DML Panzerkampfwagen IV/E

[Jamie Tainton]

[Jamie Tainton]

[Jamie Tainton]

[Jamie Tainton]

[Jamie Tainton]

The smoke candle rack that comes with the kit






these parts are only dry fitted- the alignment is off because of that- this will be corrected in the actual build.


an image from Tom Cockle's beautiful upgrade job he did in the AFV 15 issue


Steps 7 and 8


now for some pics of the amazing machine gun et. al that comes with the kit-






More on that later...but here are some to catch up
the side armour pieces- standard and the appliqué that goes on top. Holes are needed to be drill in the primary armour plate where little nipples that are on the back of the extra armour need to go, if these are to be implemented


here are the parts for one of the engine deck covers- I'm a little confused as they give two PE metal, inside pieces and I'm not sure if I need to use both or if if only one- which one for which configuration- (the instructions are not clear on this, at least to me) I think I have decided to do a DAK version -there were ten E's sent to Afrika... I'll have to do more research or maybe someone can tell me-which one is for the DAK version?


the larger one


normally I would use the ABER stuff and some real wood to make my jack block but I think I'll just try this Dragon set-up.


One thing I'd like to say about this kit- it is really starting to get fun working on it!- It may not be anally perfect but it is FUN. The engineering and fit are excellent- super!

next a shot showing the clear vision block parts- most of which will be covered in paint.


a shot of the contentious front armour plate and the transmission access doors.


here the first set of armour for the sides and front are glued in place for prosperity


more shots of the mg assembly this is all just a quick dry fit anf the parts will still need some cleaning up and wot not. The gun assembly is glued together as well as the movable Kugelblende. these are brought together in a test fit.








(note:at the rate I'm using up my band width with the interest people are showing in this build these pics may disappear in a few weeks and I may have to wait for the end of the month to get a new cycle... )

Well I'm sure there will always be room for improvement...
here you can see the side appliqué armour about to be secured to the primary armour. Locating holes need to be drilled if this is your option.


clamped in place to dry. You can see the driver visor Klapp has been added as well


I also remembered last night that I had recently purchased this book.


It has a couple of shots of some of the paint option samples.





[QUOTE=RC_Hill;7100]The box art showing that is confusing...I believe that it goes either way, but using the bigger piece I think would be best....The bigger piece, from what I recall, would be the best to use because I recall seeing a pic (I think it's in Tom's book about DAK armour) that showed a short barrelled IV (a D or an E) and that the engine deck hatches were open and you could see that 'pattern' was there...It was one of the actually many pictures that were taken by advancing British soldiers...showing the little slots with that real thin strip in the middle...It looks like it works best if you have an engine in there, but I used it in case someone ever gets nosey because you can still see those little strips in there...Besides, using both creates an unnecessary redundancy because when i tinkered around with it, it just covered up the same thing twice....

Looking great so far James [/QUOTE]

Thanks R.C.- I had also noticed this while scanning some references last night.
This pic is from Jentz's book, Tank Combat in North Africa




did some soldering tonight -nothing big. Just the two supports under the jack block mounting. The parts are really tiny and were successfully bent into shape with my Etch Mate pe bender.


here I have pre soldered into the area the folded bits will go.


and the parts in place. I'll still have to clean this up a bit but remember this is on Macro- those parts are minuscule-Watch out for the carpet monster with those. I'm sure you can just use a CA glue to secure them- no real need to solder- I just like the strength of that bond.

[Jamie Tainton]

http://www.track-link.net/forum/modelli ... ction/8314

some interesting posts at ML
http://www.network54.com/Forum/47207/th ... ML+Pz+IV...

http://www.network54.com/Forum/47207/th ... L+PzIV+E...

The front plate was glued onto the bottom of the hull. The instructions would have you attach it to the top-I felt this way had a better chance of not messin' up.





Fender part D2- this is the one with the locating holes. I did want to use the ones without the holes but I guess I'm pretty tired and I glued these ones with the holes to the upper shell before realizing it. So now, I don't know if I'll go with the tools with the clasps already molded on or try and use the PE clamps somehow. Can't take the fenders off cause it'll make a mess of it...oh well, I'm sure I'll be building a few more of these...
Some have said these fenders are too thick but you know these fenders are very very well made. There is detail above and below. The edges are thinned down so as to look in scale. Only real close scrutiny would give away any thickness issues.I haven't had time to totally examine the tread pattern but it looks great. The engineering and fit is scrumptious. This is far and above any kit out there as far as design/engineering and fit are concerned.
There is a locating rib that goes in behind the top part of the superstructure and the air intake area has many bolts that slot into the grating parts for perfect alignment.






