COBI Panzer IV Ausf.G Set 2714

COBI's Panzer IV Ausf. G is a 1:48 model built from 390 blocks, 16.5 cm long, with a rotating turret, a movable gun barrel and working tracks and wheels. All markings are printed onto the blocks.

The thin plates on the sides

From 1943 Panzer IVs went into action hung with sheets of thin steel along the hull sides and around the turret — Schürzen, or skirts. They were five millimetres thick, bolted to brackets, and fell off constantly.

They were not armour in the usual sense. They were there because Soviet infantry carried anti-tank rifles in large numbers, firing a hardened bullet that could punch the Panzer IV's 30 mm side plate at close range. A thin plate standing off from the hull defeated it: the bullet struck at a bad angle, tumbled, lost energy, and hit the real armour sideways.

The same trick works against shaped charges, which is why armies still fit standoff screens and cage armour today. Crews disliked them — they caught on trees, snagged on walls and hid the running gear from view — and fitted them anyway.

In the COBI range

Part of the compact 1:48 armour series. The large 1:28 Panzer IV Ausf. G is set 2592.

Specifications

Pieces: 390 · Scale: 1:48
Model dimensions: 16.5 × 7 × 8.5 cm (6.5 × 2.8 × 3.3 in)