Panzer IV advice

Go to :

www.scalemates.com

Do a simple search and type in the Panzer you're looking for and decide for yourself. There are reviews for some of them depending on kit brand.

I enjoyed Dragon #6779 the DAK version,builds up very nice but the Dragon Mark 4's are somewhat over engineered,likewise with #6301 very nice and detailed,but lots of parts.

There are a myriad of versions of the Mark IV also so which are you interested,highly detailed or simpler.We csn give our opinion,but as Sheep says,first decide the variant you want,then Google to see which company makes it,then decide thru the reviews which one would suit you.

I think Tamiya makes some,Miniart and Trumpeter also might.

panzermedic

Hello All,

So, Christmas came with some money to put towards my model stash. I have yet to build a Panzer IV, and was wondering what 1:35 scale kit gets top ranking. Would appreciate any input.

Happy New Year to all!

 

What's your skill level? Dragon kits are highly detailed, but have way too many parts. Some folks get put off by the number of parts in the tracks alone. Aim for a "smart kit" for lower parts count. They've also been producing PzKpfw IVs for almost 30 years so a lower priced one may be an older kit that has issues.

Tamiya on the other hand has a pretty decent one that assembles nicely. But they have 1970s ones that are still out there so beware.

Tristar also does a few that are not bad.

Thanks Rob. I have built a Dragon kit before and enjoyed it, including the Magic Tracks. I have worked with PE, but never scratch built. I also have enjoyed Tamiya and Takom. A little frustrated with Italeri quality. I do enjoy detail work at times. I am at a point that I would like to enter a model in a show, just to say I did, but I do it for my own enjoyment.

Hello all, thanks for the input. As I mentioned to Rob, I don’t mind detail. I like The Normandy/ Battle for France period, so likely mid to late production. Ausf E-J?

In all honesty, the Italeri Panzer IV kits are not bad either. They are superior to the original Tamiya Panzer IV kits, and stack up well enough against their new tool Mk.IVs. Just shop around for the best bargain on them if you go that route. 

stikpusher

In all honesty, the Italeri Panzer IV kits are not bad either. They are superior to the original Tamiya Panzer IV kits, and stack up well enough against their new tool Mk.IVs. Just shop around for the best bargain on them if you go that route. 

Yes, but the stiff silver vinyl tracks are the worst.

Rob Gronovius

 

 

stikpusher

In all honesty, the Italeri Panzer IV kits are not bad either. They are superior to the original Tamiya Panzer IV kits, and stack up well enough against their new tool Mk.IVs. Just shop around for the best bargain on them if you go that route. 

 

 

 

Yes, but the stiff silver vinyl tracks are the worst.

 

Well if I have to choose between stiff vinyl that lasts for decades and the glueable soft plastic that lasts a few months, I’ll take the stiff vinyl. Of course there are plenty of AM Mk.IV tracks out there to replace either type.

I am not a Panzer IV expert, but the Dragon Smartkits I have built are pretty good. The soft deteriorating DS tracks have been solved for the most part. Personally, I like the Tristar kit I got many years ago. I do have an old Italeri kit from the 1980s, but I was never satisfied with it.

Tamiya's PzKpfw IV from the 90s is pretty good too, not their old 70s era kit.

Someone has a Dragon PzKpfw IV Ausf. D (the short barreled gun) on Missing Lynx for $20. A very good deal. https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/missinglynx/end-of-year-clearance-armor-kits-t317808.html#p1543723

Long ago I built the Italeri F1. It remains one of my favorite armor kits.

GMorrison

Long ago I built the Italeri F1. It remains one of my favorite armor kits.

 

yes, I’ve built their H, F2, and G between 35 and 25 (oldest to most recent) years ago. I wanted to grab another to do as a F1, but the prices went up and they were scarce when I was looking for one. So I picked up a Dragon F1 instead. Haven’t built that one yet. But I am still happy with them all. For my skill sets at those times, they hold up well.

Hi all, 

Thanks for all the input. So, I decided on the Dragon Panzer IV ausf. H late production w/simmer it. Model #6560. I liked that it has both the DS, and Magic Tracks. Now to decide a stand alone or diorama presentation.

Thanks again for all the great advice! 

P.S. Rob, I contacted that link you mentioned to see about getting that panzer IV there too!

panzermedic

 

P.S. Rob, I contacted that link you mentioned to see about getting that panzer IV there too! 

Just trying to help, both you in getting a deal and the seller in getting a sale. Decent enough kit and an awesome price.

Dragon USA had a sale back in early Dec on a ton of their kits including new tooled ones. I’m waiting for another sale like the past one where $60 to $70 kits were on sale at $25 With free shipping after the first $50 So I ended up getting several armor kits.

Like previously mentioned, Dragon’s are a bit over engineered but they are excellent.

plasticjunkie

Dragon USA had a sale back in early Dec on a ton of their kits including new tooled ones. I’m waiting for another sale like the past one where $60 to $70 kits were on sale at $25 With free shipping after the first $50 So I ended up getting several armor kits.

Like previously mentioned, Dragon’s are a bit over engineered but they are excellent.

 

Wow. If you see that sale again, please notify us in the armor forum. 

It's sad, but the only Panzer IV model I have is the old Academy / Tamiya rip-off.  Luckily, armor is not my thing so I'll probably build it and cover it in mud and camo nets just to hide the lack of detail. 

Gary

tigerman

 

 

plasticjunkie

Dragon USA had a sale back in early Dec on a ton of their kits including new tooled ones. I’m waiting for another sale like the past one where $60 to $70 kits were on sale at $25 With free shipping after the first $50 So I ended up getting several armor kits.