That's it for tonight... I'm frikkin' baked and things are not going exactly as I would like... not a total bummer by any means but I know when to take a break and try again later...

Here you can see the up-armoured top shell


here the fender and the body side by each...


with the fender in place


here you can see the bolts on the fender that perfectly snug into some cut-out on the air-intake grating


the ridge along the fender really helps with alignment too.


from underneath


the alignment and fit of the fender to the body is very concise ...you can tell a lot of time and care was taken to make things go together in a very precise way.






Here is another example of the time, design and thought that has gone into this kit. On part D12 and D11 there is a little square that seems big at first. But once in place the proper profile is achieved to the securing strap with no effort. It all fits so nicely.




those pics are just for demonstration... I needed to glue the parts to the fender.


from the front with the fenders in place


and from the back


and now the rear mud flap...


in place on the model


next I decided to commit to a DAK vehicle so I glued the appropriate plastic parts in place and will add the metal ones after- I figured this would be the best way to ensure the metal parts don't get glued in wrong and the I can't get the hatches in right.


from the rear


Step 9 instruction sheet drawing



the radio op and driver seat hatches seem to be very well designed and have a real "authentic" look to them.


soon work on the turret can begin.

A test fit of top to bottom looks good. You may be wondering why I want to build the kit this way? Basically I want to be able to do some painting and gluing of interior parts and will need to keep the top off till that is complete. Here I have glued in the radio operator extra armour. First the steel bar frame that the plate was attached, (inset) and then the plate itself. You can also see I've added the curved cover over the ventilation hole over on the driver's side. The Radio op and driver hatches are in place as well.


P.S. I bought another of these today

[Jamie Tainton]

I agree-later versions would be nice as well as these early ones. But I like these very early ones too!

Here the brass parts have been added to the engine covers.


back mud flaps


Step 10


the parts for the head lites


There are two versions of air-intake covers, plastic and PE metal, I choose to use the PE.


Step 10 using PE


This shot shows the two head light mounts and rear part of the headlight shell glued in place. The plastic wire is still in place- I may end up removing that and use the metal wire included with the kit. You can also see some of the tool holders PE parts starting to be added.


a pic of some of the tools for the left side. The fire extinguisher has its pe added.


the wire cutters dry fit


there are PE parts for the side fender fold down step and track tool. You can see I have sanded down the back left splash guard on the left-this needs to be redone and re located.


Step one (no pun intended) I have decided to solder brass wire instead of using the kit provided strengthening cross pieces for the step and tool.


next


three




The back pry bar, (that tool clasp was a bitch)


I'll get back to you on that ?

an over all shot of the left fender with the tools dry fit. There are still some PE parts to be added but as I like to paint my tools separate from the body, I will add those when the final placement of the tools takes place.


so now I will show the technique that works for me to get these clasps done.
First I cut the PE with a sharp knofe on the glass that is on my workbench.


The three parts needed to make one.


next I used a lighter to anneal the part that goes on the top. (MA38)


Next I bend the annealed part over a file to get it close to the right shape so things can fit together. It is flatten out a little after.


the bottom part is bent to shape and then secured with a small bit of CA to the metal base of a Hold & Fold.


then part MA38 is placed inside part MA34 which has been folded. Once that is in place, using tweezers to squeeze the handle part gently so as the location tips on part MA38 don't come out of MA34 I slightly spread the ends of part MA34 and fitted it onto part MA37. The ends of part MA34 are then squeezed down a bit to secure the parts. They can slip out very easily.


Next the top part is moved to engage the hook over part of MA37


The end of MA34 is hooked over part MA37 and squeezing the handle to keep the parts in place another tweezer pushes the handle down.


Ta-da!


Next a tiny bit of solder secures the parts for prosperity.




A little clean-up with steel wool and there you have it.






