If the Panther you're building is a Dragon's with individual track-link, the side
armors should better be left out, so as to show the fine slope of the tracks, and
in case of Dragon's Panthers 2002 release, show the arresting hooks as well !.
This is what my modeler decided to do when I gave Dragon's Panther A Early Type
released in 2002 for him to model. And of all the Panthers he has modelled so far,
this new one, in sand color, is the most beautiful :
http://www.falconbbs.com/model15a.htm
Now he's working on another Panther, a Dragon's Panther D, also released in
2002 and will have it shown in a diorama.