Tristar Models

1/35 Panzerkampfwagen IV Ausf D/Tauch

Kit Number: 35023

Reviewed by  Joe Koenig, IPMS# 31441

MSRP: $55.00 On the heels of their first IV D, we see the D/Tauch Panzer, with some corrections made, and the option of just the D or the Tauch which was made for underwater travel or diving. In fact, this kit replaces the first D kit, #35015, so you know that you're getting all of the corrected parts. When I first opened the box, I was overwhelmed by the number of sprues, and buried down in the box were the instructions and photo-etch sheet decals and wire for the tow cable. I counted some 1,041 parts total in the box, of which you will use some 850 to do the model, so your spares box will benefit greatly when finished. The standard of molding is excellent and as I built this beauty I found that very few punch-out marks are visible, making for more build time instead of clean up. So let's get down to putting all those pieces together and see what we come up with. In step one you put the wheels and suspension together. You will find no trouble with assembly, but make sure that the springs are inside the bracket when you glue it all together. The instructions are not clear on this and I happened to have the separate set for the suspension which shows how to do it. The idler wheels are five parts each, which give you the correct undercut just like the real deal. The final drives are also worth mention, as they have separate front and rear covers on which you need to put all the individual bolts! Talk about attention to detail . . . way cool! You will also need to fill some knock-out pins on the rear of the spring mounts, about the only ones in the kit. Steps two and three deal with the lower hull. You will have no trouble here, although my bottom piece was warped, but with care I got this resolved. Do the sides and bottom first before the rear plate due to a gap that will be filled in step four. I almost messed this up, which would have misaligned everything. You will again find more of that attention to detail here as you add sixteen more bolts on the bottom for the suspension arms and four brackets for the final drives. Step four finishes the lower hull by adding all of the running gear. Just to let you know, you will need to remove a small tab from the rear of the suspension mountings or they will not fit in the key holes. The mounting arm for the idler wheel is also shown backwards in the instructions, but will only fit one way. Step five starts the upper hull and this step is straightforward. I left off the front mud guards to help facilitate the assembly and fitting of the tracks later on. Step six is decision time as to what version you build. I chose to do the Tauch, but in retrospect, I wish that I'd gone with the D, as there was more stuff to add and better choice of markings. Steps seven and eight are down and dirty, with more choices to make on which version you choose. Step nine has you putting the upper and lower hulls together, along with adding the tracks, which I chose not to do at this point. Step ten has you fitting out the rear plate on the hull and more choices. I again assembled the mud guards, but left them off until later. In step eleven we move on to the turret, which has you building the main gun. Seeing that I chose the Tauch, I ended up not doing much, seeing that all the hatches would be closed. Ahh . . . more parts for the spares box. Step twelve has you putting on all of the roof, mantlet, interior pieces and finer detail points, and when you have it all together you have one beautiful turret. Again, all of the attention to detail really comes to the front. Steps thirteen through fifteen have you finishing the rest off with all of the hull fittings and tools. Most of the parts here are plastic with minimal use of photo-etch. You have a choice of using etch-on plastic wing nuts and I went with the plastic as the pieces are very petite and in my opinion more accurate. Besides, I didn't have to use Super glue. I did end up moving some tools on the right front fender a bit to get them all to fit. I also put the antenna trough on a diet and thinned it down for a better fit and appearance. They illustrate adding wooden beam on the right side, but you're on your own here, seeing they did not give you a part. Now I went to work on the tracks and, yes, they are right- and left-handed, so be careful when cleaning and assembly. I found mine to have quite a bit of flash and some warp. They do snap together with ease, but be sure to keep them straight as they can get out of hand. I also found out at this point that I shouldn't have glued the retaining lug to the drive sprocket before adding the final drives back in steps one and four. I like to do my runs in one piece so I can paint and weather to my liking. Having done that, I had to build them in two runs for each side, the first from the first road wheel over the drive sprocket and back to the idler. You want to glue the links together first. As you move to the rear, add your sag between the return rollers. They do click together but they will not hold together very well. The second run went from the idler wheel down around and to the front road wheel. Wow, what a ride up to this point, but now it's time to take her to the paint shop! First thing was to clean off the entire model with some alcohol to rid it of any oils or mold release. What I always do is to start my pre-shading by painting the entire model black. Next, I painted it with Tamiya Dark Gray (XF-24) and then lightened that up with some Flat White (XF-2) and Desert Yellow (XF-59), hitting the center of all panels. Then, I gloss-coated the model with Testors Gloss, applied the decals, and sealed them once dry (overnight) with more gloss. In this model I decided to try something a little different. I first applied a pin wash and some dry brushing, sealed it again with Testors Dull, and after a night's rest, I applied dabs of Raw Umber, Flake White, Yellow Ochre, and Paynes Gray oils. Using Turpenoid and a medium round-tipped brush, I blended it all together to get a more worn look to the finish. I gave the lower hull and running gear extra Raw Umber to show more wear. Then I found out that I lost my pin wash, so I had to go back and do that all over again. Once again, I sealed it all in with some Flat Finish and did my chipping and another dry brushing. I added streaks by adding a dab of oil paint and with a flat soft brush dipped in Turpenoid and dried off, using a downward motion. It is important to get most of the Turpenoid off or you will not get the affect that you want. It's really very easy and you'll get it very quickly. Lastly, I sprayed the lower surface area with heavily thinned Tamiya Buff (XF-57) to finish it off. The finished model looked very nice, and with all of the beautiful details that come in the kit, built wonderfully right out of the box. I'd like to thank Tristar and IPMS/USA for the review sample. Also, kudos to John Noack for all of the thankless work that he does to get all of the review items out to the membership.

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