Step 11




right side tools


Well I'm going to jump ahead a little to Step 12


The cupola parts. These are very very well made- they really have tight tolerances on these moldings.


just look at the vision block holders here


I've chosen the closed version of the vision block armour.


The turret bin parts


glued together. I have scraped off the molded on closing clasps-will replace with kit offered PE parts. Had toyed with the idea of using an ABER turret bin I have for the Panzer IV but decided to go with the kit parts- maybe next time...


next the turret turning device is made up.




and the turret basket parts






Hi guys well not to much to update today- I was busy drawing naked women today and tonight... it's tuff work but someone has to do it.
The turret basket is placed in the upper hull and the little cone part and the part 48 on the bottom of the tread plate on the fighting platform are engaged. One must be very careful here as unusualness in the spin-ability of the said basket could be encountered unless- diligent baby-sitting and the occasional rotation in 1/4 turns every now and then to help keep things stay aligned. Good luck!
There were knock out marks on the turret bottom along the edges, I scraped these down as opposed to filling.


Here you can see I've added the antenna trough and the first tool clasp for the small pry bar on the fender. I also lost the small square PE piece for this side's air intake covers (sorry RC-still no time to look up a diffinitive answer for you on you previous query, patience Lad, I'll get to it ) so I sanded the plastic bit down oh so thin and replaced the missing part with it.


Bis Später

[Jamie Tainton]

[QUOTE=Andrew Hall;7235]R.C.

They're there to control the volume of air flowing through the engine bay. The air is drawn in through the LH grille on the engine deck and if the flaps are down, the LH grille where the flaps are and is expelled through the RH engine deck grille, under which the fans sit, and through the RH side grille. So if you close those flaps up your engine bay will be warmer. So yes the engine will run with them all closed up. I was looking at various shots earlier and there doesn't seem, on the face of it, to be any particular pattern if a set of flaps was partially shut, it's either the back two or the front two or even the rear three shut with just the smaller front one open......or just the rearmost....or just the middle one....I'm waffling. Next time I'm down at Bovington I'll have a dig through the PzIV files and see if they've got anything on a specific procedure regarding the closure of the flaps.

Andrew[/QUOTE]

I'll try and look into that Larry. Glad someone was able to answer you question R.C.
Just too busy myself. Thanks Andrew.
The gun, it's really all about the gun. And the design and molding on this aspect of the kit is pretty damn nice!. (important edit: I constructed this gun incorrectly. I should have added the interior parts that make up the guard and shell bag as per the instructions. I was not able to fit the parts on after the gun had set up the next day. There are two little prongs that sit out from the gun block. While not on the real gun block, they fit into location depressions on the gun guard parts. See below a few posts for my remedy. I was actually happy this happened as it will allow me to paint the gun block clear of interference from the gun guard.


Parts


here the block and barrel are together.


Although there is a metal barrel included in the kit, I choose to use the plastic barrel as it has rifling.


next the body of the exterior of the gun.







next this back of the mantle


the forward part is slipped onto the shaft of the gun and the back of the mantle is glued in place


next the armour piece goes on... the instructions were a bit confusing here, it appears to me they would have you slip this part over the end, Part F12, but you need to put it on now.


Next - Part F12


then the collar that will mount the antennae deflector.
(The reason they use a deflector is because when the turret revolves, the metal gun barrel may have come in contact with the antenna, throwing off communications. The deflector was made of wood- therefore it did not short out the antenna. It would hit the antenna before the barrel and the communications were not interfered with.)


the deflector/guard. It fits underneath in a little cutout in the collar ring.


(In this pic I still need to cinch up the joint)




then this is assembly is glued in place to the front turret armour piece, (which has the gun mount pieces already glued in )




The parts G4 have to be carefully glued in place for the gun to pivot up and down.


und jetzt muss ich schlafen-Schlaf gut



so first things first, let's look at my corrective measures taken in regards to my mistake during the gun's construction. I found out about the error after putting the three parts that make up the guard/gun assembly and then tried to fit it in place. As the rest of the gun had set I was unable to fit the little nips on the block into the location holes of the guard. So after filling the knock out marks on the gun guard, slicing the location tabs off, I sanded the gun block and ends of the gun guard that fits onto the mantlet back on the inside. I then stuck the sliced tabs into the location holes as filler. This was augmented with some Mr. Surfacer 500.


