PzKfw IVH - Warlord Games vs Rubicon - The Basic Turret

I moved on to the turrets at this point. The builds from both kits are nearly identical, the major difference is that the gun on the Rubicon kit can be raised or lowered and the Warlord Games kit is fixed in place. The hatches are handled in a slightly different manner as well, but that's not as significant as the gun. If you want to be able to raise and lower the gun barrel then the Rubicon Kit is the only choice here. If that's not an issue for you then read on!

Again, I started with the Rubicon Models kit for this part of the comparison. This is a pretty straight forward build.

The basic turret pieces

The gun barrel and mantlet pieces

Before the gun is installed.

The gun assembled

the completed turret. I need to pull my references but I'm pretty sure that the side hatches are really poorly done.

The basic hull and turret assembled. After this its on to the extra details (like say the muffler on the Rubicon kit)

From here I moved on to the turret for the Warlord Games kit.

basic turret components. Just like the hull the plastic is thinner than the Rubicon Models kit

The gun pieces, much simpler from a build standpoint

The basic turret finished. I like the side hatches on these much better. On either model its going to take some cutting if you want the hatches open for any reason.

The completed turret, there will be no changing of the gun elevation on this kit

Basic hull and turret together. After this come the rest of the details.

Like the hulls the turrets are almost identical. The Rubicon turret is every so slightly wider than the Warlord Games turret, but its not really noticeable unless you have them right up against each other. I like the storage bin better on the Rubicon kit, although its likely to be bit more fragile since it only as three small attachment points to the turret. The Warlord Games kit is a more classic take on this with the box basically flush up against the turret. I'm a little irritated that Rubicon did such a hatchet job on the side hatches though. Looks like sloppy work, most of that will be hidden by the turret skirt, but if you are modeling an earlier version (F or G) its going to be right out there in the open. I also would have liked it better if there was an option to have the side hatches open rather than closed. Its going to take some serious cutting to have those hatches open. Like I mentioned above the Rubicon kit is made from thicker plastic overall and its feeling both heavier and sturdier than the Warlord Games kit.With the hull and turret completed you get a much better idea of how the two tanks are going to look when they are finished. Yet to come are all the final details yet, I'm not sure how much more time that will add but right now I suspect I could get one of these to this point inside of 30 minutes without to much effort. We will see how long it takes to get the final details done and in place. I'll spend some time after that filling seams and cleaning up anything I missed. I'm seeing pros and cons to both kits but I'm leaning towards the Rubincon Models kit being the choice for me, although I'm seriously tempted to see what it would take to fix those side hatches on the turret.