Italeri IV F/F2/early G
- Raoul Kunz
- Senior Site Contributor.....
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- Joined: 20 Jul 2014, 01:16
- Location: Karben, next to Frankfurt, HRE
Italeri IV F/F2/early G
Hello!
You might remember me if you're in for the long haul here, I sued to be an active modeller here, then I took an arrow... no wait...
Anyhow, I chose something rather simple for my return to activity... wanted to be here again a couple of weeks ago but we had to do house sitting for my in-laws and trust me, managing a flat and garden that is run by two full time stay at home pensioners with two full-time employed people is hell... especially if their cat is behaving like the ***hole she is .
I love cats, I really do, but I freely admit to hating Mathilda...
Anyhow, now I'm back... I hope
So while looking for a simple kit I stumbled upon this re-issued F/F2/G by Italeri... it's a fairly old kit that used to be regarded as quite a decent kit in it's day, so let's give it a go!
(Of course it won't be a Afrika F... as usual with me ( ) it will be a F2 for Case Blue... because I'm an Eastern Front geek AND I have a AM F2 barrel )
Let's open it up and have look =>
First things first: this re-issue comes with a corrected turret...more on that later and some etch. I doubt this will suffice to give the kit enough of an edge on the newer releases, but it's very nice to have it included!
The turned barrel is AM and really necessary.
Quality is older but okay... the MG-34 though is, in all honesty, pathetic, but that's okay, I have a ton of these lying around here...
Okay, cards on the table here: the turret bulge that was plain wrong on the old version is gone (yay!), however there is not a single welt line on the whole kit... now this is going to be fun...
Detail here is okay, again older but ...okay.
The barrels are of course completely unusable. It's not visible in the photograph but aside from being detail-free two-piece constructions they also come warped...
The figures are typical of the 80s... soft detail in all places plus they're for the Afrika campaign, so they'll go straight to the box-o-stuff...
Anyhow, As my habit i started on the turret and immediatly noticed that it has no detail whatsoever on the roof...as in none..nada..zip =>
It's supposed to look like this =>
(of course it`s also not supposed to have welt lines on the sides, this was a brain 404 from me, it's been shamefacedly corrected )
On Philipp's suggestion I might fill the holes to be almost flush with the turret , maybe I'm insane enough to try and cut a screw slit into them, but let's see... would be nicer if those where just bolts, but we're talking late interbellum German design here, of course it's countersunk screws..
Anyhow, that's more progress than I managed over the last half year at least...
Best regards
Raoul G. Kunz
You might remember me if you're in for the long haul here, I sued to be an active modeller here, then I took an arrow... no wait...
Anyhow, I chose something rather simple for my return to activity... wanted to be here again a couple of weeks ago but we had to do house sitting for my in-laws and trust me, managing a flat and garden that is run by two full time stay at home pensioners with two full-time employed people is hell... especially if their cat is behaving like the ***hole she is .
I love cats, I really do, but I freely admit to hating Mathilda...
Anyhow, now I'm back... I hope
So while looking for a simple kit I stumbled upon this re-issued F/F2/G by Italeri... it's a fairly old kit that used to be regarded as quite a decent kit in it's day, so let's give it a go!
(Of course it won't be a Afrika F... as usual with me ( ) it will be a F2 for Case Blue... because I'm an Eastern Front geek AND I have a AM F2 barrel )
Let's open it up and have look =>
First things first: this re-issue comes with a corrected turret...more on that later and some etch. I doubt this will suffice to give the kit enough of an edge on the newer releases, but it's very nice to have it included!
The turned barrel is AM and really necessary.
Quality is older but okay... the MG-34 though is, in all honesty, pathetic, but that's okay, I have a ton of these lying around here...
Okay, cards on the table here: the turret bulge that was plain wrong on the old version is gone (yay!), however there is not a single welt line on the whole kit... now this is going to be fun...
Detail here is okay, again older but ...okay.