Smoothed block & shell bag/guard. I won't glue this to the gun until after painting. Location nibs (see inset) gone.






Here I've added the holder for the co-axial mg.


this is a really well done mg




here you can see the right side view port on the front mantlet has been constructed


The instructions are a bit obscure as to how to make these and I first tried sticking the metal parts on the side of the cover part as per the look in the drawing. This didn't work. I figured that the best way was to stick the cover into its hole in the mantlet and then glue the PE on, that way insuring proper alignment.








I'm not really clear on how these are to be properly secured if displayed in an open position???

So next I moved onto the shovel mounting. I had some issues with this area but more after this build progression.

the parts, from the set that uses PE.


Dragon only gives you the front of the shovel blade holder? They would ask you to glue this onto the shovel blade I guess after the shovel is glued in place. ?? This is not gonna work for me for the simple reason, I like my tools to be painted separate from the body. I think the look would be wrong in any case because of the hollow back. So I decided to scratch a back for the shovel blade cover.
So first I used a circle template to mark and cut out a circle of the right size from a scrap of brass sheet.


This was sanded to shape, soldered and cut/sanded-flat on the end.


This was then soldered to the PE part that mounts this to the hull.


then it's all glued to the hull. I had previously filled in the shovel locating holes that I guess I had opened up way back by mistake. The thing is looking at some references it seems that the E Had two different locations for this shovel. In some pics and drawings I looked at the shovel was mounted further back, with the shovel blade cover in line with the wooden antenna holder. Tom Cockle has it mounted more like in this kit on his accuratized Panzer IV/E in the AFV Modeller mag article, so that's the way I did it in the end. However during the checking of all this I noticed that the antenna holder was not in the right position. Not sure if this is because the locating holes are wrong in the kit or did I open the wrong ones. I'll take a look in the other kit I have of this and will report back here later. So I removed the antenna holder and shifted it forward after slicing the interior locating tabs off of the holder and filled in the locating holes.


In this pic it is in the right place.


Shovel blade cover in place




Thanks Larry. But scratch all that I just did- checked test fitting the jack and looking at reference shots, the elevated sitting of the clasp and the blade cover are not required. DML got that wrong I think, (if they want to fit the rest of the OVM)???
So back to the drawing board...

[QUOTE=Andrew Hall;7269]I think those two turret front vision port mechanisms have been simplified for build-ability sake, I bet you can't see them anyway once the turret is assembled.

I know it wasn't really James' question but thought if there were any points came up it would be interesting to discuss.

Typically I can't find my photos of them so from memory it goes something like this....You have two separate structures here really, the vision port and armour glass and then the open/close mechanism. There should be a framed piece of armour glass on the inside of the opening. This fits the main rectangular opening while those semi-circular PE arms would fit tightly against the outside of the armour glass frame and into the outside edge of those two slots either side. Technically if your port is shut your PE arms should point towards the ceiling a bit more.

These arms are pivoting at the top and connected to a bracket on the ceiling (there's a similar bracket at the bottom bolted to the turret just in front of the traverse ring). The left hand semi-circular arm is connected to a lever on a quadrant sitting just behind and bolted to the ceiling. Moving this lever opens and shuts the armoured port.

Phew! Who needs photos when a thousand words will do

Andrew[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the input Andrew-
Here is a drawing from the CMK kit on the turret interior. Granted it is for a Pz.IV/H , and from a after-market kit, but perhaps it does though some light on this subject?
It appears that DML has really simplified things here.


More about the shovel stowage. In this pic, which is the tank I think I want to portray, you can see there is a spare wheel mounted on the right hand side of the hull on the fender. Also you can see what appears to be some kind of storage box in front of it. To my thinking this would interfere with the jack being placed here. I have no other pics of this vehicle to help clarify this...anybody?
I also see on the left side what appears to be a metal frame that may have held extra jerry cans.


Here is a shot inside of an Ausf. G. It is more simple compared to the above example of the CMK kit for the Ausf. H


these three examples show different stowage configs.
this one is the most common it seems to me, it shows the shovel mounting clasps and cover alighned with the straps that hold the antenna holder.


this is the one that is sorta portrayed in the kit's instructions
notice the extra pry bar on the very back air vent.


here the shovel is all the way at the back, and there are jerry cans and a strap the comes from the fender to the hull.


