August 20, 2014 by dignity
Justin and John take a look at some more miniatures from World War II and Flames of War! This time it's the Panzer IV H Platoon set which would be a great addition to your German forces on the tabletop.
As well as discussing the miniatures they'll be delving into some of the design decisions and history behind this work horse of the Axis force.
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What’s in the box? Without watching the vid, bet its a PzIVH 🙂
I thought it funny…+1. 😀
Bought this platoon set from Battlefront earlier this year. One of the first things I got from BF, and they are still some of the best miniatures I have. Great detail that takes the paint great (makes almost anyone look like a great painter 🙂 ), and lots of extra bitz to allow customization (extra schurtzen, commanders, etc.).
Nice models but the zimmerit looks too “perfect” for me, too regular. I like the resin ones more.
Also you did not point out that the schurzen had 4 pannels instead of 5 😉
Yeah, that was on the Battlefront site when this first came out (four instead of five). I didn’t worry about it too much, given how beat up, bent up, and smashed up these things always were in actual field use . . . not by enemy fire (although that would eventually happen as well), but also hedges, lamp posts, cars, Russian infantry, mail boxes, and all the other stuff these tanks would run into. 🙂
Anyone getting the kit with 4 panels instead of 5 can email Battlefront’s customer services and they’ll send new schurzen to you
Some nice well detailed tanks their.
The funny one as well that someone noted elsewhere, a very rivet-countery thing:
The Panzer IV H most often had 7 spokes on the bogey wheel at the back, not the 8 depicted in the model!
For me, it’s nice to see the schurtzen done so it’s clean through: the old resin ones are solid to the bottom, which, with their being resin, makes them nearly impossible to detail retrofit to look more accurate. Having them separate and plastic will make it much easier to warp and damage the turret schurtzen too!
From what I remember, the kit comes with three choices. One, “factory fresh” schurtzen. Two, “banged up” schurtzen. Three, just the rails on which the schurtzen were mounted (i.e., missing schurtzen which have already been blown off or removed for track / suspension maintenance). Of course you can mix and match between the left and right hand sides of the tank, even before you break out the lighter, razor, and pliers for your own demented “schurtzen sculpts.” 🙂
Okay. As German who teaches English, you get my absolution. Your pronunciation is okay. 🙂
Btw. Schürze singular, or Schürzen, plural (means apron)
Pronunciation help: shirt-tsenn
This is a great set and the first I have purchased for FOW. The detail is really accurate, when comparing to photos in an encyclopedia of German Tanks I own. There are a couple of examples of what appears to be schurtzen that is just 1 single plate, although one of these does haves what appears to be Zimmerit painted over the plates. Would be good to have a painting tutorial for this model. I’m in the process of painting mine up and decided to go with a similar scheme to the StuG painting scheme. Also looks like John is… Read more »
Smashing.
If it’s any consultation John the rest of the world would do a pretty poor Irish pronunciation.
It looks pretty nice, but not a whole lot of options.
If you don’t want the skirts or zimmerit, you basically need to find another kit.
Included decals ang magnets is very nice, though. And I readily welcome the plastic skirts. The resin ones just break constantly…
I’m pretty sure that the tanks on the side are actually the exhaust for the generator for the turret traverse motor. Nice video
Even as the box is out for a while now, it’s a great unboxing of a great kit. The error with the 4 panel sideskirts instead of 5 panels is quite funny, but doesn’t bother me to much. Only problem I have, you only get one variant of the tank. You can’t really build it without the sideskirts for some mid war version (e.g. F2) or use some other gunbarrels for earlier versions. You pronounciation was actually quite good. Both of “Schürzen” and “Nachtwulfen”. Far better than Warren butchering german words 😀 I would love to hear you say “Panzerkampfwagen… Read more »
First off, nice to see these things covered. Always good to have John providing a few historical notes. As this is primarily an unboxing you may be forgiven missing the infamous ‘counting error’ on the Schürzen. 😉 However, if you must refer to competition, please play fair: A comparison of actual price per model between BF and PSC shouldn’t be mentioned just in passing if you then go on about alleged ‘quality differences’ and ‘costs more, must be better’. Yes, there are a few flaws with PSC’s Panzer IV kit; but at the same time detail is great and there’s… Read more »
I’m painting up some PSC Panzer IV’s now, they’re fabulous, couldn’t agree more! I’d go as far as to say that they are easily the most characterful and fun 15mm scale models I’ve built so far.
Not tried any BF stuff yet, scary price tag has put me off. I bend over for GW and the odd Japanese imported kit occasionally, not doing it for anyone else as funds won’t allow for even more abuse 🙁
I agree; I actually have Panzer IV kits from both BF and PSC and they are both great kits. To be fair to both if we are comparing price per model it needs to be factored in that BF also include decals and turret magnets in the price, where PSC keeps it to the essentials and just the plastic frames. For me the big plusses are: PSC – More Panzer IV variants can be made from the basic kit, better accuracy on the track return wheel and Schurtzen detail. Cheaper (but in no way lesser quality) BF – Magnets and… Read more »
All excellent points you make there. Not having experience with PSC panzer 4’s but having built over 20 of their Panther G’s I’ll admit that it’s not a fair comparison. Both kits are worth the price you pay for them easily. And as others have said your paying more from BF because of decals and magnets and so on. I would dearly love to do direct comparisons based on the kits and if that is a video series you guys might like to see in the future then get on to Warren. 🙂 I know both kits have flaws and… Read more »
Thanks for taking the time to reply. I for one would appreciate a comparative review. Not necessarily pointing fingers, yet a nice look at ‘what’s in box’. Maybe for inspiration, there’s already modeldads on YT doing a great job at WW2 miniatures reviews (and who actually assembles the models *hinthint*).
As an aside, not sure, decals and magnets should be that important a factor. Such things are available for very little money elsewhere. For the sake of being constructive, just mentioning two sources: I had great service from Dom’s Decals, and magnets are easy to come by on ebay.
I agree. I ve built quite a lot of BF and PSC models in 15mm (Zvezda as well) and quality wise PSC is surely not worse than BF. Moreover, due to lots of options and extras some of their kits (e.g. Tigers, Allied Stuarts, Stugs) are superb choice without getting any compromise on quality at all. The only drawback in PSC kits I see, are tank command figures. They look pretty dull and toy like but even that is improved in latest kits. I guess that apart from “official models” syndrome, PSC gets unfair treatment in some reviews because their… Read more »
Nice kits – I have a horde of PSC versions but these are different in the at they have the zimmerit finish.
That’s actually a good point and funnily enough is a deciding factor depending on which army I’m doing. For Normandy I love the BF hybrid Tiger I because it has zimmerit and looks a bit more beaten up. For Afrika however I choose PSC’s Tiger I plastic everytime exactly because it’s zimmerit free, and also because it comes with the optional sand baffles for the exhausts. As far as I’m concerned both companies come out (on average) as equally good, but for different reasons. Like John says, both have their strengths and weaknesses, you just need to weigh up what… Read more »
Justin, never in a million years would a Panzer IV-H be painted grey. NEVAH!!!!
The base coat would be yellow/tan i.e Dunkelgelb