull, that some of the ejector-pin marks are a little rougher and there are a few small sink marks here and there, such as in the back of the included commander figure.  The kit arrives in an end-opening box, and inside are five sprues and two hull parts in a sand-coloured styrene, a sprue of black additional track links, two sand-coloured sprues of flexible poly-caps, two lengths of black flexible tracks, decal sheet and instruction booklet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unusually, construction begins with the rear bulkhead, adding a flat tank and exhaust muffler along with a few other small parts.  Then the road wheels are made up in 16 pairs with a poly-cap in the centre, which is also the case with the drive sprocket and idler wheel, the latter being of the tubular outer ring type. Eight pairs of return rollers are also glued together, after which the lower hull is prepared with bogey parts, four per side.  The final drive housing is fitted to the sides of the hull (after filling ejector pin marks here), the return rollers are added, and the road wheels are attached, two per bogey plus drive sprockets and idlers on each side.  Small hooks and towing eyes are affixed as this progresses, then the tracks are joined by four pins that are melted flat by careful use of a hot screwdriver blade or similar.

 

 

The upper hull is fairly complete from the box, but has forward fender sections, rear bulkhead, front glacis appliqué armour panel with driver’s slit and bow machine gun added, plus a host of pioneer tools, grab-handles, fire extinguisher, crew hatches and convoy lights dotted around.  Side panels, schurzen carrier rails, spare road wheel carriers, tow cables and other stowage boxes finish off the upper hull, then attention turns to the turret and its weaponry.  The barrel is first to be made up, with the two halves of the gun tube joined vertically and joined by the tip of the muzzle brake, then a keyed socket on the short sleeve accepts the tube, and is joined by the rear that fixes to the breech, which is represented in full with good detail considering the tooling’s age.  This fixes into the rear of mantlet and receives the barrel later on, but the commander’s hatch and turret roof are made up first, as is the commander who is given detailed painting instructions.  The bustle-mounted strowage bin is fabricated from two main parts with six detailing brackets, then this is put to the side while the turret is built.  The two sides are mated with the roof and glacis plate, with the gun and basket attached, then decorated with the MG34 machine gun and the side hatches that were a weak-point of the design.  The completed (ish) turret is twisted into place and locked down by the bayonet connector, and a pair of optional spare track lengths can be fitted on the glacis plate as appliqué armour if you wish, and these are made up from the individual track links found on the black sprue.

 

 

I said completed (ish) turret, because this boxing includes schurzen for the turret, which curves round the back and sides, held in place by brackets and bolstering the strength of the shot-trap on the front corners of the turret by wrapping around this area.  The side skirts also have six paneled schurzen armour moulded as one part each side, which is dotted with C-brackets on the rear that fit over the triangular upstands on the rails.  This is why pictures often show panels missing, as well as badly dinged by some slightly careless driving or weapons impacts.  The final task is to add a 70mm aerial to the back of the vehicle, which you are instructed to make by stretching a piece of sprue over a candle or similar.

 

 

Markings

There are two options in the box and they are provided in 4-view drawings in full colour in the back of the instruction booklet.

 

• Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.H (Early), Unknown unit, Normandy 1944
• Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.H (Early), 16 Panzer Division, Operation Avalanche, June 1943

 

 

 

The decals are by Zanetti, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas.

 

 

Conclusion

It’s not the most modern tooling, but it shouldn’t tax anyone too much, and a lot of folks still prefer flexible rubbery tracks, and these are nicely done.  You might want to fill in a few sink marks and ejector-pin marks here and there, or just have fun with it.

 

Recommended.

 

Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit

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[Yorkshire man]

For option A you will need zimmerit for it to be accurate....

https://ww2incolour.blogspot.com/2011/07/panzer-iv-of-hitlerjugend-division.html

[Mike]

12 hours ago, Yorkshire man said:

For option A you will need zimmerit for it to be accurate....

https://ww2incolour.blogspot.com/2011/07/panzer-iv-of-hitlerjugend-division.html

Good info.  So it's out with the putty or an aftermarket set if there's one available.

[Yorkshire man]

 

Here you go.