Jagdpanzer IV L/70A Hull

This Dragon kit was an older model with simpler details and construction. Unfortunately, that didn’t make it easy. There were a lot of parts that didn’t fit well, and I used a lot of filler to even out the cracks.

I basically free-handed the turret opening by Dremeling the bulk of it, then using sanding pads and files to even everything out. It’s about as close as I can get to the reference picture I have.

I painted it in several shades of rust red, trying to create a modulated look. I then hand-painted the white marks to simulated the hand-painted look it would have received at the factory. The “715” decal came from the Kagero Jagdpanzer book, from which I found the photo.

For weathering, I made dried mud by mixing AK Interactive products and plaster, then loading an old paintbrush with the mixture and hitting it with spurts of air from my airbrush.

I then added streaks, dust, and fading to the upper hull.

This particular Jagdpanzer IV L/70A represents an incomplete hull with the number “715” scrawled on it. You can see it outside a factory in the b/w image above.

The L/70V or Vomag was the more iconic, low to the ground tank hunter that was preferred and meant as a replacement for the StuG III. But the Vomag required a new hull entirely, so the Germans had the Alkett production facility turn old Pz. IV’s into L/70’s by simply creating a larger upper shell for the gun. This taller, interim version became known as the A or Alkett variant. It served until the end of war, and was often seen with the wire mesh Thoma schurzen side-armor.