Please read carefully:
I am interested in suggestions for purchasing a kit in order to build a Panzer IV 1/35 scale
I am more interested in a comfortable build rather than a multipart - interior one.
Accuracy should be acceptable but not to the last rivet-detail, I do not plan on doing any kind of research, just build the kit.
Preferably without zimmerit
Ausf G and later with the long barreled guns 
I have a Tamiya Panzer IV Ausf J (the one with the pe zimmerit) plus a Big Ed for the Aus H kit plus a set of Friul tracks. I also have an Academy Aus H (the Tamiya copy molds) and an Academy Stug (old molds with a Big Ed for it). I do not want to use the Friul tracks on any of these kits so I would prefer the kit I buy includes decent tracks to use with the remainder (e.g. plastic links or link and length, not rubber band or DS).
Thank you in advance…
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My opinion on easy fun quality Pz IV builds and $7 will buy coffee at some Starbucks…
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The new Tamiya Pz IV G (2022) should be a joy to build. It’s sister Panzer F is an outstanding build overall. Most folks seem happy with the link & length kit tracks. I replaced those on my F build. The wheels & boggles are 1990’s vintage Pz IV H & J and weakest part of the kit but they are decent.
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The 1990’s era Tamiya Pz IV H & J build up very nicely but the side skirts are thick & they have new school rubber band tracks. Ryefield Model’s Pz IV workable plastic tracks for $16 to $22 US are a quality replacement. They’re not quite as satisfying a metal tracks (Fruilmodel, Sector35, R-Model etc) but they are half the cost.
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Ryefield Model’s would be my personal choice for a fun all in the box build with plasic working tracks. I think one of their H kits had several mistakes in the instructions like many Dragon kits do but I can’t recall which one. I’ve not built an RFM Pz IV yet but overall RFM seems among the best blend of quality, details & fun build in one box.
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The Border Pz IV G has a pretty good reputation in those areas as well.
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Dragon, I’ve found my Dragon Pz IV builds out of the box to take about 60+ hours. Detailing a 1990’s Tamiya Pz iV H w/sticker zimmerit, Fruilmodel’s, some PE & scratch work about 40 hours. I found the Tamiya build much more fun even with the detail work than the Dragon. In my experience, the Dragon Pz IV’s are a solid fail on the “fun to build” side of the equation. Detail wise they are very nice but far from perfect out of the box.
HTH
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I had no idea RFM had released Panzer IV kits. I will look into them, thank you.
I was thinking the same, Dragon kits look too complicated. I might consider it if I stumble upon a really cheap offering. I will look into the Border kits.
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I built Dragons kit #6264 and while I did have a great time with the project, I dud get bogged down with some assemblies, namely the PE for the tools but that was my choice instead of using the plastic parts. Also, the bogie assemblies have about 15 parts each which is crazy. (I have a few Tristar kits where the bogie assemblies are about 13 parts or so I think).
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Tamiya’s recent Panzer IV G made it onto my want list some time back. If I recall correctly, the tools have molded clamps, which is good, but the link and length tracks have some knock out pin marks, which may be annoying. The motorcycle is a nice addition and Star Decals offers more marking options. I have not seen a detailed commentary on the model but know the road wheels are missing some teeny tiny welds.
Dragon Panzer IVs and related vehicles vary widely in terms of complication and box contents. Some are way easier to build than others.
If I recall correctly, Angel is building a bunch of recent Panzer IV releases and has a thread chronicling his progress.
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My immediate question is what do you have against the Tamiya J? IMHO (other views are possible!) it’s a perfectly acceptable kit (possibly excepting the tracks if you hate rubber bands) and you don’t have to use the Zimmerit (in fact it’s 50/50 whether they used it, it ceased in September 1944). Some people don’t like the PE version anyway, it’s too regular. IIRC, it has schurtzen brackets but no schurtzen, so you could add AM ones if you wish. It saves buying another kit, unless of course you are looking for justification! The Academy version are dogs IMHO, they are ex-Tamiya dies that have been thrashed to death. Oval roadwheels anyone?
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Based on the information from your initial post,
First choice would be Tamyia Ausf.G
Then RFM or Border.
Dragon tend to be too complicated and with poor instructions.
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The new Tamiya late F/early G is an amazing kit - Tamiya at their absolute best.
I can also vouch for the Border Pz IVs - I’ve built their J and their Mobelwagen which is a Pz IV chassis and I loved both builds. Got their Hummel, both their Jagdpanzers and ausf H upstairs in the stash. I’m a big Border fan actually, I really like their Pz IVs. Really amazing molding, crisp detail, great link and length tracks, nice plastic and sensible sprue joins, very few seams to clean up and injector pin holes right where you want them and never where you don’t. They come with a nice amount of little extra goodies, stowage and other bits and pieces. Parts count is somewhere between the Tamiya and the RFM. Instructions can be a little challenging but as long as you are on the ball you’ll have no serious dramas.
If it were me I would be going for the Border.
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I know what you mean. I’ve got a 3in1 Dragon kit of the Nashorn. I bought the upgrade sets for it, photo-etch, metal barrel and a load of other stuff and every time i get it down I look in the box and it scares me to death. Looks a ridiculously challenging kit, so I keep backing down and picking something else out of my stash instead.
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I have nothing against the J, it is on the build list with the zimmerit. I just do not want to use the Friul tracks on it, so I need tracks. And instead of buying another set of tracks I thought I could get a kit to use the Friuls on and use the kit tracks with the Tamiya. I can also use the Eduard schurtzen with the J (for both turret and hull) although I would prefer to “show” the zimmerit on the sides of the hull.
I plan to do away with the Academy IV (it has the Academy track links in it)
My main issue is that I have more detail sets than kits. I also have less track sets than kits and cannot get my hands on cheap after market tracks, only metal ones, so instead of spending my money on two set of tracks for poorly detailed kits get decent kits. I hope you understand my point.
Excellent suggestion, love the look and the camo options. 
I would prefer putting the Friuls on a Border kit than the ones I have. And the price is reasonable
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One of the guys at AMPS this past weekend was building the new Tamiya G that he had bought last month. He had finished most of the major construction in a couple of days and was working on the link and length tracks during the meeting. It looks like a fantastic kit.
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My personal recommendation:
Academy Pz.kfw. IV Ausf. H Mid - features a lot of extra parts so you can build different sublte variations of the kit, along with a Zimmerit decal set (made by DEF Models). Much like their Stug IV Early, it has a ton of extra parts and it’s very nice kit.
Currently working on one.
Built it during the holidays…
Really liked how easy it was to work with the zimmerit decals. One word of advice, make sure you add the zimmerit to the bare plastic; it’ll save you a little unnecessary aggravation.
Still working with the Ryefield Winterketten tracks; slow and steady.
Overall, it’s a nice balance of detail and ease of building; in comparison with RFM and Meng kits.
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It has rubber tracks mate, I do not need more of those 
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Neither did I, but i the link and lenght tracks on the Tamiya Panzer IV fit the Academy kit perfectly.
I bought the sprue trees as a backup, in case the RFM tracks didn’t fit. Lucky for me, they did.
I was ditching the rubber band tracks regardless, since this one will be an Eastern Front Panzer build for the “Winter Wonderland” group build.
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Am I correct that this kit includes 2 sets of tracks? One link and length and the other workable links?
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Even the OLD Tamiya Pz. IV is a pleasure to build! (The kit has good overall fit and is relative easy to build! The rubber band tracks can of course be replaced if desired.)
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Oh no way! According to the instructions and online reviews, it does! That one goes on the Want List.
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2 sets of tracks come also with this kit:
HTH,
Cheers!
Angel
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