Thought I'd send along a few pictorial thoughts on a project I've been working on for a while now. This is not really a build report in any sense of the term; more the short story version of my on again/off again interpretation of the ugly duckling known more formally as the Panzer IV L/70 (A), built by Alkett, and sometimes, as a modern invention of terms, referred to as the Zwischenlosung (interim design), a term not actually used during the war according to some sources. This ungainly beast, for me at least, falls under the category, 'so ugly you can't help but love it,' something like that forlorn pup you see in the window of a pet shop and which nobody really want to bring home. Though similarly named, the Panzer IV L/70 by Vomag (V) and the Panzer IV L/70 (A) were almost totally unlike each other except in their mutual incorporation of the Panzer IV suspension system and their employment of the same gun, the 7.5cm Pak 42 Kw.K L/70. The necessity for the Alkett produced version commencing in June 1944 apparently grew out of production capacity limitations of the more common Vomag produced version. Unlike the svelte Vomag variant (only 620 mm high), the Alkett version (1,020 mm high) was derived directly from the workhorse Panzer IV ausf F. The (A) variant's high superstructure was necessitated by the fact that like the veritable Panzer IV, the (A) had its gas tank directly under what would have been the turret traverse ring under the floor. Despite high hopes for larger production, only 277 Jagdpanzer IV l/70 (A) tank destroyers were built through March 1945.
There are a few conversion kits of the (A) on the commercial market. The relatively old one by Chris Juckenburg is still available as are one or two aluminum versions that I've seen for sale on a sister site in Germany. Profiline didn't make one, but a CAD drawing prototype (A) was created by one of our esteemed colleagues here on the Forum and sent to Chris Ludwig as a possible pre-production example for one of his kits. I bought that one, but knowing how long it's taken me to build his Panther II, I decided on a 3-D produced kit I found for sale on the aforesaid site. It's similar to the Juckenburg piece:
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I've since been informed and have read here that there is a product on the market to help avoid or at least make easier the sanding process. That product is called "XTC-3D, 'a brush on coating for 3D printed parts' per its label. This product came a little late in the game for me. But, upon reading the 'how to' I would have stuck to the sanding block and Dremel anyway. I thought it best not to attempt inviting noxious fumes onto the work bench during the winter months.
The kit came with a nicely turned aluminum (aluminium to some here) barrel and brass sleeve which, when used together in the molded in trunnion blocks, make for a nice, snug fit. However, other than the sleeve and tube, the only other parts from the kit I used were the superstructure body, roof and front plate, mainly because I had softer material or better formed parts from the Teilebehälter.
The initial fit of the upper body to a standard H-L Panzer IV F2 bought on E-Bay proved to be better than I would have imagined.
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keep up the great work
