[Desert]: Pzkw. IV F1

[Herr Dr. Professor]

And on the subject of the whimsical, this configuration of the connectors is ORIGINAL to the Taigen PzKw. IV F1 I have. Actually, it turns out to be somewhat easier to connect and disconnect than a direct link to the board as on all the other Taigen tanks I have.

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[tankme]

I believe the yellow/white connection there is the trigger for the high intensity flash unit. Taigen does only IR or only BB in their tanks unlike HL which has both in the newer tanks.

[MonsieurTox]

Here is one for laughs. You may recall from above that I was repairing the backing plate that holds the Kugelblende in place. Well...

What's wrong with this picture?

What's Wrong.jpg

You can't put the backplate because of the wires now you have repaired it!

[MonsieurTox]

Nor, Monsieur Tox, am I sure that the Taigen colors are accurate. But at this point I may stick with them as I have figures for my FAMO needing paint, builds waiting in line, and big plumbing bills coming. (nothing too serious, just maintenance after 33 years), I am sorry if I disappoint you, but you should realize that you are w-a-a-y ahead of me in all kinds of skills. If I do choose to repaint, I would look at the DAK paint sets offered by Vallejo and Mig. Ammo.

I may use the Tamiya paints too, unfortunatly my hobby store doesn't carry that Tamiya ref so I haven't tried it yet. I have to order some. I guess after aging and weathering it will be OK even if the base coat is not 100% accurate.

I've never used those paints sets from Vallejo or Mig. Not sure what they are worth. I've read several time the Mig/Ammo were not that accurate, probably more than the Tamiya ones though.

I'm not way ahead of you, we all have our skills and I'm learning from every build I read there!

[Herr Dr. Professor]

The yellow and white connection is for the BB unit, as BB only required two points, unlike the IR that used the whole array of the socket. The unusual feature is the use of a full connector instead of just putting a two-pin connector directly into the end of the board socket. I have quite a few Taigen tanks and have never seen this unusual (and unnecessary) complication.

Yes, I laughed about my forgetting to repair the backing plate with the wires going through it. The solution, of course, was to unsolder, re-route, and re-solder the LED connection.

[Herr Dr. Professor]

Over the past three months, I have been creeping along on the desert PzKw. IV F1. With a new car and two plumbing breakdowns, I am, indeed, settling for paint and small detail work. I have used so many different colors/colours I cannot remember them all, but I have repainted all the tools, those relief cast ( ), those separately cast, and a few I had to alter and/or scratch build. I have painted the lenses of the convoy light and taillight...unh...what else? ...the fire extinguisher...so much more detail painting. I also did a lot of touch-up work of the original Dunkegelb and Oliv Grün as well as adding parts in the same combination of colors. I also airbrushed Vallejo Desert Wash multiple times to create a dusted effect. The effect of all this putzy work is a PzKw. IV F1 that is just about like all the others.

This evening I took a few lazy photos just for fun.

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[Herr Dr. Professor]

So now I can load on some stowage. However, I probably won't be loading on this much stuff. You'd think these DAK types were actually Americans!

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Here the PzKw. IV is underway with the commander in DAK uniform, perhaps on a cooler desert evening.

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[Panzermechaniker]

I'd have to imagine with that much stowage the DAK were on the offensive. North Africa is definitely an interesting campaign for armor modellers like us. Plus with the rumors of a Crusader in the works those PZIII and PZ!V have another adversary. I always liked the look of the Crusader

[Kaczor]

Looking good!

[Herr Dr. Professor]

As I was painting and attaching details on this PzKw. IV F1, I made this part from the sprue match and attached it to the tank as Taigen indicated. I have at least six books on the PzKw. IV, but I could not find a photo or explanation of what this is. Can anyone help? Can I hang stowage on it?

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