The barrels are of course completely unusable. It's not visible in the photograph but aside from being detail-free two-piece constructions they also come warped...
The figures are typical of the 80s... soft detail in all places plus they're for the Afrika campaign, so they'll go straight to the box-o-stuff...
Anyhow, As my habit i started on the turret and immediatly noticed that it has no detail whatsoever on the roof...as in none..nada..zip =>
It's supposed to look like this =>
(of course it`s also not supposed to have welt lines on the sides, this was a brain 404 from me, it's been shamefacedly corrected )
On Philipp's suggestion I might fill the holes to be almost flush with the turret , maybe I'm insane enough to try and cut a screw slit into them, but let's see... would be nicer if those where just bolts, but we're talking late interbellum German design here, of course it's countersunk screws..
Anyhow, that's more progress than I managed over the last half year at least...
Best regards
Raoul G. Kunz
~fiat iustitia aut pereat mundus~
Completed Campaigns:
Completed Campaigns:
- Vincent Power
- Senior Site Contributor.....
- Posts: 2641
- Joined: 31 Jul 2014, 23:49
- Location: Melbourne Australia
Re: Italeri IV F/F2/early G
You are a brave man Raoul. I still have nightmares of an Italeri Tiger 1 that tormented me so much I drove it straight into the spares box
Perhaps you can solve the screw problem with PE replacements?
Anyway, it's good to see you back building kits and you're off to a good start with this one.
Vincent
Perhaps you can solve the screw problem with PE replacements?
Anyway, it's good to see you back building kits and you're off to a good start with this one.
Vincent
Completed Campaigns:
- Raoul Kunz
- Senior Site Contributor.....
- Posts: 1655
- Joined: 20 Jul 2014, 01:16
- Location: Karben, next to Frankfurt, HRE
Re: Italeri IV F/F2/early G
Thanks Vincent... though I'm starting to understand your reaction to the Tiger... I just noticed that I also need to add every detail to the cupola hatches... generally every detail just... isn't there .
Best regards
Raoul G. Kunz
Best regards
Raoul G. Kunz
~fiat iustitia aut pereat mundus~
Completed Campaigns:
Completed Campaigns:
- Raoul Kunz
- Senior Site Contributor.....
- Posts: 1655
- Joined: 20 Jul 2014, 01:16
- Location: Karben, next to Frankfurt, HRE
Re: Italeri IV F/F2/early G
And on we go...primarily correcting things and adding detail that is either wrong in the instructions or, more often (as aforementioned), not there... the fun part is that I'm working from my stash of leftover parts since I'm honestly unwilling to buy a single new item for this kit, basic as it is this would immediately at least move into the higher two digit amounts and since I do have both a DML IV F2 and a DML IV G (early) sitting in my stash shaking their heads at me it would simply be an exercise in pure masochism... which it probably already is ...
Anyhow, here we are: I mentioned already the... ahem suboptimal MG-34s that come with the kit, therefore I dug up some TANK...err... tank versions of the 34 in excellent resin.
Here's a comparison, just for illustrative purposes =>
And in use co-axial and in the ball mount of the radio operator =>
Here's the turret side view ports... which the instructions want you to a) build with the wrong version on the wrong side and b) leaving the other off.... I suppose this is less of a research failure than a somewhat annoying result of mixing the three possible versions in all the steps... though the fact that there is no left-hand port is something of a research failure...
Nevermind the ever so slightly too large bolts... they where the ones I had at hand .
I also filled the holes on the turret roof, courtesy of round material provided by Philipp - looks a but wonky currently but I'm certain it will look okay once painted.
The lower hull represented a lot less problems, essentially just needs weld-bands and it's fine.
The upper hull of course needs those too and... of course... the instructions want me to use the simplified G type hatches on the F2... granted, it might even be accurate on the occasion because the F2 flows into the G even stronger than the usual "we make changes until they are so much that we change the letter" pattern of changes in German tanks.
