The new Rubicon Models Panzer IV Ausf E
This is a fabulous kit - my only tiny complaint is that the radio antennae base housing is so tiny and fine (and no doubt accurately scaled), that it can't accommodate an actual wire for the aerial. So I'm afraid, very unhistorically, I have bodged it by co-opting an unused auxiliary sand/air filter from the SdKfz 223 kit and making it serve as an antennae housing. Wrong, I know. Scale modellers, avert your eyes. I'm just a wargamer. I could at least get a fine drill into it.
I'm not sure if the plastic component provided to drape over the top of the turret (thoughtfully, RM provide folded and unfolded versions) is meant to be a tarpaulin, a Libyan rug, or a picnic blanket. I'm afraid I was unable to resist painting it for, um... air recognition purposes...
A plethora of other optional bits and pieces of stowage are included in this kit, which I didn't use. I did however, fairly extensively model the front of the tank to create a natural looking assemblage of spare track, spare road wheels, etc. (I prefer the 'on campaign' look, to the neat, flat section of spare track provided to bolt onto the front of the hull - you can see both ways of doing it in contemporary WWII photographs
The panzer commander is a metal figure from the Perry DAK tank crew set. Nice figure from a distance - although his fingers are pretty sketchy / vestigial... Don't look too closely.
