Yes folks, it’s Academy’s Tamiclone PzIV. To quote Luke Skywalker… “What a piece of junk!”.
My reason for building this was simple - It was a cheapy kit I could use for camo practice. I think the last airbrushed multi-colour camo I did was some time around 1988 [:O]
The idea was to just throw the kit together in as short a time possible and hit it with some paint.
Well, easier said than done… Though it looks reasonable in the box, it’s a dog of a kit. Lots of gaps to fill and where there aren’t any gaps, the parts just don’t fit well. Lots of sanding and scraping and still some of the problems caused by mould misalignments are beyond recovery. And then… the instructions don’t provide any painting instructions.
I wasn’t able to find any references for the vehicle represented by the kit markings, so the colour scheme is improvised and doesn’t represent any specific vehicle. The weathering is a little rough in parts (was trying out some different paints, which didn’t quite work out the way I liked) and yes, it’s a little on the clean side.
I’d say you ‘polished up’ that lump of coal mighty nice! Others can point out the kits inaccuracies, I’ll just say that I see a good looking tank now thanks to your efforts.
[#ditto]…whatever challenges you ran into were certainly overcome…that is a darn nice looking build in my book[tup]!!!..a liitle bit more with the pin washes might help, either way you did a great job!!![#toast]
Hey Phil–it’s a bit clean for me, but as a “cleaner” build, it’s certainly an attractive effort! Yhe camo looks good, the whole kit looks nice, and I can’t see anything glaring as inaccurate or poorly done.
Well looks like you made it trhough the problems and came out with a great looking model. It’s a bit too clean for my taste but that just me. Great job on the camo.
uh oh…too bad…you did some nice work on her…she is marked as a 24th PD vehicle, but those red and white numbers are shaped oddly…also, at this stage of the war the divisional markings probably wouldn’t be so large…
Mate, I think you’re selling yourself a bit short. I’ve got the other Tamiclone - the StuGIV - which is all built waiting for paint. Never had anything like the probs you did. For less than $AU20, I really couldn’t give a dry rat’s if it turns out like a dog’s breakfast, BUT, if it finishes at least half as decent as your PzIV, I’ll pat myself on the back. Shame about the final botch up. Would’ve left it just as is…
The markings were as provided in the box. I thought the red and white side numbers were a little oversized. Size-wise, they look more reminiscent of hand-painted side numbers. Likewise the 24 PzD insignia. The line thickness seems heavier than it should be, and all the references I can find show this insignia as yellow, not white. (I have found what looks to be a suitable replacement in my spare decals)
Shaun,
Thanks, and yep, I should have left well enough alone… [:I]
No great mystery. It was just meant to be a little post-shading to tone down the brightness a little and to slightly deepen the shadow areas. Just went a bit too heavy… [banghead]
That was “fast”! I like this version too! “Clean” happens. There was a time in every tank’s life that it was either fresh from the factory or field shops.
I think it looks damn fine to me, and im sure it will look even better on your model shelf. Nice job on the paint scheme #2…#1 looked good too. I see what others have said about the shurzen, geez if they were true to scale im sure they would weigh half a ton each. It also looks like its got a big bore exhaust. Germans had ‘Boy racers’ too, i guess. lol.
Phil, that’s a sweeet Pz IV! Both paint jobs look good to me! I built the old Tamiya version and it definitely a clunker, but with some TLC these kits can turn out fine, as shown with your Academy kit! Good work!
