JAGDPANZER IV, SS PzJ ABTEILUNG 9, OOSTERBEEK, 17TH DEC, 1944

[HERMAN BIX]

Figuring I will at some point add crew to this I took the opportunity to fit a couple of bases to secure them to.
Simple brass plate with a styrene pad super glued on, then more gel superglue to secure each to the underside of the Casemate roof.
Simple and effective.
The hatch hinge mechanisms were stiffened with the addition of PVA to each hinge point, just to prevent them flopping around like an untrained seal.

[Herr Dr. Professor]

Bix, I admire the hinge reinforcements for the hatches. Is the brass/styrene combination as platforms for the figures a bit of over-engineering, or am I missing something important that I need to know before I create such platforms for a crew in a Stuart or PzKfw III, or IV, or Panther...etc., etc., etc.?

[HERMAN BIX]

Keep in mind that the figures need to be secured to the platform somehow.
Magnets would be ideal but I use blue tack.
To get the blue tack properly engaging the figure base you need to put a bit of oomph into it, so don’t want the platform breaking off

[Herr Dr. Professor]

Got it... I have various ways of sticking 'em in place, and often they are just placed loosely.

[HERMAN BIX]

Got it... I have various ways of sticking 'em in place, and often they are just placed loosely.

That works for the 364 days a year they sit on a shelf.................but that other 1 day = loosely wont cut it !

[ColemanCollector]

Uhhhhh...that would be 365 days for some of us

Mike.

[Panzermechaniker]

That is really nice work on those hatch hinges. Even the ones on the Tamiya kit are a bit weak and fiddly to attach and the worst part is after putting the battle unit base in the left hatch has to be removed and left loose so as not to block the apple. Your hinges are a much more rugged answer for when I eventually break mine

[HERMAN BIX]

That is really nice work on those hatch hinges. Even the ones on the Tamiya kit are a bit weak and fiddly to attach and the worst part is after putting the battle unit base in the left hatch has to be removed and left loose so as not to block the apple. Your hinges are a much more rugged answer for when I eventually break mine

Cheers Mr Mechaniker, a fair bit of mucking around to get them to work but worth it in the end I reckon.

[HERMAN BIX]

Well here goes nothing.
Im into it 100% now.
Either I'm creating a masterpiece............or ruining one

The material I have decided on for the concrete is air drying modeling clay.
In the packet which gets you 500grams for $3 it feels a bit firm, but once I get it out & start handling it Im optimistic the stuff will be free to manipulate and form.
The brass handrails are so that the stuff has something to mechanically grip onto once dry, and I can use them as leveling profiles to get an even-ish coverage on initial application, then bung a light cover over that to finish off & hide the brass rails.
Formed roughly by hand & the ends roughed up with a rasp. Drilled each hole to suit the rail & gel super glued into place.
Brass was a must as I dont know what sort of issue any moisture from the clay might present on a ferrous material so brass is the smart choice.

Have also got the rear wing armour mounts on, and experimenting with placement of the tools on the engine deck.
Still lots to do.




Cant believe Im covering the beautiful Zimmerit on the Profeline conversion kit just to achieve something different

[HERMAN BIX]

Not forgetting the mounts for the spare track on the upper glacis that all seem to be rudimentary flat bar with a hole cut in it, welded to the armour then concreted over.
The pictures of these things that still have track on the front all use wire to hold it on as the concrete negated any use of fancy mounts .
This build period has the armour at 60mm rather than the later version that had 80, hence the addition of concrete.