Italeri

1.72 Sd.Kfz. 162 Jagdpanzer IV Ausf. F

Kit Number 7028

Reviewed By James Kelley, #42103

The Mark IV self-propelled “tank-killer” was built on the chassis of the Pz. Kpfw. IV, one of the most efficient and widely-used German tanks of the Second World War. Characterized by its low profile, the Mark IV’s were steadily produced by the hundreds and received improvements by being fitted with better weaponry such as the long-barreled 7.5 cm gun that made it a match for any Allied tank.

Italeri has released the venerable hunter-killer in 1:72 scale, which is a treat for small-scale tread heads. The majority of the 143 crisply-molded parts are the two-piece road wheels and individual-linked tracks. The sprue containing the tracks is molded in silver styrene, with all the rest being molded in a desert yellow color. Two figures are included, a commander and a crewman, along with 2 bedrolls and 2 jerry cans for stowage. A few of the delicately detailed tools are separate, with the rest of the exterior detail being molded on the hull. The decal sheet provides markings for 6 machines; four from the Normandy front, one from the Hermann Goering regiment, and an unknown Ostfront panzer. Perfect registering and thin- filmed presentation rounds out the nice little markings sheet.

Construction is very straightforward and was completed in one Sunday afternoon. The tracks, which consist of several lengths of straight track with numerous individual links for the round ends of the circuit are, as you might imagine, fiddly at best. I personally do not care for this style of tracking in 1:72, and wish that an alternative “rubber band” style track was provided. Overall fit is good, and no major problems were encountered. A road-lock for the main gun is provided, but the instructions have it marked as unused. I used it anyways, as it dresses up the mantlet nicely. I wonder if Italeri is planning a long-barreled release of this kit soon?

The entire tank was airbrushed with Tamiya XF-69 NATO black. Then, the camouflage base color of XF-59 Desert Yellow was applied. Heavier in the middle of panels with a lighter variation towards the borders, this allowed the “pre-shading” to be subtly noticed. Then the “Ambush Scheme” was applied with XF-58 Olive Green and XF-64 Red Brown. I punched a hole into an index card with a very small leather punch, and airbrushed the alternating colors through it as a “soft mask”.  The spots are a little big for scale, and I probably should’ve used something smaller, or cut it out by hand.

The decals were applied over spots of brushed-on Future, and then sealed with a coat sprayed over the model. A Burnt-Umber oil wash diluted with Mineral Spirits followed, and then all was sealed with my own mix of Semi-matte finish. I decided to apply a bit of “Post-Shading”, and airbrushed a very thin mix of XF-1 Flat Black and XF-64 Red Brown diluted 95% with 92% Isopropyl Alcohol over the lines, edges, and borders at 5 psi. All shading, painting, and fading were accomplished with an Iwata HP-CS airbrush.

This was an easy and fun project, and all told spanned 3 days. It possesses an acceptable level of detail, is accurate in overall shape, and was easy to build. Perfect for Wargamers or the beginning modeler, I highly recommend this kit.

Thanks to Testors Corporation and John Noack, 1^st VP IPMS/USA for the review sample.

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