Okay thanks.
Here is a scan from the Jonathon Forty's book-Tanks in Detail -Panzer IV. Captions identify it as the inside of a Panzer IV/E. Looks kinda like your example.


[QUOTE=Andrew Hall;7285]I think it fair to say Mr.Fortys books have received somewhat less than rapturous applause from the 'panzer' community Nice photos (taken from Bovingtons photo archive for the most part) but the captions and technical stuff leave a lot to be desired at times. I've bought just one in the series and it wasn't written by Mr. Forty. I would recommend he read some of the Panzertracts titles as it would open a whole new world to him.

In this instance, he's obviously got the sun in his eyes or sneezed or something and walked straight past the big sign in front of the tank that says Panzer IV D/H.

Evidently, his next book will feature Bovingtons JP38....y'know, the big one with wheels and stuff with that huge gun thingy what Andrew Devey wrote a book about.

Andrew[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Larry Bates;7286]James, if I did this right, you'll notice on the third pic down, the afv with the guys climbing on it. there is a saw mounted to the side above the fender, mid hull.
[/QUOTE]

Thanks I was wondering what that organic looking shape was.
Well I decided to rip the pe off the front turret vision port klappes and redo it. I think I find there is a problem with the way things line up. The inside of the klapp has this sort of bearing system molded in. Then the front turret armour piece has this hole in it on either side that has these two little jogs that are where the swivel arms are meant to go- but if you glue the swivel arms to the bearings they don't fit properly in those little cut outs. So this time around I glued the swivel pieces to the cut outs and glued the cover to them after they had set. This looks much better. I just glued the other one shut.








Ever since I had been working with the shovel and its PE parts from the kit it has been a struggle.
Today I was really trying to make the stowage system from the kit and in photographic reference work. Couldn't do it. Not with those parts. And I even tried using an Aber set's but they are the same pretty much. Basically I find that the width of the half shell, when in place as per photos under the antenna holder, did not allow the antenna holder to come down the side armour as far as it needed to to match location in photographs. I think also the little mounting raised platform thingy is to high off the surface of the side armour as well as the one that the PE clasp for the shovel in the back mounts to.


Here are a few pictures showing just the tip of the iceberg of my efforts today.
in this one you can see that the PE part does not look to be the right size for the antenna holder to fit in it's proper location


I decided to make sure that this was the case and made a scratch shovel thing and antenna holder mount.




in place see how far out the half shell sits out from the armour- ought be half that, it should sit underneath the antenna holder.


the antenna holder should sit about half way down the side armour.


I even built up an Aber one to see if that would work. No joy.


Looking at photos it appeared to me that the shovel that comes with the kit which has the blade cover molded on had the proper size and appearance. So I struck out to make one out of plastic.










Well just when you thought it was safe to put your spare tracks on the fender...
you find out that the shovel, because of some spacing pieces I thought I should use on the clasp and the back of the shovel blade cover, does not allow the spare tracks to fit the fender. Doh!.
Now I have to take the shovel off and take the spacing stuff off and retry fitting everything in place.




so here after few hours the spare track mounts in place


the tracks are introduced




Guess what? still didn't fit- the holders need to be moved closer to the edge of the fender to get the proper positioning....


finally I think I got it sorted...?


so now.... a test fit of the jack and guess what again? doesn't fit. After looking at various reference photos and comparing the Tamiya jack to the DML item- it appears to me DML has made the jack tooooo BIG. So I decided I would make that Aber jack that comes in their Panzer IV/D set.

See how the hook-on part of the jack extends way over the fender if it is put it the position that the crank starter tool allows in relation to were the top of the jack should be. (I am using the crank tool with the molded on clasps so that the location is as per location tabs and holes. I will use the PE clasps on the clean tool later.)


