Cyber-hobby / Dragon Jagdpanzer IV, L48 (1/35)

[Jasper dog]

That time of year again, holiday build 1;

Grabbed a handful of kits that should be straight forward builds without much in the way of AM or complexity.  Non of which I'd originally planned, those remain on the shelf just decided against at the last minute,  not sure why...

At first glance this looked simple and straightforward, low part count, no pe or resin. Should be ok for a simple no frills out of box build, paintwork will get left until home.

Unfortunately it comes with Dragons horrid DS tracks, I've a set of Fruils that I've chucked in but almost seams a waste considering the price, then again any AM tracks are pricey.

The kit looks like one of Shanghai Dragons original releases going off the symbols on the sprues and the low part count compared to later Dragon offerings, detail is ok but sparse, as for accuracy, couldn't say.

I do prefere the later L70 armed Jagdpanzer with the long barrel and steel front road wheels but I'm saving  those kits to do a more involved build with at some time (Tamiya and full bells and whistles Dragon).

 

Enough jabbering,  the build....

 

Well look at that some thoughtful fellow has even put a bunch of tools into the rather tatty box!

 

It even has a rather natty paint scheme suggestion involving crossing diagonal lines in Rotbraun....not sure how accurate that is but would look interesting?

 

A few hours work this morning has the lower hull and wheels assembled.  Not keen on the idea of mounting the suspension bump stops and return roller mounts just against an outline on the lower hull side without any definite locating tabs or holes. The outline quickly disappears once a dab of TET is placed onto it along with the shadow of the part, at least they all look to be about right. 🤞

The road wheel tyres have been scuffed with a course sanding stick and attacked with a scalpel blade to show a bit of use.

I'm not sure yet how the upper hull will fit, I've offered it up and it touches in about half-a-dozen spots....I'll deal with that when the time comes.

 

Thanks for looking

Darryl 

 

[Hamden]

 

Interesting project mind if I take a seat and follow along?

OH enjoy your holiday in between modelling!

 

       Stay safe            Roger

[Stef N.]

Yep, I'll follow along too if that's ok. Looks like an interesting project of a vehicle I should do one day. Good luck and happy holiday.👍

[Jasper dog]

15 hours ago, Hamden said:

 

Interesting project mind if I take a seat and follow along?

OH enjoy your holiday in between modelling!

 

       Stay safe            Roger

Would I mind....of course not Roger, it would be a pleasure to have you along, might need to restock the fridge though!

 

11 hours ago, Stef N. said:

Yep, I'll follow along too if that's ok. Looks like an interesting project of a vehicle I should do one day. Good luck and happy holiday.👍

And you to Stef, the more the merrier,  might need a bigger fridge!

 

I can divide my mornings between modelling and roaming the battle field at Flodden.

I've tried explaining the details of the battle to the dog but apparently Greyhounds arn't that interested, philistine!

 

 

Great to have you along chaps, until later.

Darryl 

 

 

[Bullbasket]

I'll be following as well Darryl, even though I'm not a fan of German stuff. But I am a fan of a good model.

 

John.

[Maddoxx77]

I'll grab a chair and tag along. Looks interesting.

[Jasper dog]

5 hours ago, Bullbasket said:

I'll be following as well Darryl, even though I'm not a fan of German stuff. But I am a fan of a good model.

 

John.

Thanks John, might even grab a bottle of pastis just for you, unless you'd prefer a absinthe?

Unfortunately the hunt for a good model might be a little in vain, this is going to be super basic oob build. Still it'll be nice to have a doyen of the BM fraternity along!

 

14 hours ago, Maddoxx77 said:

I'll grab a chair and tag along. Looks interesting.

More than welcome , hopefully, if I can get the upper and lower hull together, it'll be a super quick build. Paint might be a different matter as that'll have to wait until I get home.

[Bullbasket]

7 minutes ago, Jasper dog said:

Thanks John, might even grab a bottle of pastis just for you, unless you'd prefer a absinthe?

Yuk, ptoo, ptoo, NO!! Can't abide the stuff. The nearest I've got to going native is to drink their coffee. It certainly keeps you awake on a long drive☕.

 

John.

[Jasper dog]

I suspected fit could be an issue and it is....

 

Spent a few hours this morning just trying to get some sort of fit between upper and lower.

Quite possibly of my own making but not sure how. Best I can do after lots of trial fitting and sanding, still a very noticeable gap above the final drive housings.

Guess I've just been spoilt by Tamiya kits and other modern Far Eastern manufacturers. 

 

That's all for now folks!

Darryl 

[vytautas]

6 hours ago, Jasper dog said:

Best I can do after lots of trial fitting and sanding, still a very noticeable gap above the final drive housings.

I am absolutely sure that you will solve fitting problems successfully. Good luck on the build Darryl.

I’m going to enjoy following this build

 

Vytautas

[edjbartos]

Hope you sort the issues on this Darryl, looks a good model and good progress made so far, it will be interesting to see this one develop...

 

Ed

[Bullbasket]

19 hours ago, Jasper dog said:

I suspected fit could be an issue and it is....

