In Box Review of DML Dragon 1/35th Scale
German Jagdpanzer IV A-O
Kit no. 9059
By Ray Mehlberger
OUT OF PRODUCTION, but available a few places overseas under the Gunze Sangyo label
I paid $35.20 for my kit back in 2005, which is the copyright date of this kit.
By Ray Mehlberger
OUT OF PRODUCTION, but available a few places overseas under the Gunze Sangyo label
I paid $35.20 for my kit back in 2005, which is the copyright date of this kit.
HISTORY:
The Jagdpanzer IV, Sd.Kfz. 162, was a German tank destroyer based on the Panzer IV chassis and built in three main variants. As one of the casemate-style turretless Jagdpanzer (tank destroyer, literally "hunting tank") designs, it was developed against the wishes of Heinz Guderian, the inspector general of the Panzertruppen, as a replacement for the Sturmgeschütz III (StuG III).
Guderian objected against the needless, in his eyes, diversion of resources from Panzer IV tank production, as the Sturmgeschütz III was still more than adequate for its role.
Officially, only the L/48-armed vehicle was named Jagdpanzer IV. The L/70-armed vehicle was named Panzer IV/70. In this article, both versions are referred to in general as Jagdpanzer IV, except in the variants and surviving vehicles section.
With experience gained during the initial phases of the Battle of Stalingrad, in September 1942 the Wehrmacht's arms bureau, the Waffenamt, called for a new standard for heavy assault guns: 100 mm of armor to the front, 40–50 mm on the sides, wider tracks, ground clearance of 50 cm, top speed of 26 km/h and the lowest possible firing positions.
The new Panzerjäger ("tank hunter") design would be armed with the same 7.5 cm gun as fitted to the Panther: the Pak 42 L/70. Initially a new chassis was planned, but that of the Panzer IV had to be used.
Previous efforts to mount bigger guns on smaller chassis resulted in the Marder series as well as StuG IIIs. The Marder series were tall and had open crew compartments. The new design had a low silhouette and completely enclosed, casemate fighting compartment.
The Jagdpanzer IV used a modified Panzer IV Ausf. H chassis, but the almost-vertical front hull plate was replaced by sloped armor plates. Internally, the layout was changed to accommodate the new superstructure, moving the fuel tanks and ammunition racks.
Since the Jagdpanzer lacked a turret, the auxiliary engine which powered the Panzer IV's turret traverse mechanism could be eliminated.
The new superstructure had 80 mm thick sloped armor, which gives a much greater armor protection than a vertical armor of 100 mm. To make the manufacturing process as simple as possible, the superstructure was made out of large, interlocking plates that were welded together.
Armament consisted of a 7.5 cm main gun, originally intended to be the Pak 42 L/70, but due to shortages older guns were initially used, the 7.5 cm Pak 39 L/43 for pre-production, and the 7.5 cm Pak 39 L/48 for initial production variant. These were shorter and less powerful than the Pak 42 and also carried a muzzle brake.
Installing the much heavier Pak 42 meant that the Jagdpanzer IV was nose heavy, especially with the heavy frontal armor. This made them less mobile and more difficult to operate in rough terrain, leading their crews to nickname them Guderian-Ente ("Guderian's duck").
To prevent the rubber rims of the road wheels being dislocated by the weight of the vehicle, some later versions had steel road wheels installed on the front.
The final prototype of the Jagdpanzer IV was presented in December 1943 and production started in January 1944, with the Pak 39 L/48 armed variant staying in production until November. Production of the Pak 42 L/70 armed variants started in August and continued until March/April 1945.
On 19–22 August 1943, after the Battle of Kursk, Hitler received reports that StuG IIIs performed better than Panzer IV within the constraints of how they were deployed. It was thus intended to stop production of the Panzer IV itself at the end of 1944 to concentrate solely on production of the Jagdpanzer IV, but the Panzer IV continued to be produced until the end of the conflict along with Jagdpanzer IV.
