Dragon's Jagdpanzer IV/L70(V)

Modeling Subjects Armor
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Submitted for your viewing pleasure (or disgust) is Dragon’s Jagdpanzer IV L70(V) built OOB except for .015" steel wire for the antennae. MM acryl for paint followed by burnt umber wash and black pin wash. Dull cote and then future for decal base, another layer of dull cote followed by dry brushing with artist oils and a liberal dose of pastels. Decals are from the leftover bin and OOB.

I built this kit many years ago and used it for a test mule to try some blast damage and rust techniques. Slapped two figs together for hatch filler to enter it in a show in Madison WI. where it garnered a 3rd in Axis armor. Just entered it for S&G and you could’ve knocked me over with a feather when it took something.

As usual, all comments good and bad are welcomed.

Pat.

Photos by Panzerjager.

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Wish I had taken a picture of the expression on your face at Mad City when the judges called you up!

looks like your JP photoed pretty good.

A few things to fix next time you come up.

I won’t point them out here, let’s see if anyone else notices…

PANZERJAGER

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Came out great! I love the battle damage…to both the vehicle and the troop.

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Real nice Jagdpanzer. I like the ambush scheme. [H].

Now my monitor might be playing tricks, but the pastels on the wheels look rustish. European pigments? Anyway, my work monitor sucks.

I’m not so sure the tracks would have been sprayed in a camo scheme unless someone can correct me.

All-in-all, a fine job.

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I like the damage from the deflected hits,and the bloody bandage are nice touches

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Guderian’s Duck!! Sweet!! I’ve got one in my stash. When I work up the courage to try a DML kit again, its high on the list.

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Panzerjager: Ja, there’s always room for improvement.

Hercmech: Thanks man, appreciate it!

Tigerman: Point well taken on the road wheel weathering, that may need some further attention. Tracks?! I thought that was a grudge fence on the rear deck to keep the neighbors from peeking. Those just might have to get the bare metal treatment.

Anthony 2779: Thanks, I really love to beat stuff up.

MAJ Mike: After putting together a couple of Italeri Panzer IVs, this Dragon kit was a dream. I know you’ll enjoy yours.

Pat.

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Nice ambush scheme![Y]

Nate

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Do you have the new smart kit or one of the older Imperial Series kits #9???'s?

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First off I want to say this looks really good. I like the look. It seems that you do your paint & weathering in much the same manner that I do myself.

Now, (not being too familiar with this particular version) as far as picking anything out to fix I would venture to say:

  1. There appears to be a seam on both sides of the main gun.

  2. The tracks need a tiny bit more slack on the starboard side but they are both going in the correct direction.

  3. Some metay to metal wear needed on the track contact surfaces.

  4. The shell impact patterns need a slight bit more differentiation.

  5. The drivers vision slits need some depth.

  6. The rear distancing light needs to be blue.

  7. Some silvering on the ✙ on the port side (a slight film outline on the starboard side).

  8. Mold seams on the spare road wheels on the rear deck.

I just did this as a response to a challenge, so please don’t take offense. Normally, I wouldn’t be such a nitpick.

I only see #1, #7 and #8 as primary issues myself. A simple base would greatly enhance its awesome appearance.

And, just for hatch filler, those figs look pretty dern good if you ask me.

I really like this build and I have one myself for a future project. Your example here serves as a valuable asset for when I get around to building mine.

!http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b232/gluetank/Animated/th_1-Animated-Disastermaster.gif?t=1296616998

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I’ve got the newer Smart Kit. I made the mistake of attempting to build DML’s Panther II as my second build after a 30+ year absence from kit building. My skills, tools, fine motor skills, patience, etc were not equal to the confusing direction sheet and super-small parts. Ended up using the kit for spare parts on a DML Maus I built for the Odd Animals GB.

For the most part, Tamiya’s oft criticized kits provide enough detail for me when combined with AM cannon barrels, selected PE, etc. I have several DML kits in storage and will eventually get to them.

Thanks for the interest.

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I still love the newer Tamiya kits, which I agree with you on. They provide enough detail without being over engineered. Huge part counts don’t turn me on.

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Love the head wound, and the paint job is primo!

Don’t love the too-uniform pastels on the wheels. It looks rushed, and too ubiquitous in color and distribution. Try for a more varied approach next time.

Congrats on the award and a fine model!

