Tamiya 1/48 Panther G WiP - COMPLETE

Hey Andrew,

Nice clean work there - looking good. Look forward to seeing some paint on her.

I think Tamiya is really on the ball with all this 1/48 stuff.  Really digging it!  I know that the cast lower hull probably does nothing more than add to the kit cost, but at the very least I like them because they add a little more weight to the build....give it a more stout feeling when you pick it up (but of course this feature has nothing to do with visual apperances. )

Can't wait to see some paint!

Brian

Nice Build so far.  What scheme are you going to paint?

Regards,  Rick

I think the hull bottom is more of a gimic. They were going for heft rather then accuracy. Less toy-like.

My favorite tank. I almost bought one myself, but decided to stick to 1/35 since that encompassed my whole stash. One thing I'd definitely add is PE engine grills.

Phil- thanks, currently trying to sort out correct scheme for desired paint job will apply then and post more pics.

Brian/New Hampshire- the metal hull does add a bit of weight, it weighs in heavier than a 1/35 t-34 fully finished and the panthers missing all wheels, tracks, paint and a few other small parts.

Rick- leaning towards the "Panther striped" cam at the

Tigerman- I have the early production tiger in 48 scale as well I'm thinking about going PE with. Not to concerned about this one as shes going to have a bit of brush etc attached which would obsure some of the added PE, Should of gone the metal barrel though.

Andrew

Hey Andrew,

I can't recall if you've done German Armour before, but if you're using Tamiya paint, The Dark Yellow (XF-60) looks much better when cut 50/50 with XF-55 Deck Tan.

Phil thanks for the tip, only panzer I have ever done was 1/76 airfix tiger for the winter build, not much yellow there LOL.

Andrew

Well 2am here and juse finished the base coats of paint and unmasked here, looks good if I do say so myself

Here's the photos

Andrew

That's a pretty cool camo pattern.

Camo came out great Andrew.  Nicely done !

Regards,  Rick

Well an update finally, not much of one but at least I'm working on this little beast again.

Wheels together and test fitted

Painted and attached. I still have some clean-up to do after painting the rubber on the road wheels

Andrew

Glad to see an update Andrew.  Keep at it, it should be a winner.

Regards,  Rick

Looks good,you don't see that camo every day.planning any aftermarket ?

Rick, Thanks. Feels good to be making progress on things after taking an (unwanted) break.

Anthony, I regret not using an AM barrel, but happy to be doing every thing else stock except for some bush to be added afterwards. Still dont know if I will go a basic base or a diorama yet.

Andrew

Looking nice - great camo.  Always glad to see more 1/48 armor here. I have this kit and someone gave me Eduard PE zimmerit for it - not sure if that's going to work out, but should be interesting.

Nice to see this one moving along again, just don't make us wait quite so long for the next update...the mob will get restless and start looking for their torches and pitchforks.

Waikong, I'm yet to do my first zimmerit, but doing it on these Tamiya 48 scale kits and an Eduard PE kit it shouldnt be to hard, everything has just fallen together. My only issue is there is almost no space between the turret and the hull, if your not careful it can scratch the paint work when rotating.

Bill, Got the tracks on last night so should have another update soon.

Andrew

Though I'm not 100% sure, I believe the cammo went over the top of the hul as well.

tigerman, the quandry took me more than few hours of research I was eventually able to track some photos showing it was a side application scheme only.

This while not a great shot shows only a single colour turret/hull tops

Andrew

Small Update (since I was already using my camera)

Tracks done, have also done one side of the skirts base coated need to do the other then add stripes

Andrew

Wow!! ..... such an atractive camo! ... very very interesting!

Such a pity you did not add some PE grills ... any way ... keep on working on that nice panther!!

Well about 95% done I'd say. Everything's on except the tow cables, have a few things to paint, put the stripes on the skirts. Light weathering only and its a wrap

Latest shots

Andrew

Very nice KW!

I really like that look, apart from being very different and eye catching it looks like a superb kit!

I'm currently working on a Tamiya 1/48 Tiger I (see my blog), their 1/48 stuff has got really good and, imo, it just get's better!

I built the 1/35 Dragon Panther G and of course all PE mesh screens came OOB.

I built the 1/35 Tamiya Jagdpanther and had to order the mesh PE screens separately. I finished the build a while back and had the screens on back order for a long time, I'll be fitting them this week.

Surely Tamiya do a set of 1/48 PE screens for your build - they really are needed! You wouldn't have seen a Panther without them!

Again,lovely work and keep us posted!

ATVB

Ben

Thanks Ben. I picked up this one cheap and had it sitting in my stash and used it satisfy an armour urge since I didn't have any one the bench at the time. I never really knew what to do with it since Panthers are far from my favourite tank (The shape just doesnt do it for me). But after finding and doing this paint scheme I'm tempted to go all out on a 1/35 scale version. As for this one, I'm happy with it without any extra's its just been a nice enjoyable build.

Andrew

Hey KW,

That's cool buddy - she looks great, he paint scheme is great, generally - great!

Don't stress about the PE. You may well come across a suitable few unused pieces in a future build that you could use, otherwise a bit of sensibly placed stowage and no one is any wiser! Either way you are sorted!

If you are going for an 'all out' 1/35 build then personally I recommend the Dragon Panther G with Zimm. I built this kit - it's a big old beast but sooo simple to build and the weathering and paint options are endless. It's a great kit al round. Pricey (it's Dragon) but well worth it imo!

ATVB

Ben

Thanks Ben I'll check it out.

Well the little panther is finished!

I must say I really enjoyed this build, I started it just to have some armor on the bench and it was great, I even enjoyed all the research for the paint scheme. Personally I'd score it in my top 3 completed models (but thats less than 20 all up), could of had even more fun if it was not an OOB build.

As for the panzer itself...

All the photos I could find show light to no weathering and no markings so thats how I've presented this kitty.

Andrew

Hi Andrew,

Good job there chap - a nice clean build all round with a very interesting paint scheme that is bound to turn heads! Well done.

I'm not sure exactly what kind ok look you were going for but some filters and further washes to tone down those bright stripes and tie them together and some rusty/muddy water streaks dragged down the front glacis and on the turret sides done with oils and Mineral spirits would really do wonders. You've weathered the running gear and tracks bang on for a small scale build so just a bit of overall blending would look grrreat!

Obviously just imo - you've done a lovely job one this build, especially on this scale! I hope my WIP 1/48 Tiger I works out so well - I had to re-orderanother replacement barrel today which has stopped the build today (long and boring story) but the new one will be here tomorrow. I've only got the turret to do so I need the mantlet left free to mount the replacement barrel which means I can't assemble the turret as it needs the mantlet to hold it together!

ATVB

Ben

Nice work there Andrew. That camo looks good! I've built a Panther G in every scale EXCEPT 1/48, but I did recently purchase that same kit and am looking forward to getting to it. What's wrong with the barrel?  Just looking for a heads up if there is a problem with the kit supplied one. Again, nice job so far. Looking forward to seeing more updates.

Bullet, nothing wrong with the barrel, ben and myself were discussing the barrel on his 48 scale tamiya tiger, something wrong with that one.

Ben, thanks for the comments, I agree there is probably room for a wash here and there (the skirts really stand out as needing it to me). But I'm happy to leave it as is as I dont want o stuff it up LOL. Might order some cheapo tanks to build with the specific goal of weathering practice, as I am yet to apply a wash to a tank. Thanks for the push :)

Andrew