VoMAG in Plauen switched completely from Panzer IV production to Jagdpanzer IV in Spring 1944, Krupp-Grusonwerk in Magdeburg switched to StuG IV in early 1944, just Nibelungenwerke in St. Valentin continued with Panzer IV production.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Type: Tank destroyer
Place of origin: Nazi Germany
Produced: December 1943 – April 1945
No. built: about 2,000
Specifications for the Jagdpanzer IV/70(V)
Weight: 25.8 tonnes (28.4 short tons; 25.4 long tons)
Length: 8.5 m (27 ft 11 in)
Width: 3.17 m (10 ft 5 in)
Height: 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Crew: 4 (driver, commander, gunner, loader)
Armor: 10–80 mm (0.39–3.15 in)
Main armament: 1x 7.5 cm Pak 42 L/70 with 55 rounds
Secondary armament: 1x 7.92 mm Maschinengewehr 34 with 600 rounds
Engine: Maybach HL 120 TRM, 300 PS (296 hp, 221 kW)
Power/weight: 11.6 PS (8.6 kW) / tonne
Suspension: Leaf springs
Operational range: 210 km (130 mi)
The Jagdpanzer IV, Sd.Kfz. 162, was a German tank destroyer based on the Panzer IV chassis and built in three main variants. As one of the casemate-style turretless Jagdpanzer (tank destroyer, literally "hunting tank") designs, it was developed against the wishes of Heinz Guderian, the inspector general of the Panzertruppen, as a replacement for the Sturmgeschütz III (StuG III).
Guderian objected against the needless, in his eyes, diversion of resources from Panzer IV tank production, as the Sturmgeschütz III was still more than adequate for its role.
Officially, only the L/48-armed vehicle was named Jagdpanzer IV. The L/70-armed vehicle was named Panzer IV/70. In this article, both versions are referred to in general as Jagdpanzer IV, except in the variants and surviving vehicles section.
With experience gained during the initial phases of the Battle of Stalingrad, in September 1942 the Wehrmacht's arms bureau, the Waffenamt, called for a new standard for heavy assault guns: 100 mm of armor to the front, 40–50 mm on the sides, wider tracks, ground clearance of 50 cm, top speed of 26 km/h and the lowest possible firing positions.
The new Panzerjäger ("tank hunter") design would be armed with the same 7.5 cm gun as fitted to the Panther: the Pak 42 L/70. Initially a new chassis was planned, but that of the Panzer IV had to be used.
Previous efforts to mount bigger guns on smaller chassis resulted in the Marder series as well as StuG IIIs. The Marder series were tall and had open crew compartments. The new design had a low silhouette and completely enclosed, casemate fighting compartment.
The Jagdpanzer IV used a modified Panzer IV Ausf. H chassis, but the almost-vertical front hull plate was replaced by sloped armor plates. Internally, the layout was changed to accommodate the new superstructure, moving the fuel tanks and ammunition racks.
Since the Jagdpanzer lacked a turret, the auxiliary engine which powered the Panzer IV's turret traverse mechanism could be eliminated.
The new superstructure had 80 mm thick sloped armor, which gives a much greater armor protection than a vertical armor of 100 mm. To make the manufacturing process as simple as possible, the superstructure was made out of large, interlocking plates that were welded together.
Armament consisted of a 7.5 cm main gun, originally intended to be the Pak 42 L/70, but due to shortages older guns were initially used, the 7.5 cm Pak 39 L/43 for pre-production, and the 7.5 cm Pak 39 L/48 for initial production variant. These were shorter and less powerful than the Pak 42 and also carried a muzzle brake.
Installing the much heavier Pak 42 meant that the Jagdpanzer IV was nose heavy, especially with the heavy frontal armor. This made them less mobile and more difficult to operate in rough terrain, leading their crews to nickname them Guderian-Ente ("Guderian's duck").
To prevent the rubber rims of the road wheels being dislocated by the weight of the vehicle, some later versions had steel road wheels installed on the front.
The final prototype of the Jagdpanzer IV was presented in December 1943 and production started in January 1944, with the Pak 39 L/48 armed variant staying in production until November. Production of the Pak 42 L/70 armed variants started in August and continued until March/April 1945.
