Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. G, 1942 — just before El Alamein

[Jakko]

My Panzer IV is finished:



And because I didn’t paint a desert base for nothing recently, here it is in use too:

 

[Steven000]

Looking good, nice work

 

[Gary G]

I like that model. Great job.

 

[Jim R]

Another great result Jakko.

 

[Jakko]

Thanks, I’m quite pleased with it myself — even if it was intended as a quick, straight-from-the-box build but turned out to be more involved after all

 

[Scratchbuilder]

Just finished reading your build notes and next thing here it is complete.....
But fast or slow, you have made a good job of it. And even the painting of the figures set off the vehicle.
Well done Jakko.

 

[Strenko J]

Lovely looking build Jakko

 

[The Smythe Meister]

Lovely result there Jakko,a great combo of Tank and figures ,
The base came out well too, I've got a Heller vac formed one in the stash,but never got around to painting it up.

 

[JayCee]

That is very nice, Jakko. The figures give a nice sense of scale. One thing if I may, to my eyes it looks a bit "clean". This is not meant as a criticism, just me being anal as I have spent most of my life in the near and middle east including years living in Tobruk so I know how the dust gathers in no time at all.
As ever, your model, your finish.
John.

 

[Jakko]

Thanks all, I’m pretty pleased with it myself

Just finished reading your build notes and next thing here it is complete.....

It would have been a lot quicker if I hadn’t gone leafing through that book about German armour in Africa, in which I found the picture of the real tank

The base came out well too, I've got a Heller vac formed one in the stash,but never got around to painting it up.

I bought it last year, and decided to paint it in desert colours due to this model. I would advise glueing it to a baseplate, like I did, because else it will be fairly flimsy. Actual painting was quick and simple: a sand colour, a medium brown wash, and then drybrushing with a couple of shades of lighter sand-coloured paint (or sand plus white at the end), that’s it. Everything all over the whole base, except that I kept the lightest colours to the higher areas that would catch the light. You can do much the same for other types of soil, then just add some static grass in areas. Go for it

One thing if I may, to my eyes it looks a bit "clean". This is not meant as a criticism, just me being anal as I have spent most of my life in the near and middle east including years living in Tobruk so I know how the dust gathers in no time at all.

This is something that was also brought up on another forum, and the problem is: how do you represent dust on a vehicle that has pretty much the same colour as that dust already? I put dust on all the bits that have a different colour, like the jerrycans, the spare track links, etc. (and had to do that again because the first attempt hardly showed up at all), but when I tried to add dust effects to the sand-coloured tank itself, it just disappeared. Also, I’ve tried to paint what I see in the pictures of the real tank, and that doesn’t appear to have had much dust on places like its tyres, for example, so I didn’t try to put any there.

 

[Andy T]

Brilliant work Jakko, looks great!

 

[scottie3158]

Jakko that's a cracking result.

 

[stillp]

Nicely done Jakko.
What's the headgear the guy on the back is wearing?
Pete

 

[Jakko]

Thanks, all The chap sitting on the stowage bin is wearing a pith helmet, which were standard issue for German troops in North Africa, but not at all popular. Still, I figure some people must have worn them/liked wearing them. The kit gives you this and a steel helmet as alternatives, but I like the old-fashioned, quaint look of pith helmets somI gave him that to wear

 

[Allen Dewire]

I have to say this turned out really nice Jakko!!! OOTB with your few extras really makes it work without going overboard. I agree that dust is one of the hardest things to create on an Afrika Korps paint scheme. You seemed to have nailed it though. Good stuff!!!...

Prost
Allen

 

[Tworrs]

Fantastic result, great paint job Jakko.

 

[Airborne01]

Nice one Jakko - I also like the dark background for the photography (will try that myself, thanks!)
Steve

 

[Richard48]

Nice Jakko.Looks mighty fine to me.
Rich

 

[adt70hk]

No complaints from me Jakko! That's turned out very nicely indeed!

Andrew

 

[Jakko]

Thanks, everyone

I also like the dark background for the photography (will try that myself, thanks!)

It’s a piece of cloth I bought at a shop, together with some velcro sewed to two edges so I can stick it up into my collapsable photo booth. However, in retrospect I should have bought cloth of a finer weave. You can’t see it in the photo of the tank on the diorama base, but it does show up in the others, never mind in closeups of smaller parts.