echen Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 (edited) Following my Strelets 6" cannon debacle I thought I'd look for some quality to console myself. I think I've well and truly scored a hit with this. My iffy phone pics don't show the quality of this kit but they give an idea. I haven't started it yet but can't wait to clear some room for it. The parts look well moulded and there are a lot of them! The road wheels have the tyres and wheels moulded separately that will make painting somewhat easier. There are a number of surplus parts for the spares box too - including a set of hull schurzen and mounting brackets in addition to the PE schurzen. I suspect that the kit is not for beginners and looking at the destructions I'm going to need to plan the construction to take account of hairy-sticking the more delicate tucked away areas such as those behind and beneath the PE schurzen grilles. Pics aside this looks to me like an excellent kit and I hope I can do it justice. Edited June 11, 2023 by echen 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stef N. Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 Looks like you have done well with that purchase. Plenty of parts and those grills look great.👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vytautas Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 (edited) 4 hours ago, echen said: Following my Strelets 6" cannon debacle I thought I'd look for some quality to console myself. From an engineering point of view, this kit looks a lot duller than Strelets - here round parts appear round and straight ones look straight... Good luck with your build! Vytautas Edited January 1, 2022 by vytautas 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seahawk Posted January 2, 2022 Share Posted January 2, 2022 (edited) Congratulations on your purchase. It looks like an excellent kit with plenty of spare parts to enrich lesser kits in the stash. I am just completing an Ausf G which I thought was the best armour kit I had ever built: all sorts of details were beautifully rendered that I had never even noticed before. And as a brush-painter I'm surprised that the chap who invented those separate tyres for the mainwheels was overlooked in the New Year's Honours: when I am king, I shall certainly put that right. A few little tips: follow the instructions carefully. Dragon leave all sorts of redundant bits on the sprues which have been superseded by better renderings. Case in point: the spare wheel holder. As I finish my Ausf G, I discover that the spare wheel holder won't actually take the spare wheels. It looks as if your boxing has an etch front for that part which'll probably solve the problem but I expect the old part is still lurking on the sprues somewhere to catch out the unwary. With a StuG IV build in parallel, I was looking forward to fitting some nice loose tracks with a bit of sag between the return rollers. Not a bit of it: the tracks on my Ausf G were really tight. There were a few tense moments as I tried to get them on at all and, once installed, they are so tight they have distorted slightly around the rear idler. So make sure your sprockets and idlers are firmly attached! (You may of course be lucky and find that Dragon have provided Ketten (lang) with the J kit.) By the way, did you by any chance buy your kit from Jadlam over Christmas? If so, I think you have have nipped in while my finger dithered over the buy button. My loss. This kit now seems to be completely extinct in the UK. ☹️ Edited January 2, 2022 by Seahawk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adolfocaetanonetto Posted January 2, 2022 Share Posted January 2, 2022 I'm always amazed by the number of pieces and details of the military models 1/72. The photoetch get it in the box? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
echen Posted January 3, 2022 Author Share Posted January 3, 2022 20 hours ago, Seahawk said: did you by any chance buy your kit from Jadlam over Christmas? Twas I. I'd been looking at the Zvezda version for ages. By the time I made up my mind they were all gone! Hence the Dragon version came into my sights. Looks like I nearly missed the last one of those too! I checked ebay and it looked like there might be one left from a UK vendor........ Thanks for the tips about the tracks. If they are too short I have a set of Pz IV tracks from CMK that are longer than I need for my Hasegawa JP IV - I might try them and use the Dragon tracks on the JP IV. 18 hours ago, adolfocaetanonetto said: The photoetch get it in the box? Yes, the PE is supplied with the kit. The number of parts and the detail does very much depend on who supplies the kit. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 Hi echen. Happy New Year. Sorry you had all the problems with your previous project. Hopefully this kit will be far better. I've built a couple of Dragon 1/72 armour kits, but not this one. It looks like a good kit. My advice would be to check to see if you can find any work in progress threads anywhere on the Internet - just to check if any note any problems with Dragon's instructions. I've found there's occasionally issues with the one's I have made. I'm looking forward to following your progress. Kind regards, Stix 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasper dog Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 Looks a lovely kit Echen, way to small for my eyes and fingers these days but a really treat. Is that the mesh type schurzen on the pe too? Good luck Darryl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
echen Posted January 4, 2022 Author Share Posted January 4, 2022 4 minutes ago, Jasper dog said: Is that the mesh type schurzen on the pe too? Certainly is. It looks good on the sprue - hope that translates into the finished article...........................🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
echen Posted March 20, 2023 Author Share Posted March 20, 2023 A little progress. I made a start on the lower hull. I've fitted the Nobel prize-winning roadwheels, the idlers and the sprockets. Looking ahead. My sole PE experience is with parts that just get attached as opposed to bent and attached. Has anyone please got any tips as to how I might most easily bend these tiny flanges round the schurzen grilles that fit between the upper hull and the side skirts? 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sardaukar Posted March 20, 2023 Share Posted March 20, 2023 only a year later? 😀 I was wondering how I missed this thread, still I cannot talk given the amount of half built and barely started kits I have. I know dragon are supposed to be quality, however there always seems to be some errors in the instructions. I have a revell panzer 4 which got abandoned after a return wheel sailed off into the carpet monsters gob. now if anyone has a spare return wheel... I've found PE often isn't as bad once you get going. I invested in one of those fancy PE benders but end up using some square nosed smooth pliers I have most of the the time. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
echen Posted March 20, 2023 Author Share Posted March 20, 2023 @sardaukar Cast your mind back to the point that your return roller flew past on its way to the carpet monster. Did it look anything like the above? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sardaukar Posted March 20, 2023 Share Posted March 20, 2023 mine was yellow which might be a tastier colour. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
echen Posted March 20, 2023 Author Share Posted March 20, 2023 @sardaukar Dragon supply 8 and I only need 6........................... Would one of the above be modifiable to fit the Revell 1/72 kit? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sardaukar Posted March 20, 2023 Share Posted March 20, 2023 5 hours ago, echen said: @sardaukar Dragon supply 8 and I only need 6........................... Would one of the above be modifiable to fit the Revell 1/72 kit? I had to get home and check the kit out. Interesting the difference in detail. I then had to go through my stash and it seems to be I have an italeri, revell and zevzda Panzer 4 and all of them are ausf H's, and so they have 4 return rollers and none with 3 which I guess was a late war change. I did like shurzen which kinda begs the question why didnt I just hide the missing return roller, but at times it doesnt take much to put you off a kit. scratch building a replacement wasn't really an option, circles aren't really something I have the skills to scratch. Thank you for the kind offer, assuming the carpet monster doesnt get yours, I'd happily take one of your hands after all it will be behind the shurzen, yeah crazy I know. Oh I just measured mine its diameter is around 4 mm I assume the dragon one is around the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrancisGL Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 Hi echen, It looks like a very complete kit, I could think of one at 1/35..., in fact I thought so, until I read...lol. Dragon seems to be a brand that has confusing and somewhat complicated instructions, since there are a number of pieces that are not going to be used, which causes more confusion. I have a 1/35 Tiger in my stash, and when I see the blueprint...it doesn't give me good vibes...lol Hope everything goes well. Cheers Francis.👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 Good to see there's been a bit more progress, even if it's taken a while! Kind regards, Stix 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
echen Posted March 23, 2023 Author Share Posted March 23, 2023 (edited) A bad day. Spent ages trying to work out how to fit the side vents for the engine compartment. It might be plain to everyone else but I couldn't get my head round it. Thought I'd cracked it twice and stuck the vents together but they wouldn't fit. So I had to cut them apart - twice. Gave up and went back the next day. White tac to the rescue as I finally cottoned on.............. Now they need tidying before final fitting. Looks like the tracks actually fit with a little scope for some sag - Phew! (So my CMK Pz IV tracks can be used on the JP IV after all.) Edited March 23, 2023 by echen 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maddoxx77 Posted March 23, 2023 Share Posted March 23, 2023 On 20/03/2023 at 15:13, echen said: A little progress. I made a start on the lower hull. I've fitted the Nobel prize-winning roadwheels, the idlers and the sprockets. Looking ahead. My sole PE experience is with parts that just get attached as opposed to bent and attached. Has anyone please got any tips as to how I might most easily bend these tiny flanges round the schurzen grilles that fit between the upper hull and the side skirts? I invested in an PE bending tool. Works great with bigger parts that need bending like the edges on those parts on your photo. Smaller parts often have bending lines and i mostly use a plyer with a flat head to bend those. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Model Mate Posted March 24, 2023 Share Posted March 24, 2023 I've never bothered with fancy etch tools, but there again, I don't use etch that much. I find a pair of square-nosed tweezers generally do the job, unless its a particularly big piece, when I need to get a bit more imaginative and find a vice or something. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
echen Posted March 24, 2023 Author Share Posted March 24, 2023 Thanks @Maddoxx77 and @Model Mate - most helpful. I have not used PE much and, with the 1/72 parts I have come across so far it all seems quite small. I'll make use of the pliers/tweezers route unless I get really stuck and need the bending tool.👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
echen Posted March 25, 2023 Author Share Posted March 25, 2023 Step 6 in the destructions specify removal of the rectangular plate on the LHS turret front. Being a good little modeller I duly cut it off. (and gouged the plastic adjacent requiring filler.) This process opened up a rectangular hole. I think the gunners sight's view is through the left side of the turret front and have found many pics of Pz. IV Ausf J turrets with the plate in place, hinged up or pivoted sideways. No pics with just the aperture. The destructions show a blank plate with no aperture or cover. Anyone got any ideas about this? Do I need to fill the aperture or replace the cover plate? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stef N. Posted March 25, 2023 Share Posted March 25, 2023 I've only got photos of Js with the lump of a visor in situ. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old pro Posted March 25, 2023 Share Posted March 25, 2023 2 hours ago, echen said: Step 6 in the destructions specify removal of the rectangular plate on the LHS turret front. Being a good little modeller I duly cut it off. (and gouged the plastic adjacent requiring filler.) This process opened up a rectangular hole. I think the gunners sight's view is through the left side of the turret front and have found many pics of Pz. IV Ausf J turrets with the plate in place, hinged up or pivoted sideways. No pics with just the aperture. The destructions show a blank plate with no aperture or cover. Anyone got any ideas about this? Do I need to fill the aperture or replace the cover plate? Technically the J was not supposed to have the cover plate, the reality though is quite different, the J was just a cheaper version of the H but not all modifications were incorporated in the production run at once and so it led to wide variations, some even having 4 return rollers still, that said most pictures will show the cover plate in place, even Bulgarian and Syrian post war Js have the cover plate on them. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
echen Posted March 27, 2023 Author Share Posted March 27, 2023 In two minds about the turret front Not sure whether to fill the hole or scratch a cover to be added open to reveal the aperture. Engine vents now in place and holes filled in side armour designed to hold the spare wheels - in case I leave them off or fit them elsewhere as stowage. And upper hull and turret dry fitted. The gun is going to prove tricky - the method of attachment is a tad complicated and has refused to fit with all components so far. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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