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Disastermaster: Thanks for the great feedback. This was the last kit I ever made using the stock barrel, I have since gone all metal AM or if one isn’t available then one gets turned on the lathe. The only point I would disagree with is the seam on the spare roadwheels. I left it there on purpose because real unused rubber road wheels DO have a very prominent seam from the molding process although contest judges don’t seem to know this and ding people on it. All of your other points are bang on. Thanks for the compliments, it means alot coming from you.

DOOG: Ya got me on the pastels, they look rushed because they WERE. I literally put the finishing touches on it the night before the contest. The figs were rushed too. Literally put them together, painted and dry brushed them also on the night before the contest.

I hope people are paying attention, this is the kind of great constructive criticism that makes us all better modellers and I wish there was more of it. A big thanks to all who have responded.

Pat.

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I thought they were used, since they was a bit doity.

Way To GoBut you’re right, I forgot about that detail…

smileys drivin’ me nuts.

!http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b232/gluetank/Animated/th_1-Animated-Disastermaster.gif?t=1296616998

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NICE DUCK! One of my long-fav vehicles, but I’ve yet to add it to my stash of stuff I won’t live long enough to get to!

I DO think those roadwheels are maybe a little stark, but…

IMO, leaving tire seams on would be realistic, as this would have been both a late war production and low-mileage. Looking at various Pz. IV pics suggests to me that those tires were pretty hard rubber and that those mold seams did linger for quite a while.

Of course, getting a show judge to recognize this is another matter altogether. (So, being an old chicken, the Pz. I’ve done and shown have all had smooth tires[:$] )

About spare tracks and camo… Personally, I think your camo’d picket fence looks pretty snazzy! In the (then) real German world, that fence COULD have been camo’d, specially in later 1943 and thru 1944, as field crews often did the camo in the field over the factory base-coat, and as seen in many pics often did spray the tools and spare tracks when doing their in-field camo thing.

The question probably would be whether the spare tracks were base-coated when assembled on to the vehicle at the factory or rear depot… IF so, then it would be reasonable to use all 3 colors on those tracks (that is, continuing the hull scheme over the tracks). IF NOT, then they may have started mounted life in either a naked (slightly surface-rusted) steel, or maybe in rotoxid primer or maybe in black enamel…

And from there, IF the crew did the “continue spraying camo over spare tracks” thing, than it may well be fair to use one of those colors (rusted steel, enamel black, rotoxid?) as the base on the tracks and carry the camo colors over that!

I’d bet that the tracks left the factory in naked steel or black (or sometimes the rotoxid) - not in the dunkelgelb base-coat, so…

Nice job (even if, yes, you did leave a little seam on that barrel - bet that was both hard and low-mileage, too![:D] )

Bob

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Panzerbob01: Thanks for the insights on paint schemes and mold lines. The longer I’m in this hobby the more I learn. As for the gun barrel, that was probably the worst part of this kit. I recall that both halves were ovoid and not round leading to the barrel having an egg shaped cross section when assembled. Much sanding and filing was required to get it close to round and by taking all that material off it actually made the gun too small in diameter.

Next time I do one of these I’ll just get an AM barrel or turn one down myself on the lathe. But like Manny and Panzerjager have said, that doesn’t mean that contest judges won’t find a seam anyway!

Pat.

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Pat;

Yeah… been there, done that and did not get either T-shirt or rock! Even a turned Alum barrel can have a seam in a judge’s eye. So one of course found a “seam” on the top of the turned metal barrel of my many-times award-winning E-10 at a big show last year! And … no rock there for me[:D]

Turned out when I looked later, that somehow that barrel had become scratched - removing a nice thin straight line of acryl camo from the underlying very hard black enamel “primer” I had used! But them’s the “seams” as some see them!

I have found that the styrene barrels seen in recent Dragon kits have been pretty nice-looking, but those seen on various other and older kits do beg a metal item to be fitted.

Bob

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Bob, would love to see some pics of your build. [:D]

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Tig;

I would be happy to oblige (maybe on a new thread though, and not to hi-jack this one)…

But, being new to FS and these forums, I have yet to suss out how to get pics into posts, or into the galleries, for that matter. IF somebody were to point me in the right direction, I’ll certes post some pics! (Of course they would be strictly for entertainment purposes, being as I’m hardly any sort of serious modeler!)

Bob[;)]