Still, more typical for the F2 is a F with L/43 KwK... the G is the one that's simplified...
In the same spirit I also added the second front view port back on that the instructions even omit for the F...
Anyway, this quickly turned into the usual pattern of working on a kit instead of easing back into building... should have chosen the DML F2...
Best regards
Raoul G. Kunz
Anyhow, here we are: I mentioned already the... ahem suboptimal MG-34s that come with the kit, therefore I dug up some TANK...err... tank versions of the 34 in excellent resin.
Here's a comparison, just for illustrative purposes =>
And in use co-axial and in the ball mount of the radio operator =>
Here's the turret side view ports... which the instructions want you to a) build with the wrong version on the wrong side and b) leaving the other off.... I suppose this is less of a research failure than a somewhat annoying result of mixing the three possible versions in all the steps... though the fact that there is no left-hand port is something of a research failure...
Nevermind the ever so slightly too large bolts... they where the ones I had at hand .
I also filled the holes on the turret roof, courtesy of round material provided by Philipp - looks a but wonky currently but I'm certain it will look okay once painted.
The lower hull represented a lot less problems, essentially just needs weld-bands and it's fine.
The upper hull of course needs those too and... of course... the instructions want me to use the simplified G type hatches on the F2... granted, it might even be accurate on the occasion because the F2 flows into the G even stronger than the usual "we make changes until they are so much that we change the letter" pattern of changes in German tanks.
Still, more typical for the F2 is a F with L/43 KwK... the G is the one that's simplified...
In the same spirit I also added the second front view port back on that the instructions even omit for the F...
Anyway, this quickly turned into the usual pattern of working on a kit instead of easing back into building... should have chosen the DML F2...
Best regards
Raoul G. Kunz
~fiat iustitia aut pereat mundus~
Completed Campaigns:
Completed Campaigns:
- Steve Hutchinson
- Senior Site Contributor.....
- Posts: 2263
- Joined: 20 Jul 2014, 08:27
- Location: Bradford West Yorkshire, UK
Re: Italeri IV F/F2/early G
Morning Raoul
You should have chosen the Dragon F2/G
It was a dream to build, but you are getting there
Retards
Steve H
You should have chosen the Dragon F2/G
It was a dream to build, but you are getting there
Retards
Steve H
""I need to be creative, to feel ALIVE!""
Completed Campaigns:
Completed Campaigns:
- Raoul Kunz
- Senior Site Contributor.....
- Posts: 1655
- Joined: 20 Jul 2014, 01:16
- Location: Karben, next to Frankfurt, HRE
Re: Italeri IV F/F2/early G
I know, right? I built one once already... but I had this here kit lying around... and now that I've started I would very much to actually get on with it.... it was a while since I last..oh.. I don`t know.. finished something!
Best regards
Raoul G. Kunz
...who will be writing you a longer message in the coming days, there where a couple of horrible/fun/morbid/all of the above going on here in the last couple of weeks /
Best regards
Raoul G. Kunz
...who will be writing you a longer message in the coming days, there where a couple of horrible/fun/morbid/all of the above going on here in the last couple of weeks /
~fiat iustitia aut pereat mundus~
Completed Campaigns:
Completed Campaigns:
- Raoul Kunz
- Senior Site Contributor.....
- Posts: 1655
- Joined: 20 Jul 2014, 01:16
- Location: Karben, next to Frankfurt, HRE
Re: Italeri IV F/F2/early G
Okay, I dug a bit in leftover box and I think I have found correct rivets for the view ports...
...but it's horribly hot currently (as in: pretty normal for many but 30°C to me is WAY too hot... I'm forced to change to polo shirts, wear only Panama hats and ditch the waistcoat - oh the horror! ) and I will move ahead with them once I'm either acclimated or it gets better... meanwhile I hold out for terrible all encompassing apocalyptic thunderstorms and the like !
I'm a winter person...
