Tamiya / Heng-Long PzIV Hybrid

[BREL]

looking good, a great start to your Tamiya/HL PzIV hybrid

[grompix]

More progress chaps.

Replaced the HL driver/co-driver front plate with the Tamiya one as it represents the thicker (80mm) plate that started to be fitted as standard on later PZIVs. The Tamiya one is a tad smaller and has the drivers port placed slightly more to the right than the HL one. I suspect the Tamiya plate is the more accurate though.

Cut out the driver and co-driver hatches and replaced with functioning metal ones.

The Heng Long moulded tools had to go of course so I dremelled (is there such a verb?) those off, together with the wrongly positioned air vents on the transmission hatches. I'll replace the tools with metal ones later. I think I'll make new air vents with milliput after I've zimmed the hull. Dremmeling away the tools also ruined the (inaccurate) treadplates on the tinwork so I glued tread-patterned plasticard along each side, covering the HL original pattern.

[grompix]

I had time to have a go at the gun & mantlet today.

Turned an aluminium barrel from 10mm bar. I already had a suitable muzzle brake I could use for this (it was purchased originally for my Bandai PzIVG but I used a different brake for that).

I managed to get the Tamiya gun mantlet parts fitted together despite the fact I didn't have all the 'extra' bits that you normally get in a full Tamiya kit. You can't help but notice the bits I had to cobble together in the pics!

I decided to take Pete's (971Wright's) advice and not use the Asiatam recoil module, mainly because I wasn't happy with the limited gun elevation it gives. I did have a spare Tamiya recoil and gun elevation unit so I used those instead. It also made some sense because the tamiya turret base has mounting points for their own elevation unit.

While I was fitting the gun mantlet together I decided to fit the IR emitter. The co-ax MG tube was an ideal location so I cut a 6mm aluminium tube so it fitted through the mantlet and pushed the IR LED into the base.

Everything screwed together OK so I pulled it all apart again (as you do!). This time to have a go at Glory71's snap-recoil mod. I must admit it works a treat and looks great (many thanks for that tip Jon!).
You can watch a video-clip of his recoil mod here:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbDw9L4mU9s" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I needed to grind off a few more teeth than Jon recommends though as you can see from the oppropriate pic.  I think that might be because I used the shallower recoil unit (smaller cog).

More pics soon.

Cheers
Chris 

[STEINER]

Another masterpiece. Excellent.

[grompix]

Started work on the turret today. I'm using the Tamiya turret with the HL turret ring, gears and motor.

The HL and Tamiya turrets are exactly the same size (see pic) but the HL rommelkist is moulded into the turret rear. The Tamiya turret shows the thicker turret roof plate (rear roof plate 25mm) which was built on Ausf H-J. So that is perfect for my 'H' build.

I cut away the HL ring from the base of the turret and found it fitted quite well inside the larger Tamiya turret ring. I had to sand off the actual Tamiya ring though.

The cupola proved a large headache. Strangely the Tamiya one is a fair bit bigger than the HL cupola (same height-just larger diameter!). I should have taken photos of them side by side but I forgot. Anyone know if the late Ausf 'J' cupola was a different diameter? Or is it another HL error?

I decided to use the tamiya cupola as I thought it was more likely to be the accurate size. But I suddenly realised that I didn't have all the parts to complete the Tamiya turret. I didn't have the 'B' Sprue. I could order the (2) sprues I needed from Axel's Modelbau shop but at nearly 9 Euros each I was loath to do that.

So I elected to chop off the missing parts from the HL Cupola and file and hack them around a bit and fit them to the Tamiya cupola. Any of you chaps ever get past the point of no return and suddenly find that you have made an incredibly stupid decision? Well I got that sinking feeling this afternoon too! I think I should have stuck with the HL cupola.

Anyway I had to do an awful lot of swearing, cutting and filing and padding with plasticard strips before the pieces began to look OKish. Lots of epoxy filler and several coats of Mr Surfacer later and you can see the result in the pics. A lot more work than I had bargained for -but- at least I have a cupola the right size (I hope!)

The Tamiya turret side doors are not functional (irritatingly they do that with so many of their 1/16th scale kits - if HL can do it why don't they?) So I cut away the openings and fitted the HL turret doors on the Tamiya turret.

The close defence port on the turret top didn't appear on PzIV 'H's until January 1944 so that had to go.  The turret handles were made from bent brazing rod.

At last its starting to look like a PzKw IV.

I hope you like it so far. More pictures soon.

Cheers
Chris         

 
 

[971wright]

Hi Chris your moving fast ,Strange how Tamiya get some things wrong and Heng Long dont and visa versa ,which way are you going to do the battle unit in the cupola or like my Panzer 4 around the hull .Outstanding work cant wait to see it finished.

regards pete

[grompix]

Hi Chris your moving fast ,Strange how Tamiya get some things wrong and Heng Long dont and visa versa ,which way are you going to do the battle unit in the cupola or like my Panzer 4 around the hull .Outstanding work cant wait to see it finished.

I always get the feeling of being 'short-changed' when I'm building a Tamiya Pete. For the 'huge' price of their kits I would have thought that opening hatches with interior detail should be the minimum to expect. They are very miserly with crew figures too. The last three 1/16th scale kits they released have no figures at all. Even if they included the figures from previous kits, that would be something.

Yep, I intend fitting the IR receiver modules in the cupola Pete. It worked fine for my HL PzIII and Bandai PzIV so I'm assuming it will be just as effective for this one. I'm still pondering on where to put the LEDs though. On the Bandai PzIV I put them in the turret roof flush with the top but they don't show up that well. I put them inside the cupola on my PZIII, facing up and surrounding the tank commander figure - but that detracts from the look of the tank. I might try wibblywobbly's tip of putting them underneath the rommelkist so they shine down on the engine deck. I'll have to experiment.

Cheers
Chris 

[Mackem]

"So I elected to chop off the missing parts from the HL Cupola and file and hack them around a bit and fit them to the Tamiya cupola. Any of you chaps ever get past the point of no return and suddenly find that you have made an incredibly stupid decision? Well I got that sinking feeling this afternoon too! I think I should have stuck with the HL cupola."

Yep, been there Chris. Putting all the electronics in the turret of my Leo springs to mind!!!!
Great build by the way.

Cheers
John

[septon]

looking great chris 

[oztruck]

Great work, luv the attention to detail. keep the photos coming.