Panzer IV Ausf J ( DML #6575 )

[Laurent Moitrot]

OOOOOOOOOHHHHHH am I a happy camper !!!
I was just back from work, riding my bike when I saw the postman's lorry coming to my door. I hurried a bit and here he was with this beauty of a kit :



This was some kind of a modern version of the Holy Grail for me. For years I was addicted to late Ausf Js.

I remember working hard on the Tamiya kit trying to brong it up to "Late J" standards which meant a lot of scratchbuilding and a lot of research. I eventually completed the model only to ... trip down the stairs while taking it downstairs to take pictures. So here it was after hours and hours of work. Bits and pieces all over the place. Bummer.

But now I feel like I got rid of the "Pz IV curse" and feel like this one will have a better ending.
I also had this in stock :



It'll certainly be of some use ?
Stay tuned.
I have to work on my StuH first and finish it.
Good Lord gimme the strengh ...
LOL.

[Laurent Moitrot]

Here's the one I wanted to make. Not a "final" Ausf J as it still has the regular brake acces hatches but quite a late one just the same. Some books refer to it as "Fründsberg" but the location makes it more like a 21° Pz Div tank ...

[Laurent Moitrot]

By the way here's my last Pz IV J.
Before the stairs :





After the stairs :


I was devastated.
I couldn't find all the parts and put them back ... thanks to the wooden floor monster.

[Dario Risso]

Dude, I can't believe it! I remember you help me with pics of your J late when I was building mine.
Anyway, I'm glad you start a new project.
Darío

[Laurent Moitrot]

As you can see the Ausf J was ready for paint when "it" happened. LOL.
I'm not sure I'll use the griffon kit I have in stock, don't want to waste it, wait for them to come out with one Ausf J late kit which shouldn't take long. Possibly there's already one out ?

[Laurent Moitrot]

Sorry guys, I had to ... instead of working on my StuH I started working on the Ausf J. I needed to check whether the CMK interior kits coiuld be used or not.
Answer : yes for the driver compartment and hull interior, only small adjustments but the turret / gun CMK parts are almost un-useable.
Rats !



PS : I know the ammos are set the wrong way ... they should be head first. I'll have to un-glue them. I was soooo young ...

[Roy Schlicht]

You know whats funny is that Panzer IV J that you have posted could have actually been built after a "Final" version. The German factories had a "last in first out" system when it came to parts so those brake access hatches could have been sitting on the bottom of a pile of later access hatch types. Once the later ones on top were used up they got put on next. The Germans didn't care if they were not the "late type". This was very common on the Panzer IV. Hope to see this progressing. It is sad about your older Tamiya build. It is a shame to see all that time put into it falling, faalllingg, faaaaallllingggg.

Roy

[Laurent Moitrot]

Thanks Roy.
About the brake access hatches, the problem is no one really knows what happened. We're not even sure such a thing as "late version" existed. All we can do is look at pics and notice some didn't have the air intake and were of the kind used on Jagdpanzer IVs ... now your post brings one question to my mind ... stay tuned. I see if I can get some informations on this PZ IV of mine ...

[Laurent Moitrot]

I have got the answer to my question : this tank was sent to the unit ( Fründsberg ) around Feb 18th. Let's say a coupla days before. The time for this tank along with his 8 buddies (9 Panzers were sent) to arrive in the Arnswalde area to join operation Sonnenwende, with no train available, and be knocked out (early ?) in March, this tank was brand new as were most of these late ausf Js when they were destroyed. That should keep us modellers from overplaying the weathering part of the paint job.

[Laurent Moitrot]

Hi guys. I should be ashamed of myself as I had other models to finish first (the StuH Ausf F and the very early pz III J and ...) but I simply couldn'thelp it I hadda start this new Dragon kit.
So here we are. It is "almost completed". No major issues with this kit, the usual dragon confusing or wrong instructions, but apart from that it is a very good kit. All i should say is the Thoma Schürzen look very realistic but are a challenge to build. Here's a scan of the instructions :



The problem comes from parts T10 and MA62. T10 has small pins that are supposed to be forced through the Schürzen "chicken wire" but it is not easy to do and damages the Schürzen so you better be right the first time or the schürzen are lost ... and of course the drawings ( 1:1 scale) they provide do not allow you to put these parts right where they should be to match the brackets on the mudguards ... !



The only easy way I found was to get rind of the pins, place T10 in the mudguard brackets, gently position the schürzen and then only glue the T10 parts to the Schürzen. Am I clear here ?

So here are a coupla pics from the panzer ...









More to come as soon as possible.