Panzer IV

After doing the T-34 it was time for a german tank, and none is more iconic than the panzer IV, a vehicle that served during all the war, from the invasion of Poland to the battle of Berlin. In 1941 the panzers met their match in the new generation of russian tanks, so for the campaign of 1942 most of them had been upgraded with a new turret bearing a heavy antitank gun. In addition extra protection was also developed in the shape of a ring of armour around the turret, and two side panels called schürzen. This tank represents one of those who fought in Stalingrad and later battles. 

Painting was certainly time consuming, over a basecoat of light brown I applied a drybrush of cream, followed by metal weathering and then two colours of camo, the last step was a wash of sepia ink.

Pretty much like the actual thing the warlord model is way over engineered, with tons of bits and bobs that you need to put together, and not even a peg under the turret to keep it in place while it turns. In the end I had to glue a piece of sprue underneath. The T-35 was far easier to assemble, with only two sprues and less fiddly details, proving once again that russian tanks are better

 Also, lacking any kind of inserted pegs the schürzen are quite fragile, so I expect them to break and fall at the first hit from the russian guns