Panzer IV Ausf. F2 | 1:45 Scale.

Difficulty: 3/5

Model Features:

• Functional rolling tracks.
• 360-degree rotating turret.
• 1:45 Minifig Compatible Scale

Package Features:

• 529 New Construction Elements.
• Paperback printed instruction manual.
• 5 One-sided UV-printed Tiles
  
• 2 Dual-sided UV-printed Tiles
  
• Dual-sided tiles contain printed digits "413" in Black and "142" in Red.

Kits are prepared and packaged upon purchase. Please allow 5-7 days for processing.

History:
Described as the workhorse of the Wehrmacht, the Panzer IV served from the Invasion of Poland in 1936 until the Seige of Berlin in 1945, spanning the entirety of the Second World War. Early variants of the Panzer IV served as infantry support vehicles fitted with low-velocity 75-millimeter guns. These variants were often found alongside early Panzer III models intended to combat other enemy armor. These vehicles are often affiliated with the “Blitzkrieg” tactics responsible for the successes the Wehrmacht achieved up until mid-1941.

Operation Barbarossa, the German Invasion of Russia in June 1941, was the catalyst that saw the Germans scramble to upgrade their equipment to defeat the notorious T-34 and KV-1 tanks. Germany found that the Panzer III was unable to fit a larger, more powerful cannon other than the long 50 mm KwK 39 L/60, which was insufficient in dealing with the new armored threat. A decision was made to up-gun the Panzer IV Ausf. F to house a long-barreled 7.5 cm KwK 40 L/43 cannon. Variants that maintained the shorter gun were redesignated F1, while the upgraded variants were designated F2.

All Panzer IVs after early-1942 would be built with some variation of the longer high-velocity 75 mm cannon. June 1942 would see the redesignation of the Ausf F2 to the Ausf G. The Panzer IV F2 despite the upgrade did not have an outstanding combat performance; rather, it served as a transitional model and a base for future upgrades that would keep the Wehrmacht a formidable fighting force until the end of the war.