On 19–22 August 1943, after the Battle of Kursk, Hitler received reports that StuG IIIs performed better than Panzer IV within the constraints of how they were deployed. It was thus intended to stop production of the Panzer IV itself at the end of 1944 to concentrate solely on production of the Jagdpanzer IV, but the Panzer IV continued to be produced until the end of the conflict along with Jagdpanzer IV.
VoMAG in Plauen switched completely from Panzer IV production to Jagdpanzer IV in Spring 1944, Krupp-Grusonwerk in Magdeburg switched to StuG IV in early 1944, just Nibelungenwerke in St. Valentin continued with Panzer IV production.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Type: Tank destroyer
Place of origin: Nazi Germany
Produced: December 1943 – April 1945
No. built: about 2,000
Specifications for the Jagdpanzer IV/70(V)
Weight: 25.8 tonnes (28.4 short tons; 25.4 long tons)
Length: 8.5 m (27 ft 11 in)
Width: 3.17 m (10 ft 5 in)
Height: 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Crew: 4 (driver, commander, gunner, loader)
Armor: 10–80 mm (0.39–3.15 in)
Main armament: 1x 7.5 cm Pak 42 L/70 with 55 rounds
Secondary armament: 1x 7.92 mm Maschinengewehr 34 with 600 rounds
Engine: Maybach HL 120 TRM, 300 PS (296 hp, 221 kW)
Power/weight: 11.6 PS (8.6 kW) / tonne
Suspension: Leaf springs
Operational range: 210 km (130 mi)
THE KIT:
DML Dragon is a prolific model company based in Hong Kong, China. They manufacture all manner of model subjects in the popular scales.
This kit comes in a shrink-wrapped tray and lid type box.
The box is blousey. It has a 4" void down one end.
The box art shows a Jagdpanzer IV A-O moving through a woods. It is in a wave pattern of earth-yellow, dark-green and red-brown. It has a white letter "L" on the front of the right fender and a red 112 outlined in white on the side of the hull followed by the German cross.
The commander is looking out of the upper hatch. he is in a black uniform with peaked officer's hat and is wearing ear-phones and holding a pair of binoculars.
One corner of the box art says the kit holds 603 parts and is intended for modellers age 10 and over. Kit contains model of one tank.
One side panel has color illustrations of the decal sheet, PE fret and the turned aluminum gun barrel included in the kit. Decal sheet is by Cartograf.
Next is CAUTIONS about the kit in 6 languages and the kit is not suitable for children under 3 years because of small parts in multiple languages, including English.
The copyright of the kit is 2005, over DML Dragon's street address in Honk Kong, China and kit was made in China.
DML Dragon is a prolific model company based in Hong Kong, China. They manufacture all manner of model subjects in the popular scales.
This kit comes in a shrink-wrapped tray and lid type box.
The box is blousey. It has a 4" void down one end.
The box art shows a Jagdpanzer IV A-O moving through a woods. It is in a wave pattern of earth-yellow, dark-green and red-brown. It has a white letter "L" on the front of the right fender and a red 112 outlined in white on the side of the hull followed by the German cross.
The commander is looking out of the upper hatch. he is in a black uniform with peaked officer's hat and is wearing ear-phones and holding a pair of binoculars.
One corner of the box art says the kit holds 603 parts and is intended for modellers age 10 and over. Kit contains model of one tank.
One side panel has color illustrations of the decal sheet, PE fret and the turned aluminum gun barrel included in the kit. Decal sheet is by Cartograf.
Next is CAUTIONS about the kit in 6 languages and the kit is not suitable for children under 3 years because of small parts in multiple languages, including English.
The copyright of the kit is 2005, over DML Dragon's street address in Honk Kong, China and kit was made in China.
The other side panel shows 2 color photos that are identical of the model made up and 6 black and white illustrations of the kit's features: A compete superstructure incorporates all relevant details including roof hatches, the engine deck has accurate engine louvers and other fine details, realistic scissor binoculars and transparent parts for commander's vision blocks, The MG's feed cover can be shown open or closed, slide-molded muzzle brake offers excellent detail and one piece mantlet.
