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AFV06-3 - Panzerbeobachtungswagen IV PDF
AFV06-3 - Panzerbeobachtungswagen IV PDF
AFV06-3 - Panzerbeobachtungswagen IV PDF
By Tom Cockle
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tungswagen IV
he first time I became aware
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placed it at Weisswampach in Luxembourg in early 1945. The
best information, according to Stefan De Meyer, suggests that
it probably belonged to 12.SS-Panzer-Division.
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Panzerbeobachtungswagen IV
date by ordering a new sprue from Dragon kits include it. Just to the right of All the welded joints were vee’d out and
Japanese retailer ‘Rainbow Ten’. The the ventilator, an antenna base was added new weld beads made from Zimm-It-Rite
cupola hatch received some detail where the ‘Nahverteidigungswaffe’ would epoxy putty were added. Texturing was
attention in the form of bent brass strip have normally been installed. The antenna done using a round toothpick that had a
handles, a copper wire closing arm and and base came from Dragon’s German small groove carved in the end. This
Grandt Line nuts and bolts. The pattern of Tank Antenna set. On the left side of the applies to all the weld beads on the rest of
screw heads on the roof was traced on to roof, a periscope was added. At its base, a the model as well.
a piece of tracing paper using drawings circle was scribed in and sectioned into
The turret stowage bin was glued together
and transferred to the kit part using a three segments using photographs as
and allowed to dry thoroughly before filing
compass point. They were then drilled out reference.
the joint smooth and scribing in a new line
and photoetch brass screw heads from
New grab handles were made from bent to separate the lid from the bin. The two
Royal Models Screws and Bolts Set
brass wire and glued into holes drilled mounting points were removed and the
No.034 were glued in place. A new larger
about a millimetre farther back. When you groove in the bottom was filled with a
diameter, reinforced ventilator cover was
study the relationship of the handle to the piece of styrene carefully cut to fit. The
made from an old Tamiya Jagdtiger
Pilze and the rain gutter over the turret bottom and side brackets are made from
ventilator and Royal Model photoetch
doors, you can see it needs to be moved. styrene strip. I added Royal Model hasps
brass screws were added as well. This
New rain gutters were made from thin to the rear of the bin but the turret skirt
larger ventilator cover was introduced in
metal printers plate bent over a steel ruler. armour obscures their fine detail.
July 1944, yet neither the Tamiya nor the
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Since Tamiya thoughtfully provided a plastic ring on the top left side. the gun barrel to keep the turret from
separate gunners vision flap in the front of moving. Aber gives you small pieces of
The locking handles on the turret side
the turret, I added two arms and glued it in brass with holes in them to glue to the
access doors were separated from the
place in an open position. A lightly tinted turret but I decided to use styrene strip
hatch face and the bottom two were
green clear plastic strip was glued in from instead. I superglued these to the brackets
further drilled out and slotted. New hatch
the back after painting to represent the which then could be glued to the turret
hold open brackets were made from sheet
armoured glass. A small tin plate rain using liquid poly allowing for some
styrene and rod.
gutter was added above the gunsight adjustment in the final position. Here I ran
opening in the mantlet. Pz.Bef.Wg. and into my first major problem. Aber’s skirts
Now comes the fun part. I bought a set of
Pz.Beob.Wg.IV were not equipped with a are about a millimeter higher than both the
Aber photoetch brass turret skirts (35A06)
coaxial machine gun so I drilled out the Tamiya skirts and Hilary Doyle’s drawings
thinking this would save me all kinds of
opening and opened up the cooling slots in and therefore, the top of the two rear
time over scratchbuilding. I soldered
the top and bottom of the armored sleeve brackets was that much higher than the
together the brackets first, bending them
on the mantlet. After gluing the halves of top of the turret. To correct this, I simply
to shape and laying them flat on a ceramic
the gun barrel together, I carefully sanded melted off the gusset, adjusted the angle
tile. They were held in place with small
it by twirling it inside a strip of sandpaper and soldered in a new gusset cut from the
blobs of Blu-Tac. To properly align the
while slowly moving it up and down the photoetch runner. The top of the bracket
skirts to the turret, I made a jig from sheet
length of the barrel. Done properly, this will looks a little flat, but is not noticeable Aber
styrene with a hole the same size as the
give you a seamless barrel. Three small gives you some photoetch bolt heads but
one in Tamiya’s upper hull and glued short
rivet heads and three small screw heads for some strange reason, they don’t give
pieces of .156 styrene strip around to
were added to the armored sleeve in front enough. I was fortunate to have some left
support the bottom edge of the skirt. Two
of the recuperator housing and a small over from their Panther set I was able to
upright pieces were glued on either side of
Panzerbeobachtungswagen IV
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use. The nuts and bolts used to detail the
inside came from Grandt Line.