Best regards
Raoul G. Kunz
...but it's horribly hot currently (as in: pretty normal for many but 30°C to me is WAY too hot... I'm forced to change to polo shirts, wear only Panama hats and ditch the waistcoat - oh the horror! ) and I will move ahead with them once I'm either acclimated or it gets better... meanwhile I hold out for terrible all encompassing apocalyptic thunderstorms and the like !
I'm a winter person...
Best regards
Raoul G. Kunz
~fiat iustitia aut pereat mundus~
Completed Campaigns:
Completed Campaigns:
- Philipp Gross
- Site Admin/Founder
- Posts: 5122
- Joined: 19 Jul 2014, 23:40
- Location: Frankfurt
- Contact:
Re: Italeri IV F/F2/early G
Yay! Cone bolts FTW!
Also 100% agreement on the weather situation....at least we had a while with proper spring weather between wet season and hellfire season....
Philipp
Also 100% agreement on the weather situation....at least we had a while with proper spring weather between wet season and hellfire season....
Philipp
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- Shawn Ramsey
- Senior Site Contributor.....
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- Joined: 20 Jul 2014, 00:26
Re: Italeri IV F/F2/early G
Nice to see you building again Raoul, not that I can talk.
The details our adding are definitely improving the build.
Shawn
The details our adding are definitely improving the build.
Shawn
Completed Campaigns:
- Raoul Kunz
- Senior Site Contributor.....
- Posts: 1655
- Joined: 20 Jul 2014, 01:16
- Location: Karben, next to Frankfurt, HRE
Re: Italeri IV F/F2/early G
Thanks Philipp and Shawn!
On we go with additions and corrections (of corrections) =>
Changed the bolts on the view ports to... oh I don't know... correct conic ones salvaged from a Superkit DML IV D that doesn't use those anyway =>
(looks horrible, I know, looks far better in RL and will be cleaned up a bit eventually anyway )
Next up was some etch for the mudflaps fore and aft... and damned be me but those are actually really nice items! Of course they do contrast a bit with the rather basic... err... base kit, but can't complain about those! The included etch is generally of surprisingly high quality... there could be... oh I don't know... more, but for what is there it's nice!
They needed a bit of trimming to fully fit in but this will be either invisible eventually or made invisible by mud .
And here's the current result, probably more plundered items to come, note the Tristar sprues in the background and then there's a Superkit IVD in an open box just out of view...
Best regards
Raoul G. Kunz
Oh and Steve - I`ll post it here because I don't know if I can get around to a response in a timely fashion ("shame"*dingding!*) - you should have a google account, simply by virtue of being forced to have one when using Android - I'm currently using it and it allows you to stash a ton of stuff on it for free and you should be able to access it from the phone!
- ' hope this is a bit helpful!
On we go with additions and corrections (of corrections) =>
Changed the bolts on the view ports to... oh I don't know... correct conic ones salvaged from a Superkit DML IV D that doesn't use those anyway =>
(looks horrible, I know, looks far better in RL and will be cleaned up a bit eventually anyway )
Next up was some etch for the mudflaps fore and aft... and damned be me but those are actually really nice items! Of course they do contrast a bit with the rather basic... err... base kit, but can't complain about those! The included etch is generally of surprisingly high quality... there could be... oh I don't know... more, but for what is there it's nice!
They needed a bit of trimming to fully fit in but this will be either invisible eventually or made invisible by mud .
And here's the current result, probably more plundered items to come, note the Tristar sprues in the background and then there's a Superkit IVD in an open box just out of view...
Best regards
Raoul G. Kunz
Oh and Steve - I`ll post it here because I don't know if I can get around to a response in a timely fashion ("shame"*dingding!*) - you should have a google account, simply by virtue of being forced to have one when using Android - I'm currently using it and it allows you to stash a ton of stuff on it for free and you should be able to access it from the phone!
- ' hope this is a bit helpful!
~fiat iustitia aut pereat mundus~
Completed Campaigns:
Completed Campaigns: