Catch up with PART THREE here
The keen of eye will have noticed a subtle change in the title of this build log. Today I was lucky enough to have someone ( thanks to Andrew ) donate me a set of running gear from the newer Tamiya Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.H kit to use the return rollers from. As well as the return rollers these sprues also held the correct earlier style hubcaps and a set of Ausf.G sprockets. So this helped me to overcome one of the main drawbacks of the Academy kit, that being that it comes with the older style final-drive housings used on the Ausf.D-G rather than the larger, reinforced ones used on the Ausf.H and Ausf.J.
I had originally planned to get around this by doing it as a very early production model, as a few dozen of the very first Ausf.H were built with Ausf.G final-drive housings. But now I have decided instead to backdate the kit to a final production Ausf.G ( May 1943 ). There isn’t a huge ammount of difference other than the final-drive housing, but to make if more of the Ausf.G I’ve decided to relocate the aerial to the front right for use with the aerial trough as this was one of the last things changed on the Ausf.G before it was redesignated as the Ausf.H. I could have left it on the left rear as the last Ausf.G had it there, but I felt it gives the tank a more genuine Ausf.G look with it on the right front.
I’ll keep the pre-filter air intakes as they were added to the Ausf.G in April and May of ’43 ( and because I had already glued them on ). The cupola is still fine as the single hatch Ausf.H style cupola was introduced on the Ausf.G in March ’43, as was the L48 gun, but I’m going to lose the AA ring and MG34 even though some Ausf.Gs were retrofitted with these later on. As I’m setting this in February ’44 I won’t be adding the smoke dischargers as these were removed in May ’43 and I’ll of course be using the Ausf.G sprocket, early hubcaps and rubber tyred return rollers. I’ll also keep the shurzen as this was added to the AUsf.G in October ’43 when the Ausf.H got the newer style as well.
So now we will have a final production ( May 1943 ) Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.G which will be set in February 1944 with it’s shurzen upgrade, field applied zimmerit, and a whitewashed finish.
These photos were taken early today and actually represent where I was at by the end of yesterday. Today was spent redoing the other fender and doing some work on the turret ( filling the AA ring holes and redoing the weld beads ). The gun mantlet is made, ready for zimmerit, and I’ve added most of the tools, including a scratchbuilt crowbar which the Academy kit was missing. I’ve also added the fender springs, the fender hinge pins and straps to the exhaust and the muffler for the auxilliary electrical generator. And spent way too long on cleaning up mould seams, filling and sanding. But I’m getting there. Tomorrow’s plans are to finish the cleanup and do some more of the zimmerit.
