Pzkpfw IV Ausf.H GERMAN MEDIUM TANK - 1943

Description

he 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. Designed as an infantry-support tank, the Panzer IV was not intended to engage enemy armor—that role being allocated to the Panzer III. However, with the flaws of pre-war doctrine becoming apparent and in the face of Soviet T-34 tanks, the Panzer IV soon assumed the original role of its increasingly vulnerable cousin. The most widely manufactured and deployed German tank of the Second World War, the Panzer IV was used as the base for many other fighting vehicles, including the Sturmgeschütz IV assault gun, Jagdpanzer IV tank destroyer, the Wirbelwind self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, and the Brummbär self-propelled gun. Robust and reliable, it saw service in all combat theaters involving Germany and was notable for being the only German tank to remain in continuous production throughout the war, with over 8800 produced between 1936 and 1945. Upgrades and design modifications intended to counter new threats, extended its service life. Generally, these involved increasing the Panzer IV’s armor protection or upgrading its weapons, although during the last months of the war, with Germany’s pressing need for rapid replacement of losses, design changes also included simplifications to speed up the manufacturing process. The Panzer IV was the most widely exported tank in German service, with around 300 sold to Finland, Romania, Spain and Bulgaria. After the war, Syria procured Panzer IVs from France and Czechoslovakia, which were to see combat in the 1967 Six-Day War. Some 8,553 Panzer IVs of all versions were built during World War II, with only the StuG III assault-gun/tank destroyer’s production number of 10,086 vehicles exceeding the Panzer IV’s production total for Germany’s and other Axis armored forces. Beautiful kit with more than 2000 pieces, Aluminium gun and photoetched parts...!! (Scale : 1/16e)