Academy 1/35 Panzer IV Ausf. H Medium Tank

Hello all,

This is my first article on iModeler and I'm glad to be on board!

This my latest, it's the older kit of the Academy H "with Armor" (#13233). This was my first attempt at home-made zimmerit. I used Aves Apoxie Sculpt for it, applied mostly with my fingers (always have some water nearby to keep 'em wet), and the pattern was achieved using a couple different sized micro-screwdrivers. The nice thing about Apoxie Sculpt was that it's very slow driving so that you have a lot of time work with it. Considering that the kit is pretty inexpensive the build itself went okay, you just have to understand that there are going to be some fit and alignment issues along the way so dry-fitting is highly recommended. In order to keep the turret skirt armor reasonably level I glued the back section on first followed by the door-piece middle-sections and then the front sections, of which I had to do some gentle bending of the brackets to get them aligned with each other the best I could, although the left side was always lower that the right side no matter how many times I worked with it.

I used Humbrol and Model Master enamels for the colors and was happy with the camo pattern using my Badger fine-tip needle for the first time. For weathering I applied an acrylic wash over the whole model, followed by by and oil pin wash of the various high-points and paint chipping done by using Model Master "Chestnut" (good color for simulating the red primer underneath) applied with a sponge. There is more chipping than what the pictures show. I also applied home-made mud to the underside, running gear,tracks and skirt bottoms using a combination of real dirt, white glue, some water and various shades of brown craft paint, which was mixed up and applied with a brush. The decals are from Star Decals (35-847) and represent a machine of Panzer Lehr Divsision in France in 1944.

Thanks for looking!

Rick

6 additional images. Click to enlarge.