SturmpanzerIV "Brummbar"

Manufacturer: ESCI (ESCIKit #8065; ESCI/Ertl Kit #8311 and #8307)

I really enjoyed buildingthis kit. I feel that this is one of ESCI's best detailed kits,and it is also very accurate, representing the mid-series versionof this vehicle. All of the distinguishing characteristics ofthis version are present: the armored driver's position withperiscope, the hatch layout on the superstructure roof, therelocated storage bin on the left-rear fender, and the new sparewheel brackets. About the only thing that I could find missingare the pistol ports of the sides of the superstructure, and acouple of tiny lift hooks on the front and rear armored faces.

The kit uses the samelower hull and chassis as ESCI's Panzer IV kit. The idler wheelscorrectly represent the simplified version, but the sprocketwheels have solid spokes, where they should be split, like theidler wheels. There is pretty good detail on the hull sidesbehind the bogie wheels, and the wheels are excellent (muchbetter than the wheels from Hasegawa's series of Panzer IV's).

The kit gives the optionof open or closed commander's and loader's hatches on the roof.The gun sight can be either in the up or down position, but thesliding sight cover is molded in the open position; it would bevery difficult to close it. Like all ESCI kits based on thePanzer IV hull, the engine cooling vents on the rear hull sidesare molded with their air flow control shutters closed. Theengine deck grills are molded through the hull, and side skirts(schurzen) are provided.

A couple of the pioneertools are molded onto the engine deck, but the majority of themare separate pieces which allow you the choice of using them orleaving them off entirely. I really like that. Not enoughcompanies give us that option. A couple of spare gas cans, andtwo sets of spare track segments are included. Also included aretwo crew figures: the same two that come with most of ESCI'sGerman armor kits: one standing with a pair of binoculars at hischest, and the other sitting with his head to turned to the side.While the figures have pretty decent detail, I find their posesto be very flat and lifeless.

Assembly of the kit wasstraight-forward, following the typical sequence of building thelower hull and chassis first, gluing on the tracks, thenattaching the upper hull. Although I normally do not like thissequence, considering the inclusion of individual track links, itmakes it far easier to attach the tracks when following theproscribed sequence.

There really were nohassles during assembly. Everything fit quite well. I did make acouple of alterations, however:

• I thinned the front and rear fenders with sandpaper for a more realistic thickness;
• I sanded the backs of the teeth on the sprocket wheels, because the teeth are very thick and in addition to not looking in scale, can cause some problems with attaching the individual track links;
• I replaced the schurzen with scratch-built copies. I made the rack from strips of styrene, and I made the plates from sheet styrene. I left off several plates, and painted one of them in a different camouflage pattern to imply hard use and lack of spare parts.

I painted the kit panzeryellow with red-brown stripes using Polly Scale paints. Onceagain the balkenkreuze decals were printed out of register, so Ireplaced them with Microscale decals. I finished with a coat ofclear flat.