Pz. Kpfw. IV. Ausf. H - the German medium tank

Pz. Kpfw. IV (Panzerkampfwagen IV) - German World War II medium tank. The first prototypes of the combat vehicle were created in 1936, serial production was carried out in 1938-1945, about 8,600 combat vehicles were produced. The D-version tank was powered by a single "Maybach" HL 120 TRM engine with a power of 300 h. p. The tank is armed with 1 X 75 mm KwK 37 L / 24 cannon and 2 x 7.92 mm MG 34 machine guns. The Pz. Kpfw. IV was developed in 1934 - the result of a tender, announced by the German Ordnance Department at the end of the year for a medium tank, weighing up to 18 tons and armed with a 75 mm cannon. The competition was won by the company "Krupp", whose tank began mass production - as it turned out, it was a combat machine, that can be safely called the "workhorse" of the German armored forces during the Second World War and one of the most intensively developed and modernized tanks of the Wehrmacht. During production, many variants of the Pz. Kpfw. IV were created. Chronologically, the first was version A, armed with a 75 mm short-barreled gun and a 230 h. p. power engine. However, the B and C versions soon appeared, with several significant changes: more powerful engines were installed (265 h. p. in the B version and the "Maybach' HL 120 TRM with a 300 h. p. engine in the C version - which was installed in the Pz. Kpfw. IV until 1945), improvements were made full tank armor. The F1 and F2 versions were a real revolution, during which the frontal armor was thickened to 60 mm and the main armament was changed to the excellent long-barreled 75 mm KwK 40 L / 43 cannon, which in 1942 and 1943. allowed them to fight any Allied or Soviet tanks. The most commonly produced versions of the PzKpfw IV were the G, H and J, which were very similar to the F1 and F2. The main armament remained largely unchanged (still the KwK 40 cannon), as well, as the engine and chassis. On the other hand, the armor was slightly strengthened, and from the beginning of 1943 armored screens were installed on them (Schurzen). Many other combat vehicles were built on the Pz. Kpfw. IV chassis, such as the StuG IV assault gun, the "Nashorn" tank destroyer or the "Wirbelwind" self-propelled anti-aircraft gun. Pz. Kpfw. IV tanks were used on almost all fronts of the Second World War - from 1939 September campaigns, campaigns in France in 1940, "Barbarossa" and "Typhoon" operations in 1941, the Battle of Kursk in 1943. Literally, everywhere the German Wehrmacht fought against the USSR and the Western Allies between 1939 and 1945.

Mid-size well designed and impressively detailed model - there is a full interior detailing, a perfectly restored chassis, its suspension, all exterior details, some extras for the exterior "hugging". Nice spotted camouflage. Graphical and textual instructions are quite detailed, but the model is only for intermediate and experienced modelers.