Panzer lV “ what if “ build.
 

Building this Panzer lV for a bit of fun and as something different. Was going to go down the Panzer lV “J” route but thought “ I don’t fancy building the mesh side skirts “ so looking on my shelf my eye fell on a model I had repainted for a club member. Now his brother had added some pendulum armour to this Stug lll when he rebuilt it, so I thought “ will that work on the Panzer lV”. So out came the brass and copper rod, tube and bar, some measuring, head scratching eyeing up and cussing got it to the feasible stage. I’d also had another talented ember of our club 3d print me a set of steel wheels for this flight of fancy. So the next job was to fit them and see how things looked. Decided after fitting to bush them out with brass tube so as not to kill the PLA printed wheels on the metal suspension shafts. Now a few pictures of where I am at present.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...4dbde7bd9.jpeg
3d printed wheels having brass inserts fitted to improve fit, function and prolong wheel life span.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...d3a80fbcb.jpeg
Inner wheels with brass bushes fitted to metal suspension.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...7e1a92a48.jpeg
Tread plate replaced.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...d9d899d8e.jpeg
Rear view.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...cce87e72c.jpeg
Side view with half steel wheels and half standard Panzer lV wheels.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...72cd6ec87.jpeg
Stug V cupola test fitted.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...3bd758c3c.jpeg
Side view with all steel wheels. Here you can see the gun mantlet has been moved back closer to the turret face.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...332d1b518.jpeg
Obligatory view from the other side. The Stug V cupola seems to lower the profile nicely. Also shows how raising the front sprocket makes a lot of difference to the look of the track run.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...61b72ef58.jpeg
Front view.

Although it is great to design & 3d print your own parts or get help from others, i would like to offer some advice that their 3d printer needs alot of setting up and dialling in.

I do however like the what if build, just take it where you can, i like building my own and doing unique builds.
Best of lukc with the build & most of course enjoy it :)

A very nice PZ4,
I shall be interested as to what the final paint scheme will be,
Over years of perusing pictures of all variants of Panzer 4s with the exception of what ifs :D two objects at the rear of the vehicle stand out, The rear light unit on the right side (Looking Forward) was never a fitment on the real thing although Heng Long include it and the lack of a rear reflector on the rear left side mudwing/fender (Looking Forward) which was a fitment on the real thing, it actually is included on the later production Taigen PZ4.
Not being picky honestly,
More strength to your efforts sir.

Panzer 4 version , been looking at the KUGELBLITZ . Some recon one actually made it into battle. Might need to learn how to use a 3 d printer as the turret is complex , not very styrene sheet friendly.

Managed to sneak in a bit of shed time today, well I say shed time but I took everything into the kitchen today as it was a bit parky in the shed to be honest. Got the Stug cupola fitted and added some scratch built periscopes, there nothing fancy just a few bits of scrap plastic cut and roughly shaped to give the impression of periscopes. All I have to do now is make a hinge bracket for the scratch built cupola hatch. Made a start on the mounting points for the support rail for the pendulum armour. Using 4 pieces of brass tube each side with a 2mm ID superglued to the Panzer mudguards. These will be used to hold the brass rods soldered to the support rail, which in turn the armour plates will be mounted. The Stug lll from where I freely admit to copying Paul Seamarks simple yet elegant design, the model in question is included in the pictures so you can get an idea of what I’m trying to emulate. Enough waffle and onto the good bit........... pictures.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...523f79de6.jpeg
More 3d printed steel wheels to clean up a bit prior to painting.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...bb25511ec.jpeg
Stug cupola fitted with scratch built periscopes.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...faef9fd81.jpeg
Slightly different view showing scratch built hatch lid.
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...f37e6455f.jpeg
Removed rear light from left hand mudguard as advised by Jarndice who is much more knowable than I on Panzer IV’s
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...2a60d5f84.jpeg
Brass mounting tubes added for mounting pendulum support rail.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...b39c4a6ac.jpeg
The model I drew my inspiration from
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...9a1c638f1.jpeg
Different view showing the simple yet elegant way this armour is designed and mounted.

Nice Panzer IV conversion. I like the all steel road wheels. Late Stug is really nice as well. Stug III G is my favorite vehicle.