Dragon 1/72 Pz Kpfw IV Ausf H

Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.H w/Schurzen Manufacturer: Dragon Models Scale: 1/72 Material: Styrene, vinyl Serial Number: 7497 Price: TBA Dragon: Production of the Ausf.H variant commenced in April 1943, and improvements included an 80mm-thick glacis plate and a layer of Zimmerit paste to prevent the adhesion of anti-tank mines. Side skirts were also added to the hull and turret to enhance the vehicle's protection. With all the new armour, the Panzer IV's weight increased to 25 tonnes. Kit Contents The kit is made up of a number of grey styrene sprues plus two runs of tan-coloured vinyl tracks. A small decal sheet and six-sided instruction leaflet complete the contents. Despite the blurb supplied by Dragon themselves indicating that this version of the vehicle carried a coat of zimmerit, there is no moulded zimmerit coating on any of the kit parts. We still get an almost perfectly formed Ausf.H to further the line up of Panzer IV's in this scale from Dragon. The lower hull is supplied as a slide-moulded tub, onto which the running gear and suspension components are fixed. The suspension bogies themselves are moulded complete, with separate roadwheel pairs supplied with separate hubs for greater detail. The drive sprockets are in two parts, as are the idler wheels. The tracks are supplied as lengths of tan-coloured vinyl, which can be cemented with ordinary styrene cement. The idler axle is moulded integrally with the lower hull rear wall, so there's no adjustment possible when determining the tension of the tracks other than stretching a bit to increase their sag, or removing part of them to make them appear more taut. The rear wall of the lower hull is a separate part, and although some structural detail is moulded onto the part, there are plenty of details supplied as separate parts such as the exhaust system components. The upper hull is moulded as one part with engine deck etc. in place, but separate parts for the rear and front walls. Both the driver and radio operators hatches are moulded closed, although oddly both hatches have detail moulded onto their lower surfaces? The driver's armoured visor and ball mount for the machine gun are both moulded onto the front wall and therefore fixed into place. The MG34 is supplied with a separate barrel though. For the upper hull walls we're supplied with a spare roadwheel rack, barrel cleaning rods in their bracket, and jack block. Each fender comes as a separate part with tread pattern moulded onto upper and lower surfaces, although as you would probably expect, it's a little over-scale. Most of the on-vehicle tools that are usually fixed to clamps on the fenders, are moulded in-situ. They actually do look quite good and are sharply moulded, although I still think there's a case to be made for providing these as separate details. The jack is happily...a separate part, as is the fire extinguisher, Bosch headlight and the front fender supports. The turret is provided as a slide-moulded shell with crew access hatches moulded closed. The main gun is provided with a one-piece barrel, and slide moulded so that the muzzle brake on the end is pre-drilled. There's a separate commander's cupola, with turret floor and turret stowage bin, with the turret schurzen being supplied in three sections the sides ones having the crew access gates moulded closed. The main hull schurzen are also supplied as one length per side, with separate fixing brackets, although it should be possible to cut the sections up should you wish to display the model with one or more schurzen plates missing. There are five marking options catered for on the instructions leaflet, three of which are from the Eastern Front, whilst the other two are from Normandy. See below for full details. Conclusion If small-scale is your thing, then these kits from Dragon are probably amongst the best examples of injection moulded kits there are. The detail of the running gear, and the way it's engineered is simply outstanding. The moulded-on tools on the fender will not be to everybody's liking though.

• Brand: Dragon
• Part No: HC-D7497
• Barcode: 089195874979
• Scale: 1:72