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In-Box Review
135
Pz IV and Stug III in Spain
Panzer IV ausf. H & Stug III ausf. G en Espana
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by: Adam Berhidi [ JIMBOHUN ]

Introduction

Although Spain did not participate in the battles of WW2, in 1943 they purchased some German armor in order to update their fleet mainly consisting of light tanks. The original plans were to buy more, but in the end Spain obtained 20 Panzer IV Ausf. H’s and 10 Stug III Ausf. G’s in December. These were in use for a good decade after the war, since Spain's armored force composition remained the same until 1954, when the United States delivered the first 12 M47 Patton tanks to the Spanish Army. 17 of the Panzer IV's later were sold to Syria (Source: Wikipedia).

The Set

This set from FC Modeltips covers extensively the subject above and since the company itself is Spanish I am sure it is accurate and well researched. The options we have are the below with all vehicles painted in some shade of green/khaki, expressed in Vallejo Model Air codes.

Panzer IV
61th Tank Regiment “Alcazar de Toledo” 1944: the instructions are not 100% clear especially without any previous knowledge on the subject, but if my logic is correct, we have the option to create any of the tanks of the 1st or 2nd Company (each with 10 tanks including one commander version). The numbers available on the decal sheet would allow us build three versions in total (basically any three tanks of the regiment), but we have two insignias only for the front (and no instructions as to when the yellow one should be used).

61th Tank Regiment “Alcazar de Toledo” 1948: the same as above but with another base color.

12th Cavalry Regiment “Dragones de Farnesio” 1954: although there are no instructions, based on the number of turret numbers supplied, it looks like we can choose between 3 options but build one, since only one insignia is supplied.

StuG III
Artillery School 1944: 10 numbers are provided here, so all the vehicles are covered, but again there is only one insignia that limits the total number of builds to one.

Artillery School 1952: the same as above but with another base color and different numbers, but no insignia supplied, so in theory 10 tanks can be built.

The prints are sharp on the sheet with good colors, and the carrying film looks reasonably thin.

Conclusion

This set will prove very useful for those who are building WW2/post WW2 Spanish armor as basically it gives you the option to build any of the Pz IV’s/StuG III’s in service. Even though the insignias limit the number of total builds with the use of this release, the set will last for 5 vehicles ( 10 late StuG III’s that have no insignia).

So for someone interested in this topic, the set is highly recommended!
SUMMARY
Highs: Huge number of options.
Lows: The number of insignias included limits the total number of builds.
Verdict: If you are interested in this topic, the set is highly recommended.
  Scale: 1:35
  Mfg. ID: FCM35204
  PUBLISHED: Sep 27, 2015
  NATIONALITY: Spain / España
NETWORK-WIDE AVERAGE RATINGS
  THIS REVIEWER: 87.20%
  MAKER/PUBLISHER: 91.67%

Our Thanks to FC Model Trend!
This item was provided by them for the purpose of having it reviewed on this KitMaker Network site. If you would like your kit, book, or product reviewed, please contact us.

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About Adam Berhidi (JimboHUN)
FROM: BUDAPEST, HUNGARY

I have been into modelling for at least ten years, mainly modern AFVs and softskins in 1/35.

Copyright ©2021 text by Adam Berhidi [ JIMBOHUN ]. All rights reserved.



   
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