The Panzer IV Digital Library - PzIV Ausf H Painted 190816

[Lovstrom]

Did you make slits for the bends on those etches?
Otherwise they will be really difficult to bend in the right place.

Sven who also builds model railways in etched brass.

[ultravanillasmurf]

Did you make slits for the bends on those etches?
Otherwise they will be really difficult to bend in the right place.

Sven who also builds model railways in etched brass.

if you look at the solid bars on the turret armour, you can see half etched lines which I guess are the bend points.

Traditionally on model railway etches, the etched  bend is on the inside (I will check that).

Have you thought about adding a tool or turret bustle box or mounting brackets to the etch, there is quite a bit of empty space?

[Rubicon Models]

Well, I admire the quality of this, but shudder at the introduction of photo-etched metal parts.  Photo-etched stuff has always bugged me - they're meant to be plastic kits, after all.  And this kind of component does not look very suitable for wargaming.  At some point, providing this kind of level of 'realism' conflicts with the policy of making kits which are robust and relatively easy to assemble.  You can no longer have one-piece tracks because the simplified track detail is too obvious next to finely detailed photo-etched parts.

We still prefer plastic, pewter, or resin over photo-etched parts.  They are very expensive to produce and must be in volume to make them viable to be included in a product.  The only reason we added this is because we are not able to make this part strong and thin enough in any other material.  The assembly is extremely easy as we had gone an extra step to make sure it is a one-step assembly without the super-glue mess.  The one-piece track now has fine details on the front of the tracks which we think is good enough to go with the photo-etched parts.

[Rubicon Models]

If you look at the solid bars on the turret armour, you can see half etched lines which I guess are the bend points.

Part no 2 & 3 are not schurzen for the turret, but top mesh that appeared on both the left and right-hand side of the hull as shown below:

Have you thought about adding a tool or turret bustle box or mounting brackets to the etch, there is quite a bit of empty space?

That will depend on what the designers wanted. Will pass the comment to them.

[ripley]

While the Thoma side skirts will be welcome , I for one do not want to try and fold photo etch to make a square  box never mind multi bends to make turret stowage box . I admit it , photo etch scares me 

[tyroflyer]

It would have been easy for Rubicon to put these in the too hard basket. I'm pleased they haven't. However Pinky's point about high detail in one area and not another is valid. Perhaps when Panzer IV kits get another upgrade in the years to come the tracks will get looked at again.

[Pinky]

I must admit the tracks on that prototype look pretty good.

[Rubicon Models]

I must admit the tracks on that prototype look pretty good.

The image right above is from a 1/35 unknown manufacturer, probably Dragon, with after-market PE add-on...  not ours! 

[Pinky]

Haha!  I waslooking at the tracks wondering how you'd done that in one piece.  I'd also had 3 glasses of wine.  Don't I feel stupid...

[Rubicon Models]

After several trials and error for different thickness and production method for the photo-etched (PE) plates, we finally get it right!

This is going to be the most straight-forward assembly for the use of PE parts with a plastic model kit!

The support frame is a two-piece plastic that you can mount on to the side of the Panzer IV "with" or "without" the PE mesh armour.

Mounting the PE is basically snipping the parts off from the PE plate with a sharp cutter and then "snap" it onto the support frame.  Finishing it off by adding a few drops of superglue to a few contact points. The final product should be fairly solid even being handled on the gaming table.



Enjoy!
 

[ripley]

Looks really good 

[Ballardian]

 Fantastic, even better than I expected, I look forward to getting my hands on some.

[ultravanillasmurf]

Looks good.

[Rubicon Models]

This is the final 3D drawing for the Panzer IV Ausf J. This signified the completion of our Panzer IV Digital Library project. Will start moving into the mould making phase.







Enjoy!

[Pinky]

I'm not keen on the etched metal sideskirts, but I think I'm in a minority there.

There are some mistakes on the turret:

- the turret roof should have a splash-guard around the cupola, and the vain sight in front of the cupola should omitted.

- the turret roof is also missing the Pilzen - the 3 sockets for mounting a frame to remove the engine. 

- the rectangular piece on top of the turret ventilator is presumably meant to be a poison gas detection panel.  If this was fitted there would also be a similar fitting on top of the main gun recuperator housing.  They were raised, not flat.