Working on it.
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I tried out a technique to make my own bushes by approximately following this video..
I think that the first (top and right) bush is better.
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More progress on the M8 HMC.
Sadly ran out of paint, but I have a can on the way, so no biggie.
Little more detail on the turret, added the cover roll and musette bags from my spares box and painted the shells under the .50 cal.
Luckily, I had enough paint to do the running gear. It’s not glued in place yet, but it’ll be as soon as I get the paint in.
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I have finished construction on my VOMAG’s production Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.H:
Here it is on the right- Fgst #85075, July 1943 production, Bulgarian reg.number В 60293, the wagon of Seconds Arm.Btl/Armored Brigade commander.I used Border Models BT-005 kit and had to modify/replace some features to make them look VOMAG’s like.
On the left is VOMAG’s June 1943 production Pz.IV, I finished building from MiniArt’s Bulgarian Maybach recently(Fgst. #85014, Bulgarian reg. number B 60266).
Next - after a week of SWMBO organized holiday- will be another Bulgarian Maybach:
-either VOMAG’s May 1943 production(MiniArt’s interior kit), or
-Krupp’s April 1943 production(Border Model BT-001) with centrally mounted Bosch light.
I plan to paint all Bulgarian Pz.Iv’s built this year (3 sofar and counting) at once- once I’m ready with the line-up(in other words, after 4 more builds- unless I buy more kits).
Cheers,
Angel
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On a first glance, they look identical to me (except for the barrel). Is there any difference between them, detail wise?
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Thanks Erwin!
They are identical, except for two things:
Glacis armor: bolted(July) vs. welded(June).
Both central bolts on glacis additional armor get in the way of the spare track carried up front, thus spare tracklinks on the glacis are mounted in 2 track runs, that point in opposite direction.
Turret front vision ports are 2 in July vehicle:
Officially, the vision port for the loader was abandoned in Oct.1942(IIRC), but it is present not only on Fgst.# 85075, but on another Bulgarian VOMAG from July 1943( not sure for Fgst. # at this moment, but must be in the range of 85075+).These might be turrets from tanks brought back to VOMAG factory for repair.
HTH,
Cheers,
Angel
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I should really do a Pzr IV, but was put off when I tried to do the old Academy one, it was a real dog … which one do yo think is best Angel, out of the ones you have done or going to do ? (non interior) ??
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The old Academy is a real old dog, John!
The best use I found for mine was building the Hybrid(Pz.IV Ausf.H chassy and turret with SU-76 gun) from Yambol’s Museum of Battle Glory:
I hear good things about the new Academy kit, but I am put off(sofar) from the rubber tracks it provides…Have a Friul track set in my stash, so will see…
I am not afraid of parts count, so I like MiniArt, what I dislike is their soft plastic and resulting soft detail(just compare the tracks on both vehicles in my last picture).
Border are more buildable, but provide less variations and options.Besides- theirs are Ni-Werke Pz.IV.
Zvezda has some serious dimensional issues, but builds easy.
I haven’t tried RFM sofar, but heard and read good comments about their Pz.IV.Still I only see Ni-Werke being built OOB.
And then there is the old Italeri, that is old…
HTH,
Cheers
Angel
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It is difficult to see with the effects of depth of field in place, but I fully believe you. Looking nice anyway… 
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Thanks for the guidance Angel 
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What about the Pz IV’s from Dragon and Tristar (re-issued by HobbyBoss)?
The Tristar kits are Ausf B, C and D, i.e. nothing with a long barrel.
Dragon has a lot of them with lots of parts and sprues where only a few parts are needed.
Dragons instructions are not the easiest to read …
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You’re right, Robin, there are other kit manufacturers too.
But…
I came back to the hobby in 2016, when Tristar were already OOB and Dragon were reducing their 1/35th range, so not much in my stash from these…
I was told, that Border Pz.IV’s are very much Dragon-like in terms of engineering, but can’t say it from personal experience.
Cheers,
Angel
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There are also some easy to build Pz IV kits made by Tamiya (G, H, J and an F),
must have release dates after 1994 though
The relevant Tamiya kits , not in alphabetical order
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Perth Military Modelling has a sweet review of short gun Pz IV D’s.
Panzer IV Ausf.D Kit Comparison Dragon Kit #6265 - Tristar Kit #35023
Is an excellent review of the merits of the two kits. It’s an older review Dragon have fixed the many issues with the Pz IV D kit mentioned in the series 
.
My .02 cents: The TriStar/HobbyBoss Pz IV had details no one else captured during its era. The TriStar suspension is fiddly have used their suspension kit on two Pz IV’s but its well detailed and very nice overall.
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Too cursed!
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just don’t get too close and he looks fine 