Like previously mentioned, Dragon’s are a bit over engineered but they are excellent.

 

 

 

 

Wow. If you see that sale again, please notify us in the armor forum. 

 

sure thing. As a matter of fact  a forum member was the one that posted the sale info here , think it was hogfans. I signed up for their emails so hopefully I will know of future specials.

The sale has been extended and is still ongoing as of 6 January: http://www.dragonusaonline.com/Promotions.aspx

GAF

It's sad, but the only Panzer IV model I have is the old Academy / Tamiya rip-off.  Luckily, armor is not my thing so I'll probably build it and cover it in mud and camo nets just to hide the lack of detail. 

Gary

 

The schurzen plates are outrageously thick on this kit - they'd scale up to about 50-60mm in real life, when the real thing was about 5mm.

Ideally, replace with plastic card or metal foil (or cut down some empty beer cans), using the original parts as templates. 

Also, the mounting brackets for the turret schurzen are quite diabolical. Best approach is to assemble the turret schurzen, attach the brackets to this and then, while the glue is still soft, fit the assembly around the turret, adjusting the angles of the brackets as required. You'll probably need 3 hands for this. Ideally, the finished turret schurzen should be horizontally level, with teh same clearance all the way around at the bottom.

Well, I don't have to worry about that as this kit has no side-armor whatsoever!  This version

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/107559-academy-1328-panzerkampfwagen-iv-ausf-h-j

is completely armor free.  I guess they thought "Okay, modelers are going to make their own schurzen anyway, so let's just leave it out!"

Luckily, I picked this up as a giveaway at a model show (because it was one of the few things left).  Guess I understand why now! 

Gary

Jammer

The sale has been extended and is still ongoing as of 6 January: http://www.dragonusaonline.com/Promotions.aspx

 

Thanks!!!!    Just placed my order.  

GAF

Well, I don't have to worry about that as this kit has no side-armor whatsoever!  This version

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/107559-academy-1328-panzerkampfwagen-iv-ausf-h-j

is completely armor free.  I guess they thought "Okay, modelers are going to make their own schurzen anyway, so let's just leave it out!"

Luckily, I picked this up as a giveaway at a model show (because it was one of the few things left).  Guess I understand why now! 

Gary

 

Gary

That is not a bad kit at all. Not as well detailed and complicated as a Dragon but still builds up easy, fast and makes a nice display. I built it a while back and sold it on ebay. I still have the Academy Stug. in the stash. 

So glad you posted that! I bought two armor kits and got the free figure sets along with it, plus one kit came with a gun crew! Huge savings!

panzermedic

So glad you posted that! I bought two armor kits and got the free figure sets along with it, plus one kit came with a gun crew! Huge savings!

 

man let me tell you that is one heck of a great sale.  I ordered 5 AFVs, got 5 sets of figures for free,  free shipping and $10 discount in Dragon cash. All this came out to $114!! They list them at almost $70 each tank but comparing prices to Scale Hobbyist that has them listed at around $55 to $60 each and each figure set is at least $15 a set so do the math, one heck of a great price from Dragon USA.

Rob,

The re-tooled Italeri PzKpfw IV kit no longer has vinyl tracks.  They have completely new length and link plastic tracks.  The new tooling also takes care of key detail issues with their old kit such as the mishaped turret.  Seriously, it is on a par with some of the Dragon/DML offerings.

Bill

Ah, the good ole Panzer 4!  I started doing one of those back in 1969.  I still have it built up kept in special place.  It's only missing a few small parts, the CO hatch and so on.  Right now Im finishing a DML Pzkpfw 4 ausf F that has Gunze Sanyo heritage.  Those are long OP now, but I still have few in the stash.  I have a soft heart for the Mark 4.  It was my fav Roco pre built model as a kid in 1950s.  At the time they a models with both short guns and long guns, and skirts or not.  I was a little confused by that.  That was long before all the books that explained that.  My friends and older people were no help.  I've lost count of all the kits I've done of Pz 4, Italeri, Dragon, Gunze Sanyo, Tamiya, old and new, and Tri-Star.

The Monogram kit realy got me into tank models.  There was only a couple of Revell and some Renwal and a few 1/48 scale and 1/72 Airfix kits around.

Oh, and the new Border and Rye Feild kits I have only one, a late G.  They look very good.  So we will see.

As for the various track types, I have done them all. I have only one that broke ot the Italalei Pz 4 ausf F.  It was a clean break that could be fixed, but the kit is close to 35 years old, so why bother?  Since I like glueing parts together, the more complicated a kit may be is not an issue with me. 

My favorite is the newer Dragon kits.  Those with plastic smart tracks are the best.  I got lots of those before they got really expensive.

warshipguy

Rob,

The re-tooled Italeri PzKpfw IV kit no longer has vinyl tracks.  They have completely new length and link plastic tracks.  The new tooling also takes care of key detail issues with their old kit such as the mishaped turret.  Seriously, it is on a par with some of the Dragon/DML offerings.

Bill

 

Rob Gronovius

 

 

warshipguy

Rob,

The re-tooled Italeri PzKpfw IV kit no longer has vinyl tracks.  They have completely new length and link plastic tracks.  The new tooling also takes care of key detail issues with their old kit such as the mishaped turret.  Seriously, it is on a par with some of the Dragon/DML offerings.

Bill

 

 

 

 

You do realise this thread is over two years old.

 

Don't you just love zombie threads?