1/76th Panzerkampfwagen IV - Pt 2 (of 4) - fixing

Part 1. The Fujimi turret. Looking at the invaluable Osprey Modelling Guide no 38, Modelling the Late Panzerkampfwagen IV there wasn't too much difference between a H and a J turret. I simply removed the machine gun from the Fujimi model as both the H and J models detailed in the book didn't have one The H model should have zimmerit on the turret schurtzen but I can live without this, especially when you see how many wargamers have used non-zimmerit models for years.

Part 2. The Cromwell Pz IVH hull. This was a lovely detailed piece, with nice zimmerit and stowage moulded on. The only problem was the lack of side schurtzen. My initial thought was to use the ones off the Fujimi kit. However. these were supposed to represent the wire mesh ones that Pz IVJs had and were wrong for an H. Going through the spares box I found a set of metal schurtzen that came from an SHQ Sturmpanzer IV. Although slightly too small they had the correct number of plates (5) and would do the job. I bent some florist wire round the top of each schurtzen to shape it and then stuck it on the inside to represent the fixing rail. Fixing them was another matter but this would wait until the finishing stage.

Schurtzen  - before

Schurtzen - with rails added

The only other work needed on the Cromwell body was to drill a small hole and add an MG34 barrel from the spares box.

While I was doing all this I started to think about what I could do with the Cromwell turret and Fujimi body. I then decided that I'd repair the Fujimi body and paint it in the same scheme as the Cromwell body/Fujimi turret hybrid. That way I'd have a PZ IVJ to use if I ever wanted to. So I now increased my work load.

Part 3. The Fujimi Pz IVJ hull. When I removed the schurtzen I  pulled a couple of the track return rollers off one side and they pinged across the room never to be seen again. As I was going to model this without the side-skirts I needed to do some repair work. The surviving rollers were each made of two identical pieces glued back to back. By separating these it gave me the correct number of parts for a bodge/repair. For three of the rollers I removed the roller sections completely. I then attached a suitable size metal pin. Over this I slipped a small piece of plastic rod. Finally I added the correct roller. If you look closely and at a particular angle you'll see the rear roller is a little small but in normal use you'd never see it. I then straightened out and re-glued the tracks. 

Fujimi body with track rollers removed

Fujimi body with new rollers added

To finish the body I removed the flimsy exhausts, drilled holes and then slightly countersunk them to make them sturdier. Finally I added a new hull machine gun as above.

1/76th Panzerkampfwagen IV - Pt 1 (of 4)

Anyone that has read my start and end of month progress posts may have noticed the ever present Cromwell Models Pz IVH. I bought this back in 2014 and it's been sitting either on my table or at difficult times banished to a drawer ever since. I even referred to it as my bête noire at one stage.

Like all Cromwell Models offerings it's a lovely kit, so what was the problem with it? The problem was it needed a lot of work. As I wrote in September "It's a resin kit with incredibly fragile turret schurtzen. All of the supports were either broken when I got it or have broken just by looking at them. Additionally the model didn't come with the side schurtzen or with the supports on the model which is pretty poor as all Pz IVHs had them."

When I got my WW2 mojo back on in October/November time I had a burst of inspiration. I have a poor old Fujimi Pz-IVJ that has seen better days built many years ago. Why not use the best of each kit to make a half decent model? 

The kits as they have appeared since 2014 - Fujimi PZIVJ on the left, Cromwell PZIVH on the right.

So that's what happened and if you want to read on you can see what I did in excruciating detail - I want you to share my pain.

Finally a game - Bolt Action Western Desert 1942

I coerced my wife to play the traditional New Year's Day wargame with me. This year we played a game of Bolt Action set in the Western Desert c.1942 at around 700 points a side.

There was no real choosing of sides as my father-in-law had served in Eighth Army in the desert campaign, so my wife was obviously the Desert Rat.

The Desert Rats: 2 Regular infantry squads with command, 2" mortar team and transports and a Lee for support.

The Afika Korps: 2 Veteran infantry squads with command and transports and a Pz IIIJ for support.

The Brits had the manpower advantage with 2 extra men per squad and also had a mortar for support. The Afrika Korps were vets though. After some moving round the shooting started. I lost a few infantry to a shot from the Lee but in the next round my Pz III took care of the pesky Tommy tank.

One of my infantry squads was then decimated by a combination lucky mortar shot and the withering SMLE and Bren fire put up by the Brits. 

The game was then decided by a British bayonet charge onto my remaining infantry squad (they don't like it up them!) After a right fracas I lost the close combat and was left with the Pz III and the transports intact. At that point we decided to call it a draw and have dinner!

This was my first game of Bolt Action and I enjoyed it. I've had the rules since 2013 but I spend 99% of my hobby time in the prep phase and never get round to a game. If there's one resolution I want to stick to it's to play more games and actually use the stuff I've got. It was good to get the old desert board out the loft. Sometimes I think we're so intent on getting the next thing we forget how much good stuff we've already got. 

You'll see from the photos that I use Battlefront minis and tanks. I have quite a large collection of their stuff for Western Desert and Med but have never played FOW.  I think that they work really well for Bolt Action with some modifications.  

To help with identification and tracking I add a post-it note to the bottom of each base with a little bit left showing on which I note the armament of each base and leave a space to mark casualties.  In addition I don't have Bolt Action dice. I made 2 sets of chits with the orders on and then use different coloured dice to decide who goes next. The player them just places the chit next to the base. It worked fine. If I can get hold of a couple of sets of BA dice for a fair price I'll do it but there's lot of other things that I'd rather pay £20 on.