The DML one just appears to be too massive when compared to pics of the real thing in photos. This is a shot of it beside a Panzer IV jack from Tamiya.




the Aber jack fits great, (I still need to put the bottom piece on (stealing one from the Tristar jack)




Earlier as an aside today I sanded down the filled in joints of the basket support were they meet at the turret bottom. I needed to replace the bolts with some punch and die discs (tiny).


the turret had it's rear pistol port glued on.


here is a dumb little pic showing a few of the sub assemblies just friction fitted. Starting to look like something a bit now though hey? Next the last tools need to be added and then the exhaust. You can see some other parts like the ventilator and the side hatch added here- better pics tomorrow.
Oh yes the tracks need to be done.....(mind numbing)


and guess who decided to come for a visit to Uncle Jamie's work bench today...
The neglected Tristar Panzer IV chassis. With all the excitement being generated by the DML Panzer IV build up I feel like trying to finish this one now too..
The suspension parts are now mounted and glued in place. Next will be the the final drive.. etc.


So where the hell is everyone today- nobody posting... man .

I slogged ahead with the on vehicle tools. But first to take the edge off I finished up the turret first with the side doors being installed. Here are the parts to mount the door- if the hinge parts are glued very carefully the door can open and close which will come in handy for your 1/35th scale Panzer operators to get in and out of.

[Jamie Tainton]

So here is a shot of the roof showing the signal flag port and the ventilator (nicely done!)


I added the vision blocks to the doors. These are clear plastic. I will mask the lens part and paint the rest - I think black??




After looking at some images that show the jack pretty clearly I felt that the Aber attempt on my part, while okay, just wasn't as authentic looking as the Tamiya one. So I switched it in.
Test fit


next the muffler parts
first the smaller one


and then the bigger one


here's the mufflers in place on a dry run-they need to be painted and then added.


one nice "bonus" feature is the wire handles that come with the kit


Another shot of the gun for fun


next more clear vision port parts
I wanted to try and not glue them in till after they are painted but after weighing the pros and cons- I decided to install them and carefully paint them black later.
first the left side where there is no vision slit in the armour cover


and the other side. This will have a glass block added and the outside amour klapp after the painting.


next I decided to add the PE replacement rain guard to the plastic part. First you have to carefully sand the plastic version down just to the point where the PE part should replace it.
and then glue with CA the PE part


since I am going to attempt to bring this tank into line, equipment stowage wise, for a specific vehicle, (to the best of my ability given I only have one photo of the actual vehicle and a few pics of others that may have similar stowage), I decided it was time to move the tool that is for the idler hub parts (I believe), from it's instruction sheet indicated station at the mid-line of the left fender-to the rear back above the air ducts. This will allow space for the jerry can holder.


In the new location. The tool appears a bit thick too me....


and finally the front right corner has a spare wheel mounted there in the pic of the real one so I scratched something up.


small update today- got the Jack tool holders in place and the crank tool ones Was able to get three of the tool holder clasps done tonight- One for the axe is mounted and now I have one more of those bastards to do....
One thing I have noticed is these tool clasps appear to have the look of the early ones- different from the later types I've been more familiar with. The tool is still loose but because of the zigzag shape of the tool - I couldn't paint it and then slip it in, I had to stick it in the clasps. Still I will have some flexibility in getting to it with the paints.



The other thing I did was to take the kit supplied jerry cans,( put one sort a together) put a few of them on the fender to try sizing up a bracket that will hold three of them on the driver's side.


Here are the parts for the Jerry cans

They look pretty good compared to pics. I sanded down the locating pins ever so much -seems to help the fit. Careful not to take too much off if you try this. I did a little filing to the PE part, mainly on the top, to get the proper look, just filed it flush once installed.


Next I filled in some knockout points on the upper interior armour plate with discs of plastic glued in with CA and sanded back. I also had a spare ventilator from an old Aber Panzer IV PE set so I put that in. It is pretty prominent if you look through the side hatches.


Next I think maybe either I did something wrong (it happens! ) or Dragon did but the place where the part that the bottom of the turret basket is supposed to lock into- it does not line up properly if installed into the position indicated by DML. I had read where other people (R.C.?) had had problems with this aspect of the kit so I only tacked that part in previously. In any event it wasn't working right- the misalignment was distorting the basket support arms. So I took my Dremel tool and after removing the cone shaped part, took the little ring the thing sits in out. So I then had a flat floor. I then took the basket locked the cone part on and then with some CA on the bottom [put the turret bottom in the turret hole. This seemed to rectify that problem and now things rotate smoothly, and the turret won't fall out when the tank is turned upside down.


Here the three Jerry cans are nestled into their new digs, a strap made of brass.

[Jamie Tainton]