1:35 Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. J Nibelungenwerk Mid Prod. Sep-Nov 1944 - Interior Kit - MINIART

The Panzerkampfwagen IV (Pz.Kpfw. IV), commonly known as the Panzer IV, was a German medium tank developed in the late 1930s and used extensively during the Second World War. Its ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz. 161. Ausf. J was considered a retrograde from the Ausf. H. Born of necessity, to replace heavy losses, it was greatly simplified to speed production. The electric generator that powered the tank's turret traverse was removed, so the turret had to be rotated manually. The turret traversing mechanism was modified and fitted with a second gear which made hand-operation easier when the vehicle was on sloping terrain. The resulting space was later used for the installation of an auxiliary 200-litre fuel tank; road range was thereby increased to 320 km , The remaining pistol and vision ports on the turret side hatches were removed, and the engine's radiator housing was simplified by changing the slanted sides to straight sides. Three sockets with screw threads for mounting a 2-ton jib boom crane were welded on the turret roof while the hull roof was thickened from 11-millimetre  to 16-millimetre. In addition, the cylindrical muffler was replaced by two flame-suppressing mufflers. In June 1944 Wa Prüf 6 had decided that because bomb damage at Panzerfirma Krupp in Essen had seriously jeopardized tank production, all plates which should have been face-hardened for the Panzer IV were instead made with rolled homogeneous armour plate. By late 1944, Zimmerit was no longer being applied to German armoured vehicles, and the Panzer IV's side-skirts had been replaced by wire mesh, while the gunner's forward vision port in the turret front was eliminated and the number of return rollers was reduced from four to three to further speed-up production.

THE KIT:

• Highly detailed model
• Driver compartment interior accurately represented
• Fully detailed fighting compartment interior
• Highly detailed interior of turret
• All hatches can be posed open or closed
• Full ammunition included
• Engine included
• Workable tracks included
• Clear plastic parts included
• Photo-etched parts included
• Decal sheet for 4 options