Another kit that arrived from Lucky Model was the Italeri Panzer IV. I think it was around USD 8.99 for the kit, which I thought was a good deal considering this kit is listed as over 8 pounds on most British web sites and Italeri wont ship to Australia…… I wanted some Panzer IV’s to go with my Panzer III’s, and Panthers. The Panzer IV at least gives my British Armour a fighting chance in a fist fight.

Anyway the kit looked pretty good out of the box, but after building the awesome S-Model Panzer III’s this was a disappointment. I found the tracks super fiddly and very difficult to get looking even respectable. I hadn’t built this style of individual links fitting into the sprocket wheels, and found it tricky and frustrating. My sprocket wheels were not 100% perpendicular to the hull and threw out the track alignment. Its a learning process so next time I need to be more careful. Also gluing one link of track at a time and waiting until its dry before adding the next is the only way to get a good result.

More frustrating were the schurzen plates on the sides and turret of the tank. The connecting struts are all incorrect lengths and do not fit with the top of the hull. I had to screw around with them, cutting bits off, so they would sit correctly on the vehicle. I like my stuff to fit nice and snug…… I guess this Panzer was always doomed after I had such a nice time making those S-Model kits.

So the only thing that could save my fudgy tracks and botched schurzen plates was a good coating of paint! Black undercoat, followed by a layer of Tamiya Yellow got things started. As I don’t plan on ever owning an airbrush I am still perfecting (or trying to perfect) my camouflage scheme painting by hand. Here you can see the simple dark green scheme. I paint on the pattern freehand then dry brush and scrub around with an old brush over the top in the dark yellow. This blends the pattern into the tank. I then do a usual lighter shade dry brush over the top. Luckily the side plates covered a lot of my poorly executed track work.

My next Panzer IV’s will be Plastic Soldier Company or Armourfast – I wouldn’t ask this Italeri kit on a second date that’s for sure.

Colonel Mustard