Tamiya Panther No. 65

First thing I usually do is determine if the hatches will be opened or closed.  Closed is the easiest as you don't have to show any interior.  If the hatches will be open you have to decide on figures to plug up the openings or interior equipment that will be visible. 

On some Tamiya kits there are no sponson bottoms provided so these may have to be scratch built out of styrene sheet.  Just like AC you have to make sure all seams are puttied and sanded.  This is especially important on the gun barrel, cleaning rod canister and mufflers.  Weld beads may also have to be added and stretched sprue works wonders for this. 

Armor has a lot of detail on the outside that may not be included in the kit and I like to add all the PE goodies available but if you haven't done PE before or can't afford it, alot of the details can be scratched.  As for tracks, you can use the kit ones or go AM.  I personally HATE the vinyl rubberband type and go with either DS, individual plastic links or Friuls. 

As for painting I shoot on a primer coat in the prototype's base color (believe it's red oxide for the Panther) and then give it the final coat using MM acryl.  Next comes an overall burnt umber wash using artists oils mixed with Turpenoid (the BLUE can, NOT the green one!) and a black pin wash.  Then Testors Dullcote for a barrier.  Decal as you would for AC.  You can now scratch out high wear areas through to the primer followed by dry brushing.  A little judicious use of a silver pencil around the hatches and bogie wheels also helps to show wear.  My friend Panzerjager got me using Dullcote mixed with a little ochre for a final control coat.  Pastel and mud it up to your liking but generally with armor, too much dirt is not enough. 

Nothing I've said here is hard and fast.  The main thing is just enjoy it.  HTH.

                                                                                                      Pat.     

Now what exactly is a Panther No. 65? Now the later Tamiya Panther kits have a full lower hull with Sponsons such as the Panther Ausf.G (re-released as a Steel Wheel version with UHU scopes and regular road wheels.) And are you going with kit supplied track or are you going with aftermarket tracks?

Could "Tamiya Panther No 65" be the infamous Panther A from the early 1970s -- that's still sold at places like Hobby Lobby?

If so, then just consider it a simple weekender.  Use it to get your feet wet -- but don't spend any money on it for aftermarket.  Build it, break out the airbrush and get decals on it.  Do some reading on a weathering style you think you'll like and finish it. 

As for accuracy, it's an extreme outlier -- frankly very toy like and misses the mark in many areas.  That being said, it's in your hands and you should get the most out of finishing it.

For your first kit, just build it, paint it, and don't even worry about sponson fillers and brass details; the kit you have is unfortunately a real oldie-but-no-goodie, but perfect for just learning the ropes. It's got the rubber band tracks too, so it won't scare you with individual track links.

If you enjoy it and want to get serious, step up to a DML Panther and then we'll talk...

Thanks to all for your input.  I'll take it as a get your feet wet project and not judge tank-building by this sub-standard kit.  I returned an item and had the ubiquitous 40% off coupon so I only spent $9. 

Any specific kits, that aren't too expensive or complicated that I could get into once my feet are wet?  Previous forum input suggested Tamiya Shermans, Panzers and Stugs.  I thought this Panther would have fit the bill, but appearantly not.  I'm not ready for AM parts, zimmerit and all that jazz yet - just a good-fitting, fine example of a WWII tank.

Dan the Man

Thanks to all for your input.  I'll take it as a get your feet wet project and not judge tank-building by this sub-standard kit.  I returned an item and had the ubiquitous 40% off coupon so I only spent $9. 

Any specific kits, that aren't too expensive or complicated that I could get into once my feet are wet?  Previous forum input suggested Tamiya Shermans, Panzers and Stugs.  I thought this Panther would have fit the bill, but appearantly not.  I'm not ready for AM parts, zimmerit and all that jazz yet - just a good-fitting, fine example of a WWII tank.

You basically bought the armor world's equivalent of the 1/48 scale Monogram TBF Avenger; to put it into aircraft modeler's terms.

With that 40% off coupon, one kit that always seems to be at my local store is the NEW Tamiya Panzer II Ausf. A/B/C. I believe it runs about $40, but with the coupon, it turns out to be around $24, well worth the money. Here is a link to the kit: http://www.squadron.com/ItemDetails.asp?item=TM35292

They also sell another 40 yr old Panzer II Ausf. F/G DAK for cheap money, but is basically in the same realm as the Panther A, just a tad more accurate. It is always recommended as an affordable starter kit to a novice modeler. Personally, I'd stick with the new Tamiya kit (it is sold in two versions, one with Polish campaign markings, but I've not seen that one at Hobby Lobby).

Well, i think you have the idea that this might not be the best kit in the world, especially when up against the more modern kits. But for your first armour kit, its probably a good way to learn all the ins and outs of armour building without having to worry about ruining an expensive kit. My suggestion for future referance is if you are going to get more Tamiya kits, go for ones with numbers in the hight 100's and above. And i would deffinatly stick to tamiya for a while before moving on to Dragon kits.

But good luckwith the Panther, and don't forget to post some pics.

I agree with Doog; for your first, build it straight out of the box.

I did the same thing as Dan the Man.  I got my Panther A at Hobby Lobby with a good discount thinking that this would be a good kit to learn on for my first armor build.  I wanted to do something straight out of the box and learn all the neat weathering tricks that are use on armor!  I am a aircraft person and wanted to try something different without worrying about ruining a good kit.

The one bad thing about this old Tamiya kit is their is no paint call out anywhere in the instructions.  So my question to the experts is their a basic color set to use on tanks kind of like the RLM colors for German aircraft, or is it more of where it was fighting?

Thanks for any help!

Mark Gauding

This should fit the bill for your first foray into armor. No harm if things don't go exactly as you hoped. Better to experiment on a $9 kit then a $60 kit.

Welcome to this forum Dan the Man.

I would go easy as already suggested.
Try to get the superstructure together OOB without to much hair scratching and get some paint on,
Paint the road wheels before you start assembling them.
Decide early if you want to paint the clamped on stuff off the vehicle or on the vehicle.
I prefer off but I know many who just bang everything on before they paint and start detailing when the base coat is dry.
Stick to a monotone Dark Yellow paint scheme and apply a brown and wash.

Good luck!

As allways
Boarder