WHAT'S IN THE BOX:
This kit contains 12 medium-gray trees in 8 clear sealed cello bags, the decal sheet, clear tree and the turned aluminum gun barre each in a clear sealed cello inside a larger cello with a stiff cardboard and the instructions.
The instructions consist of a single-sheet that accordion folds out into 8 pages in 8 1/4" x 14" page format.
Page 1 begins with a black and white repeat of the cover art, over the parts trees illustrations.
Some parts are blued out. Meaning they are excess and not needed to complete the model.
Page 2 begins with CAUTIONS about the kit, over international assembly symbol explanations, a suggested paint color listing of Gunze Sangyo and Model Master brands of hobby paints, in multiple languages including English.
The bottom of the page has the first 3 assembly steps.
Page 3 through 7 gives a balance of a grand total of 16 assembly steps.
Page 8 is the painting and marking instructions. Two 4-views are shown:
1. The box art scheme (already described above)
It is with Panzer Lehr Division, 1944.
2. A Jagdpanzer IV A-O in overall Panzer-gray, with just a small German cross on it at the rear ends of the sides of the hull.
The bottom of the page has the decal application instructions in 6 languages, including English and the copyright of the kit as 2005.
Medium-gray letter A tree holds: the fenders, fighting compartment roof and walls, engine air intake grill etc. (26 parts)
This kit contains 12 medium-gray trees in 8 clear sealed cello bags, the decal sheet, clear tree and the turned aluminum gun barre each in a clear sealed cello inside a larger cello with a stiff cardboard and the instructions.
The instructions consist of a single-sheet that accordion folds out into 8 pages in 8 1/4" x 14" page format.
Page 1 begins with a black and white repeat of the cover art, over the parts trees illustrations.
Some parts are blued out. Meaning they are excess and not needed to complete the model.
Page 2 begins with CAUTIONS about the kit, over international assembly symbol explanations, a suggested paint color listing of Gunze Sangyo and Model Master brands of hobby paints, in multiple languages including English.
The bottom of the page has the first 3 assembly steps.
Page 3 through 7 gives a balance of a grand total of 16 assembly steps.
Page 8 is the painting and marking instructions. Two 4-views are shown:
1. The box art scheme (already described above)
It is with Panzer Lehr Division, 1944.
2. A Jagdpanzer IV A-O in overall Panzer-gray, with just a small German cross on it at the rear ends of the sides of the hull.
The bottom of the page has the decal application instructions in 6 languages, including English and the copyright of the kit as 2005.
Medium-gray letter A tree holds: the fenders, fighting compartment roof and walls, engine air intake grill etc. (26 parts)
Medium-gray letter B tree holds: the mantle, machine guns, jack etc. (60 parts)
Medium-gray letter C tree holds: hull walls, jack, antenna, tools etc. (68 parts) 18 parts are excess and not needed to complete the model.
Medium-gray letter E tree holds: road wheels and bogies etc. (19 parts) 5 are excess.
There are 2 identical medium-gray letter F trees. They hold drive sprockets, idler wheels, final transfer covers etc. (5 parts each) They are co-joined to trees letter H & P.
There are 4 identical medium-gray letter H trees. They hold return rollers (8 parts per tree) They are co-joined to trees letters F & P.
There are 4 identical medium-gray letter P trees. They
hold return rollers (4 parts) They are co-joined to letters F & H.
hold return rollers (4 parts) They are co-joined to letters F & H.
There are 3 identical medium-gray letter G trees. They hold the individual track links (80 parts per tree)
There is no letter I tree.
Medium-gray letter J is the hull tub part.
Medium-gray letter J is the hull tub part.
Lettering again jumps to the clear letter W tree. It holds the periscopes. (4 parts)
MA is the PE fret. It holds the side skirts etc. (18 parts)
MB is the turned-aluminum gun barrel.
I bought the Cavalier Model Product's Zimmerit set for the Jagpanzer IV/70 (A) set no. 0116 to add to this kit. Although designed for DML's kit no,. 6083, I'm sure it will work on this kit too.
There are no crew figures in the kit and no internal details. However, the exterior detail is great.
Highly recommended.