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REVIEW
Trumpeter Geschutzwagen IVb
wbill76
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Posted: Tuesday, June 17, 2008 - 04:20 PM UTC
Bill Plunk provides an In-box Review of the new 1/35 Trumpeter release of the Geschutzwagen IVb kit # 00374,

Link to Item



If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!
dispatcher
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Posted: Tuesday, June 17, 2008 - 04:43 PM UTC
Go ahead and build it Bill. I don't have much info on this one, so I need to see one built to get the full effect.
Joe
Henk
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Posted: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 - 02:03 AM UTC
Good review Bill, thanks. I have just told my LHS to get me one. Just a quick question, about the road wheels. How do they measure up, compared to the 'standard' Pz.IV road wheels?

Cheers
Henk

cyberdemon
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Posted: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 - 02:11 AM UTC
Hi Bill!

Is that the one Dragon will release soon? (or maybe already have)

/Thomas
wbill76
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Posted: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 - 02:23 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Good review Bill, thanks. I have just told my LHS to get me one. Just a quick question, about the road wheels. How do they measure up, compared to the 'standard' Pz.IV road wheels?



Henk, the wheels aren't quite as crisp as we might expect from a DML or Tristar offering but are pretty close. No wording is molded into the rubber rims for example but the separate hubs have very nice bolt detail including the offset grease nipple.


Quoted Text

Hi Bill!

Is that the one Dragon will release soon? (or maybe already have)

/Thomas



Thomas, Dragon has it in their catalog as a planned release as kit #6475 but I've no idea when it will be released.
PantherF
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Posted: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 - 02:26 AM UTC
Thanks for the review Bill, I was hoping to see one soon. These are starting to pop up here and there and I wanted to look inside the box first.

cyberdemon
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Posted: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 - 02:35 AM UTC
ok!

interesting panzer, only 10 prototypes was built, i donīt know if any survived the war and only a few photos reamin, like the Dicker Max. It looks like a bigger version of the Heuschrecke 10 without the "legs"

/thomas
wbill76
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Posted: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 - 02:37 AM UTC

Quoted Text

ok!

interesting panzer, only 10 prototypes was built, i donīt know if any survived the war and only a few photos reamin, like the Dicker Max. It looks like a bigger version of the Heuschrecke 10 without the "legs"

/thomas



I believe there's one example still surviving but not 100% sure. It's actually a smaller vehicle relative to the Heuschrecke as the hull is a shortened Pz IV hull (only 3 bogies instead of the normal 4). Same gun as the Heuschrecke though in terms of the leFH 18/1.
cyberdemon
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Posted: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 - 02:51 AM UTC
by the way, iīm not a person who critize, but have anyone read the horrible english on some of Trumpeters boxes? My english is a bit odd sometimes - but at least it doesnīt end up as product information on a commercial product. They make excellent kits, but please, hire a good copywriter.

For example read the text on the sides on the Sturer Emil box. I have seen more errors but that text was nearly impossible to understand.
So donīt get me wrong - it got nothing to do with the models, only the language.

cheers
Thomas
Henk
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Posted: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 - 03:18 AM UTC

Quoted Text

ok!

interesting panzer, only 10 prototypes was built, i donīt know if any survived the war and only a few photos reamin, like the Dicker Max. It looks like a bigger version of the Heuschrecke 10 without the "legs"



An initial test order of 8 were ordered (Chamberlain and Doyle), and these were pure prototypes for evaluation, none of which saw action. The design was canceled before it could be considered for production, because the limited traverse was overruled in favour of a fully traversing turret. In response to this Krupp changed the design, and came up with the Heuschrecke. None of these 'rotating, demountable turret' designs were put into production, instead the simpler to produce Wespe was chosen.

Henk
Drader
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Posted: Thursday, June 19, 2008 - 12:43 AM UTC
Bad news about the wheels and much else

http://www.network54.com/Forum/47207/thread/1213820644/Trumpeter+1-35+Geschutzwagen+IV+b+Sd.kfz.165-1+-+Wheels+-

David
wbill76
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Posted: Thursday, June 19, 2008 - 02:33 AM UTC
Thanks for the link David, I was unaware that the road wheels were a different diameter for this vehicle. The wheels provided in the kit are indeed "standard" Pz IV wheels.

The comments in that thread about the hull and turret dimensions aren't things I can verify, the only drawings I have are the ones in Spielberger's book and the kit hull and turret match up to them. If the Spielberger drawings are off, then the kit is also off.
Drader
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Posted: Thursday, June 19, 2008 - 02:54 AM UTC
I know what you mean about plans, it must be difficult preparing them where there is no surviving example to measure up. Judging by this photo, the diameter of the wheels is greater than the width of the track by a fair bit



For added value, it also sports a totally different idler.

David
wbill76
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Posted: Thursday, June 19, 2008 - 05:39 AM UTC
David,

Interesting photo on the idler, it is a different idler than the one featured in the photos that show the prototype at the factory in Spielberger. Wonder if they made the change as part of the field testing or if it was a "spare" swap-out?
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