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thing to correct by simply gluing on small instead of jumping around all over. The first photoetch brass sheet. I made a little jig
stubs shaved from the bottom of a Dragon thing to do is fill all the locating holes. After with a piece of triangular plastic glued to it
Pz.Kpfw.IV hull. Coincidentally, about the all this time, you would think the to form them over so they would all be a
time I was doing this, there was a posting manufacturers would realize how much we uniform size.
on Missing-Links that pointed out that the detest these molded in imperfections.
The gun cleaning rods are from the kit and
large hex nuts on part D34 used to tension
I started with the Notek light on the left were detailed with brass strip mounts on
the idlers should really be octagonal. So I
rear mudguard. It is the Tamiya kit part the back to space them away from the hull
made a pair of octagonal nuts from .125 x
with the base removed and a new one and Royal Models photoetch brass hasps
.125 styrene strip and, using part D34 from
added from bent brass strip along with a were added. The pry bar was made from a
another kit, made a master which I then
very thin wire lead running down through a piece of brass rod. I flattened and bent
molded and cast new ones in resin.
hole in the mudguard. one end with a pair of pliers and then filed
The rear mudguards had a styrene strip it to shape. The brackets are my own
The cover plates lying flat on the
added to the back and outside edges. design made from brass runners and
mudguard for the engine air intake louvers
Small rivet heads were added to the inside another jig made using a piece of half-
are stainless steel photoetch ones from
faces, parts B4 and B5, lining up with the round styrene. Each one is two parts that
Tamiya. The one at the back below the
ones on the large flat face. To make the are then glued to a piece of .010 styrene
standard antenna mount needs to have a
springs, I wrapped a thin wire around a strip so they can be attached to the kit
small recess filed into it to clear the
small drill bit chucked backwards in to my with styrene cement.
antenna base which actually projects
pin vise. Remember to count the wraps so
down. I got the two sides mixed up and as The spare roadwheel box was made from
both sides are the same.
a result, had to make a new one for the .010 sheet and strip styrene using the kit
When it comes to adding the tools and right side from brass sheet. The little parts as a guide as they are actually thin
other details, I usually start at one point spring clips that hold them up were made sheet metal. The raised rib on the side
and work my way around the vehicle from narrow brass runners from another panel is a piece of half-round styrene.
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I detailed the jack block with a wire spring
and a photoetch brass chain. The clamp for
the wire cutters is from an Aber workable
set as are all the others used on this
model. The short pry bar and brackets
were made the same way as the one on
the back except the bar is styrene.
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effort required to wipe off the thick oil wash first time. reaction with the Tamiya acrylic thinner.
that I previously used. Both tracks can be easily completed in an
The colors for drybrushing were obtained
hour.
The black oil wash is thinned with paint by tinting the Model Master enamel
thinner, not turpentine, to produce a flat equivalents of the acrylic colors and the The lower hull and running gear was also
finish. A small amount of paint is placed on Humbrol HG15 with white artist’s oil paint. treated to a heavy coating of the three
a palette to which small amounts of thinner dust colored pastels to represent a dirty
I painted the tracks with a base coat of
are added to obtain the right consistency. mud buildup. A thin wash of burnt umber
Humbrol 29 Matt Dark Earth enamel and
This is brushed liberally over the whole artists oil paint was applied liberally to the
weathered them with Rembrandt pastel
model. Next, after drying for a day, a ‘pin area around the fuel filler caps on the left
chalks using Makoto Takaishi’s technique
wash’, made from burnt sienna and side to represent spilled fuel mixed with
from the Japanese publication ‘Armour
Vandyke Brown oil paint, is applied around the dirt and also around the grease nipples
Modelling’. You will need 409-3, 409-7,
raised details to make them stand out. The on the road wheels and drive sprockets.
