After many delays and other things I needed to deal with I finally got around to starting this one today. I’ll be using the Academy Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.H as the base kit and adding zimmerit using a mix of modelling clay and putty together with mini-trowels and the Tamiya Zimmerit applicators. I have lose plans to finish it in white wash as a 2nd SS Panzer Divison “Das Reich” vehicle on the Eastern Front in early 1944.
Spent several hours on this today but so far I’ve mainly only just got through the clean-up of the lower tub and some additions to the upper hull. There were a lot of seam lines to remove and a lot of injector sinkholes to fill, as well as having to fill in the open sponsons. I also had to build up the rear plate with some evergreen strip to reduce the gap between the rear plate and the engine deck hatches as it was around 1mm wide as is which was way too wide. The scored marks on the rear plate are location lines for the fittings like the exhaust that I’ll leave off till after the zimmerit is added.
I’m trying to be restrained and limiting myself to just cleanups and minor improvements. It’s hard, I really want to go detail happy on it but it’s such a basic kit I’d end up spending months just adding and altering details and I want to get zimmerit on this week so I’ve resisted the urge to buy a set of Griffon fenders and a set of Tristar running gear and will just use the kit parts and sharpen them up a bit. The emphasis afterall is on the zimmerit. It still needs cleaning up to improve the fit of the hull top and bottom, to redo the insides of the front fenders to get rid of the old-style overlap and boxing in of the engine grilles to eliminate the see through aspect.
So this is where we were at when I figured I’d better grab some photos before the natural light failed. Since the photos were taken I’ve cleaned up and added the suspension arms and a few other hull fittings, and filled all the gaps with putty. Tomorrow I should be able to get all that sanded back and get everything ready for the first applications of zimmerit on Wednesday. I’ll be using modelling clay for the tub sides and putty for the rear plate, mainly as the tub sides are large, flat and clear so a good surface to work on, where-as the rear plate needs getting into a few tight areas so is more suited to the faster drying putty and assorted Tamiya Zimmerit applicators.