Nothing that a dollop of Milliput, or some plastic shims can't put right.

 

John.

[Jasper dog]

12 hours ago, edjbartos said:

Hope you sort the issues on this Darryl, looks a good model and good progress made so far, it will be interesting to see this one develop...

 

Ed

Thanks Vytautas, always appreciated!

 

12 hours ago, edjbartos said:

Hope you sort the issues on this Darryl, looks a good model and good progress made so far, it will be interesting to see this one develop...

 

Ed

Thanks Ed, again great to have you along.

 

44 minutes ago, Bullbasket said:

Nothing that a dollop of Milliput, or some plastic shims can't put right.

 

John.

Thanks John, exactly. 

 

It's pretty basic, which for this purpose is absolutely fine. I'll be interested to compare it to the later Dragon Jagdpanzer iv L70 (kit 6489), apparently dragon has retooled and hopefully come up with a better solution for top and bottom. 

 

If I had any filler or plastic card with me I could deal with the gap, yes the one thing I didn't bring, proper filler!  I haven't needed anything more than Vallejo plastic putty for ages.

Not to worry, I can still press on and deal with the gap later.

 

Thanks chaps

Darryl 

[Hamden]

 

You could fill the gap with thick cyno and then add baking flour to it, I've found that makes a good filler with the added bonus of gluing the parts together!

Nice work so far

 

  Stay safe        Roger

[Jasper dog]

9 hours ago, Hamden said:

 

You could fill the gap with thick cyno and then add baking flour to it, I've found that makes a good filler with the added bonus of gluing the parts together!

Nice work so far

 

  Stay safe        Roger

After all these years Roger I've never yet used CA with flour or talc or anything else as a filler, I should try it....

It won't be a problem for now as it can wait until I at least come to fit the drive wheels and tracks. 

 

Thanks for the suggestion!

Darryl 

 

 

[IanC]

Interesting project Darryl, and I look forward to following along. The Jagdpanzer IV is one of my favourites, but like you I prefer the later L/70. I can definitely recommend Tamiya's new version if you fancy an easy build.

 

As for this one, how are you planning to do the Zimmerit? Or not bother? 😉 Dragon's later version of the L/48 had it moulded on and looked pretty good.

 

Ian

 

[Jasper dog]

On 08/09/2022 at 08:34, IanC said:

Interesting project Darryl, and I look forward to following along. The Jagdpanzer IV is one of my favourites, but like you I prefer the later L/70. I can definitely recommend Tamiya's new version if you fancy an easy build.

 

As for this one, how are you planning to do the Zimmerit? Or not bother? 😉 Dragon's later version of the L/48 had it moulded on and looked pretty good.

 

Ian

 

Thanks Ian, very good question re' zimmerit and one that deserves a good answer.....

 

My idea is this will be one of the last (Oct-Nov 44) produced L48 Jagdpanzers, zimm was applied generally Autumn 43 (some sources say Sept some Nov) through till Sept 44. (It's a reasoning I'm happy with, might not be 100% accurate but ...😉).

All that said it would be a good test piece for trying zimmerit, not to big, nice flat panels.

I've Dragons 6489 with the moulded on zimm and another early dragon L70 Jagdpanzer iv without and of course the Tamiya Jagdpanzer iv L70, did I mention I rather like the Jagdpanzer....

 

I've not yet seen seen a photo of the box art version with the crossing diagonal rotbraun stripes, so that could be a bit of a wif. But I like the almost overall green base, just for variety amongst the dunklegelb. 

 

Hope to get back to the build over the next day or two.

 

Cheers 

Darryl 

 

 

[THEscaleSHOW]

On 04/09/2022 at 14:57, Jasper dog said:

That time of year again, holiday build 1;

Grabbed a handful of kits that should be straight forward builds without much in the way of AM or complexity.  Non of which I'd originally planned, those remain on the shelf just decided against at the last minute,  not sure why...

At first glance this looked simple and straightforward, low part count, no pe or resin. Should be ok for a simple no frills out of box build, paintwork will get left until home.

Unfortunately it comes with Dragons horrid DS tracks, I've a set of Fruils that I've chucked in but almost seams a waste considering the price, then again any AM tracks are pricey.

The kit looks like one of Shanghai Dragons original releases going off the symbols on the sprues and the low part count compared to later Dragon offerings, detail is ok but sparse, as for accuracy, couldn't say.

I do prefere the later L70 armed Jagdpanzer with the long barrel and steel front road wheels but I'm saving  those kits to do a more involved build with at some time (Tamiya and full bells and whistles Dragon).

 

Enough jabbering,  the build....

 

Well look at that some thoughtful fellow has even put a bunch of tools into the rather tatty box!

 

It even has a rather natty paint scheme suggestion involving crossing diagonal lines in Rotbraun....not sure how accurate that is but would look interesting?

 

A few hours work this morning has the lower hull and wheels assembled.  Not keen on the idea of mounting the suspension bump stops and return roller mounts just against an outline on the lower hull side without any definite locating tabs or holes. The outline quickly disappears once a dab of TET is placed onto it along with the shadow of the part, at least they all look to be about right. 🤞

The road wheel tyres have been scuffed with a course sanding stick and attacked with a scalpel blade to show a bit of use.

