DAK Pz IV Ausf G Build

[jarndice]

Philipat Hallo, When you cut out the plastic simulated engine grilles to fit the working metal hatches I assume you removed the locating struts beneath them, have you given thought to how you will be fitting hull to body? I ask because when I did it I took note of the lesson given by DIETRICH who suggested screwing 10mmx3mmx2mm neodymium magnets to the rear struts (both top and bottom) and the front struts the same, you will have to play around with an EXACTO Micro-saw to get the hight correct, I would not advise just glueing them in place as they will pull free, I bought F102S and F102N Countersunk Magnets from www.first4magnets.com, unfortunately that will only hold the body down, to hold it in place the struts behind the driver and radio operators hatches need to be drilled out to accept 3mm rod which when the bottom of the struts in the hull are filled sit unglued erect and fitting into the struts in the body, to fit top to bottom, with the two front hatches open you can then align the rods it sounds complicated but it is easy and much better than Heng Longs method, if you are fitting the radio areil to the side of the body the areil for the "PANZER 3" is exactly right, I got mine from www.welshdragonmodels.com. Finally I love this build and there is so much you can add without making it look like an overdressed whore, things like making up hooks for the tow rope located on the rear panel and so much more, you are obviously having fun with this. shaun

[jarndice]

Philipat a tip, free gratis and for nothing, I assume you will be fitting metal wheels and rollers, when you push the steel axles through the rollers and into the hull you will have 8 "C" clips to locate the axles, "C" clips are a pain, fiddly to fit and annoying to remove as they spring away under the work bench/kitchen table, I use "R" clips easy to fit and a doddle to remove.any hobby store selling slot and r/c cars will provide more than you can handle and CHEAP!!! shaun

[doc larsson]

me too

i'm liking it !

[philipat]

Shaun,

Thanks for the tips. Yes, when I installed the metal hatches, the support posts were cut off. I was thinking of gluing in a large magnet to the upper hull in the rear corners and then using a metal L-bracket in the lower hull. Then, gluing magnets to front and middle posts. But, I like your idea of screwing them in better.

I'm not sure that I'm following you here: "unfortunately that will only hold the body down, to hold it in place the struts behind the driver and radio operators hatches need to be drilled out to accept 3mm rod which when the bottom of the struts in the hull are filled sit unglued erect and fitting into the struts in the body, to fit top to bottom, with the two front hatches open you can then align the rods it sounds complicated but it is easy and much better than Heng Long's method" Do you have any pictures or a sample build thread? I would have thought that for the front I can just use those countersunk magnets to screw to upper and lower hull posts and come together that way.

Are these what you mean by R-clips? http://www.unispares.com/rclips.html I grew up calling these "cotter pins". Don't know why...

I will be installing metal road wheels. I had HennTec tweak them a bit. So, now they have a solid steel axle and brass bushings. Someone else in Germany will do something similar with bearings in the wheels. I didn't see that until after I had HennTec's work already. I have the metal supports for the return rollers. But, for now, I'll keep the HL plastic return rollers. I really want AsiaTam to make and re-release their metal return rollers with rubber tires. They are better built than the Taigen wheels. The metal supports came steel axles and C-clips. I'm not sure how they are supposed to be used, though. There weren't any grooves in the axles that I expected to be there to properly place the C-clips. Without grooves, it seems that the clips would just slide down the shaft over time. Thoughts?

[jarndice]

Hi Philipat, The "R" clip you show is exactly right, my axles came with a cut out to house the "C" clips, if your axles are totally round might I suggest putting a grinding stone in your DREMMEL and incising a slot into the side of the axles,or perhaps placing the axle in a vise and filing a slot in the side, it would not need to be much just enough to hold the "R" clip in place,it does not matter if the axle turns just as long as it will not pull through the side, the placing of the slot is going to be more important, do make sure that there is room for the axle to clear the inside of the hull but a tight fit will obviously help to reduce side play in the rollers, thin washers can take up the balance of the freeplay, You can probably get away with out using the uprights to hold the body in place but I am of the old school of belt and braces, if I hav'nt said it already I am loving your build. shaun

[HERMAN BIX]

As indeed am I.
I agree the C clips can be a royal pain in the ass to install, worse to remove, but in the context of what they do, how often are you likely to need to gin around with them.?
The aerial trough is a moment of clarity & the overall detail is to behold. I fear the poor old Pz IV was to languish in the realms of conversion only to 'Jager" but you have breathed new life into it as a stand alone build.

I can see this one as the support vehicle to the '131' of Mr Zuul very directly.

[philipat]

I'm glad everyone is enjoying the build. Shaun, thanks for the tips and clarifications. I'll have a look at the axles when I get to the lower hull.

Did a little more work on the rear deck.

Rear deck bolts: the holes in the rear deck around the engine hatches were bugging me. I had already replaced the upper hull’s other bolts. So, something had to be done with this. The few clear photos of the rear deck that I could find showed a smooth surface as if whatever bolts were there were later replaced with welds. However, I found a couple of photos of a H and a J that showed smooth, flat bolt heads that were just above the surface. I used some sewing pins (aka dressmaker pins) to replicate these bolts. After gluing the pin heads in place, I filed them so that they looked flatter and thinner. That looks much better.

Fuel Cap: So, in doing the other work, I flattened out the small knobs on the fuel cap. (At least, I think it is the fuel cap.) So, I replaced them with 1.2-mm rivets.

One question for you out there: I put in bolt heads across the top of the right engine hatch. HL didn’t put any divets there and I can tell in the photos if they should be there or not. I did it for symmetry. Does anyone if they should or shouldn’t be there?

[jarndice]

Philipat Hi, I wonder did you have to spend time on the Engine hatch hinges because it seemed like forever before I had freed them enough that the hatches swung open freely, and I notice the photograph of "734" taken across the engine bay shows two handles,the one nearest the back of the Tank was probably added after the Tank was captured, simply because the German Tank crews learnt very early on that Russian soldiers needed little in the way of invitation to climb on and pour gasoline(petrol)through every opening they found then set it afire.I cannot help you with the detail around the engine hatches there is very little in the way of detailed pictures of that part of serving PZ4s, loving this build. shaun

[philipat]

Shaun,

I've seen several photos of the second handle on the right hatch. Even a few with a handle on left hatch. Both appear to have been field mods done later in the war. I still might do one on the left hatch just to make it easy to open because I plan to put switches and all under those hatches. Before I installed the hatches, I filed the hinges quite a bit to round them out. The open freely now, but probably wouldn't have if I hadn't done that.

Philip

[ALPHA]

Philipat Hi, I wonder did you have to spend time on the Engine hatch hinges because it seemed like forever before I had freed them enough that the hatches swung open freely, and I notice the photograph of "734" taken across the engine bay shows two handles,the one nearest the back of the Tank was probably added after the Tank was captured, simply because the German Tank crews learnt very early on that Russian soldiers needed little in the way of invitation to climb on and pour gasoline(petrol)through every opening they found then set it afire.I cannot help you with the detail around the engine hatches there is very little in the way of detailed pictures of that part of serving PZ4s, loving this build. shaun

Sorry for jumping in here Philpat ....WO2c...when I installed the hatches on my L70 cutting the hatches out weren't a problem...neither was fitting the metal replacements...in fact mine are a perfect fit...I didn't even put a backing to support them...as I under cut then filed the edge at an angle... but yes ...as you say they don't open easily....the remedy for that was to file the hinges themselves...that's where mine where hanging up...so taking a little off the side of the hinge and a bit off the top allowed them to swing free....downside is the swing so free when you turn the tank over or to it's side they fly open


ALPHA