Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.E
Lion Roar 1:35 set #LE35063
Review by Terry Ashley

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The quality of the etchings is as good as any you will find these days with clean well defined etchings with relief where needed and the usual engraved bending lines to make this job easier. As with most contemporary sets the engraved bending line is placed to be on the inside of the bend for a sharper bend and also to help in bending in the correct direction.

The set has mostly the finer details for the kits with the mounting brackets for the wooden jack block, the spare track racks on the glacis and front plate plus the tail light and antenna tray mounting brackets, all of which simply replace the kit brackets with some needing to be cut from the kit parts beforehand.

The front folding fender sections are provided with working hinges if you wish using the thin plastic rod provided as well as the fender “spring” replaced with the thin wire.

Moving to the back the flanges between the upper and lower rear hull panels is in two parts with separate bolt heads and the smoke candle box gets new etched mounting brackets as well as the large exhaust pipe securing strips in etched with small bolts and you may want to correct the kit exhaust length while you are removing the moulded on strips. The underside exhaust supports are also replaced with etched parts as are the side engine intake flaps and upper louvers for the tropical style engine deck doors to add more detail finesse to these parts.

On the turret the gun aerial deflector is provided in etched parts with a short section of plastic rod shaved to a half moon profile for the front section and the cupola hatches get internal fittings that again require the moulded on detail to be removed first. The rear turret bin has a new top and lid with working hinges plus internal bracing for the lid and finally the end sections of the hull top bullet splash are replaced with etched parts that allow the inverted hollow V profile to be seen but you have to cut off the kit bullet splash first.

A double sided A4 page instruction sheet has exploded view drawings of the assembly sequences which are easy to follow as there is nothing really complicated in adding the set parts to the kits.

Conclusion:
This is a nicely produced set with most of the finer details for the Dragon kits that require a bit of work in removing some of the moulded on kit details before adding the etched parts but nothing most modellers can’t handle.

Recommended for those wanting to add the finer details without going overboard.

	Panzer Tracts No.4 Panzerkampfwagen IV Typical Panzer Tracts book with excellent technical descriptions and detailed coverage of the Panzer IV.
	Achtung Panzer No.3 Panzer IV Excellent detail coverage of the Panzer IV with the usual detail photos and drawings of all versions of the Panzer IV.
	Panzerkampfwagen IV Medium Tank 1936-45 Osprey New Vanguard 28 ISBN: 1855328437
	PzKpfw IV Ausf.A to J Tanks in Detail 1 Ian Allan Publishing.
	PzKpfw IV Squadron Signal Publications Special #6081 The usual in action fare with photos and drawings of the Pz.IV versions
	PzKpfw IV in action #2012 Squadron Signal Publications The usual in action fare with photos and drawings of the Pz.IV versions

Thanks to Lion Roar for the review set.

Page created May 18, 2006