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Panzer IV Ausf.E


vaoinas

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This is my long lasting project started back in 2013. 

As you can see, there hasn't been much done here. But I recently got the fenders on it and figured it's time to get it up on the internet.

 

I don't have the shot of all the stuff I'm using here, but the base kit is Dragon 6301. I won't use Vorpanzer parts and will make it a regular later version Ausf.E. 

I also have Armorscale fenders and barrel, Lion Roar PE set, Aber PE stowage bin and Modelkasten tracks for this project.

 

I'm also using the interior bits that got left over of Trumpeters Brückenleger build some years ago.

 

 

So far I have the suspension put together and also most of the drivers compartment. I made a very basic floor around the turret turntable just to fill the huge emptiness around it,

but I guess I wont bother myself with the interior much more than the parts that will be directly visible via open hatches.

Armoscale fenders were a charm to put together and seem to be very accurately built up. These have the PE parts and resin bolt heads to it in the set and they fit on the plastic very exact.

 

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Cheers!

Kristjan

 

 

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Thanks, everyone.

 

4 hours ago, flashlight said:

Looks great! Sorry for my dumb question - what is the red on the insides of the road wheels?

It's red primer. I tend to paint the insides of double roadwheels before assembling them. It's arguable, if the red primer there is the correct color there but it certainly gives an accent to the model.

Idea is not mine though, I got it from the chap named James Tainton back in the Planetarmor forum more than a dozen years ago.

 

1 hour ago, robw_uk said:

nice work... and nice PE soldering... am risking getting a soldering iron to try to bolster by PE, any tips?

I have not thoroughly mastered soldering myself, but if asked, I would recommend a decent soldering station and a nice little iron with a sharp pointy tip.

And a loads of flux solves many of the problems you'll encounter on this road.

 

 

Kristjan

Edited by vaoinas
Grammar
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  • 2 months later...

There's some progress with this one to report.

 

I managed to finish the partial interior. There's really not much effort in it, just oall the Trumpeter bits and pieces put together and painted.

 

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After gluing the upper and lower hull together, I started with the exterior. 

The fender plating is only halfway there though, I ran out of rivets and have to wait till the additional ones arrive.

I guess the images speak for themselves here.

 

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Cheers!

Kristjan

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Lovely detailing and photo-etch work Kristjan.

 

3 hours ago, vaoinas said:

I ran out of rivets and have to wait till the additional ones arrive

I use a punch set for making rivet and bolt heads, they are expensive but will last a lifetime if looked after. If you are doing a lot of this sort of work then they are probably worth investing in.

Wayne

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  • 1 month later...
On 12/02/2021 at 14:30, diablo rsv said:

Lovely detailing and photo-etch work Kristjan.

 

I use a punch set for making rivet and bolt heads, they are expensive but will last a lifetime if looked after. If you are doing a lot of this sort of work then they are probably worth investing in.

Wayne

Thanks, Wayne.
I like to use Master Club rivets, bolts and nuts, when necessary. These have shaft underneath which makes them easy to place.

On these fenders they had similar rivets in the kit, but I ran out of these. There were probably enough, but I broke/lost too many of them,

I have Master Club ones now which are pretty much the same, only the shaft is larger in diameter and thus requires a bit larger hole underneath.

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After the last update I concentrated more on the gun.

According to Terry Ashley's review, Dragon got the gun a bit too short. Luckily I had another one of the needed detail in my spares bin, 

So I had a transplant surgery on them. I didn't bother to finish the joint because the gun mantlet covers it anyway.

 

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The frame underneath the gun is from LionRoar kit I have, but the attachment ring had to be made of scratch.

It was a bit tricky to solder it all to one piece, but totally worth the effort.

Aluminum barrel is by Aber and is a neat addition to the model.

 

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Additional armored plates in the front required some additional work to fit. I also added some missing welds and screw heads.

 

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Drivers and Radio operators hatch had additional touch up too. These are made of scratch using some PE scrap bits.

Hinges on the hatches are drilled out and are workable. 

 

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The "rommelkiste" was replaced with a metal one by Aber.

I really enjoyed to assemble this. Though it's not quite finished yet, latches are to be made and I probably will add a strip of

resin rivets on the upper edge instead of the recessed rivets there are at the moment.

 

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And the fenders got finally finished. 

As you can see, it has the tracks on as well. I used Master Club 380mm early tracks this time. The set is intended to Pz III family,

but there are just enough links to complete the longer PzIV tracks if needed.

 

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Cheers!

Kristjan

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Beautiful work Kristjan, it just looks amazing , especially the work that you have done on the PE. It's a shame to paint it now, it looks good on its own as it is.  Looking forward to seeing what you do with the painting...

 

all the best

 

Ed

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thank you for your kind words.

 

I was a bit impatient to get the turret together so I tried to get all the insides to be painted as quick as possible.

Didn't bother too much with the details there, just enough that all that can be seen trough the hatches would be convincible.

 

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And that's how it sits in the hull:

 

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Then I hurried to glue two halves of the turret together to get over with it. And in the next day I realized it wasn't maybe the best idea, because the gap between the lower edge of the

turret and the hull was pretty obvious. Didn't measure it but I guess it was almost a half a mill or so. And that really was a bummer. I tried to shave off plastic wherever I could and it made

some difference but nothing to cheer about. So I glued 0.25mm thick styrene strip under the turret and it made the trick.

 

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Dragon has made it that way that the turret is held in the hull by the turret floor and after all mentined above I realized it may not be the best way to do it,

because after all the trying an fitting the turret in, rear legs of the floor started to break up and down and the plastic went really weak. 

Lot's of cyanacrylate did help that much that the thing didn't fell apart but it made also the legs look like crap.

 

So I decided to reinforce the plastic legs with some brass angle that I glued there. As you can see, it doesn't look much after painted, but I'm okay with this as 

it's not really visible.

 

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After all that it seemed great again and I added the missing weld seams to the turret shell and front plate.

 

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Among other things I painted the insides of hatches as well. I decided to make these elfenbein because I've seen a few photos

that show Afrikakorps Pz IV hatches that way.

 

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That's all for now.

 

Don't get bitten by Covid,

Kristjan

 

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Sorry to hear of your of your turret woes, but you have overcome them superbly.

Looks great with the turret in place

 

  Stay safe               Roger

 

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