Jagdpanzer IV 70 V

Backround: As more and more russian tanks appeared, germany searched solutions for cheaper tank destroyers because the normal tanks were difficult to produce and it took longer as to built for example Stugs. The StuG III was a good solution but a dedicated tank destroyer still wasnt available. The stop gap solutions marder I-III proofed very succesful but they were not very well protected. So came it that the Panzer IV was chosen for a dedicated tank destroyer in a casemate superstructure, sloped frontal armour and a 75 mm l70 gun taken from the Panther. The new tank first had the effective 75mm L48 gun which was also used in the normal panzer IV and the StuGs. This gave it the same amount of firepower as the panzer IV but its now sloped frontal armour which was 80mm thick gave it better protection than on a normal panzer IV . The silhouette was much lower than a normal battle tank because of the casemate style. This limited the traverse of the gun but bigger guns could be fittted and greater armoured protection to the vehice could be done. The first Jagdpanzer IVs with the 75mm l48 gun were phased out of production when the new Jagdpanzer IV 70 arrived. The first ones, Jagdpanzer IV As had a higher superstructure and were oly stop gaps until the Jagdpanzer Iv 70V arrived. This vehicle had the 75 mm l70 gun of the panther and a low silhoutte. It was produced by Vomag hence the V in the name. This tank was the final version of the Jagdpanzer IV and he most effective of all. The gun had an incredible amount of power and penetration and could destroy every tank on the battlefield. Side skirts were added for better protection. This tank became a nightmare for allied troops, because it was very difficult to target because of its low silhoutte and the JAgdpanzer IV was mostly able to destroy the enemy tank at greater range than the enemy tank could penetrate the frontal armour of the Jp IV. The longer gun however made the tank very front heavy and the first set of wheels were often overstressed . To meet this problem, steel wheels replaced the first set of wheels on each side. Jagdpanzer IV were used from 1944 till the war ended in 1945. Hitler himself said that the outfitting of the panzer IV with the 75mm l70 gun was one of the most important developments of that time. The tank was so successful that even Guderian himself said that 75 Panthers are not better or more value than 150 Jagdpanzer IV. This i astounding as Guderian wasnt really a big fan of tank destroyers. Today still some survive in tank museums but the Jp IV with the l 70 gun is quite rare(for example the German Panzermuseum Munster has 2 Jagdpanzer IV but only with the shorter L48 gun). Some are still in running condition.
All in all the Jp IV was one of the most succesful and best tank destroyers of wwii.
You wanna know some funny trivia?: British people always find it funny when Germans try to speak englisch but cant really do it. But its also quite funny when British people try to speak German, espeacially if German words are used in a documentary for example.
In greatest tank battle, the Jagdpanzer IV is called Jagdpanzer IV tank destroyer. The funny hing is that the word Jagdpanzer literally means tank destroyer , so when literally translated its a Tank destroyer IV tank destroyer XD

The model kit
Its an ex-matchbox kit reissued by revell in 1/76. Price was 6,99€
Detail: Very nice detail, the small structures look very nice and the ground plate looks awesome as well. Matchbox sure had a good way to design their tank model kits (the planes from matchbox are ...well lets say "not that good" -if you wanna know more about the fitting of a matchbox plane kit then visit my PB4Y Privateer review[link])
*****
Fitting: I had no problems with fitting everything fitted well . The skirts were a bit difficult but fitted well in the end.
*****
Functions: Its a tank destroyer so you cant exspect a movable turret . The gun is however movable as, according to the manual the front wheel, so the racks are movable I gues,, but i wouldnt recomment it, the drive sprocket will fall off
*****
Decals: Revell pu new decals into this kit and they look awesome although they are few because its a tank.
*****
Extrapoints: I like the kit, it looks awesome and its a perfect little tank model kit.
*****
Fazit: A very nice kit, its very cheap but still is a high quality kit in my opinion. The details are fine execued for a kit of that scale(of course you can always have more but i review the inbox details). The fitting is good and there are not too many parts so its also suitable for a beginner. If you can get your hand on it, dont hesitate, its a fine kit.
*****

Colouring: The box art of the kit looks AMAZING-very imposing and the colour scheme they did on the box art looks awesome with the dark yellow and leather brown . The manual however states that instead of leather brown tile red should be used. I however used leather brown because it looks much better. So I first applied a mixture between white and sand yellow and then put over the leather brown. Everything was done with brushes. Detail work include the exhaust painted with rust colour, black for the tip of the gun and the exhaust intakes to give them a better 3d look and a box at the back which was coloured in brown. Thd spare tracks on the back were coloured in a mixture between rust and iron colour.