411-3 and 411-7 blended with 235-3 for
area around the details is first wetted with
the rust coloured inside face and 408-3, The crosses on both sides and the rear of
pure thinner with a large brush and the ‘pin
408-7 and 234-3 for the dust coloured the turret skirt armor came from a Third
wash’ is applied with a smaller no. 1 or 2
outside face. I have ground a small Group decal set for a Pz.Kpfw.III, mainly
brush. Wetting the area ensures the wash
amount of each chalk using fine sandpaper because they were the correct size, about
will only go where you want it and not all
into an egg carton with each number 7mm high. Before dipping in water, the
over the place. I eliminated a second ‘pin
marked inside the lid for easy identification. white outline was lightly scored with a
wash’ of Indian Red and Mars Black as I
The pastels are applied by dipping an old hobby knife to thin it down by half. Solvaset
was satisfied with the results of the first
no. 5 brush into Tamiya acrylic paint helped snug them down to the model
wash. Although I am not a proponent of
thinner and then into the chalk powder and without the benefit of a gloss coat. The
heavily rusted and paint chipped vehicles, I
dabbing onto the surface of the tracks in a tactical number ‘B1’ was airbrushed on
did apply some sparingly with burnt
random pattern. Repeat the process using with Tamiya XF2 Flat White using a home
sienna, burnt umber and black designer’s
different colours as you progress. Drybrush made stencil cut out from a Post-It Note.
gouache watercolor paints. The advantage
the wearing surfaces lightly with silver The inside was hand brushed using Vallejo
of using this medium is that it can easily
Rub’n Buff. It is important to use an black acrylic paint.
be changed if you don’t like the results the
enamel for the base coat so there is no
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The Vignette The base is an old 6” x 9” walnut wall plaque award that I
salvaged from work. I started off by masking off the lower edges
The figures are all Warriors resin products. The vehicle with masking tape before applying the groundwork. The
commander and the driver are from the Waffen SS Panzer Crew groundwork was made with hydrostone plaster compound mixed
#1 (35030) set but with their positions reversed. I used a resin with some sand and model railroad ballast along with a
head from Verlinden (I think) on the commander and a different generous dollop of burnt umber acrylic paint for color. The
Warriors head on the driver. The gunner and radio operator are verges were slightly built up by adding more of the mixture in
from their Waffen SS Panzer Crew #2 (35031) set. I modified the these areas. An old toy motorcycle wheel was used to provide
trousers on the radio operator sitting on the turret roof as they the track impressions in the road surface.
were sculpted to represent some sort of coveralls. Standing on
the ground is the Waffen SS Tanker With Map (35038) built right After this was completely dry, the surface was brush painted with
from the box without modification except for two seams in the a coat of Tamiya XF52 Flat Earth acrylic paint and then
back of his jacket that were added. drybrushed with Humbrol SW4 (no longer available) mixed with a
bit of white artists oil paint. The grass is green garden twine cut
I primed them with Tamiya XF2 Flat White and sprayed the faces into short pieces and glued with white glue to the base. After the
and hands with XF15 Flat Flesh. The flesh areas were further glue had dried, the pieces were teased out with a pair of
treated by applying a coat of burnt sienna tinted with a bit of tweezers and all loose strands removed to produce a fairly
white which was then wiped off with a small gun cleaning cloth, realistic looking tall grass.
which is as close to lint free as you will find. Uniforms were all
painted with various Humbrol enamels and oils. A light ‘pin wash’ The wooden power pole is an Elefant product and the road
of burnt umber oil paint was applied and the figures drybrushed monument is from a Plus Model set I picked up at a small hobby
to highlight the raised details. Faced for the first time with having shop in Lucerne, Switzerland. The military signs on the pole are
to actually paint a map, I was forced to ask myself what they from the Verlinden Normandy set. Hudson and Allen Forest Litter
really did look like? It turns out they don’t much look like the was sprinkled around the sides of the road to impart an ‘autumn’
printed maps you get from Verlinden and others. Fortunately, look to the base. The final touch was to add a title plate made
Ron Volstad has an authentic 1943 German map which is printed from black art board with Letraset lettering.
on a sepia tone paper with black lines for the roads and
All in all, I was quite satisfied with the end result. The information
contours, blue lines for the rivers and streams and green outlines
contained in the Osprey New Vanguard book allowed me to try a
for woods and forested areas.
unique camouflage scheme seldom seen on models of the
Pz.Kpfw.IV.
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