I'm not sure yet how the upper hull will fit, I've offered it up and it touches in about half-a-dozen spots....I'll deal with that when the time comes.

 

Thanks for looking

Darryl 

 

Hello Darryl

Check in regularly on your build and am excited to see what happens next.
Just like Ian, I prefer the L70 variant, but your choice of kit is also great 👍

I am curious about the camouflage painting!

 

MD

 

Since this picture I am infected 😁

 

a nice inspiration for a dio (copyright)!?

 

[Muchmirth]

This looks like a great one. I’ll be following too!

[Jasper dog]

18 hours ago, THEscaleSHOW said:

Hello Darryl

Check in regularly on your build and am excited to see what happens next.
Just like Ian, I prefer the L70 variant, but your choice of kit is also great 👍

I am curious about the camouflage painting!

 

MD

 

Thanks MD, great to have you along, it'll be a very basic build but with a bit of fun in the paint department. The super colour photo is great, looks like an L70 with the steel front road wheels to me from this angle, what about you? 

Can't decide if its the regular ambush dot camo or the interlocking disc type camo...its the shape of the spots of dunklegelb that makes me think its disc camo?

 

Don't recall building the Matchbox Jp iv, did a bunch of the others but mostly built wingy-things "back in the day".

 

Cheers 

Darryl 

 

 

19 hours ago, Muchmirth said:

This looks like a great one. I’ll be following too!

Thanks, more than welcome, great to have you along!

 

Darryl 

[echen]

Interesting build. Might the cam be discs with added "ambush" type speckles?

I'm debating disc cam for my JP IV L/48 and the above reference might be useful when I come to painting so thanks to @THEscaleSHOW for the pic.

I built the Matchbox kit more years ago than I care to remember..........

[THEscaleSHOW]

1 hour ago, Jasper dog said:

Thanks MD, great to have you along, it'll be a very basic build but with a bit of fun in the paint department. The super colour photo is great, looks like an L70 with the steel front road wheels to me from this angle, what about you? 

Can't decide if its the regular ambush dot camo or the interlocking disc type camo...its the shape of the spots of dunklegelb that makes me think its disc camo?

 

Don't recall building the Matchbox Jp iv, did a bunch of the others but mostly built wingy-things "back in the day".

 

Cheers 

Darryl 

 

 

Thanks, more than welcome, great to have you along!

 

Darryl 

 

Yes, I also think it is a very late model-drive wheel and 3 steel returnrollers suggest that.

The camouflage seems to be a mix of cloudy and disc.
Dark yellow base color with olive green and reddish brown camouflage spots and numerous small dots of color, triangles etc.

It is the ambush scheme (light and shadow camouflage) as introduced in August 1944 and seen in the picture of the L70.

 

Then there was the distortion camouflage scheme as of 31 October 1944

As early as September 1944, a decree ended the factory application of Zimmerit.

From October 31, 1944, all vehicles were given a base coat of RAL 8012. RAL 8012 is a rusty brown color that was commonly applied as an anti-rust paint. On top of the RAL 7012 color, approximately half of the surface of the vehicle was then spotted with different sized spots.

 

RAL 8012 Rust protection (base)
RAL 6003 Olive green
RAL 7028 Dark yellow

 

As you can see, there are several possibilities.

In addition there is the free interpretation when recoloring the photos.

In my opinion, dark yellow should dominate here as the base.
If green is the base color (looks like it anyway), according to my information, only dark yellow stripes but no patches were allowed (HV B No. 52 of 24.01.1945)!?

[Jasper dog]

Thanks @THEscaleSHOW MD for the comprehensive run down on late camo patterns, really appreciated. The pattern on the Hetzer looks similar in shapes to the Jp in the photo, imo anyway. 

 

It's such a minefield late war camo, different factory's having different patterns.

 

Still don't think the disc camo is particularly aesthetically appealing!

 

Cheers 

 

 

[IanC]

That vehicle in the photo above must be the most famous L/70 of all. It is of course a colourised b&w film still from the well-know Battle of the Bulge sequence (apparently, it belonged to SS-Panzerjaeger-Abteilung 1). It's quite well done though. 

[Jasper dog]

Not much progress I'm afraid, had a lot less time than I'd originally anticipated.

However I've essentially just been adding various components, the plan is to copy what a lot of better models than I do and build it with almost everything on, then paint. I'd usually do a basic build, then paint before adding all the smaller components, like tools, these I'd have already prepainted. 

 

Anyway, gun mounted, along with the side plates for the engine deck, tools etc, just a few parts still to fit like the schurzen mounts, spare wheel brackets, hatches etc. Hatches will be closed for once, I'd neglected to spray the interior black before putting the hull together. 

 

 

Haven't decided on the muzzle brake, looks better without and the late L48s rarely bothered with them as they could created a large signature dust cloud when firing.

 

That's all folks

Darryl