Kit: No. MT41
Scale: 1/72
Manufacturer: Hasegawa, distributed by Marco Polo Import, 532 S. Coralridge Pl., City of Industry, CA 91746
Price: $8.98
Comments: Comments: Injection molded, 128 parts (two vinyl), decals.

Certainly one of the most important German armored vehicles of World War II, the Panzer IV served in all major campaigns, from Poland to the Battle of Berlin. More than 10,000 were built, and the Panzer IV chassis also became the basis for dozens of other vehicles, including assault guns, anti-aircraft guns, tank destroyers, and heavy recovery vehicles.

It’s surprising that such an important vehicle has been neglected in “small” scale, but Hasegawa has come to the rescue by promising a family of Panzer IV kits. The first two are the F1 and F2 version, with a G model said to be released later.

Molded in light gray plastic, it features fine detail and one-piece vinyl tracks. Some of the sprues in the box are from the old Panzer IV-based munitions carrier from Hasegawa’s “Karl” rail-gun kit. You’ll only use the old lower hull and some of the running gear. All-new moldings are provided for the upper hull and turret. Only one marking option is on the well-printed decal sheet.

The only difference between the F1 and F2 kits are the main guns and the markings. The tops of the fenders had no anti-skid texture. All of the tools are molded in place, and there is no interior – typical of small-scale armor kits.

The gun is designed to elevate in its mount, but I added too much liquid cement and locked my gun in position. The vision ports (D4, D5) should be mounted a little further back than shown on the instructions; the painting and marking guide shows their position more accurately. All of the major seams of the turret need a little sanding. The location of the antenna guard (C3) is vague in the instructions. Reference photos show it even with the front of the gun barrel.

I left off the wheels, return rollers, drive sprocket, and tracks until after the model was painted. In order to mold the shovel in place, Hasegawa molded one to an insert panel (B1) on the right side of the upper hull. This fit poorly, requiring a lot of scraping to eliminate the seams. The rest of the lower hull fit well, needing only minor seam work on the rear plate and the visor plate (B17).

I airbrushed my model with Polly Scale Panzer Gray. The return rollers and road wheels were hand painted with Polly Scale grimy black.

Decals were applied over a brush coat of Future floor polish. Micro Sol snuggled them down over the detail. All of the tools were picked out with Testor steel and dark earth as necessary. A coat of Polly Scale clear flat prepared the model for a wash of burnt umber and black oil paint thinned with mineral spirits. I hand brushed the vinyl tracks with Testor Acryl rust, then dry-brushed with steel. I hit the high points with a dry-brushing of lightened Panzer Gray.

Next I added the road wheels and the tracks, wrapping the tracks around the drive sprocket. Lugs molded on the undersides of the fenders induce sag to the upper run of the tracks and keep them in contact with the return rollers. Unfortunately, the tracks were too long, and left a gap around the rear idler wheels. Lastly, I added the return rollers to the hull.

I spent about six hours building my Panzer IV, about average for a small-scale armor kit. The finished model captures the look and feel of the real vehicle, and matches almost exactly the dimensions in Squadron Signal’s Panzer IV in Action. While the kit should pose few problems for beginners, young modelers may find the large number of small parts daunting.

– John Plzak