This is the fifth kit I built, Its Tamiyas version and is a beutifully detailed kit. However, having researched the machine in my encyclopedia of German tanks and the Shiffer book on the subject, it does lack certain options, ie there are no schurtzen in the kit, only the turret armor, and you can only construct the tank with 4 return rollers when some of the production run were made with three and finally you can only build it with the standard panzer 4 exhaust baffle and not the stripped down two pipe variety found on this tank towards the end of the war. To remedy some of these losses I purchased two Eduard detailing kits, thier main set for this kit and a special turret armour set . However I found that the main kit provided turret armor and schurtzen in the set and did not require the turret armor set which I have set aside for a Tamiya panzer IVG kit I have in the pipeline. With regard to the Eduard detailing set, it is exquisite, the fine detailing for the deck equipment and the anti aircraft mg being particularly good. My only minor moan is that the schurtzen were solid sheet and not wire mesh, as became the practice towards the end of the war, although solid sheet is still authentic.
These minor moans aside, the kit is built to the usual Tamiya standard, the parts beautifully fitting together and the detail level being excellent. I used two part milliput superfine compund for the zimmerit, carefully scouring the areas to paste with my hobby drill and its gouging tool. The actual pattern was made using my airwaves zimmerit punches. The cannon was replaced with an aluminium Jordi Rubio KwK40 L48, which fitted with very little adjustment required. One thing I did find was that the barrel pivot is quite loose on this kit so the gun droops, be sure to tighten the screw before assembling the turret!!!!. the turret itself sits quite loosely in the chassis also, so be careful picking it up when complete. the whole vehicle was sprayed with Tamiya paint, weathered with Games Workshop brown wash and weathered using dry brushed Tamiya silver paint and dark pastel chalks.
Historically, the Panzer IVJ was the last of the line of these excellent medium battle tanks which had been first introduced to the Panzer arm in the mid 1930s!!! Due to excellent design, the basic PIV chassis had plenty of room to be upgraded in terms of both armor and armament, which became necessary when the earlier variants met the superlative T34 in the Russian campaign. Consequently the machine recieved heavier armament, the final upgrade being the KwK40 found on this model, a high velocity 75mm, capable of penetrating the well sloping armor of the T34 and its variants. The tanks armor was also upgraded, with sucessive models recieveing bolt on armor kits, as typified in the G model, and a variety of armored skirts on both chassis and turret. The J sported both of these upgrades, thier purpose being to defeat the hollow charge ammunition being used by the Russian infantry in thier anti tank weaponry. The J served in both eastern and western theaters, being prominant in the Normandy and Ardennes campaigns and being supplied to many client states including Finland, Italy, Spain and Hungary. The machine gun mount on the cupola speaks of the airborne threat these machines faced in the western theater, allied fighter bombers, especially the Hawker Typhoon taking a dreadful toll on the pazerwaffe in actions like the Falaise Gap. |
