So my build of the Panther Early A continues. Got a lot of work done over the weekend, but with all the aftermarket crap it's taking forever! Here are a few questions and observations for y'all.
1) I'm currently building all the tool clips for my Panther out of the Eduard photoetch fret for the Panther A, and because I am lazy, I'd rather just buy aftermarket tools for panzers than shave all the crap off of the kit pieces that's required when you use the fancy-pants etch tool attachments. (It would also be nice if they were a little closer to scale than the plastic pieces.) Any suggestions?
2) Speaking of scale, have any of you guys noticed that sometimes photoetch is a bad thing? Sometimes the stuff is just too skinny. (I mean, beside the obvious "flat" effect of etched MG belts and ship crewmen.) Example: There's that piece of metal that goes on the cuploa of a Panther, right where the hatch hinge is, which seems like a rest for the commander's hatch when it is swung over, though I'm not totally sure what it is.
![Tongue [:P]](/FSM/CS/emoticons/icon_smile_tongue.gif)
I dutifully replaced the thick kit part with the little etch part, having made all the required bends. Now I look at my phot sources and that piece of metal seems to be rather thicker than the etch piece -- and frankly the same goes for the MG ring, which seems a bit to skinny, as this was a fairly thick piece of metal. Are we just making life too difficult for ourselves with the etch, for no good reason?
3) You know those tubes that the tools are attached to on the tank -- the hollow tubes that the tools get slid over, then attached with a little metal bar that is attached to the hull by a chain? The tubes come flat in the Eduard etch set. You have to roll them yourselves. Any suggestions on what size rod I should use to roll these things? I plan a trip to my train shop to get the right rod, but am not sure what size it should be.
4)
Wiking Panthers are never portrayed with the AA MG attached to the mount during the period in which they used the early A. However, I have ordered one of the nice brass MG-34's, and I also built up the little ammo box for the MG that's on the Eduard PE. Goddammit, I wanna use the MG! What's your thoughts on that? Should I skip the gun and go accurate, or add it for visual effect of the cool gun and nifty ammo box?
Lazy Pantherman, over and out!